My university entrance qualification is a high school diploma from the United States. What requirements does my certificate have to meet?
Source: https://www.rwth-aachen.de/go/id/igusp/lidx/1 Parent: https://www.rwth-aachen.de/go/id/drar/lidx/1
Documents to Upload on RWTHonline as Part of Your Online Application
- High school diploma as well as the final transcript showing your academic history from grades 9 through 12 and
- proof of having successfully completed:
- four Advanced-Placement courses, or AP courses for short, as listed on the high school transcript or
- an Associate Degree or
- two years of study at an approved university with courses at college level, as listed on the university transcript or
- the assessment test
Requirements for Recognition as a University Entrance Qualification, in Short HZB
In grades 9 through 12, 16 academic units must have been successfully completed:
| English | 4 units | English IV or Honors or AP English with at least a “C” grade |
| 2nd language | 2 units | |
| Social Studies | 3 units | |
| Mathematics | 2 or 3 units | Algebra II or Trigonometry (11th grade) and Precalculus (12th grade) with at least a “C” grade |
| Science | 2 or 3 units | in the subjects of Biology, Chemistry or Physics with at least a “C” grade in each class |
| Mathematics and Science: a total of 5 units Elective academic units: 2 |
\ If only grades 10 through 12 have been completed at high school, only 3 units are required in the subject of English; the required total of academic units is adjusted to 15 accordingly.
The high school diploma can be accepted as University Entrance Qualification if the following prerequisites are met:
- For studies in mathematics, medicine, the natural sciences, or technology, you must also have taken advanced placement exams, or AP exams for short, and have passed four of them scoring at least “3” or higher in the following subjects:
| Mathematics | AP Calculus AB or BC |
| 1 natural sciences subject | AP Biology or AP Chemistry or AP Physics C (AP Physics C: Mechanics and AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism) |
| 1 language | AP French or AP Spanish or AP Latin or AP German or AP English Literature or AP English Language and Composition |
| 1 additional subject comparable to those taken in 11th or 12th grade in a German “Gymnasium” or “Gesamtschule” | for example AP European History, AP American History, AP Computer Science or AP Macroeconomics (0,5 credits per unit) and AP Microeconomics (0,5 credits per unit) |
These exams must have been completed during your time at high school.
- For studies in the arts and humanities, social sciences as well as business and economics, you must also have taken advanced placement exams, or AP exams for short, and have passed four of them scoring at least “3” or higher in the following subjects:
| English | AP English Literature or AP English Language and Composition |
| 1 foreign language | AP French or AP Spanish or AP Latin or AP German |
| 1 subject in mathematics or a natural science | AP Calculus AB or BC or AP Biology or AP Chemistry or AP Physics C (AP Physics C: Mechanics and AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism) |
| 1 additional subject comparable to those taken in 11th or 12th grade in a German “Gymnasium” or “Gesamtschule” | for example AP European History, AP American History, AP Computer Science or AP Macroeconomics (0,5 credits per unit) and AP Microeconomics (0,5 credits per unit) |
\ \ These exams must have been completed during your time at high school.
Please note: An Advanced Placement exam in the subject of German is accepted as proof of sufficient language skills for admission purposes.
- You have completed an Associate Degree, which must have been conferred by an approved 2-year college and was comprised of college-level classes that satisfy the general education requirements\ The following prerequisites must also be fulfilled:
- Proof of having taken five separate general education subjects, among them English, a foreign language, mathematics, and a natural science and of which at least three subjects must have been taken in three classes of advancing difficulty
- You have successfully completed two years of study at an approved college or university and your curriculum consisted of college-level classes that satisfy the general education requirements and fulfill the following prerequisites:
- Proof of having taken five separate general education subjects, among them English, a foreign language, mathematics, and a natural science and of which at least three subjects must have been taken in three classes of advancing difficulty
- Proof of having obtained at least 50 percent of the required credits for a Bachelor’s degree
- You have also successfully completed the assessment test, provided your high school diploma shows that you have attained an unweighted cumulative grade point average, or CumGPA, of 3.0 or higher.
Additional Information
- “Academic units” are all classes successfully completed in a given subject over a whole year, as shown on the high school diploma as amounting to 1 credit.
- Courses taken at American colleges or universities only count as “college-level,” if they are comparable to those taken by students in the higher grades of “Gymansium” or “Gesamtschule” in Germany. That means:
For Mathematics
| Accepted | Not accepted |
|---|---|
| College Algebra | Pre-Algebra |
| Elementary Algebra | |
| Intermediate Algebra | |
| Elements of Modern Algebra | |
| Developmental Mathematics |
\ \
For English
| Accepted | Not accepted |
|---|---|
| Courses from “College Composition” level onwards | Speech |
| English as a Second Language | |
| Introduction to Writing | |
| Developmental English |