- Who is eligible to apply?
To be eligible for an exchange you must achieve an average of 3.0 GPA in stage 1 and stage 2 of your degree. Generally, for students going on exchange in stage 3, the average GPA is calculated as follows:(Stage 1 + Stage 1 + Stage 2 trimester 1) divided by 3.
If you are successful in your application, you will need to have completed 60 credits at Stage 1 including all cores, and at least 50 credits in Stage 2, to be eligible to take your exchange or Erasmus place. N.B. Please note that your progression to stage 4 might be affected if you don’t achieve 60 credits in Stage 2.
Note: It is strongly advised that any student who does not pass all stage 2 modules, does not take up an opportunity to study abroad for a full year as it will be very difficult to remediate your outstanding modules and successfully complete stage 4 on your return. Should you wish to discuss this further please contact Erasmus Exchange Programme Manager ((opens in a new window)outgoing.socialsciences@ucd.ie) to explore this further.
- When and for how long can I go abroad?
You can study abroad in a host university for either a year (two trimesters) or a trimester (either Trimester 1 or Trimester 2) in Stage 3 of your programme.
- How many modules do I need to take and what do I need to study while I am abroad?
You are required to complete a number of ECTS credits at your host university. The number of modules this equates to may differ from one partner university to another and some Universities may require students to take a minimum number of credits per trimester. Your academic adviser and the Social Sciences Office will guide you through this.
For students going abroad for a Single Trimester: You are required to pass a minimum of 20 ECTS credits at your host institution. However, it is recommended that you attempt up to 30 ECTS credits when abroad for a trimester.
For students going abroad for a year (two trimesters):
You are required to pass a minimum of 45 ECTS credits at your host institution. However, it is recommended that you attempt up to 60 ECTS credits when abroad for a year (two trimesters). You should choose the majority of your modules in your Social Sciences subject.
You may also choose up to 10 ECTS worth of modules outside of your subject area, similar to electives in UCD (eg. you may choose a host country culture module, a language module or a module from a different Area of Study or Faculty). *
You should be aiming to balance your academic workload over the two trimesters as evenly as possible. You are required to attend lectures during the whole academic year (two trimesters) and the minimum number of credits that a student is required to take during any trimester is 20 ECTS.
* Note: You are not required to take elective modules, you can choose to take additional modules in your single major disciplines if you wish. You are encouraged to consider modules in one of the host country's languages.
Note: If you take exchange outside of Europe, you will be required to take specific course workload relevant to each university, as outside of Europe institutions don’t use the ECTS system.
Some of the destinations available for 2020/21 Stage 3 are linked below, for discussion with your subject Erasmus/Exchange Academic adviser.