FAQ

The Academic Evaluation Centers (Akademische Pruefstelle - APS) are located at the German Embassy in Beijing, P.R. of China , German Embassy in Hanoi, Vietnam, German Embassy in Ulan Bator, Mongolia and German Embassy in New Delhi, India.
The APS issues a certificate which is a compulsory condition for admittance to any Master Program of the University of Stuttgart, including the INFOTECH Master Program. This rule applies for all applicants with a Bachelor degree from a chinese, vietnamese, mongolian or indian University.

Until further notice: Due to the backlog at the APS India, applicants from India have until the enrollment deadline to submit their APS certificate.

Attesting is the act of certifying that a copy is a 'true' copy of the original. Attesting or attestation is typically done by putting a stamp with words like 'this is a true copy of the original' on the copy, a second stamp identifying the organization or person standing for the statement and has the hand-written signature of the attesting person.
Not every 'private' person can be accepted for attestation. Persons, which by virtue of their business or position qualify for attestation, are lawyers, notary public, embassies and consulates as well as state authorities. We accept further the registrars of universities, deans of faculties and directors of public schools.

INFOTECH is a Master program which builds on fundamental knowledge of subjects like Electrical Engineering, Computer Science and Higher Mathematics. These fundamentals are typically taught in Bachelor programs from a related field. Master programs focus on advancing the basics learned during bachelor studies. Students with a Master in a qualifying field, but with a Bachelor in a non-qualifying field, usually do not have the fundamentals knowledge required for the program. That's why a Master degree does not compensate a Bachelor degree in a qualifying field.
As a consequence, only documents relating to your Bachelor degree should be submitted with the application. Documents pertaining to a completed master degree can not be accepted or taken into consideration.

In almost all systems, the awarding of a Bachelor degree is bound to a number of conditions defined by the study regulation. These conditions are typically a number of examinations to be passed, credit points to be earned and project work. Now we call the collection of all these events as required by the study regulation and the resulting marking or grade the "Bachelor Degree Examination". The Bachelor Degree Examination is therefore characterized by three distinctive elements:

• The 'Passing' statement ("Mr./Ms. xyz has passed the Bachelor of ... Examination ...")
• the Examination result ("..in second class (upper).. with GPA ..")
• the Examination date (".. on January 10, 2004")

The importance is with the statement given by the University, not the document as such, i.e. the statement may be given on different kind of document or combined with the Bachelor Degree Certificate (BDC).

It is requested by law, that the university administration make sure that the applicant possesses a first level academic degree (the Bachelor Degree) at the time of enrollment. If the final document is not available at the time of application, a conditional admission is possible:

• The Bachelor Degree has to be presented by the 30th of November of the first master semester. (Admission in wintersemester)

Providing proof that someone is a student in the eg. 6th of 6 semesters (regular lenght of study) is not adequate. It does not certify that the student will finish within the regular length of study.

It should be noted however, that for the Visa application, German embassies may request these documents even if the university has granted conditional admission.

Conditional acceptance can only be offered in the case that the applicants bachelor degree certificate is not available at the time of application.  Successful applicants who have been granted a conditional acceptance for this reason have then till November 30th of the semester in which they were admitted to submit the missing documents.

Other than this one exception, documents not submitted before the application deadline cannot be submitted at a later date.  This also applies to updated transcripts with new test results.  We can only assess the document that was submitted during the application period.

As an exception to the rule, that only 4-years Bachelor degrees are accepted: Bachelor degrees from German Universities as well as Diploma-Degrees like Dipl.-Ing (BH/FH) with a regular study time of 3-years are accepted.

Admission letter are available online via C@mpus. The admission letters are electronic and valid without signature and seal of the University.

Proof of English Proficiency is a prerequisite for admission. Currently we accept

• TOEFL computer based with 213 points or better,
• TOEFL paper-based with 550 points or better,
• TOEFL Internet based with 80 points or better, ETS
• IELTS with band 6.5 or better, Cambridge English
• CAE/CPE Certificate in Advanced English/Certificate of Proficiency in English Cambridge English
• 'MoI' (Means of Instruction) i.e. a statement by the undergraduate university that the bachelor was entirely taught in English

The nationality of a country, whose official language is English is NO proof of sufficient English proficiency.
TOEFL institutional test results cannot be accepted.

A letter of motivation is not a requirement for applying to the program.

For all documents that we ask you to fill out (Application in C@mpus, Adjunct) please always write your name using the same format you used in C@mpus.  Changing the order, adding middle names or shortening a name can cause problems when trying to assess your application documents.

There are several systems used for allocating marks to exam performance.

In almost all systems, single individual examinations receive a grade (also called marks or marking). A listing of all attained grades is often referred to as a marks sheet or transcript. The "weight" of an individual grade is often expressed by associated Credit Points.

The overall average grade is the (weighted) average of the individual examination grades, which counts for the Bachelor degree, i.e. the "Bachelor Examination" as a result of the averaged individual results, receives the Overall Average (Grade).

Now if this is a weighted grade (i.e. CreditPoint*Grade divided by sum of CreditPoints) in many systems it is called Grade Point Average (GPA) or Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA).

The numerical systems used differ mainly in the highest grade obtainable; examples of scales are 100%, 20, 5.0, 4.0.

When applying for the INFOTECH program only use the value given on your transcript/certificate. Don't worry about average or weighted average. If you have to calculate the value by yourself use the weighted principle for the average whenever possible. If Credit Points are given, the weighted principle should apply.

It is obvious, that non-numerical grades like 'passed' cannot contribute to the average. If your transcripts only provide a non-numerical grade we will need some other form of official documentation from your university providing conversion information.

Each grading/marking system has a best/maximal or end of scale value (e.g. 4.0, 100, 20...). This is the value to determine the grading scale ([GPA Scale]. The highest possible value refers to the scale and not to the best values achieved by someone in class. [GPA Pass Level] refers to the lowest value on the scale to successfully pass the Bachelor examination and being awarded the Bachelor degree.

Admission to INFOTECH is

• Competitive
• non-discriminating and fair
• governed by the academic admission commission

As we have more applications as seats, we have to be selective. Selection is based on a number of criteria. On applications that are submitted within the application period (November 15th - February 15th) can be taken into consideration. In view of fair and equal treatment of all applications, the reason for not meeting the deadline has no importance.

All documents have to be either in English or German language. Documents in a different language (typically national language) have to be provided as copy of the original and translation to English language.

Translations have to be attested by 'official translators'. Official translators are typically those, which are either

• registered by the embassies/consulates
• sworn-in at courts
• accredited by the ministries

For a list of sworn translators you may refer to your local authorities or representatives of your country such as embassies.

Attested copies of documents in English language, issued by the same organizations as the original documents in national language, are accepted as well.

Basically, the University of Stuttgart is a state university of the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg. She has the right to issue final Master documents on their own, stamped with the great code of arms of the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg. It means, there is no further action necessary to use it anywhere and for any purposes. Now, if necessary several means can be taken:

• Verification: We understand verification as the act of certifying that a presented document is genuine, not altered and not tampered with. Our transcripts have a verification code in the footline for online verification requests.
• Attestation: Attestation is used to certify that a copy is a true copy of the document in question. Attestation can be done by many institutions (e.g. notary publics, courts, embassies) and of course the University of Stuttgart itself (INFOTECH Office). As a special service, esp. for the USA, INFOTECH Office offers also the service of sending the attested copy in sealed envelope to the recipient.
• Certification: Some countries/institutions require a certification. Certification is a kind of act of not only stating that the document is genuine, but also that it is issued legally. Two methods are in use. If the embassy of a country needs to certify a German public legal document it bases its statement on a statement of the [de] Bundesverwaltungsamt in Cologne. The Bundesverwaltungsamt bases its statement on a statement of the Ministry of Education in the federal state the university is in. In the INFOTECH case thats the [de] Ministerium für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Kunst Baden-Wuerttemberg - further short «Ministry». So the path is: 1) ask the Ministry, 2)ask the Bundesverwaltungsamt, 3) ask your embassy. The second method, esp. required in parts of eastern Europe, Middle East and Latin America is the Apostille according to the convention of The Hague, 1961. The Ministry will do that.

These informations should only serve as starting point. They are, by no means, comprehensive.