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Step 2: Preparation for study exchange
Great that you want to go on study exchange. On this page you will find information how to prepare yourself for study exchange.
Selection of universities and courses
Universities
There is a bilateral agreement for student exchange if you have selected a partner university. However in most cases the agreement is in a certain field of study or with a specific faculty. This means that you cannot select just any course. When in doubt, ask your exchange coordinator for details.
In general the number of students which can be exchanged is two per year from the agreed study field. In some cases the number is higher. Often it is depending on the number of students from that university which come to Wageningen University for an exchange period. For this reason we do advise you to have two alternatives. Chances to be admitted increase if your field of study is closely related to the field of study on the bilateral agreement for exchange between the two universities.
Courses
You can use the opportunity to go abroad to do your optional courses in a different field of study or to get more specialized in your own field. Some universities offer minors or semester packages, but mostly you have to select courses yourself and find out if you fulfil the requirements. You have also the possibility to create an individual minor, if the courses you selected fulfil the individual minor requirements.
Look up on the partner university website to see which courses will be available to exchange students in the semester you are applying for and make a list of the courses you are interested in. If the courses of your exchange semester have not been published by the host university yet, please look at the courses offered during the previous year.
You can also take a look in an overview of courses that WUR students have followed the previous years within the Erasmus+ programme. This is to give you an idea, there are many more possibilities.
Please make sure to check the language of instruction of your selected courses to see if they match with your language skills.
Schedules can change, courses may be full or cancelled and many students change their mind after arrival. Therefore, make sure the partner university you are interested in has enough courses on offer for you.
Contact study advisor and exchange coordinator
Discuss your (provisional) programme and ideas with your study advisor. In this phase definite approval of the examination board isn’t necessary yet.
If you would like advice on what to do during your study abroad – and to gain an initial recommendation on your choice of courses – schedule an appointment with your exchange coordinator. Your exchange coordinator is your 'exchange advisor'. They know all posibilities, know the kind of courses you can take and know about previous experiences of students.
Approval for courses by examining board
Please note that approval of your study advisor and the examining board is necessary for external courses in order to count as part of your study programme. See student support sites How to plan electives from another university.