FAQ – Applying

Contacts:

Admission requirements:

Application procedure:

Costs and funding opportunities:

Whom should I contact if I have questions on admission, relevant documents or enrollment?

Direct all your inquiries regarding admission and enrollment (incl. enrollment fees) to HTW Berlin. On the HTW Berlin, please contact with the Student Service Center regarding all issues, that is relating to applications, admission and enrolment. Metropolia UAS has no role in admission/enrollment procedures, even though the studies start in Helsinki.

Do I have to speak German or Finnish to study the ConREM programme?

All lectures are held in English. You are not required to demonstrate a command of either German or Finnish. We do however require proof of a sufficient command of English. As a basic command of German will be of great assistance in managing your everyday life in Berlin, HTW Berlin provides additional German language lessons.

There are several public and private institutions in Berlin that offer German courses, e.g.:

Do I require professional experience when applying?

If you can provide a proof of more than two years of professional experience, you will be awarded a German-Finnish degree title. However, you can still apply to the ConREM Master's study programme directly after your Bachelor’s degree, without two years of professional working experience. Nevetheless at this case, you will only be awarded a degree title from the HTW Berlin.

Can I apply to the ConREM programme, if I only have a B2 English language certification (IELTS 6.5)?

Withtin the application for the ConREM programme, the C1 level English language certification is a mandatory requirement. It means that, if you apply with a B2 language certification, your application will be classified as 'unpassed' during the document evaluation process, consequently you will automatically receive a notice of refusal. All in all, no exception applies, even if your language certification is very near to the C1 level (e.g. IELTS test - 6.5.)

Furthermore, it is not possible to equalize the admission requirements with each other. It means that, it is not possible to successfully apply with a B2 English language certification, even if you have several years of working experience. 

To check, which kind of language tests are accepted, please visit the ‘Command of the English language' site.

Do I have to provide a C1 level English language certification, if my first academic studies were exclusively in English language?

Unfortunately, we cannot consider your Bachelor studies exclusively taught in English language, as an equivalent certification with a C1 level English language exam. Therefore, yes. Also, at this case you will have to provide a C1 level English language certification. To check, which kind of language tests are accepted, please visit the ‘Command of the English language' site.

Which Bachelor’s degree do I require for an application?

A successfully completed first academic degree in a construction-related programme such as Construction Engineering or Architecture qualifies you to apply for ConREM. A Bachelor’s degree in “Facility Management” and in individual cases “Immobilienwirtschaft” (Real Estate Management) taught at HTW Berlin are also considered suitable. Construction-related professional experience only, is not considered sufficient.

What should I write in the exposition on the content and purpose of academic assignment?

You are required to write an essay of at least two pages on the content and purpose of academic research and the purpose of academic assignments at Master's level at universities of applied science covering the following the questions:

  • what could be the subject of such academic/methodological work?
  • what could be the aim of the academic assignmen?
  • what kind of scientific methods are used in Master's study programmes and what is there purpose?

To sum up, you are required to describe the nature and possible scope of an academic thesis at Master´s level in general terms:

  • the subject,
  • methodology used,
  • possible/hypothetical results and
  • the structure (title, chapters, volume) of the presented work.

Please explain your experience and expectations regarding scientific methods and the role of science in a Master's programme.

What are the requirements for studying in a Master’s programme in the European Education Area?

The description of the educational levels Bachelor, Master and PhD degrees in terms of scientific work is to elaborate a framework of comparable and compatible qualifications for their higher education systems, in terms of workload, level, learning outcomes, competences and profile. The content of the so-called Dublin Descriptors also undertakes to elaborate an overarching framework of qualification for the European Education Area.

Within such frameworks, degrees should have different defined outcomes. Bachelor and Master level degrees should have different orientations and various profiles in order to accommodate a diversity of individual, academic and labour market needs. Bachelor level degrees should give access, in the sense of the Lisbon Recognition Convention, to Master level programmes. Master level degrees should give access to doctoral studies.

In order to clarify the requirements of this Master’s programme the following differentiation and explanation can be used.

Knowledge and understanding
  • Bachelor: is supported by advanced text books with some aspects informed by knowledge at the forefront of their field of study
  • Master: provides a basis or opportunity for originality in developing or applying ideas often in a research context
  • Doctor: includes a systematic understanding of their field of study and mastery of the methods of research associated with that field
Applying knowledge and understanding
  • Bachelor: through devising and sustaining arguments
  • Master: through problem solving abilities [applied] in new or unfamiliar environments within broader (or multidisciplinary) contexts
  • Doctor: is demonstrated by the ability to conceive, design, implement and adapt a substantial process of research with scholarly integrity is in the context of a contribution that extends the frontier of knowledge by developing a substantial body of work some of which merits national or international refereed publication
Making judgements
  • Bachelor: involves gathering and interpreting relevant data
  • Master: demonstrates the ability to integrate knowledge and handle complexity, and formulate judgements with incomplete data
  • Doctor: requires being capable of critical analysis, evaluation and synthesis of new and complex ideas
Communication
  • Bachelor: of information, ideas, problems and solutions
  • Master: of their conclusions and the underpinning knowledge and rationale (restricted scope) to specialist and non-specialist audiences (monologue)
  • Doctor: with their peers, the larger scholarly community and with society in general (dialogue) about their areas of expertise (broad scope)
Learning skills
  • Bachelor: have developed those skills needed to study further with a high level of autonomy
  • Master: study in a manner that may be largely self-directed or autonomous
  • Doctor: expected to be able to promote, within academic and professional contexts, technological, social or cultural advancement

Source: Shared “Dublin” descriptors for the Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral awards - Draft 1.31 working document on JQI meeting in Dublin on 23/03/2004PC, page 4

How do I apply via uni-assist?

A step-by-step guide to apply via uni-assist can be found on the HTW website.

Who can I ask about the status of my application?

Questions about your application status can only be answered by the Student Service Centre at HTW Berlin. Professors generally have no information about this matter.

Are there any scholarships or sources of funding which I can apply for?

ConREM Students who have two years of professional experience (and can thus obtain a degree from Helsinki Metropolia) and Finnish students apply in Helsinki for an Erasmus+ scholarship for their stay in Berlin in the third semester. ConREM students without two years of professional experience (and who thus cannot obtain a degree from the Helsinki Metropolia) apply in Berlin for an Erasmus+ scholarship for their stay in Helsinki in the second semester. All funding opportunities are summarised on the HTW Berlin website.

HTW Berlin does not award full scholarships for ConREM students!

For German applicants, the best solution is BAföG (German state grant and loan). Students of all other nationalities should make inquiries in their home country as to whether their government provides financial assistance for studying abroad.