Endeavour

Endeavour is by no means an easy or enjoyable experience. The hours spent frantically searching for course matches, emailing faculties for approval and of course, the nervous wait for nomination. With that in mind, our Endeavour event on Thursday was designed to help students navigate Endeavour and perhaps make applying for exchange, a little less daunting. In case you missed anything during the presentation or were unable to attend the event, we have compiled a short summary of the main points covered on the day.

Pre-nomination:

Research, research, research!

• Search for your six ideal university preferences: https://student.unsw.edu.au/partners
• Search for potential courses to match
• Non-academic research: the culture, the location, personal goals

Scholarships:

• Apply concurrently with your exchange application: https://student.unsw.edu.au/globalscholarship
• Major scholarships include:

– 2The New Colombo Plan

-Gail Kelly Global Leader Scholarship: University of Cape Town

-Westpac Asian Exchange Scholarship

Documentation:

• Academic statement
• Passport
• Next of kin form
• Financial plan

-basic outline of how you will be funding you exchange

-no need for bank statements at the time of application

-some partner universities may require financial documentation  at a later date (particularly US universities)

• 6 university preferences + 6 course matches for each preference (no need for approval until nomination)

Deadlines:

• October 20th: both exchange applications and scholarships applications will close

Post-nomination:

• Course approvals:

-research course outlines: contact hours, credits etc.

• Make sure you understand how to perform simple and complex course matches
• Make sure to match at least 10-12 courses for your nominated preference

Trimester Changes:

• A one year exchange is likely equivalent to 3 trimesters
• A one semester exchange is likely equivalent to 2 trimesters
• If a Commerce (International) student skips T2 and returns for T3, this will count as program leave for one term and must complete 12 courses in 4 trimesters to graduate on time

General Information:

• General course codes and previous course matches can be found here: https://www.business.unsw.edu.au/students/resources/student-centre/exchange-course-guide/exchange-course-guide-login
• UNSW course outlines: https://www.business.unsw.edu.au/degrees-courses/course-outlines/undergraduate
• Visa travel information: http://dfat.gov.au/pages/default.aspx

Q/A:

• What happens if I’m nominated to a university but am unable to find course matches?

-students are advised to re-arrange courses to avoid doing courses that are unable to be matched on exchange (e.g. core courses)

-last Resort: exchange office will re-nominate the student for one of their other preferences or one that is not a preference at all. This is done on a  case-by-case basis

• Can the exchange office help with visa issues?

-the exchange office is not authorised to provide students with visa information

-students are advised to check with the relevant consulate

• What happens if I want to travel post-exchange but my program finishes in time for me to return to UNSW for T2?

–you have an option of taking T2 off as a program leave if they wish to (so that you are not enrolled at UNSW)

-you MUST discuss this with your relevant faculty beforehand

• I couldn’t find the course outlines from the partner university. What I’ve got from them is the website with course descriptions only. How can I get the courses approved by UNSW?

-email partner university directly

-descriptions are acceptable depending on the course

-completely dependent on the faculty approving the course

Once again, a big thank you to both the volunteers and students that attended the event. Best of luck in your exchange applications and we hope you enjoy your exchange experience as much as we did.