The Application Process Step by Step

For a university application to be successful, great care should go into the researching and compiling of application documents.

Make sure you take sufficient time for your application and proceed step by step!

1. GATHER INFORMATION AS REGARDS COURSES OF STUDY, ADMISSION CRITERIA AND DEADLINES

2. PROVIDING REQUIRED COPIES and AUTHENTICATION

3. FIND OUT, WHETHER YOU NEED TO APPLY THROUGH UNI-ASSIST

5. ONE SEPARATE APPLICATION FORM FOR EACH UNIVERSITY

7. TRANSFERRING THE FEE FOR ALL APPLICATIONS

8. SENDING ALL PAPER DOCUMENTS TO UNI-ASSIST

9. SENDING MISSING DOCUMENTS OR MAKING CHANGES

10. TRACKING THE APPLICATION PROCESSING

1. Gather Information as Regards Courses of Study, Admission Criteria and Deadlines

In a first step, contact the universities you intend to apply to. Read the universities' web sites. There you will find all required information as regards study programmes, admission criteria and application deadlines. Make sure to also use the student advisory services offered by the universities.

uni-assist does not offer student advisory services and is only responsible for answering questions directly pertaining to the preliminary review of application documents.

More information regarding study programmes and admission criteria

We recommend that you hand in your application at least 4 weeks prior to the application deadline! Such early submission of your application allows you to complete your application on time if some documents are missing.

Directly refer to the respective universities' web sites to find out about application deadlines.

More information regarding deadlines

2. PROVIDING REQUIRED COPIES and AUTHENTICATION

You must check with your chosen university, which documents (curriculum vitae, certificates, language certificates, etc.) they request for your chosen course of study and in which form they accept these.

No scans or uploads. Authenticated copies of documents are only valid holding the original seal and the original signature. Scanned copies, colour copies or uploads of authenticated copies of documents will not be accepted as they are regarded as simple copies.

On our web page „Documents” you will find information regarding school, university and language certificates, TOEFL certificate, translations and official authentication.

Documents

3. FIND OUT, WHETHER YOU NEED TO APPLY THROUGH UNI-ASSIST

Please note that some universities still exclude certain courses and/or applicant groups from the uni-assist procedure. In such cases you have to send your application directly to the university and not to uni-assist!

Please note, that applications that ought to go to the university directly, but were sent to uni-assist by mistake cannot be processed or forwarded to the chosen university! In such an event, we can transfer part of your processing fee back to your account. Please note, that we will have to keep 10 Euros for each semester you have applied for in order to cover the administrative costs incurred due to your application.

Please check on the web page „University Applicants”, whether you need to apply through uni-assist.

university applicants

4. PROVIDE ALL DOCUMENTS

You can apply to several uni-assist universities at the same time. However, multiple copies of the same document are not required. One complete set of documents is sufficient for all chosen universities.

uni-assist forwards only complete sets of documents to the chosen university.
Your documents must be authenticated in a form that is accepted by all universities you apply for.
Any additional documents requested by individual universities (or required for certain courses of study) can simply be sent together with the rest of your application documents.

After review, uni-assist stores your documents under burden of proof. The documents are not returned or handed out.

5. ONE SEPARATE APPLICATION FORM FOR EACH UNIVERSITY

If you apply for more than one university, you will need a separate application form for each university. Please fill in all entries and personally sign each application form.

There are various application forms:

A) Standard German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) application form (Antrag auf Zulassung zum Studium)

You can access the Application Form electronically to save it to disk, print it out and to complete it in clear print.
Should you be applying to several universities, you will have to download the Priority List and fill it in for participation in the coordination procedure.
You can use the online portal to access the application forms and priority list and to fill them in, print them out and to transfer them to uni-assist electronically.

Application Form Online

B) Specific Application Forms

Some universities require the use of specific application forms.
These specific application form are available only through the homepage of the chosen university.
Please take care to note the relevant instructions provided by the universities. If you are not able to download a copy of the form, you must ask the university directly to send you a hard copy by mail.

Instructions for Filling in the Application Forms:

At our INOBIS information portal, you will find a filled-in sample application form showing you what to take care over when filling in your own form.
Further information and assistance is provided by our Application Information Sheet.
Please always include your e-mail address, so we can get in touch with you quickly in the event of further questions.
If possible, please provide a correspondence address in Germany to avoid long mail deliveries. (Perhaps you have friends or relatives living in Germany whose address you could use?)
In the event of multiple applications, each application form must carry your original signature.

6. USING THE ONLINE FEATURES

Our online portal allows you to:

fill in the application forms and submit them to uni-assist electronically,
permanently save your personal data for the application form,
directly choose your study courses,
enter and change priorities,
submit documents electronically for pre-review,
check up on the current processing status and
contact uni-assist.

Further Advantages of an Online Application

Please note: Usually, in order for your online application to be processed, you have to send uni-assist all the necessary application documents in paper form, together with a printed and signed application form, before the application deadline. Likewise, the correct processing fee must be booked to the uni-assist account on time!

It is advised that you use the online pre-processing service only, if you can send the paper documents with enough time for them to arrive at uni-assist prior to the end of the application deadline.

7. TRANSFERRING THE FEE FOR ALL APPLICATIONS

You will have to pay a fee for processing and formal review of your application documents for each semester and university.

As a rule, the total fee must be booked to the uni-assist account the latest one week after the end of the application deadline. We cannot forward your application to the universities in the event of a later receipt of payment.

Please note the uni-assist regulations for fees!

Regulation of fees

8. SENDING ALL PAPER DOCUMENTS TO UNI-ASSIST

Please note that the official date of receipt of your application is the day on which your complete application documents have all been received by uni-assist.

Please send us your application documents and transfer the fee as early as possible, so we can inform you as regards missing documents in time.

If you can submit your application only shortly before the end of the application deadline, please make sure that you send uni-assist all required documents in their correct form. When in doubt, contact the university directly for information.

What should go into the envelope?

A printed application form for each university (do not forget your signature!)
The priority list (if you do not apply online)
Your academic records (authenticated copies of the originals and of their translations); should you be applying for several universities, one set of documents is sufficient.
A copy of your passport (simple copy)
A payment document or the form Credit Card Payment/Direct Debit Aauthorisation (Please fill in the form using block letters and always send the original paper copy.)
Your e-mail address, so we can contact you without delay.
If possible, a contact address in Germany to avoid long mail deliveries

Please use only one envelope: Even if you apply for several uni-assist member universities, you can send us all using only one envelope! When sending, please make sure the envelope carries the correct postage.

The address for all uni-assist member universities:

uni-assist e.V.
Helmholtzstr. 2-9
10587 Berlin
Germany

Please do not include any stamped self-addressed envelopes or international post coupons! uni-assist generally does not send any documents back.

If you have not received any confirmation of receipt two weeks after the sending date, please get in touch with us immediately.

9. SENDING MISSING DOCUMENTS OR MAKING CHANGES

You can submit missing documents or alter your specifications any time prior to the application deadline.

Please submit all documents and transfer the fee the latest four weeks before the application deadline. Should your documents and the fee arrive at uni-assist later than four weeks prior to the deadline, we cannot guarantee that information on missing documents will reach you in time.

If you have already submitted to uni-assist a signed application form, you can change your chosen course of study for that university informally via fax, e-mail or through your online account at any time within the application period.

No additional costs are incurred by submission of missing documents or changes to the application during the semester and application period.

Any applications arriving or being completed after the application deadline cannot be forwarded to universities.

In this event you will have to apply and pay the full fee again in the next semester/year.

10. TRACKING THE APPLICATION PROCESSING

You will receive a confirmation of receipt via e-mail for everything you send to uni-assist.
If you do not have an e-mail address, we will send all confirmation of receipt to you by mail.
With the confirmation of receipt you will receive an application reference number.
By way of an online account you can track the processing of your application and submit further applications. You can open this online account also subsequently using your application reference number.
Processing at uni-assist usually takes place two to four weeks after receipt of documents and the fee.

Go to the Online Application Service Portal

More Information Regarding the Review Duration and Process