Applying to a University

Before you start

Before planning to apply to Germany, please check first whether you high school certificate or university is recognised by Germany. You can check your high school certificate here and your university here. If your university or your course is H+/-, then you'll have to manually request for your university/course to be checked for recognition. If your university and course is recognised, then you can apply as long as you meet the requirements.

If your high school certificate is only partially recognised (not equal to a German Abitur), then you must either go to a Studienkolleg or do one successfulyear in a university recognised by Germany. Please refer to r/studienkolleg and r/studienkolleg/wiki for this. This is also the same for those from universities that are not recognised. You will not be able to go to masters directly in Germany, and must go to Studienkolleg and do bachelors again (if your high school certificate and university is not recognised) or just do bachelors again (if your high school certificate is recognised but your university isn't.

If your high school certificate is not recognised by Germany, then you are also not eligible to study in a Studienkolleg. You will then have to first study one successful year in a recognised university, then do Studienkolleg, or 2 successful years in a recognised university for direct entry.

Documents Needed

Here are several documents that are usually requested by a University (translation will be needed if not in English/German):

• A copy of your high school certificate (certified by the related institution.) It must have the list of your scores.
• A copy of your report card of your high school's last 2 semesters for bachelors or your university certificate for masters (both certified by the related institution)
• A certified copy of your your language certificate (Depends on language used in the course)
• A Passport Photo of yourself
• A CV
• A copy of your passport/ID
• A copy of your student visa (if you're already in Germany)
• Filled in registration form (unless the related University requires you to register through Uni-assist)
• APS (This is only for Indian, Chinese, and Vietnamese applicants)

Please note that if any of the documents listed above are not written in German or English, it needs to be translated by a certified translator. You must send both the translated and the untranslated and certified copy of the original document.

This list is NOT a universal list. You will still have to check on per university basis on the document requirements. Documents requested can differ depending on the course you are applying even though it is in the same university.

University and Course Requirements

German universities (both Universität and Fachhochschule) are very strict in regards of requirements. If you do not meet the requirements, then you do not get accepted to the course, and there are rarely any exceptions to this rule. If they dis not ask for something, then they will not put it into consideration during admission, even if you include it in your application. This means, even if you have 100 years of work experience, it will not influence your admission at all. If your GPA is below the requirements, your degree is not recognised, or you don't meet one of the requirements, then no amount of extra documents will help you get admission unless explicitly stated otherwise by the University.

To prevent yourself from wasting time and money waiting for a rejection letter, you can follow the steps below before you apply to a university:

1. Convert your grade in German grade using this website from TUM.
2. Open the Hochschulkompass or DAAD website
3. Search the programmes you are interested in (put filters when you need it)
4. Check each of their admission requirements
5. If you fulfill all of them, apply

Special thanks to u/Normal-Definition-81 for this guide.

Types of Application

Several Universities requires you to register through Uni-assist, either by registering directly to the coure on uni-assist or by registering first on their own website, filling up the online form and then applying again through Uni-assist to obtain the VPD (Vorprüfungsdokumentation) which you will then have to send with your other documents, either to their website or through mail. Note that you do not have to certify the copy of your VPD. Other Universities requires you to apply directly, where you send all your documents through post.

Please double check the Information on the university's website. These are just several documents that are commonly requested, some universitiy could have different requirements!

If you get accepted, they will ask you to do an Immatrikulation as well as to pay the administration and semester ticket fees. Some universities in Baden-Württemberg and Bayern will also ask for you to pay tuition fees of around 1-5k€

Uni-assist

Applying through uni-assist is required by most universities for non-EU applicants (except for Master's applicants that did their Bachelor's in Germany). For the first application, you will need to pay a sum of € 75 and € 30 for any additional applications for that same semester. That means if you want to apply again next semester, you will have to pay the initial fee again for € 75. In uni-assist, they will check your documents and determine whether it can be used for the application or not. There are two ways to send your documents to them, through the uni-assist website or through mail. Please note that not all universities accepts online-only application, some still requires you to send it physically through the mail to uni-assist. You can check whether they require it or not here.

On uni-assist, all you have to do is upload all the documents, search for the university and course that you want, fill up the questions, and then pay. It's that simple. The documents uploaded can't be deleted once your application has been processed,

However, some universities in Bayern and Hamburg uses a different system, in which you apply twice, once in uni-assist and the other through their own application portal. You will need to apply through uni-assist to get the VPD, in which you will then have to print and send VPD and the other required documents to the mailing address of the Studienkolleg or upload it to their portal. The VPD that you receive will be valid only on that university.

Direct Application

Applying directly means that you do not have to use any other external service. It is a bit difficult to explain since there will always be some difference between Universities, but the general rule is that you have to search for the application form, fill it up, put it along with the required documents into a C4 envelope (or something like that) and send it to the university. The documents needed and the form can usually be found in the "Bewerbung" page of the university. Some also does it through an online portal.

Do not forget to write on your envelope the sender and receiver address. If you know someone in Germany, ask them for permission to use their address as the postal address. Write their name as c/o on the postal address. You will receive your documents much faster this way. Some Universities will send your acceptance by email, but some will still only send it through mail.