The University of Amsterdam’s MSc in Business Administration, run by Amsterdam Business School (ABS), is the management master at one of continental Europe’s leading research universities, in one of its most international cities. It is a one-year, English-taught degree — ranked 55th on the QS Business Masters: Management 2026 per ABS’s own announcement — with the low Dutch statutory tuition that makes the Netherlands such strong value for EU students.¹
What sets the UvA application apart from its Dutch peers is how explicit and specific it is: a published GPA bar, a mandatory test with stated minimums, precise ECTS prerequisites, and a nine-track structure where you pick your two preferences up front. Get those specifics right and the path is clear; misread one and you can be ineligible before the file is even read. This guide lays out exactly what UvA requires. It is built from UvA’s own admissions pages and our full University of Amsterdam profile; where a detail varies by cycle or isn’t published, we say so rather than invent a figure.
Who is eligible — three specific bars
UvA asks for an academic bachelor’s (or master’s) in (International) Business Administration, Economics, or a business-related field — this is not an open-to-any-discipline conversion programme.² On top of the subject requirement, three concrete bars apply:²
- GPA 7.0 or higher, calculated over all your bachelor’s results (years one to three) plus any master’s results. This is a published numeric threshold, which is unusual among MiMs — see the dedicated section below.
- At least 15 ECTS in academic research, of which at least 10 ECTS must be in quantitative research-oriented courses.
- At least 15 ECTS equivalent of intermediate/advanced business courses across at least two of: strategy, international management, organisation, marketing, leadership, entrepreneurship, or organisational psychology.
These ECTS rules are the most common eligibility trip-up — a business-adjacent degree that’s light on quantitative research methods, in particular, can fall short. Map your transcript against all three bars before anything else.
The GPA bar — a rare, explicit threshold
Worth calling out on its own: UvA publishes an average GPA of 7.0 or higher as a stated requirement.² Most MiMs describe selection qualitatively (“a strong academic record”), so a hard, numeric GPA gate is comparatively rare and removes the guesswork — you can check before you apply whether you clear it. The GPA is computed across your whole bachelor’s (and any master’s), so a strong upward trajectory still has to average out above the line. If you’re below 7.0, UvA’s own page is where to confirm whether there’s any flexibility; otherwise treat it as the working minimum. Beyond the threshold, admission is competitive, with priority to applicants who best meet the criteria.²
The admission test: mandatory, with stated minimums
Unlike some Dutch MiMs you can enter without a test, UvA makes the GMAT or GRE mandatory, and the score must be submitted before the deadline.² The published minimums are:²
- GMAT Focus Edition: at least 535 (preferably 565).
- GMAT (older format): at least 560 (preferably 600).
- GRE: at least 152 (preferably 155) in Quantitative Reasoning.
UvA notes that, based on agreements with certain partner universities, some applicants may be exempted from the test — but it does not list those universities on the admissions page, so don’t assume you qualify without checking.² Plan to sit a test and clear the minimum. For the wider context on where tests matter across Europe, see what GMAT score you need for a European MiM, and GMAT vs GRE for a MiM in Europe on which test to choose.
English proficiency
UvA’s published minimums are TOEFL iBT 92 (with at least 22 in each subscore), IELTS Academic 6.5 (with at least 6.0 in each subscore), or **Cambridge C1 Advanced / C2 Proficiency.**² Test scores must be no older than two years. The exact exemption rules (for example, an English-medium bachelor’s) aren’t itemised on the page reviewed, so confirm your situation on UvA’s own page.
The application file and the nine tracks
The UvA application runs through the Embark portal and is documents-led. Its core components are your transcripts and GPA calculation, your GMAT/GRE score, your English certificate, your two track choices, and a motivation letter — limited to one A4 page (why you fit the programme, plus relevant experience).² The motivation letter is short by design, so it has to be tight and specific rather than comprehensive — our UvA MiM essays guide covers how to approach it.
A defining feature is the nine-track structure — you choose two tracks when applying:²
Consumer Marketing · Digital Marketing · Entrepreneurship and Innovation · Entrepreneurship and Management in the Creative Industries · International Business · Leadership and Management · Management of International Business and Trade · Strategy · Strategy and AI Transformation
Picking the two that genuinely fit your background and goals matters, because your file is read against the track you’re targeting. One honest note: a CV, reference letters and an interview are not listed among the required components on UvA’s official admissions page — the portal may request standard documents, but the page centres on the transcripts/GPA, test, English, tracks and the one-page motivation letter, so build the file around those.
Fees and the deadline ladder
For 2026–2027, EU/EEA students pay the Dutch statutory tuition of about €2,694, while non-EU/EEA students pay the Amsterdam Business School institutional rate of about €24,050; no separate application fee was found.³ The EU/EEA rate is what makes UvA, like its Dutch peers, such strong value — see our low-cost and tuition-free MiMs in Europe guide.
Deadlines run on a ladder by nationality and housing need, which catches applicants out. For the September 2026 intake: non-EU/EEA scholarship applicants by 15 January; non-EU/EEA (visa/housing) and EU/EEA (housing) by 1 April; EU/EEA (no housing) by 1 May; Dutch-degree holders by 1 June (or 1 April if a visa is needed).² There is also a February intake with earlier autumn deadlines (non-EU around 1 November). Find the earliest deadline that applies to you — not the latest — and map it on our deadline tracker.
How to read your odds
UvA does not publish an acceptance rate; selection is competitive among applicants who clear the criteria. The honest read of what gets a competitive file admitted:
- Clear all three eligibility bars first — the GPA 7.0, the 15-ECTS research (with 10 quantitative), and the 15-ECTS business requirement. These are gates, not preferences.
- Submit a test that clears the minimum — ideally toward the “preferably” figures (565 Focus / 600 classic / 155 GRE quant), since admission is competitive above the floor.
- Choose your two tracks deliberately and write a tight one-page motivation letter — both are read for fit.
A qualifying, business-and-quantitative transcript plus a clearing test gets you into a competitive pool; track fit and the motivation letter then help separate you.
Confirm before you apply
UvA keeps the live entry requirements, the GPA and test minimums, the track list, the fees and the deadline ladder inside its own pages and updates them each cycle — so use this guide for the structure and the strategy, and verify every hard number against the source before you submit. Weigh UvA against the wider field on the Netherlands MiM hub and the composite rankings; see how a MiM compares to a specialist master in MiM vs MSc Management; and map your application timing on the deadline tracker. Still deciding on the degree itself? Start with is a MiM worth it in 2026, how to build a MiM profile and MiM vs MBA.
Sources (retrieved June 2026): the University of Amsterdam’s official MSc Business Administration programme page (the nine tracks and the two-track choice), the international-applicants admission page (the business/economics degree requirement, the GPA 7.0 bar, the 15-ECTS research / 10-ECTS quantitative and 15-ECTS business prerequisites, the mandatory GMAT 535/565 Focus · 560/600 classic · GRE 152/155 minimums and partner-university exemption, the TOEFL 92 / IELTS 6.5 English minimums, and the one-A4-page motivation letter), the application-and-admission deadlines page (the September and February deadline ladders), the UvA tuition-fees page (€2,694 statutory / €24,050 ABS institutional), and ABS’s QS ranking announcement (QS Business Masters: Management 2026 #55); and our own University of Amsterdam profile. UvA revises the live application each cycle — confirm the current requirements on its pages. No figures or process steps are invented; where a component isn’t listed on UvA’s official page (e.g. a CV, references or an interview) or a value isn’t published (e.g. an acceptance rate or English-test exemptions), this guide says so rather than asserting it. Amsterdam does not appear in the Financial Times Masters in Management table, so we cite its QS Management standing rather than an FT rank.
¹ QS — Business Masters Rankings: Management 2026 (per Amsterdam Business School’s announcement). ² University of Amsterdam — MSc Business Administration programme & international-applicants admission pages. ³ University of Amsterdam — tuition-fees page.