Study Abroad
Student Exchange Programme
The SEP provides students with an opportunity to study abroad for a semester or full year without having to incur additional cost of tuition abroad. Students pay their annual fees at NUS but can take their courses in countries such as the USA, UK, Australia and New Zealand, Denmark, Sweden, Holland, China, Hong Kong, etc. You need not learn a new language; all you need to do is take courses that are conducted in English. NUS have established MOUs with many partner universities which are attractive to our Geography students.
Key Links
*The Department has a department-to-department MOU with Loughborough University which means that spaces have been exclusively set aside for Geography students only. Although Durham University comes under an MOU signed with NUS rather than the department, places have also been set aside for geography students. You are requested to take note of the deadlines. If you are interested in Loughborough University (Sem 1: beginning of October to early February; Sem 2: mid-February to mid-June), do refer to the Loughborough University's webpage for the deadline and other relevant details.
Planning Your SEP
You can apply to do the SEP for either a semester or a whole year. Generally, students are discouraged from going for SEP during their final graduating year. The recommended period for embarking on the SEP is during the first or second semester of the Second Year.
Students are also advised that they should set aside sufficient funds to cover accommodation and living expenses. Students should also ensure that they apply and confirm accommodation at the partner University overseas before they leave. If financial resources prove to be a challenge, students can apply for the Office of Alumni Relations (OAR) awards (to any country), and Office of the University Registrar (OUR) SEP Loan. DUO-Singapore Exchange Fellowship (DUO), is also available for European destinations. Students who are on the Ministry of Education Scholarship can approach the MOE for funds to cover airfare and some living expenses. Please verify and check with MOE for details. It is also advisable to go to the NUS Office of the University Registrar (OUR) - Student Exchange Programme website to learn more about their special programmes, announcements, information, awards etc. for SEP students.
Mapping Your Courses
Students have to submit their mapping applications online. This should only be done AFTER they have been confirmed a placing in the partner university. When selecting the number of courses to take, keep in mind what is needed to graduate.
Please also note that:
- For Geography and BES-Geography Majors who go on SEP for one semester, the SEP coordinator will process a maximum of 8 mapping applications (Max 2 courses can be mapped at L4000 level when students submit the course mapping requests, but only ONE L4000 course could eventually be transferred and the exact MC is determined by the MC conversion ratio at specific partner university).
- Only final year courses at partner universities can be mapped back to L4000 courses in NUS. It is the students’ responsibility to provide such information (i.e., what L4000 courses to be mapped in NUS) in their applications. Otherwise, the applications could be rejected.
- The SEP coordinator can map all courses offered by the Geography Department at partner universities. However, for courses offered by non-Geography departments, the SEP coordinator will deal with them on a case-by-case basis.
- The SEP coordinator can only provide dummy codes mapping up to L3000 for non-Geography and non-BES-Geography Majors applicants for courses offered by the Geography Department at partner universities. The SEP coordinator may not map courses offered by non-Geography Department at partner universities.
- No mapping applications will be accepted after the student has completed the SEP programme.
Questions?
You can contact the Geography SEP coordinator (A/P Godfrey Yeung) for further enquiry.
NUS-UNC (Chapel Hill) JDP
NUS-UNC (Chapel Hill) Joint Degree Programme (JDP)
This is a Bachelor of Arts degree programme that confers a doubly validated qualification from both NUS and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (UNC-CH). It is a distinctive programme combining the broad, structured General Education component of the UNC-CH degree, with the extended, in-depth study of the major at NUS. FASS students who successfully complete Honours requirements in this programme will be awarded Bachelor of Arts with Honors by both institutions. Geography is one of the Majors offered in this programme (alongside Economics, English Literature, Geography, History, Philosophy and Political Science).
Students will stay at the host institution (UNC-CH) for a minimum of two and a maximum of four semesters. The period at the host university may occur at any time after (but not including) the first semester of study, and before (but not including) the eighth and final semester. NUS students are recommended to go early in their course of study (semesters 3-5), in order to benefit from UNC-CH's general education offerings.
Unlike Student Exchange Programmes (SEPs), students will transfer grades as well as credit. Grades will be converted using an agreed and equitable scale. Courses and grades may be used towards any part of the student's programme of study, including electives, major, minor and general education requirements.
For more information, click here.