Universität Bonn

Department of Economics / BGSE

APPLY at the BGSE
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How to Apply

We encourage outstanding (top 10%) students with a university degree (bachelor or master) in economics or related fields, such as mathematics, statistics, business administration, accounting, and finance, to apply for admission.

Three Steps to Apply

1.

Make yourself familiar with the program and admission requirements before you apply.

2.

Read the online application guide carefully and prepare your documents.

3.

Go to the online application portal of Bonn University (open from November 15 until January 15).

If you have already registered you can check the status of your application.

  • The application deadline for the program starting in October is January 15.
  • We will accept documents in either English or German. If you have documents written in other languages, you will need to provide a certified translation in either English or German.
  • Incomplete applications will not be considered. In particular, letters of recommendation and other necessary documents that arrive after the deadline imply that the application is incomplete.
  • If you have not yet completed your university degree but will do so before the BGSE program starts, you are of course also invited to apply. In that case, you will be asked to enter relevant information about your current studies during the online application process.
  • PLEASE NOTE: You will need to present a GRE score report and two letters of recommendation to be considered for a scholarship as well as for the conditional offer for the doctoral program

If you do not intend to go for a doctoral degree, you may want to apply for our regular MSc in Economics.

Application Requirements

You will need the following documents to apply for the MSc/Economic Research Program (incl. a grant application and conditional offer to proceed to our doctoral program):

  • Bachelor's or master's degree in economics or related fields, such as mathematics, statistics, business administration, accounting, and finance.

It is no problem if you have not finished your BSc or MSc degree when applying but you must have finished your previous study before the BGSE program starts in October.

  • GRE Score Report (General Test Format)*

The average quantitative GRE score of our successful applicants have been 165. There is no point in applying if your GRE quantitative score is below 160. If you have not reached 160 points, we recommend you to re-take the exam and apply once you have improved your score. You will need to present a GRE score report to be considered for a scholarship as well as for the conditional offer for the doctoral program.

  • TOEFL or IELTS  (academic format) score report is required if English is not your first language or if the language of instruction of your previous degree is not English (curriculum must have been taught exclusively in English)* 

A TOEFL iBT score of at least 100 with at least 23 in each of the 4 sections is the minimum requirement. IELTS in the academic format is also accepted. The minimum requirements for your IELTS score are overall 7.0; reading 6.5; listening 6.5; writing 7.0; speaking 6.5. There is no point in applying if your TOEFL iBT or IELTS score is below that. If you have not reached these scores, we recommend you to re-take the exam and apply once you have improved your scores.

  • Two letters of recommendation (uploaded by your professors)

Furthermore, you need to ask two of your academic teachers to provide a confidential letter of recommendation to the BGSE. Please ask your professors to preferably address the following two questions: Does the candidate belong to the top 5% or top 10% of his or her cohort (size of the cohort)? Is the candidate likely to perform well in a competitive, structured PhD program with high analytic content? Once you have completed your application, your professors will get an automatically generated email (this may take up to 24hrs) with some instructions and an upload link.

  • Statement of Academic Purpose

Your Statement of Academic Purpose should outline your academic background, research interests, and career goals, ideally articulating how these align with the expertise of our faculty members. The statement should also explain your specific research areas of interest and your objectives for graduate study.

  • Curriculum Vitae
  • Academic transcripts/certificates (transcript of record, university certificate/s, diploma supplements - of all degrees you have obtained or are currently pursuing).
  • APS Certificate (applicants with degrees from Chinese, Vietnamese and Indian universities): Applicants who have both the original APS certificate and the "Nachzertifizierung" are required to submit both. For more information, please consult our FAQ

* We recommend you instruct Educational Testing Service (ETS) to send the score report directly to the BGSE. The ETS code number of the BGSE is 1359. In exceptional cases you can upload a PDF of the GRE score report with the online application. Note that the original has to be handed in prior to registration. We cannot accept a screenshot of your score from your personal account with ETS.