Applying to our MA

Applying to the MA in American Studies

Admission to the MA in American Studies consists of two separate processes:

• 1. Your official application with Leipzig University
• 2. Your entrance exam (aptitude test) with American Studies Leipzig

1. Application at Leipzig University

The official application for enrollment at Leipzig University is handled by different university institutions and via different application portals (Almaweb or uni-assist) depending on whether you are a domestic or an international applicant:

• For domestic students (who hold a BA from a German university), the official application for enrollment is administered by the Studierendensekretariat.
• International applications (for applicants holding a BA from a university outside of Germany) are handled by the International Center.

2. Entrance Exam at ASL

As one part of the official application to our MA program, you need to prove that you have passed the ASL entrance exam (sometimes called 'aptitude test'). The entrance exam consists of a three-step process:

• 1. As the first step, you hand in an entrance exam packet. Details are listed below. The MA Entrance Exam Portal will help you assemble the package.
• 2. Candidates who clear the first screening are then requested to write an essay on an assigned topic. The essay will be due by late May.
• 3. Candidates clearing this stage will be invited to an interview to be scheduled for late June. Applicants receive their individual appointments by email.

Please submit the following materials for the first step of the entrance exam:

• A statement of purpose of approximately 750 words: Please write an essay in which you discuss your reasons for applying to this program, your main areas of interest in the program, and how you hope to benefit from and contribute to the program.
• Resume (Curriculum Vitae/tabellarischer Lebenslauf): The resume should be in English, max. two pages. Do not include your date of birth or a photograph.
• Copy of bachelor’s degree or equivalent in the form of an initial university degree, including a Transcript of Records (i.e., an official document that shows all the courses you took and the grades you received). Also permissible is evidence that you will have completed your BA degree by the start of the MA program. Your BA has to be in American Studies or in a similar field that overlaps with American Studies. The sufficiency of your knowledge of US history, literature, and culture will be evaluated in the course of the entrance exam.
• Copy of your High School Diploma (Abiturzeugnis), including a transcript, or equivalent.
• Documentation of any professional experience, vocational training, internships, or other forms of training.
• Evidence of English skills corresponding to level C1^[1] of the Common European Reference Frame (documentation of at least ten years of English instruction, and/or any of the standard language certificates). For orientation concerning the test scores commonly expected for C1, please see this overview). Applicants' language skills will be finally evaluated in the course of the entrance exam.

Please submit your documents electronically using the MA Entrance Exam Portal at leipzig.americanstudies.de. The portal will guide you through the process. You can sign up for a user account and start building your entrance exam packet now, and you may keep modifying it until the deadline.

Please note: What you submit for the ASL entrance exam does not replace the regular application to the university; the latter constitutes a process separate from the exam at American Studies Leipzig! However, for the official application for your MA program, you need to prove that you have passed the ASL entrance exam (evidence of which you can still submit later). Hence, if you want to apply to the MA in American Studies, please make sure that you both apply centrally at Leipzig University and enter into the entrance exam at ASL.

Further Questions?

• For questions about the official application, please refer to the Studierendensekretariat or the International Center (see above). Since ASL is not involved in the official application process, ASL faculty usually cannot help you with details about the required documents or specific deadlines.
• However, for questions pertaining to the entrance exam or specifically to the ASL MA program, please see our frequently asked questions.
• If you have questions about the ASL MA program or the entrance exam not covered on these pages, feel free to write us an email at asl-ma-application(at)uni-leipzig.de.
• For more information on the MA in American Studies, please see our "Study Programs" page.

^[1] In general, C1 is considered to be 6-8 years of learning English at primary and secondary school (generally known as level B2) plus an additional 2 years of English instruction on the post-secondary level. The formal definition is as follows: Can understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts, and recognize implicit meaning. Can express him/herself fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions., Can use language flexibly and effectively for social, academic, and professional purposes. Can produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, showing controlled use of organizational patterns, connectors, and cohesive devices.