Just writing this post to help out other Melb Uni students hoping to apply for exchange, which I personally found difficult to do with the lack of information out there. While this post is tailored specifically for Biomed students, students from other faculties can follow the same process to apply (although there will be a difference in how you organise the subjects you do at Melb Uni and in your study plan for exchange to ensure you fulfil all the pre-requisites required for your degree).
Firstly, it is important to note that most students will go on overseas exchange in the second semester of second year. Alternatively, it is possible to go on exchange in the first semester of third year. However this is something I highly recommend you avoid if you can, particularly if you are a Biomed student. There are several reasons why I say so:
- It is extremely difficult to find subjects overseas which are equivalent to your third year Biomed core subjects, or even within Melbourne Uni for the second semester of third year (more on this later)
- Your results from your semester of overseas exchange take some time to be sent over, processed and converted into usable results for Melbourne. This long waiting time can actually affect your ability to apply for postgraduate degrees or Honours as you may not have your results available to you in time for those application deadlines.
Therefore, having convinced you to do exchange in second year semester 2, let’s move on to how you actually apply.
The first step is to attend a myWorld First Step Session, which can be found here. It is compulsory to attend this session in order for your application to be accepted. It also provides you with lots of useful information to guide you in creating your exchange application.
The second step is to decide which world region you want to study in, or if you can even narrow it down to a particular country or university, even better! In your application you have the choice to make up to 3 preferences for your choice of university, in the event that you do not meet your cut-off for your first preference.
The third step is to create your study plan and obtain all the necessary approvals from the relevant coordinators. The study plan is a list of subjects from your exchange university which you plan on taking and proof that you have approval from coordinators that you can receive Melbourne University credits toward your degree for completing these subjects.
In Biomedicine, going on exchange 95% involves a significant change in your subjects for second year. Your new study plan for second year in Biomedicine will most likely look like this:
Spoiler
(https://s31.postimg.org/5mrms4tej/Capture.jpg)
For students in other faculties, check the pre-requisites for your majors and ensure that you fulfil everything required by doing those subjects at Melbourne Uni, or finding direct equivalents at your chosen overseas university. Note that it is often easier to complete all your core subjects at Melbourne Uni and leaving all your breadth subjects to be completed during exchange.
To obtain approvals for the subjects you want to do in your overseas university, follow the instructions in the following link . It is important that you do this step ASAP so that you have all the approvals you need to submit your study plan and therefore complete your application. Otherwise, you can email the course coordinator or subject coordinator directly and have written approval from them regarding the approval of the subject. Just make sure that the email approval is attached as a PDF in your exchange application.
After completing your study plan, congratulations! You have successfully finished the most arduous part of the application. Other parts of the application are self-explanatory and very easy to complete.
What happens after you have successfully applied?
There is a long waiting time between a successful application and the confirmation from the Melbourne Global exchange office regarding which university you have been selected for. There will be no further communication before that time, UNLESS you are unsuccessful in being selected for your first preference. In that case, one of the Global Exchange staff will give you a call, explaining that you are not eligible for your first preference and will prompt you to begin forming a second study plan for your second preference (if you are still happy with going with your second preference). They say that they are understanding that this process will take some time, but you should get onto it ASAP so that you have a study plan to hand in around a month after they contact you – make sure that you communicate with the exchange staff what is happening so they are kept in the loop.
Official nominations occur around 4-5 months after the deadline to hand in your initial application. Once you have received your official nomination, you will simply need to wait until the exchange staff member responsible for your region sends you another email which puts into motion the exchange application to your overseas university (so far your applications have been for Melbourne Uni for approval to go on exchange). The application to the OVERSEAS university will occur around a month before that university’s official deadline.
After application to the overseas university
At this point you will just need to wait for official confirmation from your university that you have been accepted (which should be guaranteed). They will then send you instructions on how you should go about applying for visas, accommodation etc. If you are unsure at any point, always contact the Melbourne Exchange staff member responsible for the region your university is located in, or contact your university’s exchange office.