Self Assessments
RWTH Aachen Self Assessment: a tool for deciding the right course of study - how does it work? It's easy! Complete the online questions and exercises from specific disciplines. You will need 90-120 minutes. Afterwards, your results will be individually evaluated and made available to you online. Participation is free and anonymous.
Participating in the Self Assessment is Worth It
The RWTH Aachen Self Assessment gives you informative and helpful feedback on your strengths and weaknesses. Furthermore, you will also find out where to get advising for choosing a course of study and where you can attain specific information on your chosen major.
We recommend being focused while completing the Self Assessment and to do so in a quiet environment.
Prospective students from abroad should contact the International Office to find out about enrollment prerequisites.
After the Self Assessment
The Self Assessment results have no effect on the allocation of university placements. After you have participated in the Subject Specific Self Assessment, you will receive a participation certificate online. You must present this for enrollment in the Bachelor or Teacher Training degree program at RWTH. You do not yet need the certificate for application to a course of study with restricted admission, but we recommend completing the Self Assessment as soon as possible.
We'd be excited if you joined us here at RWTH Aachen!
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Self Assessment?
Simply said, a Self Assessment is an orientation test. If should help you to realistically assess your own abilities. The individual test results offer you a good opportunity to orient yourself on the choice of your course of study. In addition to your aptitude and interests, you will become more familiar with the challenges of certain subject fields through our Self Assessment, since the tests were created through close collaboration from representatives of the individual disciplines.
How do I participate in the Self Assessment?
Register online and then start a Self Assessment. There, you will anonymously answer a few questions and solve subject specific exercises. Afterwards you will automatically receive detailed feedback.
Which Self Assessment is right for me?
Are you still unsure what subject you'd like to study? Or you have no idea, if a course of study is right for you? Our Orientation Self Assessment will help you. We recommend starting with the Orientation Self Assessment in the 11th grade as a helpful guide to your course of study.
If you already know exactly what you would like to study, you can become more familiar with the demands of a particular discipline in the Subject Specific Self Assessment. We recommend completing the Subject Specific Self Assessment in the 12th grade.
Note: If you would like to enroll for a Bachelor or Teacher Training degree program at RWTH Aachen, you must have already participated in a Subject Specific Self Assessment. The single exception to this is the medicine course of study. In this case, you do not have to provide evidence of your participation in a Self Assessment.
What happens to my answers?
While you are participating in the Self Assessment, your answers are anonymously saved. Later this information will be used for your personal feedback. Only you can view the feedback.
The RWTH Self Assessment Team uses the anonymous data to rework the questions and exercises and to further improve the service.
The Self Assessment result has no effect on the allocation of university placements.
Is participation in the Self Assessment mandatory?
Generally, yes. If you would like to apply for a Bachelor or Teacher Training degree program, you have to provide proof that you have participated in the Subject Specific Self Assessment. Submit the participation certificate that you automatically received at the end of the Self Assessment.
The Orientation Self Assessments are not required yet. They should help you figure out, which subjects could suit your interests and abilities.
I didn't perform as successfully in the Self Assessment as I expected. What do I do now?
We recommend an advising session with the Student Advice Centre or the respective departmental advising. Together with an advisor, you will determine how you can fill in your knowledge gaps and prepare for your desired course of study. There you'll also find out, if you should possible rethink your own expectations of the subject or if another discipline would possibly better suit your expectations and abilities.
Whom are the Self Assessments targeted towards?
The RWTH Aachen Self Assessments are targeted towards anyone, who is interested in a course of study, especially students in the 11th and 12th grades.
What is covered in the Self Assessments?
The Orientation Self Assessment helps you to recognize your own strengths and interests. With the Orientation Self Assessment, you'll additionally find out which disciplines best suit you. You will solve problems, in which there is logical reasoning. You will, for example, finish numerical series or solve riddles. Your visual thinking will also be tested. For this, you will have to solve exercises with logical reasoning using numbers, as well linguistic or graphic exercises. Furthermore, typical situations from everyday student life will be depicted. You will be given possible courses of action, from which you will have to pick the best one. At the end, you will find out which solution is best.
The Subject Specific Self Assessments impart information on the content and demands of courses of study. The exercises you have to complete here correspond to the demands and challenges of tasks that await you at the beginning of a specific course of study.
The Self Assessments also look into your motivation and willingness to perform. Furthermore, the Self Assessments evaluate your mathematical abilities and text comprehension.
How are the Subject Specific Self Assessments and further advising processes at RWTH Aachen related?
The subject oriented Self Assessments are a part of the student orientation at RWTH Aachen. A few RWTH Aachen institutes offer their own subject oriented assessments and advising process. For subject specific questions, the departmental advisors will gladly help you. If you have general questions about the course of study offerings, please contact the Student Advice Center (Link). You can also contact the Self Assessment Team at any time, if you have any questions about our offerings.
How long does a Self Assessment take?
The Orientation Self Assessment takes about 60 minutes, and the Subject Specific Self Assessment anywhere from 90-120 minutes.
How much does it cost to participate in a Self Assessment?
It doesn't cost anything. This service is free of charge for prospective students. You will also receive your results free of charge, albeit at the end of your Self Assessment. Additionally, you can save your results online.
How can I participate in a Self Assessment?
Start the RWTH Aachen Self Assessment and register with a username and password. With this access information, you are able to log in later, e.g. if you interrupt the Self Assessment and would like to resume later, or if you want to access your results again at a later time.
The subject oriented advising process and subject assessment of the individual course of study likewise show what challenges and material are in store for you in the respective course of study.
Who develops the Self Assessments?
The team from the Chair for Pesonnel and Organizational Psychology developed the first Self Assessment in 2002, under the leadership of Professor Lutz Hornke. Since then, the service has been continually expanded. The researchers have asked teachers and students, how they would assess the aptitudes and interests of the subject fields. Since 2010, Professor Marold Wosnitza, from the Institute for Educational Research, has been responsible for the further development of the Self Assessments.
What does an evaluation of the results look like?
You will receive a written evaluation of your results. Within it, you will find explanations for the individual exercises and question types. For example, here you learn what meaning an exercise area has for the respective course of study.