What are the Eligibility Criteria?
CIE is a competitive program. This eligibility criteria exists to ensure you are prepared to thrive academically while studying abroad. You must meet the following eligibility criteria to be considered for the CIE program:
- Be in at least the 3rd year of your degree and align your exchange semester with the recommended timing for your program listed below.
- You must achieve a 70% average in the current Winter session.
- You must have a 70% cumulative average. Some institutions require a more competitive average (i.e. ETH Zurich: min CGPA 75%). See the Go Global Partner University pages to ensure you meet the correct eligibility requirements. These criteria are not eligible for appeal.
- BDES students must have at least 70% overall average and have achieved 80% or higher average on the most recent term of full-time studies to participate in the CIE exchange opportunities. Students with lower GPA may be considered at the discretion of the Program Chair.
- You must be a UBC student in good academic standing as defined by the UBC Faculty of Applied Science
- You must be studying fulltime in the Winter session prior to exchange
- Students may participate in one full-year or two single-term (winter session) exchange experiences during their degree
What Grades are Considered in My Application?
- Students applying in December (round 1): Go Global will review your cumulative and Winter term 1 average. Final grades will be reviewed in the Spring. If your exchange begins in July we will only review term 1 grades
- Students applying in May (round 2): Go Global will review your cumulative and Winter session (term 1 and term 2) grades.
Decide Where to Go
Check out 17 CIE partner institutions to determine where you want to go! You are allowed to choose a maximum of 3 institutions when you apply.
Exchange Costs and Awards
Going on exchange is not as expensive as you might think, in fact, a term abroad could easily be in line with your usual expenses at UBC. Your choice of destination country and the cost of living in that region are particularly important to consider along with your budget, as these choices significantly influence the overall cost of an international experience.
Find more information on budgeting for exchange.
- The Go Global application fee ($431.50) is required for all students applying to go on exchange;
- Students are required to pay for 15 UBC credits to UBC directly for each semester on exchange;
- Other known costs include airfare, accommodation, insurance, visa applications, living expenses, etc.;
- Some partner institutions will reserve spots at their student housing for international and exchange students, other partner institutions have limited or no on-campus housing options. Carefully consult the partner institutions page when selecting your destination preferences for information regarding housing options;
- You may be eligible for a Go Global exchange award. Find eligibility requirements for each award from the Go Global website.
Estimates of local costs at our different partner institutions can be found in the Student Reports featuring individual partner institution profile.
How can CIE Work in My Program?
Mechanical
Mechanical Engineering students are recommended to participate in an exchange in term 2 after completion of 3rd year courses – this typically falls in year 3.5.
Mechanical Engineering students are allowed to take both core and technical elective courses (Group A/B/C/D) in your exchange term with an approval from your Program Advisor prior to registration. You cannot receive transfer credits for design courses (MECH 223, 328, 45X, 423) or MECH 400.
For technical electives, if there is not a direct equivalent at UBC, you will receive general transfer credits, such as MECH 3rd or MECH 4th, then your Program Advisor will determine which type of elective it should be classified as per the guidelines below:
- Group A: Mech-specific content with 90% or more of learning objectives from Engineering Science + Engineering Design
- Group B: Mech-specific but doesn’t qualify as A-list
- Group C: Non-Mech but within Engineering
- Group D: Non-Engineering
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