Application process
Find out well in advance about admission prerequisites for applicants with non-Swiss upper secondary school-leaving certificates, the documents required for online application and submission deadlines.
For successful application we recommend proceeding as follows.
ETH Zurich offers a varied range of Bachelor’s degree programmes in the following areas:
- Architecture and Civil Engineering
- Engineering Sciences
- Natural Sciences and Mathematics
- System-oriented Natural Sciences
For detailed information on the Bachelor’s degree programmes offered see the range of Bachelor’s degree programmes.
The current ETH admission requirements are country- and certificate-specific. They are published on the website of external pageswissuniversities.
These requirements are updated annually and are valid for the respective current application period only.
Please understand that we are unable to assess your upper secondary school-leaving certificate until we have received your application and all documentation.
The main teaching language in all ETH Zurich Bachelor’s degree programmes is German.
It is your responsibility to acquire the language skills required for your studies. ETH offers no language courses for applicants.
For admission to Bachelor’s degree studies our German language requirements must be met by the application deadline (31 March). You may be required to submit a German language certificate.
Applications with invalid, insufficient or missing language certificates will be rejected after 31 March on formal grounds.
Be sure to start gathering the required application documents early:
- Current passport photograph: in colour
- Copy of valid passport / identity card
- Curriculum vitae / Resume: Examples in German DownloadCurriculum vitae (PDF, 81 KB) / DownloadCurriculum vitae (DOCX, 20 KB)
- Upper secondary school-leaving certificate*
- School reports from the last three school years
- Certificate of university admission*: if required
- University transcripts: if you have already undertaken a course of studies
- Diploma certificates, transcript of records, diploma supplement, etc: if you have already completed your studies
- German language certificate*: if required
- DownloadSigned declaration of consent (PDF, 86 KB)
Notice: Please note that the maximum size of the documents should be 5 MB.
*Certificates and documents which are not yet available at the time of application must be uploaded according to eApply specifications as soon as you receive them, and certainly by the published deadlines.
An official translation into German or English is required for any document which is not written in German, Englisch, French or Italian. Translation must comply with our Downloadbinding standards for translations and transcripts (PDF, 147 KB).
Please do not upload any letters of motivation, distinctions (e.g. Olympiaden or Känguru awards), portfolios, employment reference letters or internship certificates. These are not relevant for admission to Bachelor’s studies and will not be considered.
You may apply for one Bachelor’s degree programme only.
Apply for your desired Bachelor’s degree programme via eApply. Please complete the online application form fully and truthfully.
You will be guided through the online application step by step. Please note that your entries must be substantiated by uploading the required documents (curriculum vitae, academic record etc.). Please note that the maximum size of the documents should be 5 MB. At the end of the application process you will be automatically directed to the payments page to pay your application fee by credit card. You will receive a confirmation of receipt by email as soon as you have submitted your online application.
If you require help in filling out the eApply application form, please read the eApply help page before contacting us. If technical problems arise, please complete and submit a Feedback / Support form.
An application fee is charged. Please note that this fee is non-refundable.
It is only possible to pay the application fee by credit card, PostFinance E-Finance, TWINT or Google Pay.
It is possible that our bank will not accept credit card payments from certain countries on security grounds. Ask your bank about available international transaction options. Applications can only be fully completed and submitted after the fees have been paid.
After receiving your application we will check and consider it. Please understand that this process can take up to eight weeks.
If any of the documents required to process your application are missing, we will contact you. In this case you will receive an email instructing you to log in to eApply and to upload the missing documents by a certain deadline. It may happen that this email lands in your spam folder; we ask you to check it as well.
You must upload any academic records and documents which are not yet available at the time of application to eApply according to specifications as soon as you receive them, and certainly by the published deadlines.
The processing status of your application is shown on the “Zusammenfassung” page on the upper left.
“started” status is displayed until all data have been entered, documents have been uploaded, the fee has been paid and the complete application has been submitted. Please note that the application can only be submitted during the application period. After 31 March (23:59 Central European Time) you will no longer have access to your application.
“submitted” status is displayed after the application fee has been paid and the application has been submitted. We are now able to view and consider the application.
“under review” status is displayed until the admission decision has been made. After an application is received it may take up to eight weeks to process it. If an application is incomplete or further documents are needed, you will receive an email instructing you to log in to eApply. There you will be told what documents you must change and/or additionally upload.
“decided” status is displayed after we have made the admission decision and uploaded it to eApply. You may then open and download the admission decision. Depending on the decision (with or without an entrance examination) you will need to take further steps. If admission has been refused (e.g. because language certificates are missing or insufficient) no further steps apply.
“registration” status is displayed if you fulfil the requirements for admission without an entrance examination. If you wish to accept the university place, you must submit certain documents (e.g. the upper secondary school-leaving certificate) in the original. As soon as we receive these original documents we will send an email confirmation. After we have checked all of the documents required to register for studies we will send you an email instructing you to check and confirm your personal details. If you already have a semester correspondence address in Switzerland you may enter it at this time.
“registered” status is displayed once you have confirmed your personal details and we have issued a confirmation of registration for studies.
“matriculated” status is displayed if the student has been matriculated.
You will generally receive access to ETH online services, your confirmation of matriculation and your student ID from the Registrar’s Office at the beginning of September.
“withdrawn” status means that you have withdrawn your application yourself. This is final; please note that you no longer have access to your application. If you withdraw your application during the processing period, processing will stop and you will receive no further correspondence. The application fee will not be refunded.
Applicants who fulfil the requirements for admission without an entrance examination will receive an information sheet for new Bachelor’s degree students with their admission decision.
The documents required to register for studies and for matriculation must be sent by post and/or uploaded in eApply. The upper secondary school-leaving certificate, the verification of a university place (if required), the German language certificate (if required) and any translations must be submitted in the original. Copies / certified copies are not accepted.
In eApply you will be told which documents must be submitted by post, and which documents must be uploaded in eApply. All original documents will be returned to you during the first Autumn Semester.
After we have received all of your registration documents we will send you an email asking you to check and confirm your personal details in eApply. Once you have done this, you may access your confirmation of registration in eApply.
All Swiss universities require the upper secondary school-leaving certificate in the original in order to issue a Swiss matriculation number (small yellow sticker with your individual student number, which will be attached to the back of the school-leaving certificate).
Applicants who are required to sit the ETH entrance examination will receive, with their admission decision, an information sheet on the entrance examination and information on the documents they must upload in eApply in order to register for the entrance examination.
If you would like to sit the entrance examination you can register for it in eApply between 15 September and 15 October 2024. After 15 October 2024 registration will no longer be possible.
In eApply you will be told what documents you must upload in order to register for the entrance examination.
The examination fee must be paid by credit card in eApply during the registration process.
After you pass the entrance examination you may be asked to submit certain documents in the original (upper secondary school-leaving certificate, language certificate, etc.) in order to register for studies and for matriculation.
In eApply you will be told which documents must be submitted by post, and which documents must be uploaded in eApply.
