prospective students/application
After enrollment, you will receive your access data for your personal FU account via ZEDAT at FU Berlin. This includes an FU email address, which will be used to send important information and instructions. Please check your emails regularly! If you prefer to use a different email address, you will need to activate the forwarding service in order to avoid missing any information.
Attend the orientation events. Here you will find the corresponding list with all information; the core subject is crucial here. In these events and meetings, you will receive important information about your institute and can meet instructors, responsible persons, and mentors.
Get to know Blackboard. Blackboard is the central e-learning platform of the FU, where your instructors and mentors create courses, provide materials and information, and communicate via the distribution list or forum. If you have registered for a course through Campus Management, you will usually have automatic access to Blackboard. You can log in here with your FU account: https://fu-berlin.blackboard.com/
Familiarize yourself with Campus Management. You can learn how to use the web functions and manage your account here.
Set up Webex. The digital offers of FU mainly take place through the Webex service.
Install the necessary software for the FU WLAN Eduroam. FU Berlin provides all members of the university with the overarching WLAN Eduroam. Please inform yourself before your first visit to FU and install the necessary software.
Don’t hesitate to ask questions. Both your instructors and mentors are there to help you with your first steps in your studies.
If you have not completed your degree (high school diploma or undergraduate) in Germany, you will have to apply through Uni-Assist. Uni-Assist checks your documents and transfers your grades into our system but the admissions decisions are made by the Freie Universität.
The online application form, information about the address, the procedure and the fees can be found on the Uni-assist website:
Many of the degree programs on offer at Freie Universität Berlin in the arts or natural sciences are “combined bachelor’s degrees.” This means that they consist of one core subject (roughly equivalent to a “major”) and either two modules from other subject areas worth 30 credit points each or one module from another subject area (roughly equivalent to a “minor”) worth 60 credit points. When applying for a combined bachelor’s degree, you must apply for the core subject and the additional module(s) that you would like to attend for your application to be considered complete.
All the necessary information can be found at: https://www.fu-berlin.de/en/studium/bewerbung/bachelor/index.html.
The application period for the winter semester is from 1st June to 15th July each year. For an application for the summer semester it runs from 1st December to 15thJanuary
You can still apply as a regular international student via uni-assist. If you face difficulties with getting your visa, please contact one of the professors on the programme, who may be able to offer support. If you have already signed up for courses, please inform the respective lecturers about the situation, and discuss with them how you can catch up in case you miss the first weeks of the semester. Even if your visa application takes longer, you won’t lose your admission – provided that you are enrolled at Freie Universität and pay the semester fees.
The Mentoring Department, which was established in the winter semester 2012/2013, organises the mentoring programme and offers first-year students the opportunity to take part in group mentoring in their core subject. The main objectives of this mentoring programme are to support students at the beginning of their studies, to assist them in planning their studies, developing learning strategies, writing term papers, and dealing with or reducing exam anxiety. The programme also provides information about the comprehensive range of advisory services offered by the Department of Philosophy and the Humanities and Freie Universität Berlin and encourages and supports networking among students. In the mentoring groups first-year students of a subject (mentees) are guided by experienced students (mentors). In addition, the Mentoring Department, in cooperation with the institutes and the Career Service, organizes events to support students at the beginning of their studies as well as in their transition to professional life.
Registrations for courses are done through Campus Management: https://www.fu-berlin.de/sites/campusmanagement/
Please make sure to register for the courses you wish to attend within the first three weeks of the semester in Campus Management. If you decide not to attend certain courses, please remove them accordingly. After this period, changes to bookings can only be made by the examination office, and this will only happen in justified exceptional cases.
If you encounter issues with registration, you can also contact the instructor of your course.
In September 2023, the new department International Student Support began its work. Building on the expired projects "ISFU - International Students at the FU Berlin" and the "Welcome Open Office Hour", the International Student Support will implement various measures to support international prospective and current students. The measures are geared towards the complete student journey and pursue the following goals: improving the information available to international students, facilitating their connection to the FU Berlin and supporting their academic success. In addition, the International Student Support aims to provide information and advice that is sensitive to diversity and discrimination across all departments. In order to achieve these goals, the International Student Support team will be active in three areas: Advising, Information Management and Event Organization.
The FUB Language Center is responsible for testing the special language requirements.You can find more details on the website.
The Mentoring Department, which was established in the winter semester 2012/2013, organises the mentoring programme and offers first-year students the opportunity to take part in group mentoring in their core subject. The main objectives of this mentoring programme are to support students at the beginning of their studies, to assist them in planning their studies, developing learning strategies, writing term papers, and dealing with or reducing exam anxiety. The programme also provides information about the comprehensive range of advisory services offered by the Department of Philosophy and the Humanities and Freie Universität Berlin and encourages and supports networking among students. In the mentoring groups first-year students of a subject (mentees) are guided by experienced students (mentors). In addition, the Mentoring Department, in cooperation with the institutes and the Career Service, organizes events to support students at the beginning of their studies as well as in their transition to professional life.
Since October 2023, the International Student Support team has been sending out a monthly newsletter with information, event announcements and tips for international students at FU Berlin.
The language requirements for the subject English Philology are knowledge of German (at least C1) and English (at least B2.2). You can find the recognised certificates to prove your English language skills here: https://www.sprachenzentrum.fu-berlin.de/en/sprachtests/index.html.
Since English Philology has an admission restriction, your Abitur (high school diploma) grade is crucial for the admission procedure. You can check the NC values from previous years here: https://www.fu-berlin.de/en/studium/bewerbung/allgemein/nc/index.html.
Information on the documents required for an application for our degree program can be found on this website: https://www.fu-berlin.de/en/studium/bewerbung/bachelor/dt-hzb/index.html.
You can find all information about the department (address, telephone, e-mail, homepage) and the general study structure on the following website: https://www.fu-berlin.de/en/studium/studienangebot/grundstaendige/englische_philologie_kombi/index.html.
Modules are teaching and learning units that cover thematic, methodological, and other subfields or focuses of your study program. Your study program consists of a series of mandatory or elective modules. These typically consist of several (usually two two-hour) courses of different types (e.g., lecture, introductory course, seminar, tutorial, etc.) focused on a specific subject area. Modules are concluded with a module examination (e.g., exam, term paper). More information about the mandatory and elective modules in your program, as well as the examinations, can be found in the study and examination regulations: https://www.geisteswissenschaften.fu-berlin.de/we06/lehre_und_studium/Studiengaenge/index.html
You may qualify to apply for benefits under the Federal Training Assistance Act (BAföG). You can find more information on this at: https://www.fu-berlin.de/en/einrichtungen/service/studierende/studwerk/bafoeg-studwerk/index.html.
Freie Universität offers the opportunity to apply for the Deutschlandstipendium scholarship. You can find more information at: https://www.fu-berlin.de/en/sites/deutschlandstipendium/index.html.
In addition, there are always advertisements for student jobs at the university, for which you can of course also apply: https://www.fu-berlin.de/en/universitaet/beruf-karriere/jobs/index.html