Application to Higher Semesters for Internationals
if you have already successfully studied at another university, you can apply for a higher semester.
Please Note
Please note that all international applicants who are not legally equivalent to German citizens, such as non-EU students, must have a total grade of 2.5 or better in their university entrance qualification. Insufficient grades can be compensated by submitting a TestAS aptitude test result. The test is offered only four times a year, so please make sure to register for the test in time!
Contact
Phone
- work
- +49 241 80 90674
- Send Email
Open Admission Course of Study
The same application deadlines apply to an application for a higher semester in an open admission course of study as for an application to a first semester. The application process is also much the same:
- Create PDFs from the documents needed to apply.
- Fill out an online application – you can find the link to the application portal in the yellow box.
- Upload the required documents at the end of the application.
In addition to the documents needed to apply for a first semester, you must also include proof that you have of successfully passed subjects at another university – this is usually in the form of your transcript of records. At a later stage, in order to enroll in a higher semester, you will also have to provide a placement notification from the examination board of your chosen course of study.
We recommend against applying for an higher semester in an open admission subject. Instead, we suggest you get individual courses from your previous studies recognized and the credits subsequently transferred. This way, the the duration of your permitted stay in Germany is not cut short.
Restricted Admission Course of Study
Some courses of study also have restricted admission in higher semesters, that is starting in the second core semester. Please refer to our courses of study or the current RWTH Information about Applying to a Higher Core Semester (only in German) to find out which courses of study this pertains to.
Create a PDF from the documents listed below and upload them when you apply on RWTHonline by the application deadline listed in the table at the end of this page:
- Transcript of records from your former course of study at another university.
- Documents proving you are eligible to study in Germany (university entrance qualification). These are typically school transcripts or school-leaving certificates, assessment tests, semesters already completed at a university at home, university acceptance examinations, and the like. Please note that you must have complete proof of the university entrance qualification. You can find more information about the university entrance qualification on the anabin website.
- Tabular resume
- Only for the state examination in dentistry or medicine (model) courses of study: TestAS taken in German with the required subject-specific test module (mathematics, computer science, natural sciences, life sciences and medicine) and an average percentile ranking of 80 or more.
Please Note
If your documents are not originally in German or English, you must have them translated by a certified translator and upload a copy of the original together with a copy of the certified translation. Please note that in such cases, the copy of the translation or the copy of the original alone is insufficient. We can only process your application when both copies have been submitted.
Applicants to the Medicine Course of Study (Model Course of Study) require the following additional documents:
- Notification from the Landesprüfungsamt für Medizin, Psychotherapie und Pharmazie confirming your recognized academic performance. This is only necessary if you have already completed some studies in medicine outside Germany or in a related course of study inside or outside Germany.
- Prospect of a placement from the third to the tenth semester from the RWTH Faculty of Medicine for the Medicine (Model) Course of Study. This is only required if you are applying for at least the third core semester.
Applicants to Dentistry require the following additional documents:
- Placement notification from the Landesprüfungsamtes für Medizin, Psychotherapie und Pharmazie confirming your recognized academic performance. This is only necessary if you have already completed some studies in dentistry outside of Germany or in a related course of study inside or outside Germany.
Selection Process
There are a limited number of placements available in the higher core semesters of restricted admission course of study. The number of placements available is calculated by subtracting the number of students who re-registered during the re-enrollment period from the set number of placements available.
If there are still placements available after the re-enrollment deadline, these are allocated to applicants in the corresponding subject and core semesters through a selection process.
| Course of Study | Winter Semester | Summer Semester |
|---|---|---|
| Open-admission courses of study | October 20 | April 20 |
| Restricted admission courses of study (NC) | September 15 | March 15 |