Applicants performing military/social service

Prospective students who are performing military or a social service (e.g. 'Bundesfreiwilligendienst'/federal volunteer service) should already apply to programs with restricted admission prior to or during their service period.

In case they are offered admission, they will be eligible to apply for special admission ('bevorzugte Zulassung') to the same program at the end or after their service period. 

The following deadlines are relevant for applications for special admission:

• If you are currently performing military or social service your service period must end
  - no later than April 30 if applying for admission in the summer semester
  - no later than October 31 if applying for admission the winter semester
• You need to re-apply during the first or second application period after having completed their military/social service. If you decided to apply at a later date you will no longer be eligible for an application for special admission. 

According to section 19 I in conjunction with section 23 II, sentence 1 of the Regulation on the allocation of study place in North Rhine-Westphalia ('Vergabeverordnung NRW') the term 'service' is defined as follows:

• Military service of three years or less, according to section 12a of the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany or an equivalent temporary military duty or service or voluntary military service according to the Compulsory Military Service Act ('Wehrpflichtgesetz')
   
• Federal volunteer service according to the Federal Volunteer Service Act ('Gesetz über den Bundesfreiwilligendienst')
   
• Service as a development worker of at least one year in accordance with the Development Worker Act ('Entwicklungshelfergesetz')
   
• Youth Volunteer Service ('Jugendfreiwilligendienst')
  - Voluntary Social Year ('Freiwilliges Soziales Jahr - FSJ') as well as Voluntary Ecological Year ('Freiwilliges Ökologisches Jahr - FÖJ') according to the Act to Promote Youth Voluntary Services (Gesetz zur Förderung von Jugendfreiwilligendiensten) as amended on May 16, 2008 - Federal Law Gazette I p. 842
  - European Voluntary Service according to Decision No. 1719/2006/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of November 15, 2006
  - International Youth Volunteer Service in accordance with the Directive for the Implementation of the "International Youth Volunteer Service" (Richtlinie zur Umsetzung des "Internationalen Jugendfreiwilligendienstes“) of December 20, 2010 (Joint Ministerial Gazette 2010, p. 1778)
  or a government-supported pilot project:
  Weltwärts - voluntary service organized by the Federal Ministry of Economic Co-operation and Development
  Kulturweit - voluntary service organized by the Federal Foreign Office
  of at least six months duration
   
• Care of a minor child or another relative in need of care of up to three years. Care of a child or another relative must be carried out full time. If care is merely provided a few days or hours a week, this cannot be recognized.
  - Children include own biological children, as well as foster or adopted children, a spouse's or partner's children living in the same household and grandchildren living in the same household (in terms of section 25 (5) of the Federal Training Assistance Act ('Bundesausbildungs-förderungsgesetz')). 
  - Other relatives include spouses, registered life partners (according to the Life Partnership Act (Gesetz über die Eingetragene Lebenspartnerschaft) or persons related in direct line or first-degree relatives by marriage (according to section 1589 (Relationship) of the German Civil Code (Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch).

A service performed by EU/EEA citizens or other persons who apply under the same regulations as German citizens ('Bildungsinländer') in Germany or in their home country may also be recognized if it is comparable to a German service.

Additionally, whether an applicant has performed military or social service or not is a secondary selection criterion. It is applied if after the selection according to grade average and waiting period two or more applicants share the same rank.