Admission requirements
Previous qualification
Applicants are required to have completed their secondary education, taken the necessary exams and be eligible for university studies in their own countries and in Estonia. The access to higher level education in Estonia will be evaluated by the Estonian ENIC/NARIC Centre. Applicants are also required to be proficient in English at level B2. Please see acceptable tests and exempt categories.
Admission requirements
1. The International Student Admission Test (ISAT) is a general aptitude test which measures critical reasoning and quantitative reasoning. It is a 3-hour test which is delivered remotely (online). Testing is available in pre-determined test cycles.
Test can be taken 4 times a year, but to apply for the Veterinary Medicine programme at the Estonian University of Life Sciences for 2025/2026 intake, the test results taken latest in May 2025 (registration deadline: April 15) will be taken into account.
The test can be taken only once within 12 months. If a candidate has more than one result in the ACER database, the most recent sitting (if both have been completed within 12 months) will be cancelled and the university will be notified.
For further information about ISAT and to register for the test, visit the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) website.
2. Letter of motivation (maximum 10 admission points altogether). The letter of motivation may include information on:
- why you want to study veterinary medicine at the Estonian University of Life Sciences;
- what your strengths and weaknesses relating to veterinary studies are;
- your previous studies;
- other studies, degrees or qualifications in the field of natural or veterinary sciences;
- previous work experience in veterinary related fields, e.g. work with animals;
- your view on your future in veterinary occupation and the role of the veterinary profession in society.
The maximum allowed length of the motivation letter is 2500 characters (including spaces).
ISAT results together with letter of motivation results will be used to rank applicants. Applicants are admitted on the basis of the ranking list. The results are rounded to the first decimal place. In the case of equal scores, applicants whose motivation letter collected more points are given preference. The university has the right to establish a minimum score with which candidates are admitted to the veterinary medicine programme.
Required documents
- A completed and signed application form. You will receive an applicant code, which gives access to your account to track your application status. In addition to sending the documents by mail, please upload the electronic copies of all the required documents to your application. This makes the pre-processing of your application quicker.
- Certified copy of (upper) secondary education certificate and its official translation into English1. Please see also our country-specific requirements.
- Certified copy of the transcript of records/marks and its official translation into English2. Please see also our country-specific requirements.
- Copy of the identification pages of the passport
- Proof of English language proficiency - please see acceptable tests and exempt categories.
- Test results
- A motivation letter (please see above)
1 Please note that all copies of educational documents must be officially certified, i.e. certified copies. Certified copies are documents bearing the original signature and seal of the authority which certify that these are true copies of the original documents. The documents can be certified by an authorized official of the issuing institution, by a notary, or with an Apostille attached. We do not accept simple copies made on the basis of already certified copies.
2 Please note that (upper) secondary school certificates submitted to the university must include a description of the grading scale.
Please see also country specific requirements!
Applicants graduating from secondary school in spring 2024 should submit their application by the deadline. The applicants are expected to upload/send their latest transcript of records along with the application, or a certificate from school, certifying that under normal circumstances, the applicant will graduate in /month/, 2024. In such cases, we also demand information about the time of the expected graduation and issuing the official graduation documents. If the applicant should be accepted to our university based on his/her test score and points for his/her motivation letter, then the acceptance is conditional, until we receive an official copy of the secondary school leaving certificate.
Paper copies of all requested documents (including printed, dated and signed application form) should be sent to the following address:
Estonian University of Life Sciences
Department of Academic Affairs
Fr.R.Kreutzwaldi 1
Tartu 51006
ESTONIA
NB! Please do not send the paper copies out before you have received the positive feedback through the DreamApply Estonia application system!
The university has the right to send candidates’ educational documents to the Estonian ENIC/NARIC Centre for evaluation. The function of candidates’ previous qualification(s) (formal access to further study) will be evaluated. For more information, please visit the Estonian ENIC/NARIC Centres’ homepage.
The procedure may take up to 30 days starting from the day that candidates’ paper documents arrive at the university. The evaluation decision is made available to the candidate in the online application system DreamApply. The decision will include a short explanation based on an analysis of the educational system of the country the diploma has been issued in. In the case the evaluation result is negative, the candidate's application will be rejected. If not satisfied with the result of the evaluation, the candidate has the right to appeal the decision. In order to appeal the decision, the applicant shall send a written reasoned appeal along with additional documents to the e-mail address study@emu.ee. The appeal has to be submitted within 7 days starting from the date the decision was uploaded to DreamApply.
For students arriving from Finland
Diplomas and transcripts issued by a recognized educational institution in Finland can be certified by the same institution. Please see also our country-specific requirements.
Important dates
Deadline for applications
The deadline for submitting documents for students who wish to study veterinary medicine is:
May 2 for non-EU students.
May 31 for the EU, EEA, UK, Georgian, Turkish and Switzerland students.
The final decision about admittance is announced at the end of June, 2024.
July 15 is the deadline for late documents of students who applied on time and notified the university about the delay of the documents. Please notice that no new applications are accepted after the deadlines indicated above.
Tuition fees
The Estonian University of Life Sciences has made every effort to maintain tuition fees at the lowest level possible. However, tuition fees may have to be modified periodically.
In 2024/2025, the tuition fee for veterinary studies is 9400 EUR per year. This sum covers the cost of courses at the EMU and does not include room and board. The deadlines for payment of the fees for the autumn and spring term are October 15 and March 1 respectively. Students must meet all financial obligations each semester. Students with delinquent accounts may not be permitted to enroll in a succeeding semester or to graduate.
Recognition of Prior Learning
If you have attended courses related to veterinary medicine, animal sciences or any other field that might be relative, please consult the study specialist at our University after being admitted. The study specialist will help you transfer the ECTS credits from the university courses you have passed and which are very similar to the courses offered in our Veterinary Medicine curriculum. This process is called RPL - Recognition of Prior Learning.
For more detailed information on the entry requirements, please first read the application procedure and Frequently Asked Questions. If you did not find answer to your question, please take contact study@emu.ee.