Simply follow the 6 application steps. Take advantage of our checklist, which provides useful guidelines for each step.
In general, you can apply for multiple courses of study at the same university. To do so, create a separate application for each course using My assist.
However: Universities can limit the number of applications per semester. Find out from your chosen university how many courses of study you can apply for at the same time.
You can find out if your chosen university uses the standard procedure by checking our list of uni-assist universities or by contacting your chosen university.
Simply apply in My assist:
Select your chosen university and fill out the application form in your “Selection list” (box symbol).
Pay the handling fee to submit your application
Upload all of the required documents
Plan sufficient time for your application.
More details:
You can find out if your chosen university has instructed uni-assist to use the special VPD procedure by checking our database: uni-assist universities.
If the VPD procedure applies, you will find a note on the VPD procedure below the address of your chosen university in our list.
To apply for a VPD, please use My assist:
- Select the university and complete the application form via the “Selection list” (box symbol). Your application is automatically a request for a VPD.
- Pay the handling fees.
- Upload all required documents.
Please allow sufficient time for your application because you still need to apply to the university directly, using the VPD.
More details:
"Vorprüfungsdokumentation" (VPD) - preliminary review documentation
You cannot find the application form for the VPD?
Using hochschulstart.de, some universities coordinate applications for specific courses of study through the Trust for Admission to Higher Education’s (SfH’s) central database.
You can find out whether your chosen course of study is offered using the hochschulstart.de (DoSV) procedure from your chosen university and on the hochschulstart.de website.
If your chosen course of study is offered using the hochschulstart.de (DoSV) procedure, you will be notified about that when completing your application form in My assist.
If you are applying for a course of study that is offered using the DoSV procedure, you must enter a personal identification number in My assist. You get the number from hochschulstart.de. To get your number, please register at dosv.hochschulstart.de. Your identification number consists of two parts:
- BID ("Bewerber-ID", or Applicant ID) and
- BAN ("Bewerber-Authentifizierungs-Nummer", or Applicant Authentication Number).
Without an accurate BID and BAN, we cannot forward your application to the universities.
More details and a checklist:
This depends on your chosen course.
Each university has different application requirements. Please find out from the universities which documents you need. The requirements vary between universities and courses of study.
For all universities, you generally need:
- the application form that you create when you apply in My assist.
- educational certificates such as secondary school leaving certificates and proofs of completed university courses, including an overview of all subjects and grades (transcript). Depending on your country of origin and chosen course of study, other documents may be necessary, such as proof of having passed a University entrance exam, for example.
- recognised language certificates showing German proficiency for your chosen course. Other language certificates may be necessary for other foreign languages. For international courses of study, English language certificates are sometimes sufficient.
Additional documents may be required. These could include for example a special application form, CV, internship certificate or letters of motivation and recommendation. It depends on your chosen course of study.
Further information:
You can easily submit your TestAS results online in your My assist account.
Use the TestAS section in your account to submit your TestAS results.
You usually need to apply with a complete overview of all subjects and grades.
Some universities accept master’s applications with preliminary certificates, sometimes only if you studied or are studying for your bachelor’s degree in Germany or in an EU country. If accepted, you will usually need to submit an attestation from your university confirming that your degree will soon be granted and confirming the courses completed so far.
If you want to apply for doctoral studies in Germany, you generally need to have completed a master’s degree in a related subject. Depending on the university, you can apply even before completing your master’s degree.
Find out from yourr chosen university directly before applying to find out if you can apply with a preliminary certificate.
Which documents do I need to upload about my semester(s) abroad?
Please upload an overview of all subjects and grades for your entire studies, including semesters abroad.
If the overview of subjects and grades issued by your university does not show clearly that your semesters abroad are recognised for your degree, ask your university for a letter of acknowledgement to confirm this. Upload the letter together with your other documents.
My university did not issue an overall grade for my degree. Does uni-assist take into account the grades achieved during my semester(s) abroad when calculating my average grade in the German grading system?
In order to do this, all of the grades that count towards your degree need to be stated using the same grading system. This means that your university must give you an overview of subjects and grades that shows all grades in a unified grading system. Otherwise, we cannot take into account any grades achieved during semester(s) abroad when calculating an average grade in the German grading system.
If your documents were not issued in German or English, then they generally have to be translated into either German or English.
This applies to your educational certificates (including your transcript or overview of subjects and grades) and to proofs of language proficiency, for example.
To find out who is authorised to translate your certificates and proofs of language proficiency, please check our page on certificates & translations.
Do you hold a high school diploma from a school recognised by a US Accreditation body?
You will need to upload the following documents:
- Your high school diploma including an overview of subjects and grades from grade 9 to 12 stating your unweighted CGPA issued by your school with seal and signature
Important: We need certificates issued using the US grading system – i.e. the numerical 0-4 or A, B, C, D scale. If you were not graded according to the US grading system, we need a comparison of the system that was used with the US grading system.
Two important notes:
- Your high school diploma must conform to the US curriculum.
This means that all course names must conform to the US curriculum.
Course names like “Mathematics” or “English” are not sufficient. We always need the specific US course name, such as “Algebra”, “Geometry”, “Trigonometry”, “Pre-Calculus”, “English I-IV”, “English Honors” or “AP English”, for example.
- A US high school diploma alone does not allow you to study in Germany.
You must first complete the Studienkolleg (preparatory course). Direct studies are possible only if you have passed AP exams with specific results.- More information about your University entrance qualification: Check: university admission.
- More information on AP exams: country-specific information for the United States
Please submit your application and your documents at least 8 weeks before the application deadline.
If you already have an International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma, you will need to submit the following documents:
Your final IB Diploma including all subjects and grades, issued by the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO)
All reports from the last two school years of the IB programme (term / semester reports or transcripts), including the report from the last term / semester with the final marks
These reports must show at which level (Standard or Higher Level) you studied the six IB subjects throughout the last two school years.
Please submit additional written confirmation from your school if:
your reports do not show the level for all six IB subjects
the names of the subjects in the reports are different from those in the IB Diploma
the reports do not indicate whether the languages were taken as “A“, “B“ or “ab initio“ and/or the level is missing
not all of the reports / subjects contain the information mentioned here
your school does not issue a report for the last semester of the second year in the IB programme
It is not sufficient that your IB Diploma shows the level and precise subject information. In addition, all of your reports must contain this information, or additional written confirmation from your school is required.
If your final IB Diploma has been issued, you need to submit a copy of this document. It is then no longer sufficient just to make your results available to uni-assist on the IBO website or to submit a transcript of grades. This can only be accepted for a limited period of time.
How to apply if you have not yet received your final IB Diploma / your IB results
Please submit all your reports that have already been issued and, if required, additional written confirmation from your school as early as possible, even if your IB results will not be released until a few weeks later.
We are able to verify your IB results on the IBO website after they have been published at the beginning of July or mid-December – but only if you follow these steps:
You must ask the IB coordinator at your school to make your results available to uni-assist via the IB secure website (IBIS) as an electronic transcript of grades. If your IB results have already been published, you must submit a request via the IB website asking for your results to be made available to uni-assist as an electronic transcript of grades.
Next you must inform us of the release of your results. Please send us a message via the contact form on our website (https://my.uni-assist.de/hilfe). Additionally, you need to upload your IB results to your My assist account.
Please also submit the report from the last term / semester of the second year in the IB programme with the final marks as soon as the report has been issued by your school. If your school does not issue a report for the last semester, then please submit written confirmation from your school about this. In addition, the school needs to list which six IB subjects you studied during the last semester of the second IB year.
It is not sufficient to upload the “Results Summary” from your school or the results overview from the IB Candidate website only. We need to be able to access and download your electronic transcript from the IBIS website.
We do not automatically verify all electronic transcripts of grades which IBO makes available to uni-assist. You must therefore contact us as soon as your results have been released.
Regardless of the verification of your IB results, we still need your reports from the last two school years.
Please read the information above about the reports and additional written confirmation from your school that might be required.
How to apply if you have retaken any IB exams
Please send us a message via the contact form on our website (https://my.uni-assist.de/hilfe). You also need to upload your new IB results to your My assist online account. Please also submit your first IB Diploma or the results of the first IB exam.
How to apply if you have not yet received your final IB Diploma after the retakes
Please refer to “How to apply if you have not yet received your final IB Diploma / your IB results”
How to apply if you have already received your final IB Diploma after the retakes
Please refer to “If you already have an International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma, you will need to submit the following documents”
Language requirements
Applicants who have taken German in the IB Diploma must still enquire at the university to which they are applying about language requirements. Taking German in the IB Diploma does not automatically mean that no further evidence of German language proficiency is required.
University entrance qualification
To find out more about the possibilities of studying in Germany with an IB Diploma, please refer to the anabin database, run by the Central Office for Foreign Education (ZAB):
Click “Schulabschlüsse mit Hochschulzugang“
Select the country “International Baccalaureate (IB / GIB)“
Please apply directly to your chosen university. uni-assist is not responsible for the evaluation of European Baccaleaureate Diplomas.
This depends on your chosen course.
Universities have different requirements for language skills. Make sure that you find out from the universities about the required language level and necessary language certificates.
You will find a general overview on the website study-in.de and on our website under Language certificates.
Tips on language skills and language certificates:
- German is the language of instruction for most courses of study in Germany. This is why you generally have to prove sufficient German proficiency, for example with a DSH or TestDaF certificate or a certificate from the Goethe Institut.
- Some courses of study require other language certificates for other foreign languages (for example, for language studies or international courses of study). TOEFL or IELTS certificates may be required for English, for example.
- If you want to apply for a Studienkolleg (preparatory course) or a preparatory German language course, then you generally need to prove a certain level of German proficiency. This applies for the Studienkolleg, even if you later want to take a bachelor's course with English as language of instruction. This is because the language of instruction in the Studienkolleg is German.
- Some courses of study are offered in English, in which case you may need little or no German. You will find international courses of study in the DAAD “International Programmes” database.
Please upload your confirmation of registration for the exam. The confirmation of registration must show your test date and participant number so that we can verify your results online.