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How are ECTS calculated if my university does not use the ECTS system?

If your university does not use the ECTS (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System), conversion is typically based on either student workload or academic year equivalency. Below are two common methods:

  1. Workload-Based Conversion
    • General rule: 1 ECTS = 30 hours of student workload
    • Example: Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
    • Course: Fundamentos de Economía, Credits awarded: 10 créditos UC
    • 1 crédito UC = 1 hour of work per week over 18 weeks
    • Total workload: 10 créditos × 18 hours = 180 hours
    • Therefore: 180 hours ÷ 30 = 6 ECTS => 10 créditos UC = 6 ECTS
  2. Academic Year Equivalency
    • General rule: 60 ECTS = 1 full-time academic year
    • Example: Universidad de Chile
    • Program: Ingeniería Comercial
    • Duration: 5 academic years
    • Total credits: 300 SCT-Chile (SCT = Sistema de Créditos Transferibles)
    • Since 60 ECTS = 1 academic year, the full program corresponds to: 5 years × 60 ECTS = 300 ECTS
    • Therefore: 300 SCT-Chile = 300 ECTS => 1 SCT-Chile credit = 1 ECTS

Important
Whenever possible, please provide an official letter or document explaining your home institution’s credit system. This helps ensure accurate conversion.

If you have been accepted for a study place, what are the next steps?

1. Enrollment: First, you must enroll at the university that has been assigned to you. Be sure to pay attention to the enrollment deadlines, as they may vary from university to university. If you miss the deadline, you may lose your place!

2. Secondary Enrollment: After enrolling at your assigned university, you can also enroll at the other two universities. This will give you access to their learning management systems, for example. However, you only need to pay the semester fee once, at your assigned university.

3. Moodle Course at HU Berlin: If you are enrolled at HU Berlin, whether it is your first or second enrollment, please register for the Moodle course for the Master’s program in Statistics: https://moodle.hu-berlin.de/course/view.php?id=38892. General information about the program will be published there.

How do I prove that I have a B1 level of German?

A certificate, report, language diploma, or comparable proof must be submitted; the proof must contain information on the issuing institution, the level achieved, the assessment standard applied, and the date of issue or acceptance of the last examination performance.

The required language level can be demonstrated, for example, by means of a Goethe certificate or comparable proof.

Applicants whose native language is German can also prove that they meet the admission requirement by submitting official documents that show that the applicant learned the relevant language as a first language in early childhood without formal instruction and spent at least eight of the first twelve years of their life in a country in which the relevant language is used as an official language. Proof is deemed to have been provided in particular with the submission of a German university entrance qualification.

How is the grade of the previous first degree calculated if no German grading system is used?

The calculation is done with the modified Bavarian formula and it requires:

1. the best possible grade Nmax,

2. the lowest grade Nmin at which you would still have passed, and

3. your grade Nd, which you received.

Your grade in the German system is then calculated as

x = 1+3*(Nmax-Nd)/(Nmax-Nmin)

The conversion is carried out by the Central Admissions Office at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. In individual cases, the calculation may differ from the modified Bavarian formula.

Example: In the Netherlands, the best possible grade is Nmax=10 and the lowest grade with which you can pass is Nmin=6. If your grade is Nd=8, then in the German system this corresponds to 1+3*(10-8)/(10-6) = 2.5.

How does the admission process work?

1. You submit your application either directly to Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin or via uni-assist.

a) Direct application at HU: Once you have completed your application, the central admissions office of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin will review the non-subject-specific parts of your application (language proficiency, bachelor’s grade, etc.).

b) Application via uni-assist (International Applicants): Your application data will be transferred to the HU system within four weeks after the application deadline. Once your data has been transferred, the central admissions office of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin will review the non-subject-specific parts of your application (language proficiency, bachelor’s grade, etc.).

2. Afterwards, the admissions committee of the Master’s program will review the subject-specific parts of your application over the following three weeks (at least 30 ECTS credits, and how many additional ECTS credits you can present for ranking purposes, etc.).
If your “Abschluss in einem Studiengang mit quantitativer Ausrichtung” is no longer marked as “not yet reviewed” it means that a member of the admissions committee has taken an initial look at your documents.

3. The results of the evaluation will be entered into the online application system, and the application will be returned to the central admissions office of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. If you have questions about your results, please contact: mscstatistics@lists.hu-berlin.de.

4. Official admission or rejection letters can only be sent once all applications have been reviewed, as a ranking of all applicants must be compiled.

The time between the end of the application deadline and the issuance of admission letters depends on the number of applications that the central admissions office of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and the admissions committee of the Master’s program need to process.

I have been successful for another Master’s programme and have to decide whether to accept or reject the admission. What should I do?

Universities often allow you to exmatriculate after a short period of time following enrolment; in most cases, you will also receive a partial or full refund of the fees.

So enrol for the other Master’s programme. As soon as you receive an admission letter for the Master’s in Statistics, exmatriculate for the other Master’s programme and enrol yourself for the Master’s in Statistics.