For Students Applying to Study Abroad in Fall 2008 or Winter 2009
DEADLINE: TUESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2008 AT 2PM
Note that you should consult the information handout on each program to obtain the specifics on the academic program and websites essential to doing the proposal. Please read these carefully.
CAREFULLY REVIEW THE INFORMATION ON FINANCIAL AID, TRAVEL COSTS, DISCIPLINARY STANDING, AND GRADE POINT REQUIREMENTS BEFORE PROCEEDING TO THE DIRECTIONS
Financial Aid and Merit Scholarships: If you are awarded financial aid or receive a merit award for the term you will be abroad, the aid or award for the term will be used to cover your tuition, fees, etc. Students receiving financial aid whose room and board costs will be greater due to the longer length of a semester abroad versus a ten week Caltech term, may request additional funds when applying for aid such as travel from your home address to the host university, additional room/board costs, and any additional fees. While such additional costs are not available until the late spring as both Caltech and our partner universities do not set costs for the next year until later in the academic year, you can get current costs from our office.
You are strongly advised to meet published priority date deadlines for the submission of financial aid application materials. If you do not meet these deadlines and are selected for the program, then your funds might not be available before you begin leave for your study abroad university. Note that selection is not dependent upon meeting the financial aid deadlines. Funds cannot be made available to students until our office is notified by the Financial Aid Office merit award or aid amount.
Students who will hold a Pell Grant the term prior to study abroad should apply for the Gilman Scholarship. This award funds up to $5000 for study abroad. Go to http://www.iie.org/gilman for application information and deadlines.
Merit Awards: Students who receive Caltech or outside merit awards will have such funds applied to study abroad.
Work Study: Since students cannot be employed while abroad, work study for the term can be converted to a loan if the student so chooses or students may ask to earn work study in another term or the summer. This is determined by the Financial Aid Office.
Applicants should currently be sophomores or juniors: Students will study abroad during their junior or senior year. Current seniors, who will be officially registered students during the fall or winter of the next academic year and who meet other requirements, may apply. There is no citizenship requirement, although it may be impossible to accept students from countries with which Great Britain or Denmark do not have diplomatic relations. Our partner universities require that students must be at least eighteen years of age. All applicants must have turned eighteen before departing for study abroad.
Grade Point Requirement: A 3.0 cumulative GPA is required for all programs except Cambridge which requires a 3.2. However, Sophomores and juniors with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 will be fully considered for Cambridge if they have a rising or stable GPA.
Sophomores with a cumulative GPA under 3.0 are not eligible to apply for study abroad.
Juniors with a cumulative 2.8 or 2.9 and with at least one recent term GPA of 3.0 or better may apply for any program.
Note that our partner universities require a 3.0 minimum GPA for Caltech students. However, exceptions are possible, but not assured, for juniors with a cumulative 2.8 or 2.9 who can demonstrate, as outlined above, that they can consistently perform at the 3.0 level. Copenhagen and DTU are the most flexible about making such exceptions and UCL is the strictest regarding exceptions. Edinburgh and Cambridge have accepted juniors at 2.8 and 2.9 who can demonstrate a high standard of accomplishments in research, laboratory work, or leadership, and have very strong references from faculty in their field.
Disciplinary and Academic Standing: Applicants must be in good academic and disciplinary standing. Students must have completed all E and I “grades” on their transcript before being allowed to go abroad. However, students may apply with E or I grades on their transcript. When time allows applicants are encouraged to complete outstanding work before turning in a transcript for study abroad. If it is not feasible to complete E or I work at the time of application, students shold to provide specific information as to when outstanding work will be completed as an attachment to their application.
Application Directions
All applicants must:
1. Prepare a proposal. See directions following #4 below.
2. Submit a current copy of your transcript. An nofficial student printed transcript is acceptable. Note that sophomores must have a 3.0 cum to apply. Juniors with less than a 3.0 must have a 2.8 or 2.9 cum and have at least one recent term GPA with a 3.0 cum.
3. Submit two letters of reference supporting your desire to participate in study abroad. Please request letter writers to comment on your character and maturity for study abroad, academic qualifications and record, research experience if any, communication skills and how a term of study abroad might add to your personal growth and academic experience.
THE TWO REQUIRED LETTERS MUST BE FROM FACULTY OR PROFESSIONALS IN YOUR ACADEMIC FIELD OR A CLOSELY ALLIED FIELD.
First Required Letter: One letter must be from a member of the professorial faculty at Caltech or from a Caltech instructor, graduate TA, or postdoc in the student’s option or a closely related field who has taught the student, officially advised the student, or supervised the student’s research. This letter may also be from a visiting faculty member who is now at Caltech or who was a visitor within the last two years. The letter may come from a Caltech faculty member on leave or on sabbatical from Caltech. Letters from JPL professionals are also acceptable as long as the individual has taught the student or supervised their research. Professorial faculty are those with the title of assistant, associate, or full professor. The point of this letter is to have someone who has interacted with you at Caltech in an academic or advisory capacity comment on your suitability for study abroad.
Second Required Letter: The second letter can be, but does not have to be from someone at Caltech. The second letter can come from a Caltech professor or from a non-professorial Caltech faculty member or instructor, or faculty/professionals from other universities or business/industry who have supervised the applicant’s research or work or from whom the applicant has taken courses in a field related to their option. Also acceptable is a letter from a postdoc or graduate student who has been your T.A. or who has helped supervise research that the student has undertaken or in which the student is currently involved. As with the first letter, this letter should be written by a person in the student’s option or in a field in or related to their academic option.
Optional Third Letter: Note that students may submit a third letter BUT ONLY if the third letter can tell the committee about some aspect of your experience or character that the first two letter writers have no or little knowledge of and which would pertain to study abroad. Note this letter is not required and students with three letters are not viewed more favorably than those with two letters. A third letter should only be submitted if you feel your two required letters are from those who do not know you as well as the author of the third letter. Letters from your R.A., a Caltech administrator, dean, or instructor in the humanities or social sciences are acceptable. Please do not submit letters from high school teachers or high school counselors, peers, family, or family friends.
4. Complete the Study Abroad application form. Note that the proposal as indicated in #1 above is required as well. The application form is not sufficient alone. See proposal directions below.
Note that sample proposals may be reviewed in Fellowships Advising & Study Abroad. Do not copy the format of these proposals as requirements and format can change each year. Be certain that your proposal includes the elements listed below.
***IMPORTANT: repeat the full worDing of each item in the proposaL directions (first sentence in each item in bold below) and below each item provide the information requested.
number all pages and put your name and option on each page of the proposal.***
Applicants failing to do this will have their proposals returned for corrections.
The proposal will include (in order) the following elements:
Note that #5 only pertains to seniors doing a senior thesis.
1. Provide a brief personal narrative (up to a page single spaced) on the value of a term/semester abroad for you academically and personally.
Be sure to include a rationale for going abroad. Note that we are not looking to be entertained. Your statement should be thoughtful and students selected to study abroad will have their statement reviewed by host university faculty. Note that all applicants selected by Caltech to study abroad must also be accepted by the host university/Cambridge college-this process happens after the Caltech selection process is completed.
2. Provide a list of courses that need to be taken at Caltech in order to graduate and what term you plan to take these for courses currently being taken or to be taken in the future. If you have any E’s or I’s on your transcript, please explain when this work will be completed.
3. Briefly describe how each program you are applying for fits in with the your courses at Caltech. If you are applying for several programs with a range of course types, provide this information in order of your program preference with #1 being your most preferred study abroad program.
4. In program preference order and for EACH program you are applying to, list each of the courses you wish to take according to the directions below.
You should consult the handout on each program to ensure that you fully understand the program requirements and how to find courses. NOTE WELL: The course schedule for next year is not yet available so you must base your list on what is currently being taught. After being selected for study abroad, students are with permission allowed to change courses due to scheduling, requirements, interests, or content. Preparing this list ensures that you understand the academic system of the host university, i.e., you know what courses are available and the level. This course list is carefully reviewed by the selection committee. Therefore, it is important to research your options carefully. Do not make the common mistake of looking at admissions material aimed those applying as first year students to the university. You need to go to the equivalent of the online course list or departmental list. Links are provided in the handout for each study abroad university.
Detailed information on how to do the Course List can be found at the end of this handout.
5. If the student will be a senior when abroad who intends to do a senior thesis, then the faculty member responsible for supervising the thesis work should sign a statement or send the student an email agreeing to the fact that the thesis requirement may be satisfied by increased work during the other two terms, or by some other method. Submit the letter or email with your application. It is possible to work on non-experimental aspects of your thesis while abroad, but is usually not possible to do experimental work unless your thesis advisor can help you arrange this.
Vital Information for Each Program
FOR CAMBRIDGE ONLY:
Students may list 4 or 5 courses from Part II or III of the tripos in one subject within the Natural Sciences, Biological Sciences, Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Computer Science, or Economics Tripos. Note the physical sciences, biological sciences and mathematics are in the Natural Sciences Tripos. Computer Science, Chemical Engineering, and Economics have their own Tripos. Select a tripos closest to or highly related to your Caltech option.
Note well that you should list classes in one subject only except as noted below. You may select classes from the 3rd or 4th year of the subject-Part IIa or IIB or III. Note that some subjects have a I, IIa, IIb and some have a I, IIa, IIb and III, some have a Ia, Ib and II. This varies by subject – so be sure you understand the Tripos breakdown by year of your subject.
Taking classes outside of your subject or tripos: This may be possible to arrange if a student needs a course to fulfill a requirement that cannot be fulfilled at Caltech due to the term the student goes abroad or in another year. For example, a BEM student going to Cambridge during the Michaelmas Term (fall) could take Accounting. A ME student may be allowed to take a physics course to fulfill a ME requirement.
It is not possible to list courses in the humanities or social sciences unless the student’s tripos offers them as some do, e.g., primarily the Engineering Tripos. For students doing a second option in subjects such as history, history of science, or literature, it may be possible on arrival and with the permission of Caltech, your host Cambridge College and the instructor of the course at Cambridge to take hum or soc sci courses. But this cannot be arranged in advance. You may mention your desire to do this in your application. Note that this is only possible for those doing an option in these fields.
Economics is only available for students whose option is Econ/BEM. However, students doing a double option in the EAS Division may be better served by electing the Engineering Tripos as this Tripos has an management course track including courses such as Accounting, Finance, languages. Offering may vary each year and by term.
Biology Students should note that they may not opt for the following subjects: Medical or Veterinary Science, Anatomy, Pathology, or Pharmacology as these subjects are reserved for those at Cambridge concentrating in the medical or veterinary sciences. Biochemistry is not allowed as that subject is simply a series of lectures with no assigned work other than end of year final exams and a yearlong project and does not work with a term away.
Most biology students opt to do Physiology, Development and Neuroscience (PDN) – very popular with those interested in medicine or medical research. Biology students may also do Zoology or Plant Sciences. Most biochem students elect to do chemistry.
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FOR THE DANISH TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY (DTU) ONLY: ECTS stands for European Credit Transfer System and is a way of standardizing credits within the European Union. Each 5 ECTS course is equal 9 Caltech units. A 10 ECTS course is equal to 15 Caltech units.
You must list Danish language and may elect to take the Danish Culture course, which each get 9 CIT units and which are given at Copenhagen University.
You must take at least two courses at DTU in your option or a related area totaling 15 to 25 ECTS units unless you elect to take Danish Culture and in this case you must take at least two 5 ECTS courses or one 5 ECTS and one 10 ECTS course. Another exception to this is if you take a science, math, computer science course at KU. In this case you can take one of the required courses at KU and one at DTU. Note that CS is a major at KU. You must take the equivalent of at least 36 CIT units. No matter how you wish to arrange your courses, they must total a minimum of 36 units.
Please study the block system at DTU as all courses are taught in either 4 hour (5 ECTS courses) or 8 hour timeblock (10 ECTS courses).
FOR COPENHAGEN UNIVERSITY (KU) ONLY: Science students must list Danish Language and Culture. You can only take science, engineering or math courses in the first block, that is, the first nine week of the semester. Science or math students will take one 15 ECTS course which will equal 18 Caltech units or two 7.5 ECTS classes equaling 9 CIT units each. See the program handout for more information. Economics or BEM students will take 15 to 20 total ECTS units of Economics courses plus Danish Language and Culture. Note Economics or BEM students may be able to take 1 of their courses at the Copenhagen Business School.
Also note that students attending either KU or DTU may elect to take one humanities or social science course at KU that is taught in English. This list changes from year to year. Consult the KU list of courses taught in English: http://www.ku.dk/international/english/.
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FOR Edinburgh UNIVERSITY ONLY: Students must take a minimum a minimum of 60 Edinburgh credits and a maximum of 80. Students must take at least 4 courses and no more than 6. Note that for science, math or engineering students a MAXIMUM of 20 credits may be taken in the College of Humanities and Social Science. Economics and BEM students may take a maximum of 40 Edinburgh credits in the Edinburgh Economics Department — but in this case no other courses may be taken in the College of Humanities and Social Science. For all students, at least 2 courses must be taken in the College of Science and Engineering, one of which must be in the student’s option unless that student is in BEM or Economics. Note that the Geography Department at Edinburgh, which is in the College of Science and Engineering, has a number of interesting social geography courses such as Gender and the City – such offering vary yearly.
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For UCL ONLY: You must list at least 4 to 6 courses equaling not more than, but no less than 2.5 UCL credits total. Engineering courses are .25 credits each. In other subjects one course is usually .5 credits. A course listed as 1 credit is a full year course. Students cannot list yearlong courses unless UCL states that the course may be taken for the fall semester only or you can provide an email from the Affiliate Tutor in that subject or from the instructor that they will allow fall semester students in full year courses. A .5 credit course equals 9 Caltech units. A .25 engineering courses equals 9 Caltech units.
Two courses must be taken in your Admitting Department-usually the department of your Caltech option, but not always. For example, students in CNS may elect Psychology as their Admitting Department. Students in BEM or Economics cannot elect Economics as their Admitting Department, but must elect Statistical Sciences as the Economics Department is in another Faculty and not within the faculties of the Physical Sciences, Mathematics, Biological Sciences, or Engineering. Note that BEM or Econ students may take courses in the Economics Department as may students from other options.
Again, students must take a minimum of 2 courses in their Admitting Department at UCL. Students can take the remainder of their 2.5 UCL credits in the humanities or social sciences or in their Admitting Department or in another field of science, math or engineering.
NOTE WELL: The Affiliate Tutor is the faculty member in each department who is responsible for advising incoming exchange students. Go to: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-students/study-abroad-guide/ and click on Subjects and Departments. This will open up a list of subjects-note Caltech students choose an Admitting Department from subjects in the sciences and engineering. As noted Economics and BEM option students will be admitted into the Department of Statistical Sciences and not the Department of Economics. Click on a department to obtain the name of the Affiliate Tutor. This person should be contacted if you have questions about a course in general , the content or level of the course or when it will be taught in the next year.
Also note: For those taking the fall half of a full year course, you should contact the instructor or Affiliate Tutor to determine what topics are covered in the fall semester. Note the online description usually lists all topics covered during the year and may not list topics in the order they are taught.
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VITAL POINTS TO ADDRESS IN THE COURSE LIST
Specify the following in your course list (#4 of the proposal)
a. List the name of the program, e.g., Cambridge – Michaelmas (Fall) Term or Lent (Winter) Term, DTU, KU, Edinburgh, or UCL.
b. Provide the complete name and number of each class, the course level (see handouts on each program), the Department and College, School or Faculty if relevant.
For Cambridge be certain to provide the Tripos, Subject and Part of the Tripos.
For Edinburgh be certain to provide the College (Science and Engineering or Humanities and Social Science and the Semester the course is given-this must be the Fall or Semester 1).
For KU, DTU or Copenhagen Business School be sure to note which university the course is being taught at and the teaching block if relevant.
For UCL note which course (at least two) are in the admitting department and the semester in which the course is offered. Be certain not to list full year courses unless you have written permission from the Affiliate Tutor or instructor (an email will suffice) that you may take the fall half of a full year course-provide a copy of the Affiliate Tutor or Instructor’s email.
c. List the number of units/credits in the host university’s system. For example, at UCL courses are usually .5 credits in humanities, social science, or sciences and .25 in engineering. BE CERTAIN TO CAREFULLY READ THROUGH THE PROGRAM INFORMATION DIRECTIONS HANDOUT FOR EACH PROGRAM. These handouts contain important information on maximum number of units/courses for each program and other essential information for constructing a proposal and list of courses. DO NOT WING THIS!
d. Specify whether the courses are intended to satisfy any of Caltech's requirements for graduation or whether credit is being sought for your option or Institute requirements. Note exactly what type of credit and how many units you are seeking. All courses must be taken for option, Institute, or general credit. Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES can you take courses without taking the course for credit.
e. By each course note which Caltech faculty will evaluate each course for credit upon the student’s return to Caltech. Note that each of the courses must have a Caltech faculty member review the course on your return. You should list the professor at Caltech who teaches the equivalent or a similar course. It is not appropriate in most situations to list one faculty member as the evaluator for all courses. If there is no equivalent or similar course at Caltech list your option rep or executive officer whose name can be obtained online or from your option secretary.
Note that the Executive Officer for Humanities (Prof. George Pigman) should be listed as the evaluator for all humanities courses. The Executive Officer for Social Sciences (Jean-Laurent Rosenthal) should be listed as the evaluator for all social science courses.
Also note well that at this point YOU DO NOT HAVE TO GET THE EVALUATOR’S PERMISSION TO LIST THEM. However, if you are selected for a program, you will have to ask each evaluator to complete the official Course Evaluator Agreement Form. However, if you have concerns about course equivalency when creating the course list for your proposal, it may be advisable to consult with the relevant Caltech professor or instructor.
f. Provide a complete description of the course content by pasting in the course description from the host university’s web site. Please adjust the spacing. Be sure the description reflects what is taught in the term/semester in which you wish to take the course. You may need to consult with the instructor in cases where the description provides an overview of a course that has several parts or is taught over two semesters or terms, (e.g., similar to CIT part, a, b, c) to determine what content is taught in the term/semester in which you wish to take the course.
NOTE AGAIN THAT MORE INFORMATION AND SPECIFIC LINKS ARE AVAILABLE ON EACH PROGRAM IN THE PROGRAM HANDOUT. THESE MAY ALSO BE DOWNLOADED ON OUR WEBSITE: HTTP://WWW.FASA.CALTECH.EDU