Applying to TUM School of Management — An aspirant’s guide

6 min readMay 8, 2021

A big hallo to all TUM SOM aspirants!

I am Angela, a second semester student and would like to take you through the application process for the TUM School of Management — step-by-step.

While most of you enthusiastic TUM aspirants have the application deadlines figured out, frequent questions I am asked on LinkedIn is around the nitty gritty of the actual process. Let’s get started.

Even though the application period almost always begins on April 1st for the Winter semester, it’s best to get started with your uni-assist “Preliminary Documentation” way ahead of time. Although the university kindly warns aspirants of this on their official website, few take notice and others hastily scramble to the finish line (which usually falls on May 31st, although during the pandemic it was extended by a whole additional month.)

What is Uni-assist and why does TUM require a “Preliminary Documentation”?

Uni-assist stands for the “University Application Service for International Students” and can be accessed on Uni-assist e.V. German universities (except for law schools) grade with a scale of 1 to 5: where obtaining 1.0 is “sehr gut” (very good: an outstanding achievement) and 5.0 is “nicht ausreichend / nicht bestanden (not sufficient / failed: an achievement which does not meet the requirements.) And it’s no unknown fact that different countries have their own unique grading systems which can be found here. Since institutions in Germany like the TUM have to process 6000+ applications from students far and wide(once every year), it’s almost impossible to convert the individual grades themselves. That’s exactly why the non-profit organisation — Uni-assist steps in to convert your grades into the German system of grades.

Although it sounds simple and while it really is simple, the catch is that the processing of your VPD usually takes 4 to 6 weeks after they receive the receipt of your Uni-assist application and payment of the handling fee. Find the detailed checklist for this process — here(EN).

Tips: Bear in mind that it is valid for one year after the date of issue. It comes in handy when you defer your admission to the next semester intake. While TUM doesn’t expect you to send any hard copies of your certificates as part of your application, Uni-assist needs notarized copies of your grade transcripts and your final diploma of your High School/Bachelor’s degree for further processing. I suggest you send your notarized documents to Uni-assist via DHL. They offer several student discounts that depend on which part of the Globe you are shipping from. Make sure to enquire at your nearest DHL head office beforehand. As an Indian, they had me pay Rs. 2500 instead of the usual Rs. 5000 for sending documents to Uni-assist.

Here’s a snapshot of the final pdf that I received in e-mail around 3 weeks after I had sent the physical documents to Uni-assist. My Indian Bachelor’s grade of 8.87 translated to a 1.6 on the German grading system.

Once you are done with this, head over to https://campus.tum.de/ and commence your application.

Applying through TUMOnline

Make sure to check out the online guide. It covers the technicalities to advance your way through the portal to a successful application submission.

Apart from the forms on the application portal, here is a list of documents you will need to submit:

1.Passport

2.Current Resume

3.Essay: It will be checked for potential plagiarism. Your essay can make a huge impact on your application if you don’t have the necessary grade points from your prior degree. It can earn you up-to 40 points. To ace your essay, here are some tips.

This was the topic I had to expand on for WiSe 20/21- “Electromobility is attracting attention and one core component of its manifestations (primarily vehicles) is the battery. You are asked to write a scientific assessment on the relevant economic, technical and environmental aspects of recycling of those batteries.”

Update (07.03.2022): The number of students applying to this course has increased significantly. To beat the competition, your application MUST stand-out. If you would like additional support, feel free to drop me an email at angelaroset97@gmail.com and I would gladly review your essay and CV.

4.Preliminary review documentation (VPD)

5. GMAT Score (Optional) — Grants you 10 points if you have successfully scored at least 600 on the test.

Update (07/03/2022): From WS2022/2023, applicants from China, Bangladesh, India, Egypt and Pakistan must submit a GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test) with at least 640 points. For all other nationalities, the GMAT remains optional. I am Indian, and it was optional for me in WS20/21.

6. Evidence of Proficiency in English:

TUM is quite emollient with this step. You can submit one of the following as proof: TOEFL with a minimum score of 88 in the Internet based Test (iBT)/IELTS Academic with a minimum overall band score of 6.5/CPE (Cambridge Proficiency English) or CAE (Cambridge Advanced English) - Grades A,B,C/PTE (Personal English Language Test) Academic with an overall score of at least 65 points.

As an alternative, you may also prove your English language proficiency by submitting evidence that the language of instruction in your prior academic program (e.g. in a bachelor’s). The evidence is essentially your transcript of records or your degree certificate(diploma) that states the language of instruction was English in more than 50% of the program.

If you cracked the GMAT and earned a minimum of 600, then that’s accepted as proof of your English skills.

7. Ranking certificate:

Submitting a “Ranking Certificate” can earn you up-to an extra 15 points. This document is issued by the institution at which you last studied and confirms that you ranked among the best 10–20 % of students. If you are eligible for this, kindly do talk to the Dean/Head of Department at your ex-institution at the earliest as different institutions have different processing times. (Mine took around a good month’s time).

8. Curricular Analysis:

TUM also requires you to quickly jot down the list of subjects you had in your prior studies and their corresponding grades, here. On completion you will be able to download the page as a pdf that has to be further uploaded as a part of your TUM application. Some argue that this would suffice to prove your grades but it’s impossible to be granted an admit without the Preliminary Documentation from Uni-assist.

When you are done completing the entire application, the designated space of your dashboard would look like this:

To sum up, if you ultimately receive 80+ points on your application, you are all set for a fruitful academic life at the Technical University of Munich. Here’s proof:

Warning: Whilst contents of your applications are auto-saved, only complete applications can be processed. An application is complete when all necessary documents have been uploaded before the deadline.

Additional Information: While Master in Management & Technology and Master in Management remain the top choices for a masters degree at TUM SOM, here are other possible programs:

If you have any questions, drop a comment below. Always here to help :) Viel Glück bei der Bewerbung!

Applying to TUM School of Management — An aspirant’s guide

Written by Angela Rose

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