Upcoming Intakes to Study in Germany

 

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

  • September–February: Universities of Applied Sciences (Fachhochschulen)
  • October–March: Universities (Universitäten)
 Primary intake Most popular intake for international students because

  • Universities/colleges offer their flagship and major courses
  • A wide variety of courses are offered
  • Classes are larger
  • Greater opportunities for funding such as scholarships, research assistantship, and on-campus jobs
  • The largest number of internship opportunities
  • Since job fairs and campus hiring happen mostly in March/April, you will complete 3 semesters instead of 2 if you begin in Summer
  • This allows you to build a better profile to be hired in the job fair with a stronger CGPA and internship experience
  • Better opportunity to showcase your extracurricular forte and leadership role
  • University orientation program happens at the beginning of the academic year in the Winter semester only
  • Greater number of applicants
  • Most intense competition
SUMMER

(Sommer Semester)

 March/April

(Class lecture commences on April 15)

 April 1–September 31

  • March-August: Universities of Applied Sciences (Fachhochschulen)
  • April–September: Universities (Universitäten)
 Secondary intake
  • You get the chance to apply if you have missed the Winter intake
  • Does not offer as many courses as the Winter intake
  • Many universities do not offer undergraduate programs
  • You graduate faster and start earning faster
  • The number of international applications is small because of the winter climate

 

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
  • Most of the top universities offer Postgraduate courses in their Winter intake
  • Postgraduate programs can be either Tier 1 or Tier 2 and can have different deadlines, varying from university to university
  • Tier 1 Master’s programs require you to have a minimum of 80% in your bachelor’s
  • Tier 2 programs need you to have 74–77% in bachelor’s
PhD in Germany
  • The DAAD PhD Germany Database shows that most German universities have a varying starting date for different PhD positions
  • Most doctoral positions either offer a scholarship or are paid research projects
MBA in Germany
  • Most top B-Schools in Germany including Berlin School of Business and Innovation, German International Graduate School of Management and Administration (GISMA), Otto Beisheim School of Management (WHU Vallendar), HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management, The Business School of the University of Mannheim, Europe Business School Berlin, and the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management offer their flagship MBA programs only in the September/October intake
  • WHU Vallendar has also an April intake
  • Most B-Schools in Germany accept applications on a rolling basis throughout the year
  • Some B-Schools recommend Indian students to apply one month earlier than the listed deadline because of the lengthy visa process
  • The Frankfurt School has a strict deadline of July 31

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.

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