You have decided that you are interested to go on exchange. What should you consider next?

NUS Global Relations Office (GRO) provides students with  information about student exchange and the factsheet for each university. It will serve you well tomake full use of their web resources. Take note of important considerations such as courses offered, eligibility requirements, estimated costing etc.

You can also go through our FAQs; they can help you to navigate through SEP. These are the areas that you can find information on:

• Information about SEP
• Eligibility for SEP
• Timing for SEP
• Financial Consideration
• Procedures of SEP
• Other Administrative Matters
• Academic Consideration for SEP
• Transfer of Credits

Do I qualify?

Here are the programme requirements:

• You are a registered full-time undergraduate student.
• You are a Singapore citizen or permanent resident, other nationals will be considered on a case by case basis only.
• You have successfully completed at least 1 semester upon application and 2 semesters upon admission to the assigned Partner University.
• You have a minimum GPA of at least 3.00 and preferably no grade lower than 'C'. As this is only a minimum GPA, some of the more popular universities may require a higher GPA to qualify.
• You have the financial resources for personal and living expenses for the duration of the SEP. (Some financial assistance is available from the University however, it is largely self-financed).

 

Timing for the Application

Check your NUS email account regularly as that is the mode by which we announce the opening of application. There might be slight variation from year to year.

Round 1- August/September of every academic year. This round allows you to plan for a semester (Semester 1 or 2) away or an academic year away in the following academic year.

Round 2- February/March of every academic year but this is only for Semester 2 of the following academic year.

An example will make this clearer: if you want to head off for a semester away in, say, academic year 2021/2022, you have to apply for student exchange in August/September 2020. This round allows you to plan for student exchange in AY2021/22 Semester 1 (starts in August 2021) or AY2021/22 Semester 2 (starts January 2022) as well as the whole AY2021/22 away. For round 2, if you are only going for SEP in AY2021/22 Semester 2, then you can apply in February/March 2021.

 

When is the best time for student exchange?

That will depend on whether you enrolled in NUS on the basis of how many semesters you will take to graduate given your pre-university education e.g. GCE 'A' levels/IB or a polytechnic diploma.

'A' levels/IB 

Usually, students will take 8 semesters to graduate with an Honours degree. Hence, it is suggested that you should participate in exchange within your 4th to 6th semester.

Polytechnic

Usually, students will take 7 semesters to graduate with an Honours degree. Hence, it is suggested that you should participate in exchange within your 4th to 5th semester.

Year 4 exchange is not encouraged as there is limit as to the number of L4000 you can transfer, some departments do not allow any L4000 to be transferred and for some courses like Honours Thesis, enrollment is across 2 consecutive semesters. Students should not be on SEP during any of the semester.

What are the considerations regarding course mapping and transfer of credits?

You will need to take into consideration the following when planning your courses at the partner university:

a) List of Restricted courses for mapping

b) Residency requirement within the major, minor and for your overall degree. (The modular paper for your year will provide more information)

c) Unit Ratio (Credits earned at the partner university is strictly transferred through this ratio)

The FAQ section on Unit transfer should be extremely helpful in this respect. We suggest that you read this very carefully.