Admission to our SBWL “Digital Marketing”

Admission requirements

The selection criteria used to build our ranking are based on two components: (1) your official WU course grades and (2) your statements and evidence on your Digital Marketing skills that you provide us when applying.

WU Course Grades: For our assessment of the first component you simply need to allow us to request and access your current grade transcript from WU's Study Service Center. You do this when you register for the specialization (see "Application Procedure" below). Note that with your registration you automatically agree to release your current grade transcript for our evaluation. There is not more you need to do at this point — just please make sure that all required grades are listed in your transcript when you apply. We apologize that we cannot accept grades provided at a later stage of the procedure.

Digital Marketing Skills: An important part of our efforts to create an ideal learning environment relates to a balanced mix of ambitious students that fit well with the objectives of our specialization. Since our aim is to prepare students to master the specific challenges of marketing managers in dynamic and technology-driven business environments, proven skills in marketing research and business analytics are certainly an asset.

But there are numerous other skills that are relevant and qualify you for your digital marketing experience. For example, if you are engaged in running a (or even your own) digital business, completed a relevant internship with a company, obtained specific programming skills, experience in handling rich datasets or in working with digital communication technologies.

Here is an example for a typical skill we are looking for: "During my internship with a delivery service company I gained experience with search engine advertising and analyzing conversion statistics for their webshop. In my digital marketing specialization at WU I would like to further sharpen my analytical skills and apply them in the digital marketing lab. Attached you can find a reference letter from my supervisor as proof for the claimed skill."

There are numerous other skills that demonstrate a good fit with the focus of our specialization (see our webpage for more details) and qualify you for the program. Think about them carefully and please just note that you will be asked to provide solid proofs of your skills and experience.

On the basis of these two components, we rank all eligible applicants. This ranking is our input to the MyMatch system — it is not the final admission decision on its own (see "How MyMatch works" below).

Application Procedure

To apply please follow the below list of steps for a successful application:

How MyMatch works

The final allocation of places is handled by MyMatch, WU's central, algorithm-based matching system. It runs fully automatically and takes into account:

• the preferences you stated at registration,

• the ranking of applicants created by each specialization, and 

• the available capacities.

A few things worth knowing:

• Honesty pays off. State your true preferences. The system already factors your real preferences in optimally, and ranking strategically gives you no advantage — it can even lead to a worse result.

• A high ranking is not a guarantee. Because MyMatch also respects the preferences of all students, even applicants we have ranked highly may end up allocated to a different specialization. We therefore cannot give binding promises before the matching is complete.

• The result is stable and reproducible, not random — for the same preferences and rankings, MyMatch always produces the same allocation.

After the allocation

First registration phase: If you are allocated a place, you must register for at least one course of your assigned specialization within the deadline (a waiting-list entry does not count as an active registration). If you do not register in time, the allocated place expires, and you cannot receive another place in this semester — neither in another specialization nor via remaining places or the study progress contingent. Allocated places cannot be actively handed back.

Study progress contingent (SFK): At least 5% of places are allocated centrally via the study progress contingent. This is relevant for students who took part in the procedure, met the minimum requirement, but could not be allocated a place. Remaining places are also allocated centrally via the SFK.

We are very much looking forward to your application and wish you the best of luck!