TUM Aptitude Assessment Interview: What It Tests

TUM Aptitude Assessment Interview: What It Tests

A TUM aptitude assessment interview (Eignungsgespräch) is a one-to-one conversation of 20 to 30 minutes, scored by two committee members, for applicants whose stage-1 points fall between the admit line and the reject line. Whether you get one at all depends on your programme's statute, not on TUM as a whole.

Electrical Engineering, Communications and Electronics Engineering and Power Engineering interview their borderline applicants. Mechanical Engineering sends them to an admissions test, and Informatics to a 90-minute written test. Where TUM interviews, the statute weights what you already studied far above why you want to come. Our view: rehearse your bachelor's thesis and your core courses, not your motivation letter. If your programme asks for a letter, that letter counts toward whether you reach the interview at all, so it is worth a free review against the German Motivationsschreiben rubric before you apply.

Every TUM page and statute quoted below was checked on 31 October 2026. Statutes are amended, so open the aptitude-assessment PDF linked from your own programme page before you prepare: that PDF is binding, this page is not. German quotes are TUM's own wording; the English in brackets is our translation.

On this page: interview, test or neither · who gets invited · what Electrical Engineering scores · what Communications and Electronics Engineering scores · how the scores combine · format and logistics · a two-week plan · if you fail

Interview, test or neither: it depends on your programme

The four tum.de programme pages in the table below describe stage 1 the same way: your grades and written documents are "evaluated using a point system". What happens to the applicants in the middle band differs.

Two details matter for planning. First, Electrical Engineering is taught "usually" in German and asks for German proficiency, so it is not an English-track option. Second, the Communications and Electronics Engineering page says applicants are "either immediately rejected, or invited to an admissions interview", but its statute also admits applicants outright at 95 points or more. Trust the statute.

If you are applying for Mechanical Engineering or Informatics, this page is not your preparation: you sit a test, not an interview. Our Mechanical Engineering motivation letter guide covers how that programme scores the written documents.

Who gets invited: the two stage-1 lines

Stage 1 turns your file into points out of 100. Two lines then split applicants three ways.

The grade points come from your converted German grade. Electrical Engineering gives one point "Für jede Zehntelnote, die der … errechnete Schnitt besser als 4,0 ist" (for every tenth of a grade better than 4.0), and Communications and Electronics Engineering gives 1.5 points for every tenth better than 3.0, both with a maximum of 30. For foreign degrees, "wird die über die bayerische Formel umgerechnete Note herangezogen" (the grade converted with the Bavarian formula is used). Our Bavarian formula guide shows how a CGPA becomes that grade.

The Communications and Electronics Engineering letter is "eine in englischer Sprache abgefasste schriftliche Begründung im Umfang von einer DIN-A4 Seite" (a one-page written statement in English). Its scoring criteria include a "Auf den Studiengang Communications and Electronics Engineering abzielende Darstellung anstelle eines generischen Anschreibens" (a case aimed at this programme instead of a generic cover letter). The statute also requires, with the letter, "eine Versicherung, dass die Begründung für die Wahl des Studiengangs selbstständig und ohne fremde Hilfe angefertigt wurde und die aus fremden Quellen übernommenen Gedanken als solche gekennzeichnet sind" (a declaration that the statement was written independently and without outside help, with ideas taken from other sources marked as such).

Our arithmetic from those rules: a converted grade of 2.5 earns 15 grade points in Electrical Engineering, and a converted 2.0 earns 15 in Communications and Electronics Engineering. In Electrical Engineering there is also a floor before stage 1 even starts: under 25 points in the transcript analysis and you are "nicht zum Eignungsverfahren zugelassen" (not admitted to the assessment).

What the Electrical Engineering interview scores

The statute lists three topics and weights them. Each committee member scores each topic, "wobei der erste Schwerpunkt mit 20%, der zweite Schwerpunkt mit 50% und der dritte Schwerpunkt mit 30% gewichtet werden" (the first topic weighted 20%, the second 50% and the third 30%).

Two sentences in the statute should shape your preparation. "Fachwissenschaftliche Kenntnisse, die erst in dem Masterstudiengang Elektrotechnik und Informationstechnik vermittelt werden sollen, entscheiden nicht." (Knowledge the master's itself is meant to teach does not decide.) And "Gegenstand können auch die nach 2.3 eingereichten Unterlagen sein." (The documents you submitted can also be discussed.) In Electrical Engineering those documents are a transcript of at least 150 credits and a tabular CV in German. There is no motivation letter in the statute's list.

Our view: half the Electrical Engineering interview is your bachelor's knowledge and your thesis, and another 30% is how precisely you talk about them. Motivation, in the sense of why you want to come, is not a scored topic. Topic 1 asks for evidence of drive (progress, extra modules, internships, research), not for reasons.

The countercase: if your transcript shows a slow or interrupted degree, topic 1's first question is aimed straight at you. Prepare a short, factual answer for it; our page on low GPA and gap year questions in a grad interview gives a three-sentence structure.

What the Communications and Electronics Engineering interview scores

This English-taught programme scores its interview out of 55 points, not 100.

Our arithmetic: 15 + 30 + 10 = 55, the statute's maximum. Subject knowledge is 30 of 55 points, about 55%. Career goals are one criterion worth 3 points, so have one sentence ready that ties your goal to the programme's two specialisations, Communications Systems and Communications Electronics, which the programme page names.

Power Engineering's statute also scores its interview out of 55 and states that it "findet in englischer Sprache statt" (is held in English). Its programme page adds a separate step before you apply: "For many international students, participation in the TUM Test Power Engineering is required", and the document list asks for "Notification of successful participation in a TUM Test Power Engineering with min. Score of 33 points". That test is part of the application, not the interview.

How the interview and your stage-1 points combine

The interview does not replace your stage-1 points. Both statutes say the qualification from your first degree "mindestens gleichrangig zu berücksichtigen ist" (must count at least equally), and both average the two.

Electrical Engineering. "Die Gesamtpunktzahl der zweiten Stufe ergibt sich aus dem Mittelwert der Summe der Punktzahlen aus 5.1.1.1 (fachliche Qualifikation) und 5.1.1.2 (Note) und der Punktzahl für das Eignungsgespräch (5.2.3)." You pass at 75. Our arithmetic for the interview score you need:

Communications and Electronics Engineering. The second-stage total is the mean of your subject-fit and grade points (max 55) and your interview (max 55), and "Wer 40 oder mehr Punkte erreicht hat, hat das Eignungsverfahren bestanden." (40 or more passes.) Your letter and recommendation points do not enter this sum. Our arithmetic: with 25 subject-fit points and 15 grade points (40 in total) you need 40 of 55 in the interview; with 22 and 15 (37) you need 43.

So in this programme the letter and the references get you into the interview band, and then the decision moves to your grades and what you say in the room.

Format and logistics, from the statutes

Both statutes use the same wording on logistics:

• Notice. "Der Termin für das Eignungsgespräch wird mindestens eine Woche vorher bekannt gegeben." (You get at least one week's notice.) The time windows are fixed before the application deadline, and you must keep the date set.
• Online. "Bei begründetem und durch die Kommission bewilligtem Antrag ist ein Eignungsgespräch per Videokonferenz möglich." (A video interview is possible on a justified request the committee approves.) It is not automatic: apply for it as soon as you are invited if you will be abroad.
• Missed date. If you cannot attend for reasons you are not responsible for, you can apply for a new date "bis spätestens zwei Wochen vor Vorlesungsbeginn" (up to two weeks before lectures start).
• Connection failure. If sound or picture fails, the interview can continue after the fault is fixed or be moved; after repeated failures it can be set in person. This does not apply if the fault is shown to be yours, and then the interview is scored as it stands.
• Panel. It is held individually, for 20 to 30 minutes. Two committee members score independently, and your score is their mean. With your consent, a student member may sit in as an observer.
• Language. The Electrical Engineering statute does not state the interview language; the programme requires German. Communications and Electronics Engineering scores English communication, and Power Engineering states English. If your invitation does not say, ask the school.

A two-week preparation plan

1. Days 1–2: reread your own file. Print your transcript, CV and, if you sent one, your letter. The panel may ask about any line.
2. Days 3–5: map your courses to the statute's subject table. Electrical Engineering's table has three groups: higher mathematics, physics fundamentals, and electrical engineering, information technology or informatics. For each group, pick two courses and be able to explain one core method from each at whiteboard level.
3. Days 6–8: build the two-minute thesis summary (example below). Thesis topic alone is 25 of 100 points in topic 2 in Electrical Engineering.
4. Days 9–10: prepare the topic-1 evidence. List extra modules, IEEE or similar activity, internships, and any research. Prepare one factual sentence for any slow semester or gap.
5. Days 11–12: practise exact terminology. Explain your three strongest courses aloud in the interview language, and record yourself. Replace every vague word ("the system", "some method") with the technical term.
6. Day 13: one sentence on fit. One specialisation the programme offers, and why it follows from your thesis. In Communications and Electronics Engineering this also serves the career-goals criterion.
7. Day 14: logistics. Confirm the date, whether the video request was approved, your camera and connection, and a quiet room.

(optional) For the fit sentence on day 13, see why this country: master's interview answers.

Constructed example: a two-minute thesis summary

Constructed example, written by us, not a real applicant statement. Context (invented): Rohan Iyer, a B.Tech ECE graduate from an Indian university, invited to a TUM Electrical Engineering interview.

Weak version (60 words):

My bachelor's thesis was on IoT for smart agriculture. It was a very interesting project and I learned a lot about sensors and wireless communication. We made a system that sends data to the cloud. This project made me passionate about embedded systems and that is why I want to study at TUM, which is one of the best universities.

Revised version (137 words):

My thesis designed a soil-moisture sensor node that runs for a full season on two AA cells. The problem was power: a node that transmits every ten minutes over LoRa drains its batteries in weeks. I modelled the energy budget per duty cycle, then changed two things. First, the node samples locally and transmits only when moisture changes by more than a set threshold. Second, I moved the microcontroller into deep sleep between samples and measured the sleep current with a shunt resistor. Measured on our prototype, average current fell enough to stretch the estimated battery life from about five weeks to about five months. What I could not solve was antenna detuning in wet soil, which cost range. That is a radio-frequency problem, and it is the part of the field I want to study next.

Why the revision works against the statute: it names a method (an energy budget per duty cycle) and a measurement, which is what "Thema der Abschlussarbeit" and the terminology criterion reward. It states a limitation in exact terms, which invites the follow-up question you have prepared for. It drops the ranking claim and the "passion" line, neither of which any topic scores. Every figure in it belongs to the invented applicant; prepare yours from your own thesis.

If you fail: one retry, and a pass that keeps

The rejection is a formal notice. "Ablehnungsbescheide sind zu begründen und mit einer Rechtsbehelfsbelehrung zu versehen." (Rejection notices must give reasons and instructions on legal remedies.) Read the reasons before you decide anything.

You get exactly one more attempt per programme: "Wer das Eignungsverfahren nicht bestanden hat, kann sich einmal erneut zum Eignungsverfahren anmelden." (Anyone who has not passed may register once more.) Spend it on a cycle where something in your file has changed, such as finished modules, an internship or a completed thesis, not on the next window with the same file.

A pass, on the other hand, keeps: "Die festgestellte Eignung gilt bei allen Folgebewerbungen für diesen Studiengang." (Established aptitude counts for all later applications to this programme.) TUM's deferral page says that "Declining a place in a degree program does not revoke the admission", and that if the criteria "have not changed substantially, you will then be admitted directly without having to re-submit to aptitude assessment." You still re-upload a full document set, because the old one is destroyed. For the accept-or-decline step itself, see how to accept or defer a German university admission.

Questions about the TUM aptitude interview

Is the TUM aptitude interview in English?

It depends on the programme. Power Engineering's statute says it is held in English, and Communications and Electronics Engineering scores your English. The Electrical Engineering statute names no language, and that programme requires German. Ask the school if your invitation does not state it.

Does my motivation letter matter once I am invited?

In Communications and Electronics Engineering, the letter is scored in stage 1 (up to 20 points) and does not enter the second-stage total. The panel may still ask about it, because submitted documents can be discussed. Electrical Engineering's statute asks for no letter.

Can a strong interview make up for low grades?

Partly. The interview is averaged with your stage-1 points. In Electrical Engineering, an applicant with 60 stage-1 points needs 90 of 100 in the interview (our arithmetic). At THI Ingolstadt the interview is pass/fail after a curriculum analysis; the Hochschule motivation letter guide explains what feeds into it.

If the date clashes with an exam or you are abroad, see how to reply to the interview invitation and ask for a replacement date or video interview.

Get a free review of your motivation letter

Get a free Quick Review of your motivation letter against GradPilot's German Motivationsschreiben rubric. It reads for a direct case for your preparation, fit with the named programme, and why Germany and why this institution. At TUM programmes that ask for a letter, such as Communications and Electronics Engineering, the letter is assessed in stage 1, before any interview.

More Germany master's guides:

• Why Germany paragraph in a motivation letter: the written version of the "why here" answer.
• Motivation letter for an electrical or embedded master's in Germany: which German EE programmes ask for a letter at all.
• Graduate school essays: every master's and PhD guide by destination.

Sources

Retrieved 31 October 2026, except where noted. Statutes are the PDFs linked from each programme page on that date.

• Technical University of Munich, M.Sc. Electrical Engineering and Information Technology (no cycle stated): German requirement, teaching language, admission process wording.
• Technical University of Munich, Eignungsverfahren, Electrical Engineering and Information Technology (Anlage 6) (file of the third amendment, 16.03.2023): documents, stage-1 points and lines, interview topics and weights, logistics, stage-2 formula, rejection notice, one retry, validity of a pass.
• Technical University of Munich, M.Sc. Communications and Electronics Engineering (no cycle stated): English requirement, document list including the statement of purpose, admission process wording, specialisations.
• Technical University of Munich, Eignungsverfahren, Communications and Electronics Engineering (Anlage 8) (file dated 22.12.2022): letter and declaration, stage-1 scoring, 95/75 lines, interview criteria and 55-point scale, 40-point pass. The declaration in 2.3.5 reads in full: "eine Versicherung, dass die Begründung für die Wahl des Studiengangs selbstständig und ohne fremde Hilfe angefertigt wurde und die aus fremden Quellen übernommenen Gedanken als solche gekennzeichnet sind."
• Technical University of Munich, M.Sc. Power Engineering (no cycle stated; TUM Test Power Engineering requirement) and its Eignungsverfahren (file of the fourth amendment, 29.06.2023): interview route, English-language interview, 55-point scale.
• Technical University of Munich, M.Sc. Mechanical Engineering (no cycle stated): admissions test for the middle band; language requirement.
• TUM School of Computation, Information and Technology, Master Informatics (no cycle stated): the 90-minute written test.
• Technical University of Munich, Deferring admission (no cycle stated): declining keeps the admission; direct admission on reapplication.