Calculation of Credits and Grades
For your Master's Application, you need the list of the best 140 credits and grades from your basic studies. Here you get all the information and the form for calculating your application grade.
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 programme of study. It is designed to enable academic recognition for periods of study, to facilitate student mobility and credit accumulation and transfer. 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.
Typically, one year corresponds to 60 ECTS-credits. A 3-year Bachelors programme has therefore usually 180 ECTS-credits; a 2-year Masters programme usually 120 ECTS-credits.
Meaning at TU Munich
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!
Conversion Example
US students are often expected to maintain 15 credit hours per semester to be on track for timely graduation - this has given rise to the formula of converting ECTS credits to US credits on a 2:1 ratio.
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) from the best 140 ECTS
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.