FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)
1. What are my chances of going for SEP?
The selection for SEP is first and foremost mostly based on your grades. The grades taken into consideration would be your CAP at the end of the first semester of your application. Thus, if you are applying for SEP in your 2nd year, you would want to score well for your very first semester. Typically around half the cohort will go for SEP.
2. Where should I go for SEP?
NUS Business School has over 120 partner universities and schools. The full list can be found on the NUS BBA website.
The important question to ask would be your motive for going for SEP. Students’ motives may vary from different cultural experiences, a way to travel around for a few months or chance to live in a country of our dreams. Finding out these motives would help in shortlisting the countries and subsequently the universities. Another thing to look at would be the total cost of the SEP and its affordability, as SEP in different countries would invariably result in different costs due to costs of living, accommodations, etc.
It is also important to take into account the modules available in the partner university that can be mapped (i.e. counted as a similar module in NUS) back to your BBA programme. An Equivalent Module Master List, which shows tentative modules available at the different partner universities, that can be mapped back, is available online (http://bba.nus.edu/exchange_application.html). However, note that this list is based on past experiences and the partner universities change the modules offered occasionally.
3. What happen to grades of modules taken on SEP?
Only the students’ credits will be transferred back to NUS, which means that NUS only needs to know whether students have passed or failed in their modules taken at the partner university. Therefore, as long as you pass the modules taken during SEP, it will be counted as completion of your modules without the grades affecting your CAP.
4. How much do I need to pay for my SEP?
You will not need to pay for the tuition fee of the partner university, but will have to remain paying for the tuition fee in NUS. As for other costs associated with the SEP, it would depend greatly on the country where you are heading as you would have to take into account traveling cost, accommodation, daily essentials, exchange rates. Most partner universities would present a estimated cost for incoming exchange students on their websites.
Finance aid and scholarships are also available. Do check out the International Relations Office’s website for list of loans, awards and scholarships available and their criteria (http://www.nus.edu.sg/iro/nus/students/awards/index.html).
5. What if I took a module overseas but I'm unable to find an equivalent NUS module to map back to?
Most modules can be mapped to a NUS mod called Topics if you cannot find a corresponding NUS module. These are basically placeholder modules. if you go on exchange, find something interesting modules but there are no equivalent in NUS, you can map them to Topics. Each student can map up to 3 topics per specialisation (MKT/DSC/MNO/FIN) that can count towards your specialisation.
6. What modules can be mapped overseas?
Firstly, do not be mistaken that the modules on the Master List are just the modules you can do while on SEP. The list is accumulated by past exchange students and should only be used as a reference when considering the universities you want to apply too as they are not 100% correct. There are definitely more modules offered by the partner universities but these modules will only be released 2 months before the school term starts.
Therefore we suggest you should apply and secure a place in the University of your choice first, then do the module mapping. If the modules are already approved on Master List, there will be no issues for you to map it back. However, if the modules are not reflected in the Master List, students are advised to propose the equivalent modules to the BBA office (include details like the modular system) for mapping back to NUS.
Also note that any modules taken on SEP follows the prerequisites recommended by partner university and not NUS: