The Leuphana selection interview explained

Not every applicant goes through a selection interview — but for the “Studium Individuale” programme, it makes up 60% of your overall selection day score. That makes it far more important than the written test. Here’s what the interview involves and how to approach it strategically.

Leuphana interview structure

The interview consists of two parts:

First, a 20-minute individual conversation with one or two Leuphana staff members, conducted in a standardised format.

Second, a 5-minute self-chosen presentation followed by 5 minutes of questions from the panel

What they actually ask

Typical questions centre on: Why Leuphana specifically (not just ‚why study‘)? What draws you to this particular programme? How do your extracurricular experiences connect to your academic interests? What current social or environmental issue are you following, and what’s your view on it?

The single most common mistake: giving generic answers. ‚I want to study here because Leuphana has a good reputation‘ is forgettable. ‚I’m drawn to the Major-Minor model because it lets me combine Economics with Sustainability Science, which matches my interest in impact investing‘ is more memorable.

The Leuphana presentation

Choose a current, socially relevant topic you’re genuinely interested in. PowerPoint is explicitly prohibited, instead you have to bring a written outline (two copies). Five structured, confident minutes outperform seven improvised ones. End with a clear personal statement about why this topic matters.

You can find official interview guidelines on the Leuphana website.