Admission to ETH Zurich and managing finances questions

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1
Hello, this might get long or complicated. But I am running out of time for preparation and need to get started.

So, I am a power engineering student from an abet accredited school. I have two semesters left to graduate and I am aiming for the Enegry and power electronics masters program at ETH Zurich.

Now, my gpa is 2.3/4 which is below the admission threshold. Also I finished my program in 8 years, the norm is 5 years.

The reason for my delay in graduation and shit gpa is that I got cancer plus several auto-immune issues since day 7 at my undergrad degree. So my grades took a major hit, by the time I was able to function again it was too late to save my gpa.

So, I started working on my lab projects and I finished around 70% of what they teach at this post-grad degree, so I can design converters starting from analytical, simulation and currently doing lots of hardware projects.

After reading this here are my questions:

1- How can I boost my admission potential ?

2- is there is any scholarships for cancer survivors/people with disabilities there ?, would that boost my admission potential ?

3- It is required to have at minimum a 10k euros per year, can a part time job cover these expenses ?

Thanks for your time .

2
You have to prove you have the money in advance, or you won’t even get a visa.

3
Those are not good grades. Can you work with your institution to remove the time during which you were sick from your records?

4
#3, the student visa requires 11K CHF per year in the bank. Careful with exchange rates, these days 10K EUR is only ~10,300 CHF.

Working is up to you but you're limited to 15 hours a week during the semester, 40+ during vacations. You can only work for ETH during the 1st semester.

ETH has a nice document explaining all things for foreign students, ask for it to ETH.

5
I hate to be blunt, but with those grades and timeline for finishing a 5-year program your chances are pretty much zero, even though you were sidelined for reasons beyond your control. You do not even meet the minimum standards for applying, and ETH is extremely competitive: students with top marks and excellent references are still turned away due to lack of places.

It's a tough pill to swallow, but the general advice in academia is that if you are dealing with health or personal issues that prevent you from performing to your full potential you should request a doctor's certificate to postpone your studies, or at least sit the exams at a later date. I learned this the hard way after a very difficult semester during which I still sat my exams and did poorly. After approaching one of my profs to explain my situation she was sympathetic, but explained that there was nothing she could do to change my grade, and it was too late after having sat the exam to request an exemption. It seemed unjust to me at the time, but now I completely understand her stance.

I don't have much advice for you, but will be realistic and say that you don't seem like a probably candidate to be accepted into an ETH doctoral program.

6
Yes, Any Ideas about how much a part time job on average one can earn ?.

Sorry if this is a bit dumb, but the system where I come from is quite different so I need to ask such question.

No, The system is different here. I was thinking to contact the disability office to work around presenting my application in a good way framing my illness.

Hi, I am more relying on my experience and projects. Since I started being functional again I realized there is no way to save my gpa and started doing some good projects.

I had a look at their program and I know and can apply most of it, I may be able to meet the 2.4/4 gpa threshold if I did good in my next two semesters thou.

7
It's possible, but you'll also be competing with others in a similär situation with potentially higher grades. Remember that the minimum to apply is not the minimum to be accepted.

No harm applying, but you'll need a chunk of cash before you turn up here.

8
Any Ideas about cancer survivors /disability grants ?, not specifically from the university but generally from Swetzerland or Europe.

9
Here it is, handbookd for internation students ETH.

https://ethz.ch/content/dam/ethz/mai...n/handbook.pdf

So, it was 1750 CHF per month of money to show to get a residence permit. You'll probably spend half of that money renting a room in a shared apartment.

About the job this is what the handbook says.

Just for reference a coffee shop nearby the university where I studied paid a bit less than 30 CHF/hours to students. There are other jobs for students where technical knowledge is appreciated but quite probably German is a requisite. https://studentenjobs.ch/

10
Oh, I didn't know that the book discusses generally these things. I will sure look at it right now, thank you .

11
If there is anything (no idea) I am pretty sure it would be for EU/Swiss nationals/residents only.

12
Unfortunately, I have to agree with others - admissions to Masters programs are very, very competitive. In practice, you need very good GPA, strong letters of recommendation, and extracurricular activities - research projects, work experience, publications.

I understand your difficult situation, but I don't see any way how your medical problems can help you. I'm not aware of any "special" admission process for people with medical conditions.

13
Personal experience here:

I had a 2.9-3 GPA (don't even remember), but coming from a Greek engineering university, I actually had a 5-y diploma which equates to a master's degree, so that helped me (and lots of other Greeks) as we were effectively coming in for a second post-grad. I also had a lot of extra-curricular academic projects that I believe helped my case. I didn't even expect to get accepted to be honest.

For a bachelor's at 2.4 GPA (60%) it's going to be quite tough. Only scholarships I know of were through exceptional academic performance in previous studies and with criteria to continue to do so during time in ETH. I think it's best if you talk to admissions directly and see what they have to tell you.

Regarding finances, it is not going to be easy. I came here with almost nothing (a lot less than 10k), and even with an EU passport I needed a letter from my family that they will support me financially, which they couldn't, but nobody requested to see their financials. Rent was too expensive (800 CHF) because I didn't expect to get in, and I didn't have time to apply for a dorm when I realised I'm coming to Switzerland.

I scraped through for about 6mo, got a very small loan of a couple k from family I had in Switzerland, and managed to get a research assistant job at uni with a steady salary (not a teaching assistant). It wasn't much at around 1500 CHF/mo, but I paid rent and groceries and it got me through for about a year, when I got my first internship. After that I was on my way to paying back family and getting my life in order.

To this day, I never stopped working for a day after getting that first position at ETH, and having to work full time, commute, and do an MSc in ETH was not easy. Everybody that had the finances to study without distractions were finishing in 2years and it took me the full 4. I was writing my thesis while starting a new job in a new industry which was also quite tricky.

A lot of potatoes, a lot of cheap frozen pizza, a lot of freaking rice. Juggling overdrawing limits at my bank with bill due dates, and calculating how many reminders can I get on bills to make the cash flow work.

In the end, it was well worth the effort. Besides what the syllabus had to offer me, some of the people I met are quite a network and have helped tremendously in my career.

I think staying in Greece or going back soon after I came to Switzerland with an offer I received would be better at that point in time financially. I stuck with it, played the long game and it worked out in my favour.

But I was not sleeping many nights and I was also quite lucky to get that first position in ETH. Do not take for granted that you will find a job. With a non-EU passport things will also not be easy unless you get lucky with a professor. Even if you do, a teaching assistant position will not get you enough to cover all of your expenses. Please also keep in mind, that with a non-EU passport it is going to be very difficult to get a job here as a graduate as well, which also dilutes a bit the usefulness of a local degree. Thankfully ETH is an amazing and reputable place, so it opens doors globally in engineering, but maybe it's worth exploring other options in other countries that might have scholarship programmes that are relevant to your situation.

I wish you the best of luck, you're going to need it

14

Why would the Swiss/European taxpayer want to pay for somebody outside who has contributed absolutely nothing to the system ?

15
There are other universities which are as good as, if not better, than ETH Zürich for specific programs. You might be better off applying to those.

I know people who've been through ETHZ, and frankly I don't see what the fuss is about. But I guess people want the prestige of having gone to a famous university.

16

The point of a scholarship is not to "reward" taxpayers, but enable exceptional foreigners and poor residents to study. There is a high chance that money invested in them will generate much higher profits for the state and the economy.

This, of course, requires more than just exceptional circumstances like a serious disease. You have to be unique and promising.