- NOTE: The 2024/2025 Study Abroad Program is now closed.
- What is study abroad?
- How can I apply for study abroad at Carleton?
NOTE: The 2024/2025 Study Abroad Program is now closed.
What is study abroad?
The study abroad program at Carleton is designed for undergraduate students who wish to study short term at Carleton and whose home institution is NOT one of our formal exchange partners. The study abroad program is not offered at the Graduate level. Study abroad students may study at Carleton for one or two academic terms, (Fall, Winter or Fall/Winter). As a study abroad student, you pay international tuition fees to Carleton.
Duration of Study (3 options):
- Full Academic Year (September to April)
- Fall Term (September to December)
- Winter Term (January to April)
Language of Instruction: English
- All course deliverables (e.g. tests, quizzes, assignments, reports, midterm and final exam) must be completed in English.
How can I apply for study abroad at Carleton?
There are several steps that are required before studying at Carleton as a study abroad student. Carefully review the steps below and feel free to contact us should you require further information.
Step 1 – Read and understand the application instructions
In submitting your application for study abroad to Carleton University, it is important to ensure that all requirements are completed and supporting documents are uploaded into the online application..
Please use the following checklist for submission information and required supporting documentation:
- Incoming Study Abroad Application Form: submitted online by the deadline date (refer to the table below).
- Course Selection: Students should not select courses they do not have the academic background for. All applicants must present adequate evidence of sufficient preparation/background for the courses they are interested in.
Definition of Prerequisite: Most courses require a student to have a certain level of knowledge before they are approved to take the course. For example, a student must have completed an introductory course in Psychology before they can be considered for an intermediate level Psychology course. Thus, the introductory course is said to be the prerequisite for the intermediate course.
- Official transcript (academic record). Document must be current and in English. It must be an official document endorsed by the home institution and include all completed courses and the grade achieved in each course.
- Grading system of the home institution must be included with the official transcript.
- Portfolio is required when requesting courses in Architecture, Industrial Design, or Interactive Multimedia Design (IMD).
- An Audition is required when requesting performance courses in Music.
- Official proof of English proficiency (required if the student’s first language is not English):
- Document must be original and translated into English.
- The test date cannot be more than 24 months from the time of application
- Acceptable test reports and required test scores are noted below:
- Internet Based TOEFL (iBT): 86 (minimum of 22 in writing and speaking, 20 in reading and listening)
- Note: we cannot consider a student based on their TOEFL MyBEST Scores. Eligibility will be assessed using the Test Date Scores.
- IELTS: 6.5 (minimum of 6.0 in each band)
- CAEL: 70 (minimum of 60 in each band)
- DAAD (minimum B2 score)
- Internet Based TOEFL (iBT): 86 (minimum of 22 in writing and speaking, 20 in reading and listening)
Students must achieve the TOTAL minimum score indicated. They must also achieve the minimum score indicated for each BAND in Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening.
Step 2 – Complete and submit the online study abroad application with supporting documents
On the application, in order of priority, students must list ten (10) Carleton courses they would like to take, including the course title and course code.
Students can use the following resources when researching courses and building a study plan:
-
- Undergraduate Courses
- Courses Not Available
- Public Class Schedule => Used to check if courses are offered in the student’s study abroad term.[NOTE: available in early June, students will be provided with the link]
Course Selection – Key Considerations
Please take the following into consideration when preparing the study plan for your term:
- Course availability is subject to change and for this reason, we cannot guarantee registration in all requested courses. Students should create a study plan that includes a mixture of courses from their major, minor, concentration and most especially free electives. Our academic departments will determine which courses a study abroad student is approved to take. Each department has their own criteria when assessing course requests, the most important of which is whether a student has the required academic background to meet the course prerequisites. Other factors include, but are not limited to, if the course is restricted, if there are still seats available in the class, which term the course is offered, and so on.
- A placement test is required for all students who wish to take a language course at Carleton:
- ENGLISH as a SECOND LANGUAGE COURSE (ESLA Course): To be eligible to take an ESLA course, an official Proficiency Test report (TOEFL, IELTS, CAEL) is required (no exceptions or substitutes). The test report must be in English and the test date cannot be more than 24 months prior to application.
- Students must not request any courses found on the Courses Not Available list. These are restricted courses and are not available to exchange students. Please note as well that Departments reserve the right to restrict courses not found on this list if deemed necessary.
- Portfolios must be included for students applying for courses in Architecture, Industrial Design and Interactive Multimedia Design (IMD).
An audition is required for performance courses in Music. Information can be found on the Music Department website. - In June, students can access the Public Class Schedule in Carleton Central to search for courses that will be available in their term (Fall, Winter or full year).
Courses that are listed as ‘Open’ in the schedule should be selected.
Courses that have notations such as, ‘Full, no waitlist’ or ‘Waitlist Full’ should not be selected.
Courses labelled as ‘Waitlist Open’ are not recommended because there is no guarantee that a spot will open up in the class and the ‘wait’ time to find out if a spot is available can be quite long.
How Courses Are Labelled
Every course at Carleton is identified by four letters and a number (for example, ARCH 1111). The four letters indicate the department name, in this example it is Architecture. The numbers indicate the course level: 1000 level courses are first-year, 2000 are second-year, 3000 are third-year and 4000 are fourth-year undergraduate courses.
Study Abroad students are not permitted to take graduate courses (level 5000).
Course Load
Study abroad students are required to be enrolled in full-time studies, which is equivalent to 1.5 Carleton credits or 3 undergraduate courses per term. Students are permitted a maximum of 2.5 credits or 5 undergraduate courses per term. Students must also follow the requirements set by their home institution with regards to their course load.
1 semester course = 0.5 Carleton credits
0.5 Carleton Credits (1 Course) = 6 ECTS
2.5 Carleton Credits (5 Courses) = 30 ECTS
Course Registration
Initially, students have registration holds which prevent them from registering in courses. Once a student has been approved and registered by Carleton in the minimum number of courses required per term, they will have achieved full-time status. Students will then receive an email confirming their registration details. Upon receipt of this email, a student will be issued a time-ticket and given access to the course registration system which will then allow them to make changes to their schedule on their own.
Registration Resources
The Registrars’ Office has developed the following resources:
- Registration Terminology: definitions for the terms you will encounter when registering
- Registration Process: registration at Carleton is done through Carleton Central. Carleton Central is Carleton’s secure online centre for student registration and administrative activities.
- Registration Support: contact the Registrar’s Office for support
| Study Period | Application Deadline |
| Fall term (September – December) | June 15, 2024 |
| Full Year (September – April) | June 15, 2024 |
| Winter term (January – April) | October 15, 2024 |
Step 3 – Letter of acceptance
After you have submitted your application form, the ISSO will review it. Upon acceptance to the study abroad program, the ISSO will email your letter of acceptance.
The Letter of Acceptance is quite detailed and will include information such as:
- Carleton University Identification Number (CUID)
- MyCarletonOne (MC1) username for email set-up and records system access
- Important dates and deadlines
- Visa requirements
- Housing
- Tuition and Fees
- Orientation
Step 4 – Prepare for your study term
Please review the new student website for important resources and tasks to complete before arriving at Carleton.
Questions? Contact the International Student Services Office:
isso@carleton.ca or +1 (613) 520-6600