Apply to seasonal courses!

How to apply

1. Go to https://best.eu.org/courses/list.jsp

2. Find the course(s) you are interested in.

3. Apply between the set application time.
   Your application should be written as a motivational letter (MoL). You can read the tips and tricks for writing a MoL on the website and you can also ask your local BEST group for help. The MoL should be written directly in the text boxes. Most students decide to apply during the last day of the application period, which usually makes the site crash/lag and some students lose the opportunity to apply due to this. Therefore, we highly recommend that you 1. write your MoL in a document on our computer and then copy-paste the text to the application page (or else you will lose your text when the site crashes); and 2. that you apply several days before the application deadline.

4. In order to apply to a course, you will need to create an account on the BEST website. To make sure that only students at universities where there is a BEST group applies, you need to get your account validated. To do this, you need to contact your Local BEST Group with a proof of studies at the university as soon as you create your account so that they can validate it. The deadline for validation is usually 3 days after the application period ends, so make sure to contact your Local BEST Group several days before this deadline.

5. Wait for the results to come out and log in to check if you are accepted. Confirm that you want your place in the course by paying the course deposit to your Local BEST Group.

Course fee

On the arrival day you will be asked to pay a course fee. This is often paid in cash (therefore it is good to have this prepared beforehand). The fee is usually accepted in either Euros or in local currency (if it is not Euro). BEST-member countries are divided into five categories and depending on where you come from, you pay a different amount. Students from countries in category 1 pay the full fee. Students from countries in category 2 pay 80% of the fee. Students from countries in category 3 pay 60% of the fee. Students from countries in category 4 pay 40% of the fee and students from countries in category 5 pay 20% of the fee. This fee system is common for all BEST courses.

Category 1: Austria, Denmark, Iceland, Netherlands
Category 2: Belgium, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom
Category 3: Croatia, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovak Republic, Turkey
Category 4: Greece, Montenegro, Russia
Category 5: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova, North Macedonia, Serbia, Ukraine

Deposit

When you are selected for a course, you have to pay a deposit to your Local BEST Group (LBG). The deposit should be paid no later than ca one month after the end of the application period (check the seasonal deadlines on the website). Your LBG will hold it until after the course evaluation period has ended. If all goes well during the course and you fill the evaluation, you will get back your deposit. If all goes well during the course, but you do not fill the evaluation, you will only get half of your deposit back. If you make damages during the course that amount to higher values than the deposit covers, you will have to pay the surplus to the LBG that organizes the course.

Find more information in the Never alone guide.

You need to contact your LBG and request your deposit back when you have filled the evaluation, but no later than 1-3 days after the evaluation deadline - otherwise, you may not get back your deposit.

Below, you can find the deposits per category.

Category 1: 60 €
Category 2: 50 €
Category 3: 40 €
Category 4: 30 €
Category 5: 20 €