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The 'Studienkolleg'


The most important pre-requisite for permission to study in Germany is eligibility for higher education in one's own country.

If the certificate for this eligibility is not recognised as equivalent to the German 'Abitur' (Advanced Level School Certificate), then a preparatory 1-year study course must be taken - the so-called Studienkolleg.

After receiving an applicant's documents, a university decides whether the DSH examination can be taken immediately or whether the applicant should first take the entrance exam for the Studienkolleg course. The latter is a test of German which is meant to ensure that the lectures of the Studienkolleg will be understood. This entrance exam must be taken: no other diploma in German exempts from this !

Because the available places for the Studienkolleg are limited and the number of applicants is continuously increasing, the failure rates are high!


The German entrance test




This test consists of 4 tasks, for which 120 minutes are available:

1.      Grammatical structure (40 minutes)
Basic grammar is tested through insertion exercises,  transformation exercises, etc.

2.       Oral  (30 minutes)
This is not tested in the Munich Studienkolleg at present.

3.       Reading comprehension


Individual paragraphs or extracts from a piece of text are analysed for, for example, headings, paraphrasing, truth or falsity, summary.

4.       Writing
On the basis of a piece of text and a set of instructions, an individual text of about 10 sentences needs to be written.  

 

In addition, applicants for the 'T' course (see below) need to show ability in elementary mathematics.

After passing this test, applicants need to decide which of the major course streams is appropriate for their desired faculty. The Munich Studienkolleg offers 4 basic directions:
Schwerpunktkurs entscheiden. Es werden im Studienkolleg München vier verschiedene -->

Major course streams

1.       'T' course for mathematics, natural sciences and technical studies.

2.       'W' course for economics and social studies.

3.       'G' course for humanities and German studies.

4.       'M' course for medicine, biology and pharmacology.

Lessons spent at the individual subjects:

German Mathematics Physics
and
Chemistry		 Electrical
IT 
Geometry		 VWL
and
BWL		 Social Studies Literature History Latin or English Chemistry, Biology Physics Latin,Greek, medical terminology
T course 10 10 12 2 - - - - - - -
W course 10 10 - - 10 2 - - - - -
G course 10 - - - - - 6 4 6 - -
M course 10 4 - - - - - - - 16 4


At the end of the Studienkolleg there is the so-called 'Feststellungsprüfung' (Assessment Test) in which a written and an oral examination are taken in 3 subjects, which, if passed, allow studying at a German institute of higher education.


Studienkolleg examination dates for Munich, 2007

The Studienkolleg offers entrance exams twice a year.  Here are the first final dates of application and the exam dates:
                  

Final application dates*

Examination dates
15.01. 12.02.
15.07. 03.09.

* EU applicants can apply immediately prior to the examinations.