Earlier this year, the FPN Faculty Council decided that from academic year 2026-2027, a maximum of 120 students would be admitted to the Mental Health Master’s programme. That will be the first year that students who started the renewed Bachelor’s Psychology programme graduate. Unlike before, whoever chose the clinical track will no longer have to first complete a one-year Master’s degree to be eligible for Mental Health.
How to select?
So now the question remains, how to select those 120 students. The council suggested a mix between a selection and a draw. The process will consist of two phases. In phase one, everybody applying must submit evidence of sufficient knowledge and skills, the right student attitude, and the ability to reflect. This would be in the form of letter of motivation and a portfolio containing their grades and extracurricular activities, such as side jobs, research projects, and volunteering. They will also have to study a specific case and submit a report.
This will then be awarded a number of points. Anybody who receives less than 70 points out of a possible 100 is automatically rejected. The remaining candidates will progress to phase two. The top 20 percent (who scored the highest in phase one) will automatically be offered a place. The remaining places will be drawn from the remaining 80 percent of candidates who scored over 70 points.
Arbitrary
In the meeting on Thursday, the FPN Council was pleased with this mix between selection and draw, but did wonder why it was decided that the first places offered would be limited to 20 percent. Or why a score of 70 points was needed to progress to phase two. “That feels arbitrary,” said Michael Capalbo, member on behalf of academic staff. “Would someone who scored 69 be so inadequate that we wouldn’t want them? What if there are fewer than 120 applicants? Would we still reject people?”
“Maybe nobody will score lower than that,” said Anke Sambeth, associate dean of education, who admitted that there had been a bit of guess work. “After all, we’ve never done this before. I would rather use margins, but I thought the council would prefer to hear concrete figures.” The council assured her that was not the case. In the end, the decision was made to use the first selection year to collect data on how candidates score and to base the percentage of automatic placements and minimum points required on those results.
Weighing
Student member Dominik Eberle Martinez also wondered how the different elements of the selection process would be weighted. “For example, someone who has to take care of a sick parent might not have time for extracurricular activities.” That has not yet been determined, said Sambeth. She promised to involve the council in that process.