Admissions requirements
You must have completed an undergraduate degree (bachelor's or equivalent) in order to be admitted. If you do not yet have your undergraduate degree at the time of application, please indicate when you will receive it on the online application form. You must complete all of your undergraduate academic course work and exams before 1 September 2023 in order to start your studies at the Hertie School.
How to apply – a step-by-step guide
So you're interested in one of our master's programmes but don't know where to start?
No need to panic! We’ll take you through the process step by step.
Please note that the procedure of submitting your letter of reference, as mentioned in the video, has changed. You can find more information about this in step 3, below.
Step 1
Create an online account in our applications portal and follow the step-by-step instructions. Fill in the online application carefully and completely. Incomplete applications cannot be accepted.
Step 2
Please upload the following required supporting documents to the online application portal:
- Your current CV indicating your academic background, work experience and voluntary activities. Please do not include a photo on your CV.
- A letter of motivation explaining your specific interest in the study programme and how it relates to your professional aspirations. Your letter should be 500-900 words.
- Copies of official academic transcripts of all attended universities. Every transcript must include a transcript key (an explanation of the grading system). If not in English, we require a certified translation into English. Hard copies are not required until after acceptance into the programme.
- A copy of an English proficiency certificate (for non-native speakers). For more detailed information about which tests and minimum scores are accepted, please consult our Frequently Asked Questions section. Please note that English test results can be provided after you submit your application to the Hertie School. You must send the certificate to the admissions team per e-mail at grad-admissions[at]hertie-school[dot]org. The deadline to submit English test results is 1 June 2023.
All documents, including letters of reference, must be submitted in .pdf format.
Step 3
- Current students and applicants who graduated from their most recent degree in 2023, 2022, or 2021 require two academic letters of reference to complete their application.
- Applicants who were awarded their most recent degree in 2020 or 2019 require two letters of reference but can provide one professional letter in place of an academic one, to complete their application.
- Applicants who were awarded their most recent degree before 2019 require two letters of reference to complete their application. If no academic references are available, two professional letters of reference may be supplied.
Once you have submitted your application, your referee will receive a link via email requesting them to upload a letter of reference on your behalf. You will receive a confirmation email once your letter has been uploaded.
Please keep in mind that:
- academic references are preferred
- only the referees’ institutional email addresses will be accepted for academic letters of references
- you must remind your referees if you have not received the confirmation email
For more information about letters of references, please see the application portal or our FAQs.
Step 4
An application can be saved and revisited until it is "submitted". Once submitted, the application will no longer be accessible to the candidate.
All documents must be submitted in English. Please note we are not able to return any application materials.
Students who submit their application by 30 November are eligible for our early bird offer.
The priority deadline is 1 February and the final deadline for applications is 1 May.
Please keep in mind that only complete applications will be evaluated. It is the responsibility of applicants to make sure they submit all required documents and that the submitted documents are valid.
To increase your chances of receiving a full or partial scholarship, you are encouraged to apply by 1 February. Applications are accepted until 1 May.
Selection criteria
All applications are assessed on the basis of the following criteria:
- Personal suitability (40%)
CV, professional experience, entrepreneurship, international experience, civic engagement.
- Academic excellence (40%)
Strength of academic background, academic performance - grades/transcripts, general academic qualification, linguistic qualification.
- Motivation (20%)
Convincing motivation to study international affairs, motivation to study at the Hertie School, overall coherence.
