Your starting URL is https://bewerbung.studium.kit.edu

Bewerbung = application; Studium = study course or programme

Here we go

As a pre-requisite please create a login, set the language to English in the top right corner and please use a computer, not a smartphone, as you might miss important information due to resizing aspects.

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

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 web page. There should be an English version online soon.

Please remember to  before continuing!

Begin a new application ​

You are on the Home or My Applications tab and click

Choose study programme & starting semester

For this example we’ll use Remote Sensing and Geoinformatics, 1st semester:

Either you search through the dropdown 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 do I only see 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.

Chosing 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 or any course at our BGU Department at the moment. This may of course vary for study programmes at other departments.

Click  - if you have already filled 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

Application portal

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

The name of the study programme is followed by a bracket stating which semester you will start in: “1. FS” = first Fachsemester = first (subject-specific) semester/term. The status 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 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.

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.

Double citizenship has irritated a few of you as it says that German citizenship must be specified as 1^st nationality. This only applies if you have more than one nationality and one of them is German. So to answer the question: 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 is short for Hochschulzugangsberechtigung and is your university entrance qualification, i.e. "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 dropdown 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 dropdown 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 dropdown list. It means 'Other general university entrance qualification obtained abroad' so for if you aquired 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 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 'District of the Master's admission qualification' so you should know what to do by now (chose the hyphen).

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".

Please remember to upload scans of all semesters, not just the last few semesters. KIT needs to see all your achievements during your studies, so a complete transcript of records. Don't forget a module handbook that includes credit points, and even better ECTS, as well as information on the grading system.

And remember to before moving on!

Extracurricular activities

This is an optional point which is not shown for all study programmes. It is self-explanatory though.

At this point we should mention the  button

It's not as dramatic as it sounds. If you click the  button you will merely 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 whole extra text on 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 spent any time in a German university then you can probably brush that aside. Should your uni have similar options, then read the info text provided.

Former studies

To answer the most common question: yes, you are to upload the same documents you uploaded as MZB.

You'll also come across the three questions at the end, one of them ask about finally failing the orientation exam. You can chose 'NO' as your uni system probably doesn't have anything corresponding to it if you're not in the German education system.

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.

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. Search the web for 'mini-job Germany' for more information.

[English] Language skills

You have a choice of which language certificate you can or will be presenting for enrolment. It does not matter if you choose TOEFL but 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 goodies.

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.
If you still can't find out what's missing either ask the International Students Office or contact me.

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.

What's next?

Well, behind the screens this happens: your application will undergo a formal screening by the International Students Office here at KIT. If's ok then your application will then be processed according to the rules. Whatever the feedback is, you will see it in the portal. This isn't an instant feedback. Depending on all sorts of things it could take weeks before you see any change in the portal. But rest assured that if you're admitted you will be notified.

To be continued when more questions pop up...

If you're still stuck you're welcome to ask

@ the KIT International Students Office,

@ your international officer at the department you are applying to

@ or me, Kay Dittner (see below), if that department is Civil Engineering, Geo- and Environmental Sciences.