Degree guide
How to apply for a computer science master’s in Germany
A German CS master’s is either German-taught or English-taught. Those are different language files. Tuition, the semester contribution, and the blocked account are different lines of money.
Pick the language route before the portal
German-taught programmes ask for a German exam. TestDaF, DSH, Goethe, telc, and the DSD are the names you will see. English-taught programmes usually still name IELTS, TOEFL, or PTE, including a section floor. “Without IELTS” is the German-taught route, or a programme page that explicitly accepts another English test. It is not a blank language box. Print the page. If you cannot point at the sentence, do not apply as if the sentence exists.
Paste that floor into the eligibility matchmaker with your transcript scale. A 10-point GPA stays on the 10-point scale. Do not convert it yourself and then also upload the original. The office converts from the original. The matchmaker’s label is a comparison with the numbers you pasted. It is not an offer from a university we have not read.
What the year actually costs
Read the tuition line and the semester contribution as two lines. A public university headline about low or no tuition does not pay your rent. For the visa, one accepted way to show living money is a blocked account. The Federal Foreign Office says the amount depends on the purpose of stay, follows the BAföG maximum, and is published by the German mission that handles your application. Provider fees sit on top. The money is released monthly after you arrive, so it is your living money counted once. Type the mission’s figure into the cost calculator. Do not add a full year of rent on top of it unless the rent is a separate bill the blocked account does not cover.
The CS file
Departments look for programming coursework, mathematics, a project, or a job that used those skills. A career-change essay works when it names the bridge and fails when it only names enthusiasm. The statement should say in the first screen whether the programme is German-taught or English-taught, then name a module you opened and the project that connects. Grade the draft. If you asked the tool to invent a publication, it will ignore that request and grade the text you actually wrote.
A gap of a year in testing or junior work is explainable when the dates are written down. An empty year is the problem. The readiness meter scores the explanation, not your nationality, and it does not produce an approval percentage.
Order of work
Week 1: choose German-taught or English-taught and book the exam you do not yet hold, if the page requires it. Week 2: transcripts. Week 3: the statement and the module you looked up. Week 4: the mission’s funding figure and the statements in the sponsor’s name. Week 5: submit one complete application. The university deadline is not the visa decision date. Start the document list while you wait for the offer.