Waiting semesters
Every half year that passes since you acquired your university entrance qualification and that you are not enrolled at a university in Germany is automatically counted as a waiting semester.
A maximum of seven waiting semesters are taken into account.
10% of the study places in a degree program with local admission restrictions are allocated according to waiting semesters (waiting time quota). The applicant who has the most waiting semesters, i.e. who has waited the longest, is awarded first place. The one who waited the second longest, the second place, etc. This continues until 10% of the places are allocated, regardless of the grades of the university entrance qualification ("Abitur").