Checklist – Courtesy Rushabh Shah & Akshat Jain

A rough checklist when applying for an Exchange Program:

1. Decide which University you want to apply to.

The list of universities which already have a student exchange programme with IITB in place can be found at:  http://www.ir.iitb.ac.in/programmes.asp?prog=Student%20Exchange.

The list of all universities which have some form of MoU with IITB can be found at – http://www.ir.iitb.ac.in/int_mous.asp.

If you are interested in a university which is not in the Student Exchange list but has an MoU with IITB, read the MoU carefully for the terms regarding student exchange, if there are none, visit the IR office for further help. It might also be possible to apply for student exchange at a university which has no MoU at all with IITB, but obviously it will be a much more difficult proposition, as the student will have to work towards initiating an MoU in the first place.

2. Once you have decided on your university, visit the university’s webpage for instructions regarding the application. Generally there aren’t any special instructions; the most important step now is to find the course list of the university. Look up the courses which are generally available in the semester you plan on visiting. If you are visiting in the spring semester, the list of previous year’s spring semester courses is generally your best bet. Look up your course curriculum at IITB. You have to take up courses similar to those you would have taken at IITB according to the curriculum. If you don’t find matching courses for all of those in your curriculum, you can consider dropping one course. Dropping more than one course is not advisable because it will be difficult to obtain dept. approval for that and it will be difficult for you to make up for them later. You can consider switching courses from other semesters – for example, if you are supposed to do 4 electives and one core course in the semester, and you don’t find a matching  course for your core course, you can do 5 electives instead and take up the core course at IITB later in place of an elective. Write a letter addressme.co.nz/ball-dresses.html”>dressme.co.nz/ball-dressme.co.nz/ball-dresses.html”>dresses.html”>dressme.co.nz/ball-dresses.html”>dressed to your facad stating that you are interested in student exchange with XYZ University, and explain how you have planned your course-work for the same. Make a table showing the list of courses you plan on taking, with the equivalent course for each of them at IITB. Make sure you include all possible courses, as it is possible that your facad might not approve some of them. It would be a good idea to attach printouts of course descriptions with your letter. Make sure you submit your letter to your facad in person, so that you can also discuss and explain anything that you have written in your letter.

3. Once your facad approves and signs on the letter, submit the same to your Dept. office for DUGC approval. You should get a response in one or two weeks.

4. If DUGC approves your application, take the letter with DUGC’s approval to the IR office. The IR office will forward your application to the university. The university and IR office will then give you further instructions, and the procedure will differ slightly from university to university.

Remember that it is a good idea to begin working for your application at least 5 weeks before the application deadline mentioned on the Student Exchange webpage, and at least 6 months before the start of the semester in which you intend to visit. It will help you plan your course-work, visa application and other logistics properly.

Also keep in mind that preference for applications (by the IR office) will be given on the basis of CPI in case of excess no. of applications before the deadline.