Document tracker
ESOP adds a pre-proposal on top of the Master's admission file. Planning tool, not an official ETH decision. Confirm programme-specific extras on ethz.ch.
The ESOP extra: pre-proposal
In addition to the documents for Master's admission you must upload a pre-proposal for your Master's thesis. Official guidelines: guidelines_preproposal.pdf. It must be developed by you and use established scientific citation practice. Plagiarism, or negligent or intentional misinformation, leads to exclusion from admission or — if found later — revocation of admission and of any scholarship.
Walkthrough: pre-proposal page.
References
If your study programme does not ask for references, you must name two reference persons (professors) for ESOP. They upload a letter after an email from the system. The official FAQ: letters must be uploaded by the professors; non-professors are acceptable only if you work in industry (then one professor + one employer). Follow Admissions Office instructions for letter format.
Motivation letter
The official FAQ distinguishes the ESOP motivation letter from the programme letter: you explain in more detail why you deserve an Excellence scholarship and you explain more of your extra-curricular achievements. Language of the motivation letter and pre-proposal: German or English (official FAQ).
Admission documents ETH will reject
From the general documents page: no self-made transcripts, no screenshots of student portals, no third-party notarisations in place of a university original, no transcripts without a security feature. Documents not in German, French, Italian, or English need an official translation and the original. Language certificates that miss the deadline cause a formal rejection — they cannot be added later.
Language rules: Language requirements. TOEFL institution code 9038. GRE General (if a programme asks) 3331.