IB Pathways
Freie Universität Berlin, 2023

Berlin · Germany · Research university

Free University of Berlin

Large research university founded in 1948 in south-west Berlin; its one English-taught bachelor's is North American Studies.

Lear 21 · CC BY-SA 4.0

In English
1 programme
City
Berlin
Apply via
FU application portal, plus a VPD from uni-assist
Next deadline
31 May 2027

Deadlines

  1. 1 March 2027*

    Start the uni-assist preliminary review
    Your own plan
    Details

    Foreign qualifications are normally checked by uni-assist before a university will consider the application. uni-assist says a result usually takes 4 to 6 weeks and asks you to apply at least 8 weeks before the deadline. Starting late is a common and avoidable way to miss an institutional deadline.

    Source

  2. 31 May 2027*

    Medicine group closes for gap-year applicants (leaving certificate before mid-January)
    Hard deadline
    Details

    This deadline applies if your school-leaving certificate predates 16 January of the application year, which for an IB candidate means you took a gap year. Straight from the Diploma, this is not your deadline.

    Published as "31.05.2026 - Ende der Bewerbungsphase (Ausschlussfrist) fuer Alt-Abiturient*innen", qualified "mit einem HZB-Zeugnis vor 16.01.2026". If you take a gap year and apply with your 2027 diploma for 2028 entry, you become an Altabiturient and the deadline moves forward by six weeks. An Ausschlussfrist cannot be extended, and hochschulstart says so explicitly - not even where the applicant is blameless. hochschulstart.de carries only two tables, Wintersemester 2026/27 and an archive of Sommersemester 2026, and no Wintersemester 2027/28 dates exist anywhere on the site. Judging by this cycle the winter table appears in spring, so recheck from about March 2027.

    Source

  3. 15 July 2027*

    Medicine and neighbours close — for applicants with a 2027 certificate
    Hard deadline
    Details

    The deadline for a student applying straight from the May 2027 session. Roughly a week after results, so the paperwork has to be ready before they arrive.

    Published as "15.07.2026 - Ende der Bewerbungsphase (Ausschlussfrist) fuer Neu-Abiturient*innen", qualified "mit einem HZB-Zeugnis nach 15.01.2026". Your IB results arrive 6 July 2027, so you fall in the Neuabiturient group and this is the deadline that matters. Which group you are in turns on the date printed on the certificate, not on when you apply. hochschulstart.de carries only two tables, Wintersemester 2026/27 and an archive of Sommersemester 2026, and no Wintersemester 2027/28 dates exist anywhere on the site. Judging by this cycle the winter table appears in spring, so recheck from about March 2027.

    Source
All dates for this school (1 more)

  1. 6 July 2027*

    IB results released
    Details

    Early July, which is what places an IB candidate in the later medicine group rather than the earlier one.

    Source

* Last year’s date, not yet confirmed.

Every date in Germany

What you could study here

EU/EEA tuition: Free (semester fee only).

North American Studies

BA · 3 yrs

English at C1: an IB counts only from an English-speaking country, else IELTS 7.0 (6.0 in writing), TOEFL iBT 5.0 or FU's…

Humanities

What it asks of IB students

Apply to FU and request a VPD from uni-assist, which checks your IB against the KMK rule and converts it to a German grade. Restricted programmes rank most places on FU's own selection points.

Where it says so

Where it says so

Its IB recognition statement

Worth knowing

The 2027 dates are not out yet (FU publishes them each March); for winter 2026/27, restricted bachelor's took applications from 1 June to 15 July 2026.

All 3 notes
  • The 2027 dates are not out yet (FU publishes them each March); for winter 2026/27, restricted bachelor's took applications from 1 June to 15 July 2026.
  • In winter 2025/26 North American Studies had 62 places and 173 applications: the grade quota closed at a German 1.8, but the larger selection quota admitted down to 22 of FU's points.
  • A semester abroad in the third year, at a North American university or an approved partner, is compulsory.

Sources
  1. FU Berlin — Programs in English (one bachelor's: North American Studies) — checked 2026-09-25
  2. FU Berlin — North American Studies (BA; taught entirely in English; C1 English) — checked 2026-09-25
  3. FU Berlin — Does FU offer undergraduate programs in English? (FAQ) — checked 2026-09-25
  4. FU Berlin — Deadlines for applying, winter semester 2026/2027 (VPD from uni-assist for non-German qualifications) — checked 2026-09-25
  5. FU Berlin Language Center — English exemption for North American Studies — checked 2026-09-25
  6. FU Berlin — Numerus Clausus for undergraduate programs (quotas) — checked 2026-09-25
  7. FU Berlin — NC table, winter semester 2025, mono bachelor's (Nordamerikastudien: 62 places, 173 applications, AdH 22 points, grade quota 1,8, waiting time 2) — checked 2026-09-30
  8. FU Berlin OSA — North American Studies, applicants from outside Germany (older page: apply through uni-assist) — checked 2026-09-25
  9. KMK — Agreement on the recognition of the IB Diploma, English translation — checked 2026-09-25
  10. FU Berlin — Selection criteria in the AdH quota (grade up to 50 points; 10 points for six months' full-time North America-related activity; 50% grade, 50% other criteria) — checked 2026-09-30
  11. FU Berlin — Numerus Clausus (about 20% by grade, 20% by waiting time, 60% in FU's own selection) — checked 2026-09-30
  12. FU-Mitteilungen 17/2026 — Study and examination regulations, BA North American Studies (four of six disciplines; compulsory semester abroad in year three) — checked 2026-09-30
  13. FU Berlin — Facts and figures (founded 1948) — checked 2026-09-30