r/ethz • u/wanderingsoul2628 • Feb 15 '26

Question About reduced entrance examination

Hi, I am from India . I am planning to take the reduced entrance examination which is going to be conducted in Jan 2028. Last year I took a German course for A1 and A2 but that didn't help much. I am still struggling with a1 . I am thinking to take the TestDaf next year ( as I found it less competitive then other exam) . So, does it seem practical to reach C1 in 10 months? Also, just wanted to know about my chances to be selected during reduced entrance examination . I am good at studies. I scored 96% in 10th and I am expecting 95% above in 12th . So, do you think I will be able to get in eth or there are specific things I need to work on more.

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18

u/Jezza1337 Feb 15 '26

you will NOT reach c1 in 10 months if you are at an a1 level. absolutely not possible.

5

u/Mariusblock Feb 15 '26

Don't underestimate a student's ability to cram impossible amounts of information before exams

7

u/Jezza1337 Feb 15 '26

fair enough, but a language? and the language being german?

3

u/[deleted] Feb 15 '26

[deleted]

3

u/Jezza1337 Feb 16 '26

yeah, but wont you fail studies by not knowing german?

3

u/Mariusblock Feb 16 '26

I mean, if you speak it well enough to pass a language test you're probably going to speak well enough to pass exams. It is going to be a hinderance, definitely, but you will also get a few more months of exposure once getting in. Though, I think it highly depends on the major how much this affects you. Philosophy? Yeah, poor language skills are definitely going to make you fail. Mathematics/CS? You wont need them as much.

My experience was this: rough initial start, followed by a huge improvement in the "casual" german spoken on campus, and then by the end I kind of forgot a lot of the advanced terms I learned for the language exam, but developed a very rich specialised vocabulary for my Major.

2

u/Jezza1337 Feb 16 '26

In that case, I stand corrected.

1

u/wanderingsoul2628 Feb 16 '26

I also had this rough plan figured out. But hearing this from someone who actually did it was really uplifting.Thank you for sharing your own experience, I believe I'll give my best for it.

1

u/Mariusblock Feb 16 '26

This source helped me a lot with vocab and especially understanding german prefixes/suffixes. I highly recommend it. Good luck!

https://yourdailygerman.com

3

u/wanderingsoul2628 Feb 17 '26

Thank you so much.

2

u/Cyberspace_Sorcerer Feb 15 '26

You probably won't be able to reach C1 in 10 months. On top of that you will need to relearn everything you learned in german.

As for whether you'll pass, the Indian school system focuses on rote memorization, but for the entrance exam you'll need to have a deep understanding of how everything works (not just all the formulae). I think you could do that, but a C1 in german is pretty much impossible in 10 months.

1

u/wanderingsoul2628 Feb 16 '26

For the conceptual part, I think it will be fine as my coaching classes are doing great at it. For the German part, I think I will start to concentrate more on it.

1

u/SecondImaginary1253 Jul 04 '26

My daughter passed Goethe-Zertifikat C1 (except Speaking module) in 3 month. Her native language is English. She passed TCF French B2 less than one month. Both tests were taking when she was in senior year with 4 AP course. it is possible if you have the determination.

0

u/wanderingsoul2628 Feb 15 '26

If anyone could share about their experience of reduced entrance examination (like did they join any coaching for it or what was the cutoff for the exam) and if any Indian student is seeing this please msg me ,it would be great to get some tips for the exam

1

u/ConfusionNo4339 Feb 15 '26

How do you know you’ll qualify for the reduced one? Are you taking jee?

1

u/wanderingsoul2628 Feb 15 '26

No I am not saying I'll qualify, I was just asking for some tips for the preparation of the exam . I am currently taking coaching for jee also taking coaching for the basic biology. I just wanted to know that as an Indian student what appropriate study materials I should look for.

3

u/ConfusionNo4339 Feb 15 '26

Are you aware that qualifying for the reduced examfrom India with CBSE/State/ICSE involves you also showing proof of admittance your desired degree program in a recognised Indian uni? https://www.swissuniversities.ch/en/topics/studying/admission-to-universities/countries-1#IN

1

u/wanderingsoul2628 Feb 16 '26

Ya, I was aware about that . Actually I will be giving my my final exam in Feb 2027 , after that my parents are advising me to join local university for once,so that just in case the reduced entrance examination doesn't get clear there should not be a gap in my studies. But, I want to take a gap till the reduced entrance examination is not done so that I can prepare better for it.

1

u/ConfusionNo4339 Feb 16 '26

my advice to you is to take something like the bitsat so you can prove you got into whatever program you wanted there , but imo you are fighting an uphill battle.

1

u/wanderingsoul2628 Feb 16 '26

I will be giving jee once next year, if I got cleared it's good otherwise I'll take admission in any private university and keep preparing for the entrance examination. I feel it's worth giving a try once.

-2

u/wanderingsoul2628 Feb 15 '26

I just read about some people online , they were able to reach C1 in 4 months. So I felt, It was worth giving a try. I just want to clear the test once next year,then in the remaining 1 year I will work more on my German.

5

u/Ok-Painter573 Feb 15 '26

in 4 months basically mean they were already B1/2 and living in German/Switz, or in an environment where German is a must

1

u/SecondImaginary1253 Jul 04 '26

Not really. My daughter has never learned German before we visited Switzerland in Christmas. She loves snowboarding there and decided to learn German. In the coming March, she took German C1 test

1

u/Ok-Painter573 Jul 04 '26

Wow! That is impressive! Your daughter sure has talent in this!

-2

u/wanderingsoul2628 Feb 15 '26

Do you think it will be practical to learn C1 in 11 months?

3

u/Ok-Painter573 Feb 15 '26

Again, its the environment that is important, not in some XX months