How do I apply for USP SEP?

• You will be notified of available exchange places via email when applications open in September (for Sem 1, Sem 2 and full year exchanges for the following academic year) and January (for Sem 2 exchanges in the following academic year).
• Your application must be submitted via the online SEP application portal no later than the stipulated deadline.
• Students may select up to 5 partner universities for their USP SEP application.

Eligibility for USP SEP

• You must be a USP student (any discipline), and preferably in the third or fourth semester of your studies. You should not apply to embark on an SEP for your graduating semester.
• You may apply even if you have submitted other SEP applications to your home faculty but were unsuccessful in your application. Likewise, should you be unsuccessful in your USP SEP application, you may subsequently apply for University-level or other Faculty-level SEPs.
• You should thoroughly explore course offerings by the partner university to ensure there are suitable courses to fulfill your curricular requirements, as well as your USP requirements, during the exchange. The specific course offerings for any semester are only available closer to the start of class on the partner universities’ websites.
• Please refer to the Global Relations Office Student Exchange website for additional administrative details.

Selection Criteria

While USP hopes to provide SEP opportunities to as many USP students as possible, students must demonstrate their motivation, commitment and readiness to embark on a USP SEP by meeting the following criteria:

• CAP requirement: Students must meet the minimum CAP requirement of 3.5.
• Actively working towards USP requirements: Students must be on their way to fulfilling the USP academic requirements.
• Statement: Students are required to submit a Statement of Interest as part of their SEP application. Applicants should ideally express their clear interest in the SEP/partner universities of choice, rather than a generic interest in spending a semester or two overseas.
• USP footprint: A student's involvement in USP helps support their application, especially in cases where their CAP may not be as high as other applicants. A student's involvement in USP may take any form - from student interest groups to residential activities to USP events.

Course Substitution

• Students may map courses read during their exchange to USP Inquiry courses, subject to the approval of the University Scholars Programme (USP).
• You may replace up to two USP Inquiry courses per semester abroad. Students may not replace Foundation and Reflection Tier courses.
• For Summer Programmes, students may map one Inquiry course.
• Students who complete a Student Exchange Programme are granted credit transfer but not grade transfer for courses read overseas. This means that courses read overseas will not impact your CAP.
• Please note modular credits will not be transferred if courses are read as 'Pass/Fail' or 'Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory' at the partner university.

Suitability of course substitutions

You should propose Inquiry course substitutions which are not usually offered in your home Faculty/Department, and are in the spirit of the Programme, with emphasis on critical thinking, active class participation and/or inter-disciplinary contents. The proposed substitution course(s) need not be an exact match or equivalent to any of the existing USP courses in terms of the course contents, since we encourage you to study what is normally not offered at USP as part of your undergraduate training to broaden your perspectives. The proposed substitution course(s) should possess the academic rigor similar to or above that of the level 2000 courses in NUS or above. As far as possible, they should also have about the same number of class contact hours as a typical USP course.

When proposing Inquiry course substitutions, student should be mindful of the domain requirements of their outstanding Inquiry courses.

Course Mapping Applications

All USP course mapping applications must be submitted and completed online at least two months prior to your departure for the programme. Students must ensure they include full course details (including course description, contact hours, assessment methods, etc.) as incomplete applications will not be processed. Please obtain the course details from the partner university's website or, if necessary, contact the respective department/lecturer at the partner university.

USP Course Mapping Application Instructions

• Submit your USP course mapping applications via the Education Record System (EduRec). You can refer to the User Guide (available on student portal) for instructions on how you can submit course mappings.
•  If you are applying to substitute a USP Humanities & Social Sciences course, enter ‘NFB’ as the ‘NUS Course subject area’ and ‘2000’ as the ‘NUS Course Catalog Nbr’.
•  If you are applying to substitute a USP Science & Technologies course, enter ‘NFC’ as the ‘NUS Course subject area’ and ‘2000’ as the ‘NUS Course Catalog Nbr’.
•  Please ensure you include the following information in your application:
   Course synopsis
   Assessment methods
   Total contact hours (Lectures/Tutorials)
   Course reading list (where possible)
• The outcome of your course mapping request will be sent to you via email. 

Credit Transfer

• Students should consult their respective home Faculty on the minimum/maximum number of MCs that can be transferred.
• To transfer credits, you must achieve a passing grade and receive credits for the courses read.
• Please ensure you submit your overseas transcript as incomplete submissions will delay the credit transfer process.
• All credit transfer requests should be completed online upon your return via the NUS Education Record System (EduRec).

Upon your return

1. USP SEP
   • Log in to the NUS Education Record System (EduRec) (External Study).
   • Select the approved couse mappings for credit transfer under the 'Credit Transfer Request' tab and click 'Request for Credit Transfer' to submit the request.
   • Submit a copy of your official overseas transcript and the completed Request Form: Transfer of Credits to the USP office or scan and send a copy to Ms Rohayu Hamdi at usprh@nus.edu.sg. Do not submit the original transcript.
   • USP will coordinate the transfer of credits with your home Faculty/School.
   • Please allow up to 2 months for the credit transfer process to be completed. To view your successfully transferred credits, click on Campus Community → Student Service Centre → Credit Transfer .
2. Non-USP SEP
   • Submit a copy of your official overseas transcript to the USP office or scan and send a copy to Ms Rohayu Hamdi at usprh@nus.edu.sg. Do not submit the original transcript.
   • USP will re-assign the substitution codes (for courses mapped back as USP equivalent courses) if necessary.
   • USP will coordinate the transfer of credits with your home Faculty/School.

Late Returns from SEP

In situations where students anticipate a late return to NUS as a result of an overlap in academic terms, the following guidelines apply:

1. Before students finalise their plans for SEP, they should check their host university's academic calendar to ensure they can return to NUS in time to resume     
    their studies at the beginning of the semester. If the first semester of the host university overlaps with the beginning of NUS's second semester, students
    should undertake SEP with that university in the second semester. Thus any delayed return to Singapore will overlap with the holiday break between academic
    years.

2. As soon as students realise that they CANNOT avoid returning late from the exchange programme, they MUST:

    (a) Inform USP administration (academicenquiries@nus.edu.sg and ipenquiries@nus.edu.sg) and their academic advisors. Students should provide supporting
         documents such as the host university’s academic calendar to justify the late return to NUS. Further instructions will be provided by USP administration.

    (b) Email the instructor(s) to explain the situation and ask for permission to join the course(s) once students know which NUS course(s) they will be reading in
         the second semester.

         Note:  Instructors have the right not to accept a student who is returning late. Excessive delays may make it impossible for the student to cope or
                    contribute to the course effectively.

3. Punctual on-line registration is essential as it allows the student to ballot for an alternative course if the instructor turns down the student’s request to join a
    course late.