Applying to medical school in Romania: the exact 2026 checklist

⏱️ Reading time: 12 minutes · Verified 31 July 2026

Have your school-leaving certificate translated before you have it apostilled, and you’ll start over. Translation redone, two weeks lost, €80 up in smoke.

It’s the most ordinary mistake in putting together a Romanian application, and it comes from a perfectly logical intuition — except that the apostille has to appear on the original document, and the translator then has to translate that too.

This checklist lists the 14 documents required, their format, their validity period and the order in which to obtain them. Allow eight weeks, and start at the end of this article: the timetable.

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🧭 The three principles to remember

Every university has its own requirements. What passes at Cluj won’t necessarily pass at Bucharest. This checklist covers the common core; the variations are flagged at the end.

Apostille first, translation second. Never the other way round. The apostille goes on the original, and the sworn translator must translate it as an integral part of the document.

Allow eight weeks, not three. Between the apostille, the sworn translations and the psychological assessment, the lead time can’t be compressed. Candidates who fail almost never lack documents — they lack time.

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🎓 Academic documents

The school-leaving certificate

Secondary-school transcripts

Three or four years depending on your system. Certified copies, apostilled, translated into Romanian.

Watch the format: universities expect complete transcripts, not termly reports. The final-year transcript is the most closely scrutinised document.

This isn’t bureaucracy for its own sake: at UMF Craiova, your school-leaving average is worth up to 50 points out of 100, and marks in biology, chemistry and physics are weighted favourably. That’s where your ranking is decided — see our analysis of the selection methods.

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🪪 Identity and civil status

Passport

Valid for at least 6 months beyond the start of your studies — so until March or April 2027 for an October 2026 start. Colour copy of the identity pages. No translation needed.

Birth certificate

Certified copy, apostilled, translated into Romanian. Request a recent certificate: several universities require one less than six months old. A simple request to your local registry, but one that takes two weeks if you leave it until July.

Other civil status documents

Marriage certificate or change-of-name certificate if applicable, apostilled and translated. Some universities also ask for proof of address abroad, issued by your local authority.

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🩺 Medical certificate

Compulsory, and far simpler than it’s made out to be: a single certificate, written by your GP. It must attest to your fitness to undertake medical studies and explicitly name three absences:

1. No hearing problems
2. No vision problems
3. No neurological problems

One appointment, one document. What takes time isn’t this certificate — it’s the psychological assessment that goes with it.

The psychological assessment is carried out by a psychologist, using a standardised test: NEO PI-R or Young’s test. It’s the most selective item in the application; our guide to the medical and psychological certificate explains what the test measures and how to approach it.

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🗣️ Language certificate

The level required is B2, in the language of the programme you’re targeting.

Possible exemptions: secondary education entirely in the language concerned (certificate from the school), or nationality of a country where that language is official. Check with the university — practice varies.

A warning: B1 isn’t enough in the great majority of cases. Ovidius Constanța accepts it in English, but that’s the exception, not the rule. Don’t build your application on it.

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✍️ Personal documents

Motivation letter

Compulsory almost everywhere, 250 to 400 words. Târgu Mureș requires 250–300 words. Craiova assigns it 35 points out of 100 — the highest weighting of any university. Bucharest doesn’t mark it directly but assesses it at interview.

Put another way: at Craiova, your letter is worth more than your science marks. Our guide with structure and an annotated example sets out what panels actually look for.

CV

Europass format recommended: dated academic history, extracurricular activities — volunteering, work experience, summer jobs — and language skills.

Reference letter

Required by some universities only, Târgu Mureș among them. Written by a teacher or head teacher, in English or French.

Passport photos

Three to six passport-format photos (3.5 × 4.5 cm), less than six months old. Some universities ask for the 3/4 format.

The fees

Both are non-refundable, including if you’re rejected or withdraw. That’s why you should apply to several universities but confirm only once.

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✅ The printable checklist

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📆 The preparation timetable

Rejected applications are almost never badly put together. They’re put together too late, and one document is missing whose lead time was never in the candidate’s control.

The full online filing process, screen by screen, is described in our online application guide. And the exact dates per university are in the 2026 admission calendar.

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🏛️ University-specific requirements

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What this checklist doesn’t guarantee

Let’s be honest about the limits of the exercise.

A complete, compliant application isn’t an admission. Selection depends on your marks, your interview and the number of candidates against you. This checklist stops you being eliminated on an administrative technicality — it doesn’t substitute for a strong record.

And a confirmed place can be cancelled if you don’t present the physical originals at final enrolment in September. The university keeps them for the duration of the course: that’s a Romanian legal requirement, not a registry whim. Plan to bring them, not to post them.

Where to start, concretely

Today, do two things: request the apostille on your school-leaving certificate, and book your GP and psychologist appointments. Those are the only two items whose lead time isn’t in your hands, and everything else depends on them.

While those are running, prepare what does depend on you: read the motivation letter guide, and go through the five mistakes that get an application rejected — to check you aren’t making any of them.

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🛡️ If you’d rather not do it alone

Fourteen documents, eight weeks, and possible rejection over a misplaced accent. We check every document before it goes out, handle the sworn translations and the apostille, file the application at the university registry and follow it through to confirmation.

See how we handle an application →