Are you planning to study in Germany? If you are, it would be a good idea for you to know when German universities accept students.
German Universities: Intakes
Unlike the US, UK, or Canadian universities, German universities and technical institutes accept students two times a year.
- Summer or April intake/semester
- Winter or September/October intake/semester
INTAKE | STARTS FROM | DURATION | NATURE | PROS AND CONS |
---|---|---|---|---|
WINTER
(Winter Semester) |
September/October
(Class lecture commences on October 15) |
October 1–March 31
|
Primary intake | Most popular intake for international students because
|
SUMMER
(Sommer Semester) |
March/April
(Class lecture commences on April 15) |
April 1–September 31
|
Secondary intake |
|
Which Intake for Me?
Your chosen university and preferred course, your past scholastic performance, your test scores, the acceptance rate of the university of your choice, the opening of the application process, class commencement, and your availability for the course will impact this crucial decision. We suggest that before you decide on your university intake, consider the following.
COURSE | CONSIDERSATIONS |
---|---|
Postgraduate |
|
PhD in Germany |
|
MBA in Germany |
|
The upcoming intakes in Germany for you should be Summer 2021 and Winter 2021.
Deadlines
You can apply to universities through the following three routes.
- Foundation for Admission to Higher Education (Stiftung für Hochschulzulassung)
- University Application Service for International Students (Arbeits- und Servicestelle für Internationale Studienbewerbungen, uni-assist)
- Directly to the university
- About 170 German universities can be applied through the uni-assist (UniAssist.de), the admission portal administered by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) that assists German universities handle admission of international students for its member universities. Here is a general guideline for the deadlines that many of these uni-assist German universities follow.
- Winter or September/October Intake
- The application windows are open by March and close by July 15 of the same year
- Summer or March/April Intake
- The application windows are open by September/October the previous year and close by January 15 of the following year
Note that
- In case a university requires preliminary review documentation (“Vorprüfungsdokumentation”, VPD) issued by uni-assist, you have to submit it to them yourself before the applicable deadline
- Universities might have special deadlines for programs taught in English
- Physical Education Teaching Qualification B.A as well as “Erweiterungsmaster” might have additional special deadlines to take a sports entrance examination.
- Universities might have different deadlines for different programs.
However, some German universities have different deadlines regime. Please check out individual universities for offered courses and real-time updates on application deadlines. Also, it might be interesting to know that:
- Some German universities like the University of Mannheim do not follow the German academic cycle. They follow the intake path of the UK/US universities and have a Fall (August–January) and a Spring (February–July) semester
- Some B-schools such as WHU Vallendar and the Frankfurt School admit Early attractive Early Bird discounts on tuition fees
Still, feeling a little confused? You can always reach out to us at Manya Education. We provide study-abroad counselling and would be happy to help you to stay on a steady course in your journey of studying abroad.