Preselection procedure

In order to improve the quality of the Master's degree program in Architecture, the department has introduced a mandatory pre-selection process for which

1. work samples
2. a curriculum vitae and
3. a letter of motivation

must be submitted. These documents serve as proof of subject-specific aptitude and must be submitted by all applicants for a place on a Master's degree course in Architecture. It is not possible to apply for a place on a Master's degree program in Architecture without mandatory participation in the pre-selection procedure.

The legally binding framework conditions of the pre-selection procedure can be found in the Examination Regulations for the Master's degree program in Architecture of the Department of Architecture Urban Planning Landscape Planning dated 20 May 2020.

• You must prove your subject-specific aptitude for the Master's degree program in Architecture by submitting work samples of your own choice.
• A minimum of twelve pages and a maximum of 18 pages of work samples inDIN A4 landscape format must be submitted.
• If work samples are submitted in a larger format (e.g. DIN A 3, double pages, ...), these pages will be counted several times (e.g. as two pages with work samples).
• Only the pages on which work samples are (exclusively) visible are taken into account, i.e. cover sheets or tables of contents are not counted. The letter of motivation and the CV are also not counted as work samples. It is strongly recommended that the individual parts to be submitted (work samples, letter of motivation and CV) are consistently separated and not combined on individual pages.
• If work samples were created in group work, all persons involved in the work must be named and the presentation should focus on the applicant's own contribution to the work.

The letter of motivation should include:

1. Reasons for applying for a place on the Master's degree course in Architecture at the University of Kassel as well as personal expectations of this course,
2. concrete information on specific study interests and intended areas of focus with reference to the structure, content, Master's specializations and objectives of the Kassel Master's degree course in Architecture.

The letter of motivation must be written in German and should be approximately 3,000 characters long (including spaces).
The reasons for the application should be described in accordance with points 1 and 2, each with approx. 1500 characters (including spaces).

• If it is determined during the examination that individual parts of the required application documents are missing, the examination will be terminated and the applicant will not be admitted to the further procedure. In this case, the applicant will receive a formal letter of rejection.
• The individual members of the selection committee evaluate all criteria independently of each other and the criteria are weighted equally.
• The overall score is calculated from the arithmetic mean of the individual assessments, rounded up to whole numbers of points.
• The pre-selection for the admission procedure is passed if at least 35 points out of a possible 50 points are achieved.
• If the pre-selection is passed, the result is valid for two semesters (for two application periods).

The documents for participation in the pre-selection procedure must be submitted via the upload portal.

Register in the upload portal. This requires you to enter your first and last name, your current e-mail address and your date of birth. At the end of the registration process, enter a password of your choice and accept the terms of use and privacy policy.

Upload portal

After successful registration, you will receive an activation link and a personal registration number (ID) by e-mail.

If you do not receive an e-mail with an activation link, this is due to the e-mail address you provided. In this case, please repeat the registration process and make sure that the e-mail address is spelled correctly.

You can now log in to the upload portal with your e-mail address and password and upload your documents. During the upload process, the name of the submitted PDF file will be changed: The new file name is formed from the personal registration number (ID) and your surname.

Upload the required documents in a PDF with a maximum size of 15 MB. Other file formats will not be accepted.

After uploading, you can open your PDF file yourself and check whether you have submitted the documents in the form you intended. The selection committee will only review the submitted documents after the submission deadline.

It is possible to replace the PDF file that has already been uploaded with an updated version. In this case, the existing PDF file will be overwritten with the updated version, so all required documents must be combined in one PDF file.

After the successful update, a confirmation e-mail will be sent automatically to confirm receipt of the PDF file.

Documents for participation in the pre-selection procedure that are not submitted via the upload portal cannot be considered in the procedure.

The assessment criteria can be found in the Examination Regulations for the Master's degree program in Architecture of Faculty 06 Architecture - Urban Planning - Landscape Planning dated May 20, 2020 §7 Proof of subject-specific aptitude.

The documents submitted will be reviewed and evaluated by a selection committee. Only if the documents have been submitted in full and on time will the individual parts be awarded assessment points. Important aspects for the assessment are

• Quality of the work: Conceptual strength, design quality and level of elaboration.
  Technical aspects will be assessed as well as the interest and plausibility of the solution, architectural quality and innovative content. The work samples should show a representative cross-section of the applicant's own previous work.
• Presentation and graphic layout: Structure of the presentation and choice of means of presentation.
  Comprehensibility (content and structure), aesthetic quality (graphic design) and linguistic expressiveness (textual design) are assessed.

• If it is determined during the examination that individual parts of the required application documents are missing, the examination will be aborted and the applicant will not be admitted to the further procedure. In this case, the applicant will receive a formal notice of rejection.
• If the required number of pages with work samples is not met or is exceeded, the applicant will receive a formal rejection letter.
• The individual members of the selection committee assess all criteria independently of each other and the criteria are weighted equally.
• The overall score is calculated from the arithmetic mean of the individual assessments, rounded up to whole numbers of points.
• The pre-selection for the admission procedure is passed if at least 35 points out of a possible 50 points are achieved.
• If the pre-selection is passed, the result is valid for two semesters (for two application periods).

The following criteria will be evaluated:

a) Concept of the work samples: Each member of the selection committee will award a maximum of 20 points for the coherent conception and, where applicable, execution of the work presented in accordance with elevated professional standards, taking into account in particular the aspects of architectural design quality and innovative content.

b) Presentation and graphic layout of the work samples: Each member of the selection committee will award a maximum of 20 points for the appropriate choice of means of presentation, with particular consideration of the aspects of expediency, clarity and comprehensibility (content and structure) as well as aesthetic quality (in the case of graphic means of presentation) or linguistic expressiveness (in the case of text as a means of presentation).

A maximum of 40 points can be awarded by each member of the selection committee for the work samples.

Four points are awarded for each criterion in the assessment of the letter of motivation. In addition, two points are awarded for correct spelling, fluent expression and correct form, i.e. a maximum of ten points from each member of the selection committee.

Letters of motivation that are 25% shorter (2250 characters or less) or 25% longer (3750 characters or more) than the required 3,000 characters (including spaces) will not be considered in the pre-selection process. In this case, the applicant will receive a formal letter of rejection.

The review and evaluation of the submitted documents only begins after the end of the submission period and takes approx. 6 weeks. As soon as the pre-selection process is completed, you will be informed by e-mail that a notification has been deposited for you in the upload portal. In the notification, you will be informed of the number of points you have achieved.

You can now apply for the Master's degree program in Architecture with the notification that you have successfully passed the pre-selection procedure. You must enclose a copy of thenotification with your application documents, otherwise your application for admission to the Master's program cannot be considered.

All applicants who have not passed the pre-selection procedure can take part in the next pre-selection procedure. There is no restriction on participation. It is recommended that you revise your documents if you wish to participate again. You must also register again via the upload portal in order to upload your documents.

Pre-selection procedures always take place at the following times:
01.04. to 30.04. for the next winter semester
01.10. to 31.10. for the next summer semester