FAQs Application and Entry

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The German Society for Psychology provides detailed information about the study program on its website.

If you would like to learn more about the contents of the psychology degree program and at the same time test whether your interests and competencies match the study contents, we recommend that you use a free self-assessment center. The German Society for Psychology has compiled a number of assessment centers . Of particular note here is OSA-Psych, a cross-study site orientation service designed to help you find out whether studying a bachelor's degree in psychology is right for you, regardless of which university in Germany you want to study psychology at.

The general student advisory service provides you with information on the following topics:

 

The student advisory service will provide you with information on:

  • Contents of the individual modules in the psychology degree programs
  • Recognition of previous academic achievements

 

You can obtain information from the Student Union about

The B.Sc. in Psychology is admission-restricted, i.e. there is a so-called "NC - Numerus Clausus". This is calculated each year based on the number of applicants and the admission capacity. The value indicates the "worst" procedural grade with which applicants were still admitted. If a large number of applicants with very good procedural grades apply, the NC is very low (e.g. 1.2). You can find more information here.

There is no fixed NC (numerus clausus) in the application process. The classification of your grade always depends on the final grades of the other applicants. The page of previous selection results can serve as a guide. Please note that the grade point average is not your final grade alone, but a combination of your final grade (38%), the result (percentile rank) of the study aptitude test licensed by the DGPs e.V. for the Bachelor's degree program in Psychology (BaPsy-DGPs, 49%) and a relevant school subject in the form of an advanced course (13%). More detailed information on calculating the procedure grade and procedure grade calculator.

Additional selection criteria may also be used.

Below you will find various options for studying Psychology even with a lower grade:

  • Application with waiting period (a maximum of 7 semesters are taken into account)
  • Application via the lottery procedure
  • Study at a distance-learning or private university
    Here, high school graduates can also enrol with lower final grades. However, if your goal is to work as a psychotherapist, find out very carefully whether the new requirements of the PsychThApprO are implemented in the respective degree program. Otherwise, it may be difficult to transfer to a public university or a Master's degree course with a clinical focus at a later date, as it may not be possible to enter the clinical branch.
  • Studying in countries neighboring Germany (Belgium, the Netherlands, ...)
    If you are considering studying for a Master's degree in Germany afterwards, you must apply via uni.assist (for foreign degree certificates). Please note that due to the reform of the PsychThG and the PsychThApprO, there are currently still many uncertainties regarding admission with a foreign Bachelor's degree to the new clinical Master's degree programs (and thus licensure as a psychotherapist).

All information about the BaPsy-DGPs (registration periods and test locations, framework conditions, ...) as well as a voluntary online self-assessment for practice purposes can be found on the following homepage: https: //www.studieneignungstest-psychologie.de. In case of doubt, the information on the website of the study aptitude test applies. Here is an overview of some more information:

The BaPsy-DGPs is a standardized central student selection test that will be introduced at most German universities in the winter semester 23/24 and represents a supplementary, valid admission criterion for studying psychology. The BaPsy-DGPs consists of a general section to measure reasoning skills and a specific section to measure text comprehension and skills in English and mathematics. All components are necessary for a successful degree in psychology. If the voluntary test is not taken, the criterion is included in the procedural grade with a percentage rank of 0%.

Participation in the test is therefore voluntary and is not a prerequisite for admission.However, prospective students are recommended to take part in the test procedure in order to improve their chances of gaining a place at university.

The tests are organized by the "Centre for Scientific-Psychological Services" (ZwpD) and take place as computer-based face-to-face tests in various test centers. The BaPsy-DGP certificate is valid for at least five years, as recommended by the DGPs. During this period, the certificate can be used as often as desired and at all cooperating universities. Participation in the test can be repeated after two years at the earliest.

A test fee of €100 is payable for taking the aptitude test. This is necessary to finance test development, test maintenance, test organization and test implementation. No profits are generated from the test fees. At the present time, hardship compensation for the fees charged does not appear to be legally possible.

Further down the page you will find more information in a video.

Your procedural grade results from a combination of the average grade of your university entrance qualification, the result (percentile rank) of the study aptitude test for the bachelor's degree program in psychology licensed by the DGPs e.V.   (BaPsy-DGPs) and the inclusion of anadvanced course relevant to psychology and shown on the certificate of the university entrance qualification. The following school subjects are considered relevant to psychology: mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, German and English.

The individual criteria are weighted as follows:

  • Average grade of the university entrance qualification: 38%.
  • Result of the study aptitude test (BaPsy-DGPs): 49%.
  • Psychology-relevant advanced course: 13
    • If you can prove that you had one of the above-mentioned school subjects as an advanced course in your Abitur year, this will be included in the calculation of the procedure grade with a 1.0. If you did not have any of the subjects as an advanced course, this will be included with a grade of 3.0. The grade you received in the subject is irrelevant.

Grade calculator for the "Procedure grade" in the "University selection procedure" quota

You can be credited with up to 7 waiting semesters (more information here). Internships or other degrees have no effect on the admission procedure for the Bachelor's degree course in Psychology.

Unfortunately, this approach is not successful because you would lack the prerequisite modules "Introduction to Psychology and its Methods" and/or "Quantitative Methods" (statistics).

Further information about the study program Psychology in general can be found on the website of the German Society for Psychology (no responsibility is taken for external content).

A laptop is the technical equipment of choice!

Why: An essential part of studying psychology is learning how to work empirically and scientifically. The statistical analysis of data sets plays a major role in this. Usually, the free statistical software R is used, which cannot be used on any device. In particular, many tablets are not capable of running the software. We therefore recommend that when choosing a device, you make sure that it supports a full operating system (i.e., Windows, MacOS or Linux).

Grade calculator for the "procedural grade"

If you take part in the application process in the "university selection procedure" quota (not via waiting semesters, ...), you can calculate your procedural grade from your university entrance qualification, aptitude test and advanced course here!

Grade calculator for the "procedural grade": Read More

Study aptitude test explained

All information about the test, preparation and registration

All information about the test, preparation and registration: Forward