Obtaining Admission to ETH Zurich

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21
Hallo, I too want to go to ETH-Z for a physics bachelor. I was pursuing a bachelor's in physics at the University of Michigan and I am at the junior level. That year I was unable to get a loan and had to drop out. I would like to finish my bachelors in physics at ETH-Z.

I know I would be able to afford this move at ~635CH a semester. Currently, I am stuck with no options but to pay ~$12,000 a semester to finish my bachelors degree and it is not possible for me anymore. I have nightmares about saving that much up to finish in 4 semesters.

My first issue is credit transfer:

Will I be able to get into the bachelor's program with the class credits from UofM or will they make me take the reduced exam anyway? Will they accept my physics credits? I think I fall in advanced placement for bachelors and there would be classes like intro to mechanics and E&M and also waves and light that I would not have to take. I also have all math requirements finished. I just need about 6 400 level physics classes and modern physics(390) until I can get a bachelors in the US. But I can't afford it.

My second issue is passing the C1:

I am trying to learn German really fast and I am using Vorsprung book and reading newspapers. I pretty much understand all the grammar and I just have to learn a ton of words now. I hope to pass the C1 so I can attend ETH-Z by Fall 2012. Have people been able to learn the language that fast? When I apply will they ask me to take an exam or do they send out rejection letters?

I am looking for confidence that this is possible. My GPA in my physics and math classes is a B or a low A. I don't know if I can get admitted or not. Can I go over there right away if I get admitted and just work their for the winter and the summer before school starts with UZH as a backup?

22

Read the German Zulassungsverordnung der ETH Zürich. It looks like I have to take the reduced exam and have a language certificate upon application. I have taken classes on everything in the exam although I do not know probability. We don't have to take that in Michigan. More complicated than I had hoped.

http://www.rektorat.ethz.ch/students...her/credits_EN

23
Okay, I'll bite. It's a fellow Wolverine, after all.

Try to sign up for some German classes at Michigan this semester. The German department is really really good, and you will learn quite a bit, and it will be worth it. If you can't afford to enroll this semester, see if you can get private lessons or if any of the teachers will let you sit in (they are generally not permitted to do this by the department, though).

Secondly, check out SiROP for student projects. If you are able to get here with a project or an internship, it will make it easier to continue. Then you can already be here, get credit or get paid, sit in the probability course, and take the exams.

Good luck.

24
Oh, there really is something to be wary of. Yes, the tuition here is massively cheap, but Zurich is a tragically expensive city. You'll only find a few cities in the world that are more expensive. Even as a student, sharing an apartment with other students, you will probably pay around CHF 600-800 a month. Food, if you are super cheap and never go out is another CHF 250. Insurance (which is mandatory) even at the cheapest is another CH 80 a month. Phone? CHF 20. Bike if you don't have one? O_O Bus pass? CHF 43 a month. I scraped by here a few years back on $20k a year, and that was when the dollar was strong. Now that the dollar is really weak compared to the Frank, I'd say more like $25k a year. You can get student jobs, but that's a maximum of CHF 1,500 a month (before taxes). Don't forget the plane ticket over here.

Don't want to discourage you, just trying to make sure that you realize the full expense of things.

Maybe Germany would be a better option. Easier to communicate. Berlin is massively cheaper compared to Zurich. Good schools there too.

25
How about UZH? They do not have the reduced exam requirement?

What is the ranking of UZH (world wide) as compared to ETH Z with regards to UG degrees , say Mathematics or Physics?

26
Bump.

How does the matter look like for Masters for any of the Engineering Masters? Like Energy Science and Technology or Electrical Engineering and Information Technology. Anyone with experience?

It's sure that the Masters are in English, so are there any tests to be taken? (if you're coming from one of the top America's universities with an equivalent Bachelors program). I couldn't find a credit list that has to be fulfilled for anything else than Mechanical.

That brings me to another point - all the university rankings are different. Especially the ones from continent to continent. Would ETH admission prefer a student from a top-notch university with 70's or someone with 80's from some University in northern Sweden? (I'm asking because my marks are all over the place - the classes I don't care about I have 60's and the ones I care I get 80's, University of Toronto btw). Is the answer the same if you're considering Paul Shrrerer Inst. or CERN?

I also heard, there are German language classes offered to ETH students. Tis true?

And if the deadline is Nov, that is for start of Sept/Aug the year after, right?

And do you contact the designated person for the Masters program or the admission staff, with the above questions?

27
Maybe I am missing something - I thought ETH was/is the MIT of Switzerland and I would think you would need top rate everything to get in. Is this not the case?

28
Obviously, ETH tries and gets the best students it can. It is considered the elite university in science and technology. So, if your grades aren't what they want, you simply won't get in. Where the cutoff is, is not public knowledge. But that's the whole point of applying to a school you want to go to, to see if you can get in. They don't want students who they don't think will be able to finish the program. It's a waste of resources for everyone.

Do they consider university rankings? Probably, but probably more in respect to the individual courses you took. Did you take a bunch of really really difficult courses during your university time and that's why you have slightly lower grades? Then they might look at that more favorably than getting a bad grade in multi-variable calculus that you took your first year. Do you need perfect grades? Absolutely not.

The language thing: if you went to an English speaking school (ie one in USA/Canada/UK/etc), that is proof that you speak a high level of English. Just let them know this fact when you are applying. Not a big deal at all.

Yes, there are German language classes for foreign students. The quality of those classes is debatable, but they are much cheaper than all other language schools in Switzerland.

Regarding the deadline, if you need a visa, then yes, it's for the following fall.

Each department has an info@ whatever department.ethz.ch email. It's easily found on their website. They'll send your question to the appropriate person.

Best of luck.

29
The matter looks quite different, yes. Be careful about to which master's program you are applying. The "specialized master's" programs have a smaller admissions committee and a smaller applicant pool. Fewer people to impress, but really quite similar standards. The Energy Science and Technology master's is a specialized program. The ITET master's is a "consecutive master's program," and it will have a great majority of all ETH ITET bachelor's graduates enrolling without having to apply.

No, if you have completed your bachelor's in Canada, then you do not need to take an extra English test. Coming from a different university/country, you may be required to take some extra courses (deteremined case-by-case by the admissions committee). This requirement can most likely be satisfied with courses still in English (many 3rd year bachelor's courses are offered in English), but your options will be limited somewhat.

The admission committee will have an opinion on your university, and will weigh your grades according to their opinion. The University of Toronto is well known enough that they will already have some guideline to assessing what your grades mean.

Yes, for all foreign students who require a visa to study in Switzerland, the deadline is in November. This is for starting in the Fall 2012 Semester.

Note that a lot of these master's programs, especially the specialized programs, have a mandatory internship (minimum 12 weeks) before graduation. If you are already done with your studies, you can do your internship now. As long as it is relevant to your master's studies, and you can get a professor to acknowledge that, you can get your internship requirement taken care of in this way.

Indeed, and I am one of those persons. Feel free to PM me with specifics. I would also be very interested to know what I can add to the websites of these programs, so that you'd contact us directly rather than (or in addition to) asking here.

30
Yeah, but I was asking if the same marks from different universities mean different things to them. I know it might be a stupid question, but I am not familiar with Masters admission.

Example: Studentin 1 from EasyUni with 85%, and another from HardUni with 75%. If the cut-off is 80%, which one would they take? It is also a bit of a moral question to be honest, because you have no idea of the person... but anyways...

I had an 80 in mutivariable calculus. And sadly, one of the few courses I cared about. I'm in third year, and for first time I get to pick my courses. For the first two years, they pair the Electrical with the Computer Engineering students, and I hate programing, and the way we are being marked is based on average of the class. I did enjoy making a Rubik's cube solver though...

But the truth is that no one has good marks in the school I go to. Course admins need to have an average of the class (usually around 70%). Students with second engineering degrees and international students from China and India sum up to 10 out of 120 people with high 80's, so the most of the rest of are in high 60's. Doesn't matter if you answered everything correctly on that test. The class average determines. That's how only the best remain, and weaker student are failed. And hence, I ask about the reputation.

Good. It's great to have local language classes. I spent a summer in Munchen in language school, I learned so much more than what was going on inside those slow classrooms. Definitely, it's the way to learn a language. And the Beer

If you're applying from a Canadian university, but have a passport of a certain EU country, you're under the no-visa category. Cool.

So, is Electrical Engineering's Electrical Power Systems and Mechatronics a specialized program? No, right, because Electrical is DITET (but it says Electrical Power Systems and Mechatronics is a specialization). Can you apply to two (similar) programs?

source: http://www.ee.ethz.ch/en/our-range/e...gineering.html

source: http://www.rektorat.ethz.ch/students...T_Appendix.pdf

Looking at the profile sheet, I've completed most of the requirements by the end of second year. Is every dash listed a course you need? It doesn't say to what 1 ECTS credit is equivalent.

I need the GRE General Test. Right.

source: http://www.rektorat.ethz.ch/students...ements/cate_EN

Our profs keep saying stuff like that, but I haven't seen it proven yet. Right now, there is this PEY program happening at school, which is like a job placement for its engineering students. The only international positions are a few in China (for a salary that you can die for, literally, people playing guitar in the subway make more than that), a few positions in US and one in Belgium. I only signed up to see if I can get something from the German-speaking countries. Now all I can rely is IATSE, CERN and Paul Schrrer Inst., which I doubt will give you the nice salary you would get at an engineering company, even as a student.

I do have experience of 3.5 months, but that was after my first year. Too early? (third year now, the Bachelors is 4 years) Since I haven't seen much about this internsip requirement, can you post a link to it? (they require 600h for your Bachelors here). I approved it by a UofT professor, but do you mean a ETH Masters prof? (it was in Electrical Heat Tracing, relevant to anything electrical, bigger then my nail; lol, EHT for ETH)

I did actually find everything I generally needed to know (asked here) from the website. Well designed and put.

Do extracurriculars count? When applying, does anyone care if you can make the Swiss national Swimming times? Do they want a resume or a CV? Is that the Personal statement?

I was looking for this human insight you people are giving. I don't know if you realize how much this information means, to me and students who read this. Thank you. I record it, and you'll get karma points.

31
this is the only thing I couldn't manage to find out yet... could someone help?

32
This is something that the department and your advisor can help you with during your studies. Don't worry about it now.

33
Hi everybody,

I has a bachelor of science in Electrical Engineering and I want to apply for Management, Technology and Economics Master at ETH Zurich this fall.

This program both requires GRE and strongly recommended GMAT. I already has GRE but has not enough time to take GMAT. Is this would decrease my chance of admission to ETHZ significantly?

Thank you.

34
Can anybody post profiles of a few students admitted to ETH zurich for masters in mechanical engineering?

35
I'm not sure that will help really. The backgrounds of the students are very diverse and I'm not sure comparing a student from Toronto or London or Bogota will really be useful. Just present yourself as you are, with your strengths and abilities. ETH will weigh them fairly and see if you fit into the program. Best of luck.

36
I understand your point but if you can post any profile I will atleast get some idea about it.

37
Hi

I am new to these forums....joined actually as I am in a dilemma for some time now....I am in Electrical Engineering (interested in the Power Electronics, Machines and Drives Area). I am about to finish BTech from IIT Delhi, India and have 2 offers: Direct PhD in ECE at Purdue University, USA and MSc in ETHZ ITET Dept.

I am confused between what I should take up. ETH is giving me the ESOP scholarship (1750 chf pm and fees paid) and purdue is also funding me (Ross Fellowship for 1 year then RA/TA for 3 years). Purdue is not a costly place but I think 1750 shud be enuf for zurich (i dont know..i think it shud be)....

Both universities are pretty good......as for the better one....rankings and profs confuse me ....some say go by citations, some say programme matters,etc,etc......

if somebody has experience of Msc in eth itet (power group esp) could you please help....people from purdue - could you please help too.....

I am indian hence german = 0......but i think english shud be enuf in zurich......

38
Hi Everyone,

This is Meghna.

I am also planning to take admission in Masters in Earth sciences and I want to know what are the minimum GRE scores required to get the admission in ETHZ.

kindly help.

Thanks.