Being accepted to university or college may change your life completely. What are the criteria for admission?
First of all, it must be said, that criteria differ from Faculty to Faculty and from program to program. While medical programs do have written entrance exams, most other programs (economical, technical or IT programs) may issue admission either after submission of required documents or after a Skype interview.
Unline other countries, Slovak Universities do not ask for English certificates. Also, it is possible to have study gaps (so the decision on admission is purely based on the motivation of the student and completed previous education)-
International students can study at 3 levels in Slovakia:
- Criteria, when applying to the Bachelor program (degree awarded – Bc. – Bakalár / Bachelor)
- Criteria, when applying to the Master program (degree awarded Mgr – Magister (for non-technical programs), Ing. – Inžinier (for Technical programs)
- Criteria, when applying to Doctoral studies (degree awarded PhD.)
Besides Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral studies, there are also joined programs for programs of General medicine (6-years program), Dental medicine (6-years program), Pharmacy (5-year program), and Veterinary medicine (6-years program, respectively 4 accelerated programs). Admission to joined programs is done solely through a written test (multiple choice exam). Students then get admission based on their score in the entrance exam as the number of seats at medical, pharmaceutical, and veterinary schools are limited).
A) Bachelor studies
Let’s start with the first option. The most important criterion is completed secondary school. Most Bachelor’s study programs ask only for the submission of documents and decisions of the admission committee. Some programs (typically economical programs) require written entrance exams from mathematics and foreign language. Bachelor’s degree from Slovakia is recognized in the European Union. The Bachelor program takes 3 years.
There are usually the following documents to be submitted for application:
- electronic application – you will need to upload your personal details through the portal of given university
- application fee – usually 30-80€ per application
- motivational and a reference letter from teachers – optional
- CV
- copies of secondary completion certificates – before enrollment to universities you will need to provide notary copies of your documents or sworn translations to the Slovak language of them
B) Master programs
After completing the first level of education, students may opt for the second level of education to be completed in Slovakia – Master studies in the English language. Master studies do have a form of 2-years program (4 semesters), which extend knowledge obtained during bachelor. There is no obligation to continue within the same program – on the other hand, it makes more sense to finish in the same field of study as the student began.
There are usually the following documents to be submitted along with your application:
- electronic application
- confirmation of application fee payment – 30-80€ usually
- motivational and reference letter from teachers – optional
- CV
- copies of Bachelor certificate and consolidated mark sheet with all completed subjects – by enrollment, a sworn translation must be provided
Faculties usually perform Skype interview where they will check your level of English and motivation for studies. Once you get accepted, you get an admission letter in the English language. Some programs (for example informatics) also offer preparatory first year.
If you are from 3rd country, you will need to apply for visas and a residence permit in Slovakia – for this purpose you will need to pay tuition fees before the visa interview.
C) Doctoral studies
Doctoral studies are available for those students, who successfully finished the master’s program. Usually, programs are costly – 8.000-10.000€ per program. Scholarships are provided in exceptional cases or by a governmental organization called SAIA.
You can find more information about organisation of study here.