The KIT application portal is designed for people that have been educated in the German education system. It often doesn't quite match what international applicants are expecting. Many of you have asked for help, so I based this guide on all the questions I have received over the past three years and it will be extended bit by bit as the next questions roll in. I hope it helps!

A quick explanation of the URL https://bewerbung.studium.kit.edu: Bewerbung = application; Studium = study, study course or programme.

Here we go!

To start with, please create a login and set the language to English in the top right corner. Use a computer instead of a smartphone, as you might miss important information when the page resizes to fit your device.

And be prepared for long loading times. It's probably not your internet connection. The system is slow and you'll see    a lot. It's a matter of patience.

Your landing page

On the left-hand side you see three tabs:

Home tab

This is your landing page with all the information on your applications and admission data later.

My applications tab

This page has details and lists all pending applications and admissions.

My profile tab

You’ll need to fill in your

Student-ID

Only if you’re already enrolled at KIT. This is for KIT students who are advancing from a bachelor to a master’s programme for example.

Personal Information

This should be self-explanatory but you might run into problems choosing which part of your address goes where. You can use all four lines that have the free text option for your address and will get a chance to change this again later on. What irritates most applicants is Town/county:

The solution is simple: you can chose the hyphen as this only applies to towns and counties in Germany.

Health insurance

See additional info on the portal page (as of late 2024 there is an English version available).

HINT : read the fine print. This can be beside or below the box itself. It often contains explanatory links. Some links may lead to German webpages within KIT and you might need an (online) translator.

Please remember to  before continuing!

Start a new application

You are on the Home or My Applications tab and click

Choose study programme & starting semester

For this example we’ll go with the study programme Remote Sensing and Geoinformatics, 1st semester:

Either you search through the drop-down list under ‘Subject’ or you can click on the study programme of your choice in the table below - it only shows the study programmes that are currently taking applications. If your choice isn't there, the you've either missed the application deadline or it hasn't opened yet. You'll find the list of study programmes and deadlines on this KIT-page.

Q: why does that picture only show two study programmes?
A: The portal opens early for these two study programmes so at the time of the screenshots there were only these two available.

Choosing a study programme will lead you to an intermediate page with special information on the course, if available:

As you can see there is no additional information for this course. Other courses at our Civil Engineering, Geo- and Environmental Sciences Department, e.g. if you are applying for 'höheres Semester', i.e. a higher semester than the first, then the box will have information about which documents you need to provide. This might be different for study programmes in other departments.

Click   And if you have already filed an application then you’ll see a pop-up window:

For this example we will ‘Continue with presetting’ but still lead you through the settings.

Your application page

You now get to your personal application page and are given a seven-digit application-ID as shown in the top line "Application ID  full name - study programme - status"

You'll see the application number and the name of the study programme followed by a bracket stating which semester you will start in: “1. FS” = first Fachsemester = first (subject-specific) semester/term. The status after the hyphen shows you how far you are with your application - here we're 'in preparation'. Now we can pace through the different tabs on the left-hand side to fill in all the information needed to complete the application.

If you leave the system at this stage and log in again, you’ll start with the Home tab. Either chose an application you have already begun from the table at the bottom, or click on the left-hand tab

and click on the application in the table Applications to be submitted at the bottom of the page.

Then on the next page you can either click on at the top, or on Applicant detail in the right-hand box Information for the application.

Applicant detail

This tab is the extended version of ‘My profile’.
Student-ID, Personal Information and Address information on the left, and Contact information & Health insurance on the right should be self-explanatory.

HINT: read the fine print. This can be besides or below the box itself. It often contains explanatory links. Some links may lead to German webpages within KIT and you might need an (online) translator.

In Address information you might run into problems choosing which part of your address goes where. Compared to the My profile tab you have five lines that have the free text option for your address. Remember: for Town/county you can chose the hyphen as this only applies to towns and counties in Germany. This information is also on the right-hand side of the box but often goes unnoticed.

Double citizenship has irritated a few of you as it says that German citizenship must be specified as the 1^st nationality. This only applies if you have more than one nationality and one of them is German. And to answer the next question: no, you don't have to be German to apply.

When you’ve finished one section remember to  before clicking !

Clicking  or  will take you to the next or previous tab on the left-hand side.

HZB/MZB

Another favourite for questions:

HZB

HZB is short for Hochschulzugangsberechtigung and is your university entrance qualification, or "Proof of university entrance qualification" or "high school diploma/school leaving certificate". Here it's called "Entry qualification".
This is one of the pages that resizes badly on a phone and might cause problems. So try to use a larger screen, such as a laptop, large tablet or desktop computer.
You’ll see explanations on the right as to which choice to make in the drop-down menus. Especially as the portal focusses on German degrees. So for most international students you’ll want to chose:

• District of entry qualification: - (the hyphen at the top of the drop-down list) as this field is only mandatory for higher education entrance qualifications from Germany
• Kind of entry qualification: “Sonstige allgemeine Hochschulreife im Ausland erworben“ - almost at the bottom of the drop-down list. It means 'Other general university entrance qualification obtained abroad' so for if you acquired your school leaving certificate outside Germany.

The hint here is to make sure your dates line up. Your study programme cannot start before your HZB date, etc. If you have no 'HZB' then you could upload your MZB, which brings us to:

MZB

MZB is short for Masterzugangsberechtigung (master's admission qualification), here it's called "Master entry qualification". This is your degree that qualifies you for a master's program, i.e. your bachelor degree. Here again you’ll find explanations to the right and you can upload as many documents as you need. Like in previous descriptions, we're back with the German-specific 'City/District of the Master's admission qualification' so you should know what to do by now (chose the hyphen).

The drop-down list for 'Name of institution' isn't complete and if your uni isn't in there then just chose the hyphen at the top of the list. Your transcripts will show your uni and there won't be any disadvantages if your uni is not in the list.

For 'Type of master's admission qualification' you need to specify the type of master's degree in the original language. For example, in Turkey this would be "Lisans".

One small addition for those of you who have studied two Bachelor degree programmes at the same time (parallel studies): enter both degrees as first degree programmes.

Please remember to upload scans of all your semesters, not just the last few. KIT needs to see all your achievements during your studies, so provide a complete transcript of records. If possible, also include a module handbook that includes credit points, preferably ECTS, and information on the grading system.

Please remember to before moving on!

Extracurricular activities

This is an optional point which isn't shown for all study programmes. It is self-explanatory.

At this point we should mention the  button

It's not as dramatic as it sounds. If you click the  button you will return to the starting page where you can always jump back into adding information to your application without actually submitting it already. Ending will neither log you out nor delete any entries - unless you forgot to  .

Past course

The additional text in this tab is aimed at the German university system. That's why it asks for 'certificates of failure', 'orientation exams', 'practical' and 'holiday semesters'. If you've not studied at a German university, you can skip these parts. If your uni had similar options, then read the info text provided.

The first box asks you about your "Study periods" - not much choice there and if you are applying for a master programme you'll choose "The study periods given below are complete" as you'll be listing your bachelor degree next (and maybe other master degrees).

Former studies

To answer the most common question: yes, you should upload the same documents you uploaded as MZB.
HINT: If you're applying for a master programme and already have a master, please upload your TOR for the bachelor degree, too. Admission committees are looking for fundamental courses, not just the advanced master courses!

You'll come across the three questions at the bottom of the box:

• Have you already taken part in a university-administered examination? According to the text to the right you can probably choose "yes".
• For the questions Have you finally failed to pass an examination in this degree course? and Have you failed to take the orientation exam, preliminary, interim or final examination on time and lost your examination eligibility? you should chose 'NO' as your uni system probably doesn't have anything corresponding to it if you're not in the German education system.

Occupations

The text explains how many hours you're allowed to work while studying. Which is why an excerpt of the Law on Universities, Landeshochschulgesetz/LHG (here §60 (2) Nr.4) is cited. A "mini-job" is a technical description of a specific kind of employment here in Germany. You can skip this part or search the web for 'mini-job Germany' for more information later. It won't affect your application unless the study programme asks for specific previous occupations.

Language skills

For English language certificates

You have a choice of which language certificate you can or will be presenting for enrolment and we need to address four things:

• MOI-certificates (Medium Of Instruction) are not accepted as an English language certificate. For example, 'Water Science and Engineering' applicants with a university or school degree from the USA, Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, Australia or New Zealand do not need to provide a separate language certificate. The same goes for applicants who have completed a degree program in the European Economic Union or Switzerland entirely in English. In this case, the language must be stated on the degree certificate, the Transcript of Records or the Diploma Supplement.
• KIT only accepts specific English language certificates:
  • Internet-based Test of English as Foreign Language (TOEFL iBT) with a minimum score of 90;
  • IELTS with a minimum score of 6.5 and no section under 5.5;
  • University of Cambridge Certificate in Advanced English (CAE) or University of Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English (CPE);
  • UNIcert II certificate.
• Other test results such as TOEIC, CAEL, PTE, Duolingo are not accepted.

It does not matter whether you choose TOEFL and later switch to IELTS, for example. As long as it is a valid test result for that study programme.

• Yes, you can apply without having a language certificate but you will need it for enrolling. And please, don't leave it to the last moment. If your test fails to come up to the standards needed for the enrolment, then you won't be able to enrol, register in the online campus system, file for class assignments, etc. If left too late, you'll also get in trouble for being here on a student visa and not being able to register as student. That and not being a student leaves you without the financial advantages of being able to file for a dorm, student tickets, reduced dining hall prices and other benefits.

For German language certificates

There is a good explanation in the application portal about which test result you'll need, and when, how and why to go for a "preparatory German course at the Studienkolleg" at KIT. There are earlier deadlines for limited spaces in a limited amount of languages courses at KIT. Please read the explanation in the portal carefully and read the web page of the International Students Office before setting the tick for a preparatory German language course.

• You can't study at the same time you're taking the German language semester.
• If you are applying for a study programme with restricted admission (NC), you will have to go through the selection procedure again. This means that you are not automatically guaranteed admission after the language course! And even when you re-apply for a non-restricted programme your application might be rejected due to changes in the programme-specific requirements.

The drop-down list of "German language skills" is in German. If you have no knowledge then "Keine Deutschkenntnise" (=no knowledge of German) is your choice. And, as stated above under point 3 for the English skills, don't leave the language certificate to the last moment.

Special purpose application

This is self-explanatory. Should it apply to you please read up on the regulations mentioned there.

Documents

This is the place where you can add additional documents when asked to do so.

Application summary

This is obviously the summary but also tells you what's missing. Please scroll all the way through the page as further down it will provide the links back to the places in the portal that still need attention. You can only submit if the portal thinks it's got all the information.

You'll be aiming for this box to appear:

If you still can't find out what's missing either ask the International Students Office or send me an email with a screenshot of the application summary page.

Submitting the application

Once you get the OK for all entries you get the   button in the top row and can finally submit your application. Pat yourself on the shoulder for work well done!

The portal will look like this before submitting the application:

And after submitting the top line will change from 'In preparation' to 'submitted' - this neatly leads us to the next question:

First of all the application portal will automatically generate an email confirming your application. The application status changes to "submitted".

Then your application will undergo a formal screening by the International Students Office here at KIT. Depending on the different procedures within KIT it could take weeks before you see any change in the portal.

Step 1a: If any important information is missing then the application status will be set to "temporarily not accepted" which means you'll receive an email and will be able to upload the missing items. Then that's screened again and depending on the result your application will move on a step:

Step 1b: If all documents are ok then the application status will be set to "complete". You'll receive yet another email on the change of your application's status and your application will be open for the admission committee in charge of your study programme.

Step 2: Your application is then processed by the admission committee for that study programme according to the individual rules & regulations.

Step 3: Whatever the feedback is, you will see it in the portal. Don't expect an instant feedback. Should your application status change, you will get an email with a short explanation.

As you can see, you get an email and message in the portal for every time your status changes. The final status of your application can be:

- Admission offered or admission granted if you've been accepted. Then you can accept your study place in the portal and start enrolling according to the information provided. For the next steps and advice see the main help desk page. Depending on what you applied for, you might get an additional PDF from the study programme itself.

- Admission (currently) not possible indicates that your ranking during the NC allocation process is not high enough to receive an admission offer.

- Another offer accepted indicates that your request has been excluded from the admission procedure for one of the following reasons: You have accepted another offer within KIT (for example if you applied for more than one study programme) OR an admission offer has been issued for a request with a higher priority.

- Excluded indicates that the application has been reviewed and rejected due to not fulfilling all the requirements and/or missing documents. The missing documents can no longer be submitted and your application will no longer be considered for admission.

- Declined indicates that you have not accepted or received an admission offer.

- Cancelled indicates that you have withdrawn your application. It will no longer be processed for admission unless you re-submit it within the application period. The withdrawn request cannot be edited as the process has ended.