UNDERGRADUATE ADMISSIONS GUIDE
Bocconi is a university in Milan, Italy, that teaches economics, management, finance, politics, law, and data science. Most of its bachelor’s degrees are taught in English and take three years. There are no essays to write, so this guide shows you what does count and how to plan for it.
September 2027 entry
GET TO KNOW THE DEGREES
In Italy, a first degree is called a laurea. It lasts three years, is worth 180 credits, and ends with a final project or thesis. Bocconi’s bachelor’s programs follow that model, and most of them are taught entirely in English.
UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOL
Economics, finance, management, computer science, artificial intelligence, the arts, and politics. Each takes three years and is taught in English. Bocconi also runs one Italian-taught degree, Economia aziendale.
LAW SCHOOL
The Bachelor in Global Law is three years in English. The five-year Integrated Master of Science in Law is taught in Italian.
WITH A PARTNER SCHOOL
The World Bachelor in Business, with USC and HKUST, and a double degree with HEC Paris. Each has its own application.
In the Undergraduate School, you rank up to four programs in order of preference. The Law School takes up to two. If you want programs in both schools, you send two separate applications.
Economics: Economic models and data, with a choice in the second year between an Economic Sciences track and an Economic and Data Sciences track.
Finance: How the financial system works: markets, banks and other intermediaries, contracts, and financial instruments, with a strong quantitative core.
Management: How organizations plan and manage their resources, across marketing, logistics, finance, and strategy.
Management and Computer Science: Mathematics, statistics, programming, and machine learning, applied to economic, business, and financial decisions.
Mathematical and Computing Sciences for Artificial Intelligence: Mathematics, computer science, physics, and economics, built around the methods behind AI. It sets a higher math threshold than the other programs.
International Politics and Government: Politics, economics, management, law, history, and quantitative methods. One track includes a required semester abroad; the other is the double degree with HEC Paris.
Management for the Arts and Cultures: Economics and management alongside the arts and humanities, for careers in museums, publishing, music, fashion, design, and other creative fields.
Global Law: Law with a global focus, combined with business, finance, economics, and digital technology. The Law School accepts the LSAT, and the online Bocconi test has a separate law version.
The World Bachelor in Business: A four-year program with the USC Marshall School of Business and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, for a class of about 45 to 50 students. You apply through the Common App, choosing USC and the program as your first choice. The Common App deadline for 2027 entry is November 1, 2026, and the application asks for test scores, essays, recommendations, and a financial statement.
The HEC-Bocconi double degree: The Data, Society and Organisations track of International Politics and Government, with HEC Paris, for up to 110 students. It adds a recorded video interview and questions about your motivation and background to the usual test and grades.
UNDERSTAND HOW BOCCONI SELECTS
For its main programs, Bocconi doesn’t read essays, and it says recommendation letters, motivation letters, CVs, and résumés won’t be considered. It builds a ranking from your best selection-test score and your average grades from the third-last and second-last years of secondary school.
YOUR TEST · 55%
You can use the online Bocconi test, the SAT, or the ACT, and send more than one. Bocconi uses your highest overall score and doesn’t combine section scores from different sittings.
Letrado’s adviceTake a timed practice run of each option you’re considering. Put your preparation into the one where you score best, rather than splitting it across three.
YOUR GRADES · 45%
Bocconi uses your grade average from the third-last and second-last years, leaving out physical education, behavior, and religion. In a four-year U.S. high school, that usually means grades 10 and 11.
Letrado’s adviceSince those grades are already set, check that your transcript is complete and correct, and ask your school early if you need an official translation or a grading-scale explanation.
YOUR PROGRAM LIST
About 3,000 first-year places are available across all programs. In the English-taught programs, up to 50 to 55% of places may be reserved for international applicants.
Letrado’s adviceRank in the order you’d honestly choose. If you’re drawn to the AI program, check its math threshold first, and list a second program you’d be glad to study.
WHAT BOCCONI PUBLISHES
The AI program asks for more math: 11 of the 24 math questions on the online test, 600 in SAT Math, or 25 in ACT Math. SAT scores from before 2022 and ACT scores from before 2021 don’t count, and neither exam’s essay or writing section is required.
WHAT BOCCONI DESCRIBES
No interview. The decision rests on your test and grades.
A recorded video interview with four set questions, plus details about your motivation and background, entered in the application.
The HEC questions ask about your greatest academic strength and weakness, how you’ve explored global and political themes, a social or organizational problem you’d tackle, and your hardest academic challenge.
WHAT THE OFFICIAL PAGES SHOW
You apply directly on Bocconi’s own application portal, not through the Common App or UCAS, and pay a €100 fee that isn’t refunded. There’s no personal statement, teacher reference, or counselor letter for the main programs.
If you’re not attending a school in the Italian system, you apply as an international applicant. If you’re not an Italian citizen and don’t live in Italy, you must be at least 17 on September 1, 2027, and if you’re under 18 on that date, you must appoint a guardian until you turn 18.
PLAN THE APPLICATION
Bocconi admits international students in two sessions, which are application rounds, each with its own deadline and results date. The Early Session application window ran from September 2 to September 29, 2026, and its results are due in mid-November 2026. The Winter Session opens on November 25, 2026, and its deadline is January 26, 2027, with results in mid-March. You need a test score before you apply.
Early Session applications
Sep 29, 2026Funding application, Early Session admits
Nov 30, 2026Last online Bocconi test, Winter Session
Jan 21, 2027Winter Session applications
Jan 26, 2027Funding application, Winter Session admits
Apr 5, 2027Application deadlines are at 3:00 p.m. Italian time. Early applicants had to take the online test by September 24, 2026. If you’re not admitted in the Early Session, you can apply again in the Winter Session.
On Bocconi’s portal, with up to four Undergraduate School programs in order of preference and a €100 fee.
The online Bocconi test, the SAT, or the ACT, taken before you apply. You upload the SAT or ACT confirmation to your application.
Your grades from the third-last and second-last years of school, with your average worked out as Bocconi asks.
Your passport or ID. If you’re under 18, your parents’ documents too.
Needed to enroll, not to apply: for example IELTS 6.5 (6.0 in each section), TOEFL iBT 88, or Duolingo 110.
Enrolling: You accept your place by paying the advance payment, the first part of your first year’s tuition, paid up front. For 2026–27 entry, the enrollment deadlines fell about two weeks after each session’s results, the advance was €3,400, and it couldn’t be refunded except in specific cases. Bocconi hasn’t published the 2027–28 amount or enrollment deadlines yet.
Your diploma: For 2026–27 entry, admitted students provided their secondary school diploma by July 2026, or by August 2026 for British qualifications. Some Italian consulates also ask for a Declaration of Value or a CIMEA statement that confirms your diploma.
English: For 2026–27 entry, an outside English certificate was due by the enrollment deadline, and a result from Bocconi’s own English test by June 30, 2026. Bocconi also accepts Cambridge and Trinity exams, and some IGCSE English grades.
Pre-enrollment: Bachelor’s students from outside the EU apply on Italy’s Universitaly portal by September 30 of the year they enroll, with their admission letter, transcripts, diploma, and passport.
The visa: You need a long-stay student visa (type D) before you travel. The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has a guided tool that tells you whether you need one and where to apply.
After you arrive: Within eight working days, you apply for a permit of stay for study at a post office, and upload the receipts to Bocconi to finish enrolling.
Timing, from the most recent cycle: For 2026–27 entry, Bocconi strongly recommended having the visa by August 30, 2026, and warned that visas issued after September 30 were incompatible with regular attendance.
One application: The Bocconi4Access application covers every need-based waiver. It opens about two hours after you complete enrollment, so you apply once your place is already confirmed.
Your family’s documents: You upload documents for each member of your household, and every adult signs the funding form. Bocconi checks that the finances are clear and fully documented.
Keeping a waiver: A waiver renews each year if you meet the merit requirements. With a full waiver or the Women Award, you still make the advance payment each year, and Bocconi refunds it by December if your award continues.
If you decide not to come: For 2027–28, Early Session students can ask for the advance payment back within that session’s refund deadline. Students from other sessions get it back only if they withdraw within two working days of the funding results and weren’t awarded any support.
PREPARE FOR THE TEST
50 questions in 75 minutesA wrong answer costs 0.2 points, and a blank costs nothing.
The online Bocconi test is Bocconi’s own admission test, an alternative to the SAT or ACT. You take it at home on your computer, with a webcam and a phone recording you from the side. You can take it up to four times a year, at €60 per attempt, but not on the same day or on consecutive days. Your score appears as soon as you finish.
Letrado’s adviceTake Bocconi’s free practice test under real conditions, with a timer, two blank sheets, and no calculator. Then plan your attempts so a disappointing first try still leaves time before your session’s last test date.
Math is the largest section, and you’ll work without a calculator. The AI program asks for at least 11 of the 24 math questions right, so if it’s on your list, give this section most of your practice time.
There are 11 reading comprehension questions, 6 numerical reasoning, and 9 critical thinking. A wrong answer on a three-option critical thinking question costs 0.33 points, so leave it blank if you’re guessing.
You must be alone, with only your computer, ID, login details, one pen, two blank A4 sheets, and a drink on the desk. You record the whole room first. Questions come three to a screen, and once you move on, you can’t go back. You also can’t read or think out loud at any point.
Bocconi’s test rules prohibit generative AI, chatbots, and virtual assistants, and any AI tool left open on your computer can invalidate the test. Once you’re a student, Bocconi expects you to say when and how you’ve used AI tools in your work.
Use SAT code 7206 or ACT code 5356. Bocconi counts the SAT’s Reading and Writing and Math scores, or the ACT composite, and uses your highest overall result, not a superscore.
MAKE ROOM FOR THE FINANCIAL QUESTION
Bocconi’s fee pages list one ordinary tuition for first-year students, with no separate rate for students from outside the EU. What can lower it is your family’s financial situation, through need-based waivers from 20% to 100%.
ORDINARY TUITION · 2026–27 ENTRANTS
For first-year Bachelor of Science and Law students. Bocconi hasn’t published the 2027–28 amount yet.
BOCCONI ACCESS TO EDUCATION
For international students whose families face difficult financial circumstances.
BOOST YOUR FUTURE
For families making a significant investment in your studies who need some help.
You apply for all of these with one Bocconi4Access application, after you enroll. Awards are made until the budget runs out, and they renew each year if you meet the merit requirements.
Bocconi’s tuition and fees (opens in a new tab)BOCCONI’S 2026–27 COST OF ATTENDANCE · WITHOUT TUITION
€32,000Bocconi’s yearly estimate of living costs, published for students using U.S. federal loans.
Bocconi labels these figures 2026–27 and says the page is being updated. Tuition is extra.
Bocconi’s cost of attendance (opens in a new tab)Letrado’s adviceWork out three full years at the ordinary fee first, then treat any waiver as a bonus. Waiver results come after the advance payment is due, so make sure your family can manage that payment and the first year without one.
Many countries also have their own loans and scholarships for study abroad. Bocconi lists options by region, and says each family should check whether a source of funding suits its needs.
All Bocconi funding options (opens in a new tab)CLIENT JOURNEYS
Here are three related stories. These students turned an interest in economics into a clear direction, chose between focused and broad study, and priced each option honestly, the same questions Bocconi applicants weigh.
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