Application Procedure for Prospective Foreign Students with Non-German General University Entrance Qualification (regardless of citizenships)

Application Procedure via uni-assist e.V. for Bachelor and State Exam (Staatsexamen) programs

Applicants who are German citizens and have obtained international university entrance qualifications and applicants who are not German citizens who have obtained German university entrance qualifications (Hochschulreife), please click here for information.

International prospective students with international university entrance qualifications who would like to apply to study at Freie Universität Berlin send their applications to uni-assist (in German), which reviews whether the application meets the formal requirements. Freie Universität Berlin decides whether to admit the student. A fee is required for the pre-screening of the application by uni-assist. Your application will not be processed by uni-assist until after the fee has been deposited. To speed up the processing of your documents, please include a proof of payment with your application (proof of deposit or funds transfer of the fee to the account of uni-assist) (information: www.uni-assist.de).

Please read the important information on this page before clicking over to the uni-assist website!

For further application information, please see the rest of this page and at International Students of Freie Universität Berlin.

Exceptions to the application process via uni-assist

For the first semester of the Freie Universität programs in pharmacy and veterinary medicine and for programs offered by Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin (e.g., medicine, dentistry), prospective students from EU member states as well as those from Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway, along with German students and international applicants with German educational qualifications (Bildungsinländer), submit applications to the central body that awards university placements in Germany, the Stiftung für Hochschulzulassung (Foundation for Higher Education Admissions, in German). The publicly used name for this new body is “hochschulstart.de”.

Applications that meet the following criteria should be sent directly to Freie Universität, Bewerbung und Immatrikulation International, Iltisstrasse 1, 14195 Berlin:

• Applications for doctoral programs,
• Applications for master’s programs if the previous degree was obtained in Germany
• Applications for postgraduate master’s programs (for further information on applying, the address for applications, and the documents to be submitted, please see the respective homepages).

Applying for multiple programs

You can submit simultaneous applications to multiple member universities via uni-assist by submitting your application documents one time only. Please note: Parallel applications via uni-assist for programs at Freie Universität and Charité are not permitted, because the institution of Charité is affiliated with both Freie Universität Berlin and with Humboldt-Universität and is thus considered part of both of these universities.

Although the admission application permits students to designate a second program (which must be a program with no admission requirements, or zulassungsfrei), this option is not available for Freie Universität Berlin, as the university does not offer any programs with no admission requirements.

Address for applications (please apply online if possible)

Freie Universität Berlin
c/o uni-assist e.V.
Helmholtzstr. 2-9
10587 Berlin

Application deadlines

Please allow sufficient time to check when you need to submit your application.

Important application information

Many of the programs toward the degree of Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science offered at Freie Universität Berlin consist of a core subject and either two module offerings, with 30 credit points (Leistungspunkte, LP) required in each, or one module of 60 credit points. Your application is not complete unless you have applied for both the core subject and the module(s); only then will your application be considered in the admissions process.

For detailed information on the bachelor’s programs offered at Freie Universität Berlin and the combinations involving modules, please click here (only in German available).

Application for admission

Please fill out the online application (in German) carefully. If you do not wish to use the online form, you can also use this application for admission (pdf-file). Please enclose officially certified copies (pdf-file) of all required documents with your application: transcripts and diplomas (where applicable with translations, unless the documents are issued in English), proof of German language skills, and, where applicable, your TestAS certificate. Please also enclose a non-certified copy of the page of your passport showing your name and passport photo. For some programs, certain subject-related language skills are required. For information on these and other requirements, please see “Additional Admissions Requirements.”

Unfortunately, uni-assist is unable to process incomplete applications. To facilitate fast clarification of any questions or issues, please state your e-mail address.

After uni-assist has reviewed whether your application is formally complete, you will be informed of the result. If the application is complete, it will be forwarded to Freie Universität Berlin and considered as part of the admissions process. Once this process has been completed, you will be notified of whether the university is able to offer you the desired study placement. If, on the other hand, your application does not meet the requirements, uni-assist will hold your documents for one year. Documents will not be returned to you during this time. If you wish to reapply to study at Freie Universität Berlin, you can then reapply via uni-assist – where applicable, with further documentation – for the next admissions process.

Proof of German language skills

If you are applying to begin a program in the upper division (Fachstudium), you are required to provide proof of a minimum level of German skills, for example through any of the following certificates:

• TestDaF: Level 3 on all four parts
• Level B2 GER (Mittelstufe II)
• Intermediate Level II (Mittelstufe II)

If you have submitted one of the abovementioned certificates, you need to take the German language examination for university admission for international students (Deutsche Sprachprüfung für den Hochschulzugang, abbreviated DSH) prior to enrollment. Registering for the exam costs € 130. An invitation to the DSH will be sent to you together with the admission notice from Freie Universität Berlin. If you have received an admission notice from www.hochschulstart.de, the invitation to the DSH will be issued to you when you submit your enrollment application. You are not required to take the DSH if you can provide proof with your application of German language skills equivalent to TestDaF Level 4 on all four parts of the exam (for German Language and Literature: TestDaF Level 5 on all four parts of the exam). For detailed information on types of proof, equivalencies, and language tests, please click here.

If you are applying to the preparatory course (Studienkolleg) as preparation for the test of aptitude for university study (Prüfung zur Feststellung der Hochschuleignung), you are required only to provide proof of German language skills at Level B2 GER or Intermediate Level I (Mittelstufe I).

Advising for international applicants

Freie Universität Berlin
Bewerbung und Immatrikulation International
Iltisstrasse 1 (U-Bahn U3, stop: Dahlem Dorf)
14195 Berlin
Tel.: +49 (0) 30 838 70000 (Info Service Studium)
e-mail: info-service@fu-berlin.de

Business hours: Info Service Studium