Calculation of Credits and Grades
Credits
ECTS-Credits
The European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System is an academic credit system based on the estimated student workload required to achieve the objectives and learning outcomes of a module or program of study. The ECTS is the recommended credit system for higher education across the European Higher Education Area.
The ECTS weighting for a module is a measure of the student input or workload required for that module, based on factors such as the number of contact hours, the number and length of written or verbally presented assessment exercises, class preparation and private study time, laboratory classes, examinations, clinical attendance, professional training placements, and so on.
Meaning at Technical University of Munich
Typically, one year corresponds to 60 ECTS-credits. A 3-year Bachelors program has therefore usually 180 ECTS-credits; a 2-year Masters program usually 120 ECTS-credits.
One ECTS credit point equals on average 30 working hours. But no student is average! You might spend much more time on a course you are not so familiar with, and maybe way less on another course which is exactly in your field of interest and expertise!
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Conversion of Credits in ECTS
If you are completing or have completed your Bachelor's degree outside the EU, it is likely that your credit and grading system is different from our system in Germany. Thus, in order to fill in the form for the grade calculation, you must first convert your credits into ECTS.
If your university awards official credits in the Transcript of Records, one way to get ECTS is to compare the number of credits you have to earn at your university in comparison to the Technical University of Munich.
The full workload per year is 60 ECTS at TUM.
If your university awards e.g. 100 credits per year, use the factor 0.6 to get ECTS.
If your university does not award official credits, you can calculate the number of ECTS based on your lecture hours.
A typical calculation would look like this:
3 hours of class per week x 15 weeks = 45 hours of lecture/internship.
6 hours per week of home study x 15 weeks = 90 hours of home study
Results in ~135 hours total workload.
Divide by 30 to get ECTS (~4.5 ECTS in the above example).
Grades for your Master's Application
The grade from your undergraduate studies (mostly Bachelor, see §36 of our examination regulations FPSO) is also included in the aptitude assessment procedure for our Master's programs.
Due to the fact that at the time of the application many applicants have not yet completed their undergraduate degree, the following rules apply:
140 ECTS-Credits
must be accounted for (with a Transcript of Records, which must be issued and certified accordingly by the appropriate examination authority or Admissions Office). You may enter up to 22 ungraded ECTS.
118 ECTS-Credits
are used for the calculation of the overall grade point average.
Even if you have already obtained more ECTS or if you have already completed your study with a minimum of 180 ECTS, only the best 118 ECTS are used for the grade calculation.
The overall average grade
will be calculated as a weighted grade off the listed modules/courses using the following formula:
$$\frac{\sum(\text{Grade}\times\text{Credits})}{\sum\text{Credits}}$$
The calculated floating point number is cut off behind the first digit after the decimal point.
Grade Calculation
For foreign degrees, please calculate your grade using the so called 'Bavarian Formula':
$$x=1+3\frac{\text{N}_\text{max}-\text{N}_\text{d}}{\text{N}_\text{max}-\text{N}_\text{min}}$$
where
\(x=\) sought-after converted grade.
\(\text{N}_\text{max}=\) highest possible grade in your university
\(\text{N}_\text{min}=\) lowest passing grade
\(\text{N}_\text{d}=\) grade obtained
For the calculated grades only one digit after the decimal point will be taken into consideration.
Form with grade calculation (curricular analysis)
Please fill out the online form accurately in order to account for a minimum of 140 ECTS with the best graded 118 ECTS, verify your entry and afterwards click on 'Save and Send'. Please upload the generated pdf file in your online application in TUM-Online.