A guide for

international
students
BACHELOR’S DEGREE COURSE APPLICATIONS
AND ADMISSIONS AT HAW HAMBURG
Welcome! Located at the heart of a fabulous, dynamic city which
people from right across the globe call home, HAW ­Hamburg
is Germany’s third largest vocationally-focused higher
education institution, with a wide range of Bachelor’s and
Master’s degree courses on offer in subjects as diverse as
engineering, business studies, life sciences, design, media
and practice-based social sciences. We’d love to welcome
you soon as one of our approximately 17,000 students.

Studying at HAW Hamburg means small classes, plenty of

practical experience, and lecturers with strong track records
in the real world of work. You’ll benefit from teaching in
accordance with the latest insights, innovative research
methods, down-to-earth explanation of complex issues,
and an environment where your ideas count – whether you
want to design aeroplanes, develop computer games, care
for people or conduct nutritional research. Our students
and staff are looking forward to you joining us.

We’ve compiled this guide specially to help you, as an

WHY NOT TAKE YOUR FIRST international student, navigate the application process for
STEP INTO A SUCCESSFUL FUTURE a place on a Bachelor’s degree course at HAW Hamburg.
Our Student Center teams are always on hand if you need
BY APPLYING TO STUDY AT a little extra help – you can contact us by email, give us
HAW HAMBURG? a call, meet us at one of our information events, or make
an appointment for a one-to-one chat.

Our Student Admissions and Registration Office (Studie­

rendensekretariat, StS) can help you on all admissions-
related matters, while our Student Counselling Team
(Zentrale Studienberatung, ZSB) can guide you in picking
the course that’s right for you. The International Office (IO)
has all the answers on issues like funding your studies,
residence permits, finding accommodation, life on campus,
and language courses. If you are or have been a refugee,
our Kompetenz Kompakt project offers courses to help you
prepare for your studies and support with the transition
to full student life.

Your application journey: ready, set, go!

 YOUR WAY TO JOINING HAW HAMBURG

Contents
Ahoy
3.
Health insurance

there!
– a must
p. 15
8.
HAW Hamburg: who we are in 120 seconds Got everything
HAW Hamburg in figures Getting started; your timetable and
HAW HAMBURG together?
It’s your choice 1. preparatory courses; OE Week;
p. 12
pp. 6-8 Accepting International Welcome Week; our
your place weBuddy scheme; language courses;
p. 14 scholarships and funding; useful links
1.
31 pp. 18–21
7.
When can you apply?
ul
Don’t miss the

Successf
31 p. 9 deadline
p. 12

2. 5.
Proof of language Finding
proficiency accommodation
p. 9 9. p. 16
5.
Pre-course Submitting your
ZEUGNIS
2.
experience; online application
Sorting out 4.
portfolio p. 13
funding Your residence status and
p. 11 pp. 14–15
3. PASSPORT applying for a visa
Do you qualify? p. 16

sful
p. 10

Unsucces
PASSPORT

6.
Entering and
residing in 10.
GETTING READY
ANTRAG

Germany Your supporting

Thank you for applying –
p. 11 documents YOUR APPLICATION
all the best for your future
4. p. 13
AFTER APPLYING
Your document check
with uni-assist WELCOME!
p. 10
4 5
 HAW Hamburg: HAW HAMBURG IN FIGURES

all about us
38 3
38 Bachelor’s degree courses Bachelor’s degree courses
to choose from (two in run jointly with the University
HAW Hamburg is northern Germany’s leading higher
cooperative form and a further of Shanghai for Science
education institution with a focus on real-world, sustainable twelve available as cooperative and Technology
solutions to today’s and tomorrow’s societal challenges, programmes)
undergirded by academic reflection and first-class
37
approximately

17,000
research. Delivering outstanding degree courses via
top-quality teaching is our key priority and commitment Master’s degree courses
to our students, and we are also currently consolidating (including eight continuing students
our growing research reputation. People from over education courses, one of which
is in cooperative form)
100 nations across the globe are shaping our institutional
almost

200
present and future – we believe that our diversity is
our strength. about

2,500 partnerships with

higher education institutions
HAW HAMBURG: international students from over worldwide
100 countries
WHO WE ARE IN 120 SECONDS

401 492
https://youtu.be/q0h5Iomi5sw

(Figures correct as of winter semester 2018/19)

professors adjunct lecturers

399 486
employed research technical and
and teaching lecturers administrative staff

6 7
 LET’S GET GOING! – THE FIRST 10 STEPS TO YOUR DEGREE COURSE

IT’S YOUR CHOICE Getting ready

Ahmad:
I’d like to study at
Sara: HAW Hamburg.
I know what degree
course I want to do.
How do I apply?
HAW Hamburg: Good
choice! Do you know which
HAW Hamburg: We don’t run entrance field you want to study in? Are
examinations, unless you’re interested in a you thinking of a specific 31
course in our Design department. We’ll degree course? Or aren’t you
assess your application on the basis of your sure yet which courses might
academic qualifications to date, backed up by suit you? Why don’t you try
1. WHEN CAN 2. PROOF OF LANGUAGE
your exam certificates or official school grade out our HAW Degree Course YOU APPLY? PROFICIENCY
reports, and other documents. But there are Navigator or come and have a
a few things you’ll need to think about before face-to-face chat? We’re sure
you begin your application. Read this guide to find answers together. You’ll need to choose a specific degree For your application to be accepted, you’ll
carefully to find out how to prepare and how course and find out when the application need to prove that you have achieved the
to make sure your application shows us your period for that course is. You can check required language competency level in
qualifications and abilities. this on our website. Application periods are the course language (German or English).
usually: You can check the course language in the
– for winter semester: 1 June–15 July information on your chosen degree
– for summer semester: 1 December– course published on our website. See the
*Proof of English for the Information Engineering degree course:
15 January information box on the left for details for
– Please note: The application period our Bachelor in Information Engineering.*
– A recognized language test: – A degree completed in English
for non-EU applicants for the
Test Minimum Score –A degree completed in a majority English
Information Engineering degree You may need to take a test of your
BULATS 65 speaking country
course is 1 April to 31 May. language proficiency. The test will need
Cambridge FCE grade B –A year of study successfully completed
to take place at least one month before the
CAE at a university in a majority English
application period opens, so that you can
CPE speaking country (as defined by the UK
receive your certificate in enough time
IELTS 6.0 Home Office: Antigua and Barbuda,
NB: Admission to degree courses to submit it with your application. Make
Pearson PTE General level Australia, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize,
offered by our Design department is sure you check when the test you need
3 PTE Academic 59 Canada, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana,
subject to your score in a test of artistic takes place.
TELC English B2 Jamaica, New Zealand, St Kitts and Nevis,
aptitude, which takes place before the
English B2-C1 St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines,
application period starts. Make sure
University Trinidad and Tobago, USA)
you check dates and deadlines! All in good time:
TOEFL IBT 87 –T he general university entrance
You’ll need to start planning for your
(Institution PBT 550 qualifi­cation from a secondary school
application at least three months before
Code: 8226) CBT 220 in Germany with a score of at least
the application period opens.
8 points in English

8 Getting ready 9
 AN TR AG

Note: Some institutions use uni-assist for their entire

applications and admissions procedures. HAW Hamburg doesn’t;
all uni-assist does is issue the VPD. You apply directly to HAW Hamburg;

ZE UG NI S
4. YOUR DOCUMENT you’ll need to submit your application documents, including your VPD
from uni-assist, to the Student Admissions and Registration Office,
CHECK WITH UNI-ASSIST Stiftstraße 69, 20099 Hamburg.

You will need to request what is known as

3. DO YOU QUALIFY? preliminary review documentation (Vorprü-
If you would like to study for a creative arts
fungsdokumentation, VPD) from uni-assist,
degree in our Design department, you
an organisation which checks qualification
documents from outside Germany for
5. PRE-COURSE will need to submit a portfolio of between
If you want to study at a higher education
institution in Germany, you’ll need what’s
German higher education institutions. They EXPERIENCE; PORTFOLIO 20 and 30 examples of your work, such
as monochrome or coloured drawings or
will check whether your academic qualifica-
called a Hochschulzugangsberechtigung sketches. The portfolio forms part of the
tions permit you to study at HAW Ham-
(HZB) – a school-leaving qualification which test of artistic aptitude you will need to pass.
burg, and will also map your final grade/s Some HAW Hamburg degree courses
is accepted for admission to a degree
onto the German grading system so you require you to have completed up to
course in Germany. The anabin database
and we know the level of achievement 13 weeks of pre-course experience. You’ll
will tell you whether your school-leaving
which your grades are equivalent to. It can need to demonstrate a minimum of 9 to
qualification is accepted by German higher PAS
SPO
take up to eight weeks for uni-assist to 13 weeks of experience relevant to the
6. ENTERING AND
RT

education institutions. If it says you will

check your documents, so you should course of your choice, which will help you
need to go through a Feststellungsprüfung/
Studienkolleg, this means you will have to
make sure to apply for your VPD at least gain insights into the fields most closely RESIDING IN GERMANY
two months before the application period related to your future studies.
take an extra preparatory year before
for your chosen course opens. You get
being allowed to study for a degree course
your VPD by following these steps: Make sure you check the information on If you are from a non-EU country, you will
in Germany. You can do this either in
your chosen course on the HAW Hamburg need to make an appointment for a visa
Germany, at a recognised Studienkolleg, or
–H ave the certificate confirming your website; if you have any questions, the application as soon as you have entered
at a university in your home country, where
school-leaving qualifications (and your appropriate advisor will be happy to help into the process of applying to HAW
you will need to study for at least two
Bachelor’s degree certificate, if applicable) you. Pre-course experience provides you Hamburg. It may take up to three months
semesters.
translated into German or English and a with a basic level of practical experience for your visa to be approved and issued.
certified copy of the certificate and the which you will be able to expand on during We recommend you start this process as
If you completed your schooling in China or
translation made. You can find certified your degree course. It also, in fields where soon as you can, to ensure that you will be
Vietnam, you will additionally have to have
(‘beeidigte’) translators working in it is not mandatory, makes your application able to travel to Germany in time for the
your documents checked by the academic
Germany here: https://search.bdue.de/ more likely to succeed and will put you start of your course. You’ll need initially to
screening service ( Akademischen Prüfstelle,
–R egister for the VPD procedure; make at an advantage once you’re enrolled on apply for a student applicant visa (Visum zur
APS) of the German embassies in Peking,
sure you read all the relevant information your course – students who haven’t done Studienbewerbung), which you can later
Shanghai or Hanoi. You’ll need a certified
carefully before entering your data. Then 13 weeks of pre-course experience will convert to a student visa (Visum zu Studien­
copy of the APS certificate for your next
pay the administration fee. have to complete this requirement by their zwecken). A useful link with information on
step in the application process.
–S end your certified copies of your fourth semester. the process is here.
certificates and their translations to
uni-assist in Berlin. Their address is on
their website.

10 Getting ready 11
 UP TO THE NEXT LEVEL …

Your application

8. GOT EVERYTHING 10. YOUR SUPPORTING

TOGETHER? DOCUMENTS

Check that you have all the documents you Submit all your application documents
need for your application (including your
9. SUBMITTING YOUR by post to the Student Admissions and
31 VPD from uni-assist, your proof of language ONLINE APPLICATION Registration Office, or come along and
proficiency, etc.). Here’s a checklist to help hand them in to us in person. The
you. If you are from a non-EU country, you address is Studierendensekretariat, HAW
7. DON’T MISS THE can increase your chances of a place by Fill in our online application form and send Hamburg, Stiftstr. 69, 20099 Hamburg.
DEADLINE submitting additional documents, such as it off. The link to the form is at the bottom We can’t accept applications or supporting
a letter of motivation, your CV, transcripts of the page. Make sure you remember your documents by email. Make sure you
of prior studies at institutions of higher application number and password, as you get everything to us as early as possible
You can only apply within specific education, certificates of completed will need these later on too. Please note: in the application period. We can’t
application periods (see step 1 on page 9). practical experience, and work references. The online application gateway is only accept applications that reach us after
It’s better to check application periods This factsheet lists factors that increase open during application periods. the application deadline, or incomplete
and deadlines once too often than to your score in our assessment system for applications where you do not provide
overlook something and miss a deadline. international applications. any missing documents (such as language
We can’t make exceptions for late test results and certificates) before the
applications! EU applicants need to do the HAW Degree deadline.
Course Navigator self-assessment before
applying. These online self-tests relate to Everything submitted? Good luck!
NB: When you register
a range of different degree courses. We Daumen drücken!*
with Hochschulstart, you will be
don’t assess or rate the results.
assigned two registration numbers which
you will need later in the process.
All applicants should check whether their
Don’t lose them! Make sure you are using
chosen degree course participates in the
the same email address for all
Hochschulstart procedure. Hochschulstart * ‘Holding your thumbs’
procedures relating to your application,
is an online gateway which helps German (Daumen drücken) is the
so that your online application can
higher education institutions coordinate way you wish someone
link up to Hochschulstart and the
their admissions processes. Click on this link luck in Germany.
Degree Course Navigator.
to find out, and follow the instructions there.

12 Your application 13
 NEARLY THERE: FIVE MORE STEPS TO GO

After applying
3. HEALTH INSURANCE –
A MUST

acceptance form (don’t forget to sign it!) You need proof of adequate health If you are from a non-EU country, you can
and submitting any further documents insurance to register at a German higher present proof of travel health insurance
requested – the Student Admissions education institution. Your insurance when enrolling, but you will need to take
and Registration Office will tell you if this should meet the standard stipulated by out German health insurance within two
is the case and what you need to submit. Hamburg’s Ausländerbehörde (office for months of your arrival in Germany. We
You’ll also need to pay your semester residents of non-German nationality). If you strongly recommend you choose a state
contribution. If you don’t accept your place are privately insured, your insurer should (as opposed to private) health insurer.
within the specified period, it will go to complete certification of private health
someone on the waiting list. insurance cover to submit to the Ausländer­ If you do choose a private insurer, you will
1. ACCEPTING YOUR behörde. need to additionally go to a state health
PLACE insurer, show them proof of your private
You will need to submit confirmation of policy, and get a Befreiungsbescheinigung
health insurance when enrolling as a (confirmation of exemption), which you
Once you have submitted your application, student of HAW Hamburg. EU students then submit to the Student Admissions and
our colleagues in the Student Admissions who wish to remain with their home Registration Office. You can only get a
and Registration Office will check it carefully
2. SORTING OUT system or insurer will need to present their Befreiungsbescheinigung in the first two
and process it. We receive several FUNDING European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) to months after you enrol at HAW Hamburg.
thousand applications each semester, a German state health insurer, such as If you miss this deadline, you may be
so this may take some time. There is the Techniker Krankenkasse or AOK, which deregistered, which will invalidate your visa
additionally an admissions committee for You’ll need to consider carefully how you will then issue a Befreiungsbescheinigung or residence permit. (You’ll need to
non-EU applicants, made up of a range are going to fund your course. Part of the (confirmation of exemption). prove health insurance to get a residence
of members of HAW Hamburg, whose job visa application process involves proving permit – see below).
it is to choose applicants for the available you have sufficient funds (in a blocked
places. Please be patient and understand account, via a scholarship or someone
that this process takes time. As soon as else’s formal declaration that they will
NB: Private and travel health insurance policies often
your application has been decided upon, support you). You will require funds of
fail to meet this standard. We recommend that international students take
you will receive notification to check your around 8,700 Euro per year for expenses
out state health insurance (gesetzliche Krankenversicherung, GKV).
application account in the myHAW system, like your rent, your health insurance (see
Make sure you are able to cover the premium, which in the case of GKV will
for which you’ll need your login data below), food, your semester ticket, and so
be around 95 Euro a month. If you don’t pay for two months running,
from step 9 of the application procedure. on. You will be allowed to undertake paid
your insurer may inform us and we may be forced to deregister you,
work for a few hours per week, but you
which will lead to the loss of your student status and consequently
If you’re among those who receive an offer need to remember that your studies will
of your residence permit. In other words, your insurance will be one of
of a place, you will need to accept it within take up a lot of your time and you may
your most essential bills while you are in Germany.
a specific timeframe, by filling in the not find a suitable job immediately.

14 After applying 15
 student residences (Studentenwohnheime) WHY NOT DRAW UP AN INDIVIDUAL CHECKLIST?
PASS
POR
T
run by the Studierendenwerk as soon as
you’ve sent off your application for a place
at HAW Hamburg, because waiting lists are
4. YOUR RESIDENCE often up to six months long. You should
also look for private rentals or rooms in
STATUS AND APPLYING privately rented shared flats or houses
FOR THE CORRECT VISA (called Wohngemeinschaften, or WGs). But
never pay for a viewing and never transfer
money to a landlord, prospective flatmate
Students from EU countries don’t need a or agent until both you and they have
visa or residence permit to study in signed a rental agreement. Ensure you
Germany, but they do (as do all Germans) understand the contract’s terms and ask
need to register their address with their the International Office or the AStA (HAW
local Einwohnermeldeamt, which in Ham- Hamburg’s student representation body)
burg may be called a ‘customer service for help if you’re worried.
centre’. Students from outside the EU will
need a residence permit in order to study When you have registered your address
in Germany. If you already have a student with the Einwohnermeldeamt, which you
applicant visa (Visum zur Studienbewerbung) need to do within two weeks of arriving in
(see step 6 on page 11), you will now be Hamburg, you will be given a Meldebe­schei­
able to convert it into a student visa (Visum nigung (proof of address, or proof of
zu Studienzwecken). If you don’t have any residence). This is an important document;
visa or residence permit yet, make an you will need it for a lot of things as you
appointment as soon as possible with your set up your life in Hamburg, such as getting
nearest German Embassy or German a mobile phone contract, sorting out
Consulate-General. health insurance, opening a bank account
or accessing your blocked account. The
Meldebescheinigung confirms that you have
a fixed, registered address in Germany.

5. FINDING
ACCOMMODATION

Start looking as early as possible for

somewhere to live during your course. It’s
very difficult indeed to find affordable
accommodation in Hamburg. You should
register your interest in a room in the

16 After applying 17
Welcome! Your future GETTING STARTED

starts here.
GETTING STARTED INTERNATIONAL WELCOME WEEK
Now you’ve arrived in Germany, are The International Welcome Week takes
enrolled on your degree course with us, place a week before the OE events. It gives
and have sorted out all the formalities – you the chance to meet students from
time to turn your attention to your studies. other faculties and home nations, explore
Hamburg, and find out important informa­tion
YOUR TIMETABLE AND on issues relating to your degree course
PREPARATORY COURSES and your residence in Germany.
Shortly before the start of the new
semester, your department will publish OUR WEBUDDY SCHEME

y
timetables and details of preparatory weBuddy is a scheme that matches inter-

o
courses and induction and orientation national students just starting their courses

A h
events on their website (find it here). at HAW Hamburg with a ‘buddy’ – a more
Make sure you check your HAW Hamburg advanced student from the same faculty.
email regularly, because you will Your buddy can help you find your feet
receive important information this way. here, answer any questions you might have,
and support you in building your social life.
Please note for the Information Engineering There are numerous events each semester

!
degree course: A preparatory course in for participants in the scheme, helping

re
mathematics will be offered at the beginning you get to know people and perhaps

h e
of September. Make sure to sign up for it. make new friends.

t
OE WEEK LANGUAGE COURSES
Each department puts on its own induction HAW Hamburg students can take part in
events, called Orientierungseinheiten (OEs). language courses – there’s a wide range
First-semester students on Bachelor’s of languages and levels on offer.
degree courses have detailed OEs that last
about a week (hence the name ‘OE Week’) SCHOLARSHIPS AND FUNDING
and include information briefings, events to If you do well in your course, get good
help you to get to know other students and grades and are involved in supporting
staff, lectures and talks, faculty tours and intercultural life at HAW Hamburg in
leisure activities. particular or in Hamburg in general, you
are eligible to apply for an academic
scholarship (Leistungsstipendium) or an
‘Engagement-Stipendium’ for international
students committed to helping others.

Welcome! 19
 Useful links Our faculties and departments
https://www.haw-hamburg.de/english/about-us/faculties-departments.html

Dates of semesters and teaching periods (in German)

(A semester is the higher education term for half of the calendar year;
there are the winter semester (1 September-28/29 February) and the summer
semester (1 March-31 August). Within these, there are teaching periods
(Vorlesungszeiten). The rest of the time is known as the vorlesungsfreie Zeit)
bit.ly/HAWHHVorlesungszeiten

General information for international applicants and students

https://www.haw-hamburg.de/english/international-degree-students.html
Forms for registering your address and applying for a residence permit
https://www.hamburg.com/welcome/forms/

HAW Hamburg’s Facebook page for international student Finding the appropriate Hamburg authority for your needs (in German)
bit.ly/HAWHHFacebook-Seite bit.ly/Behoerdenfinder-Hamburg

Information on admissions, admissions quotas, and admission Studierendenwerk website

criteria at HAW Hamburg (in German)*: (where you can register for a room in a student residence
bit.ly/HAWHHVergabeverfahren and find out about studying and living in Hamburg)
https://www.studierendenwerk-hamburg.de/studierendenwerk/en/home/

Informationen über den Semesterbeitrag, Finanzen und Förderungen:

https://www.haw-hamburg.de/international/internationale-studierende/
finanzen-und-foerderung.html Browse ads for rooms in shared flats/houses here
bit.ly/Wohngemeinschaften

Information on student finance and funding, scholarships/support,

and the HAW Hamburg semester contribution
https://www.haw-hamburg.de/english/international-degree-students/ Website of Hamburg’s public transport service (HVV),
tuition-fees-scholarships.html with timetables, network and journey planner
https://www.hvv.de/en

* The information in this link is valid only for Bildungsausländer*innen, that is,
school leavers without German citizenship who attained their
Hochschulzugangsberechtigung in Germany via the regular route
(not at a Studienkolleg), and for citizens of EU states.

20 21
 SPACE FOR NOTES SPACE FOR NOTES

22 23
WHERE TO GET ADVICE ON STUDYING AT
HAW HAMBURG AND CHOOSING A COURSE

Student Counselling Team

Rooms 121/122
Stiftstraße 69 / 20099 Hamburg
T + 49 40 428 75 - 9110
studienberatung@haw-hamburg.de

Drop-in hours:
Mondays and Tuesdays  11 am –1 pm
Thursdays 2 pm – 5 pm

INFORMATION ON APPLICATIONS,
ADMISSIONS AND ENROLMENT

Student Admissions and Registration Office

Ground floor
Stiftstraße 69 / 20099 Hamburg
T +49 40 428 75 - 9898
studierendensekretariat@haw-hamburg.de

Drop-in hours:
Mondays and Tuesdays  11 am –1 pm
Thursdays 2 pm – 5 pm (2 pm – 4 pm in non-teaching periods)

All reasonable care has been taken to ensure the information in this guide is correct.
Most recent update: August 2019
International Office HAW Hamburg

Picture credits:
p. 12 and p. 16:
David Ausserhofer/HAW Hamburg
Design: Sandra Spitzer

HOCHSCHULE FÜR ANGEWANDTE

WISSENSCHAFTEN HAMBURG
Hamburg University of Applied Sciences
HAW-HAMBURG.DE