Apply for Outgoing Exchange

The following eligibility requirements must be met at the time of your application.

Undergraduate students must have:

• Minimum 2nd year standing in a degree program
• Completed at least 4.0 credits at Carleton University
• Minimum of 2.0 credits remaining in their degree, ideally in electives
• Minimum overall Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 7.0
• The Killam Fellowships Program requires a minimum overall CGPA of 10.0

Please note that these are the requirements for students to complete an exchange application. The Registrar’s Office will conduct an official eligibility review of all undergraduate exchange applications in January. Students must continue to maintain eligibility until their term abroad.

Specific degree requirements:

• Architecture: students must have a minimum overall CGPA of 8.0 and 10.0 studio GPA. Students must apply for a Winter exchange (departmental approval is required for Fall exchange)
• Engineering: students must consult their academic advisor about eligibility
• International Business: students must refer to the Sprott School of Business website for eligibility requirements

Graduate students must have:

• Approval from their graduate department in order to be eligible for an exchange placement abroad. We recommend you consult with your Faculty Advisor to discuss the possibility of exchange

Students must attend an Exchange Information Session or watch the Recorded Information Session Summary before applying to the Exchange Program. These sessions occur every Fall term both online and in-person. Please visit our Exchange Information Session webpage to register for a session and access the Recorded Information Session Summary.

Visit our Stories from Exchange webpage to learn about other students’ experiences while abroad.

The Exchange Partner Institution list is a starting point only and the information listed is a general guideline. Students are responsible for thoroughly researching their partner institutions of interest. Important factors to consider while doing your research are:

• Language of instruction: Many partners offer courses taught in English, so learning another language is not always a requirement to go on exchange. If you are traveling to a country where English is not the first language, you might want to:
  • Take a language course as an elective.
  • Check out the conversation groups offered by the Language Resource Room to help practice your skills.
• Academic Calendar: Not all partner institutions follow the same academic year as Carleton. It is very important to consider approximate start and end dates when planning for your exchange to ensure there is not significant overlap of terms at Carleton and abroad.
• Courses and Programs: Check out which courses are offered at Partner Institutions. While next year’s courses may not be available, research current course offerings to get a better idea of what may be available in the future. You can often find course catalogue information in the Factsheet or linked Exchange Website on the Partner Institution Profile Page.
  • The Registrar’s Office maintains a Course Equivalencies Database which includes a list of courses that exchange students have taken in the last 3 years. This is not a complete or current list of all available courses at the Partner Institution.

You can also review recent destinations by degree to support your research.

The Exchange Team does not offer academic advising.

Once you have researched potential Partner Institutions and their courses of interest, you must meet with your departmental advisor or Graduate Administrator. Your advisor can review your audit with you and provide information on courses needed to complete your degree. Some academic considerations for you to discuss with your advisor are:

• Checking the suitability of your proposed Exchange Partner Institution and possible courses.
• Saving your electives for your exchange term/year. This may make it easier for you to transfer courses back to Carleton. It is important to consider that you may not have access to specific required courses (e.g. major/specialization requirements) at a partner university.
• Taking summer courses. Some students complete summer courses at Carleton before or after their exchange to fulfill degree requirements they missed while abroad and to minimize the impact on their anticipated graduation date.
• Selecting your exchange term/year. Most students complete their exchange during their third year of study. If you are considering an exchange during your fourth year, you will have additional considerations to discuss with your advisor. Going out on exchange in the last term of the final year of your program will delay your graduation.

Students can find the Outgoing International Exchange Application on Carleton Central under “Student Online Applications”. You can save your progress at each stage of the application, review and continue at your convenience, and submit the application before the deadline.

1. The system will conduct an automatic review of your eligibility. Please note that satisfying the preliminary eligibility review does not guarantee acceptance to the Exchange Program.
2. Identify and rank five preferred institutions on the application and the term(s) you wish to apply for (Fall, Winter, or Full Year). While the ISSO makes every reasonable effort to place accepted students at their preferred partner institution, due to the competitive nature of the Exchange Program we cannot make guarantees.
3. Respond to short-answer questions regarding your motivations and objectives for the Exchange Program. There are no right or wrong answers; these questions are an opportunity for you to tell the Exchange Team a bit more about yourself and your goals.
4. Submit the following supporting documents:
   • Consent to Publish Form (Undergraduate and Graduate students – complete and sign Part C only).
   • Graduate Student Acknowledgement for Exchange (Graduate students only)
5. Pay non-refundable application fee of $100.00 CDN by Visa or Master card. For the Bachelor of International Business students, the application form will automatically bypass the fee payment requirement.
   • You will receive an automatic confirmation email after your application is successfully submitted.

If you are applying to the Killam Fellowships Program, you will need to complete and submit the Killam Fellowships application package in addition to your Carleton Central exchange application. Please begin your Killam application well in advance of the deadline to allow ample time for the required documents to be collected.

The Killam application package deadline for Direct Exchange is December 8, 2025 and the open exchange deadline is January 31, 2026.

Application decisions will be sent out to students’ Carleton email by mid-February. You will be informed whether you have been accepted to the exchange program and to which partner institution you will be nominated by Carleton University. Students will be placed in one institution only.

Students who apply for the Killam Fellowships Program will be notified by mid-February about their acceptance to the Carleton Exchange Program. Please note acceptance to the Carleton Exchange Program does not guarantee acceptance in the Killam Fellowships Program. Students who have applied to the Killam Fellowships Program will receive the results of their application in April.