A master's abroad: applications open six months earlier than people think

The calendar is the real difference

Bachelor's applications in many countries run in spring and summer. Master's applications run in the autumn, a year before the course begins.

Politecnico di Milano opens to non-EEA applicants on 1 October 2026 for the September 2027 intake: Architecture and Design until 28 January 2027, Engineering in two calls — to 1 December 2026, and 12 January to 25 February 2027. Turin opened its first master's call on 19 December.

So finishing a bachelor's in June means the application was due the previous October. That is why people lose a year: they start looking for programmes once the windows have shut.

There is usually no exam — which is harder

Bachelor's admission often turns on an entrance exam: in Czech, Türkiye's TR-YÖS, Japan's own papers. A master's usually has no exam at all.

What decides it instead is the folder: the degree with its marks, a motivation letter, a CV, references, sometimes a portfolio. An exam can be retaken; a weak motivation letter cannot — it is simply not chosen out of the hundred beside it.

The effort moves accordingly. For a bachelor's you prepare for a test; for a master's you assemble evidence that you can already do something.

What does not apply to a master's

Worth knowing what you can skip. China's CSCA exam, required from the 2026/2027 intake of bachelor's applicants at 306 designated universities, does not apply to master's or doctoral study at all.

Language requirements do not go away, though: a Chinese-taught master's asks for HSK like any other.

The money works differently

The application fee can differ between master's and bachelor's at the same university. Turin charges €50 for a master's and €30 for a PhD application. Milan's depends on the date: €50 up to 1 December and €150 after, on those same master's calls.

A separate line is the fully funded master's. Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters covers participation, travel, visa and living costs — but the application goes to the consortium running the particular programme rather than to any central office, and each sets its own dates, broadly October to January. Set out here.

Compare on the total: an application fee plus a year of language against a scholarship that covers everything. At master's level the second is more realistic than it is at bachelor's.

Where to start if you are in your final year

Open the dates for three programmes now, without waiting for the degree certificate. Almost everywhere accepts an unfinished bachelor's: the certificate follows later and the application goes on current marks.

Start on references in parallel: a professor writes them over weeks, not in an evening, and asking in December during their own exam season is a poor plan.

And check the language of the programme. English-taught master's are commoner than English-taught bachelor's, but the ones in the local language cost less — sometimes nothing.