Requirements: Necessary certificates and qualifications

Check well in advance as to whether you fulfil the most important conditions for enrolling at a Bavarian university:

Certificate

You will need an advanced-level or upper secondary certificate (US: high school diploma) equivalent to the German school-leaving certificate. For studying at a Bavarian university, you can apply to the university directly with your certificate.

For studying at a Bavarian university of applied sciences, you should first contact the institute which is responsible for evaluating certificates obtained outside of Germany: Zeugnisanerkennungsstelle, P.O. Box 402040, 80720 Munich (house address: Pündterplatz 5, 80803 Munich; phone: +49(0)89/383849-0) or via Internet at www.stmuk.bayern.de/zast .

Language skills

Check whether you have proof of adequate competence in the German language. You should acquire sufficient proficiency in German to cope with your social life and study programme in Bavaria before you leave your home country. Courses in German are offered by many universities in your country as well as by German cultural institutes and the Goethe Institut abroad. When still in your home country, you can take the test Deutsch als Fremdsprache, abbreviated Test DaF ("German as a foreign language"), a standard test which is held all over the world and is recognised by all Bavarian universities. Most higher education institutions in Bavaria require a German language proficiency test, the Test DaF or the Deutsche Sprachprüfung für den Hochschulzugang (DSH), before admitting applicants to a full degree course.

Aptitude test

For degree programmes involving artistic, athletic or foreign-language skills, applicants may have to provide proof of such special abilities in an aptitude test.

To find out which programmes are subject to restrictions, contact the International Office of the university concerned.

Application

Your application for admission must be sent to the university at which you wish to commence your studies! For certain degree programmes (Biology, Psychology, Medicine, Pharmacy, Veterinary Science and Dentistry), prospective students from member-states of the EU and non-German nationals with a German university-entrance qualification must apply for admission via the central clearing system, the Zentralstelle für die Vergabe von Studienplätzen (ZVS) in Dortmund. Detailed information on the ZVS clearing system can be found at www.zvs.de . The address to send your application: ZVS, 44128 Dortmund, Germany.

© Referat G 2