| Application Guidelines | Course Evaluation Process |
Course Evaluation Process
Selecting Overseas Courses
Course Evaluation and Approval
Registering for your Return UM Semester
Overseas Transcript
Credit Transfer - Upon Your Return
Selecting Overseas Courses
In choosing courses overseas, it is best to be flexible and plan alternatives. We encourage you not to limit yourself by only taking engineering classes, but consider taking humanities/social science, technical electives, and free electives as study abroad courses.
Make sure you meet with your department program advisor to discuss your intentions to go abroad. Your Advisor can suggest courses you might take while abroad and can assist you in altering your academic plan to accommodate the overseas experience without losing time to your degree.
Most universities offer online course catalogs (links to these sites are found in the Study Abroad programs section). The IPE library can provide a valuable resource, including many course catalogs and syllabi from overseas.
We recommend that you compile a list of several course options. Make sure to find at least 2 times as many courses as you need to allow for conflicts in scheduling.
Note: Students studying through Non-IPE (Non-UM) programs must provide additional information regarding the courses they select. Please see the Non-UM programs page for further details.
Course Evaluation Process
The course evaluation process is different depending on whether you are participating in a UM-sponsored program or a Non-UM program. Please follow the directions below depending on which type of program you plan on attending.
I. For students participating in a UM-sponsored program (IPE or OIP)
Once you have selected several courses that you are interested in taking, you must complete and submit an IPE Course Evaluation Form.
Course evaluation and approval involves two important steps:
1. Submit the Course Evaluation Form to the IPE office.
2. In 4-6 weeks, you will receive an e-mail with your Study Abroad Course Evaluation Report attached. The report indicates the credit you will receive for each course you submitted (that you pass with a C or better). Credit may be shown as equivalent to a UM course or as departmental credit with the appropriate level indicated. Courses that the College of Engineering considers Humanities or Social Sciences are indicated.
3. A copy of this report will be sent to your departmental advisor. It is your responsibility to meet with your department advisor to determine how the credits earned overseas will be counted toward your engineering degree requirements. For example, your department advisor may approve a course evaluated as 300-level EECS departmental credit, to be used toward your technical elective requirement.
4. If you plan to count any of the credit earned overseas toward a concentration, minor, double major, or other academic program, you should meet with the advisor specific to that program, in addition to your engineering departmental advisor.
To find a list of courses at your host university that have already been evaluated by the College of Engineering, visit the transfer course equivalencies website at http://www.engin.umich.edu/transferdatabase/
In most cases, study abroad courses are awarded as transfer credit, and the grades do not transfer back to Michigan. For some IPE programs, such as the JI summer Program in China and the Berlin Summer Program, students are enrolling in a UM course. In those special cases, the coursework completed is taken for a grad and does affect the UM GPA. Please contact the IPE office if you have any questions about the grading for the program that you are interested in.
If you decide to take a course that you did not have previously approved, it can be evaluated upon your return. Courses will not be evaluated while you are overseas. The course evaluation process typically takes 4-6 weeks, so it will not be possible to evaluate courses during the drop/add timeframe ste by your university overseas. It is required that you receive the equivalent of at least a C at the foreign institution in order for Michigan to consider the course passed.
In order to have the course(s) evaluated upon your return, you will need to provide the course materials including the syllabus, assignments, and exams. There is no guarantee that the course(s) will be granted credit, so taking courses that have not been previously approved is risky.
II. For students participating in a Non-UM program
Once you have selected several courses that you are interested in taking, you must complete and submit an online Transfer Credit Approval Form (Guest Application) for your transfer credit approval.
This form is not a study abroad application. It is an application for transferring credits earned outside of the University of Michigan. The Office of Recruitment and Admissions administers this transfer credit approval process for Non-UM programs. They have provided detailed instructions for completing this form. Once you log on, you will be provided with step-by-step instructions on how to complete the transfer credit approval form (Guest Application).
Registering for your Return Semester at UM - Wolverine Access
You will need to register for your return semester while overseas. (Note: It is best to plan U of M courses for the returning semester with your advisor prior to the study abroad experience. When you meet with your advisor to discuss international course approvals, plan your courses for your return semester as well.)
To avoid problems with registering, it is a good idea to get in touch with your department program advisor before registration begins (March/November). Send your advisor an e-mail including the number of credits and specific courses that you are currently taking. This will help to insure that you receive the appropriate registration appointment. Wolverine Access may deny you access to courses that require a prerequisite that you are currently taking while abroad. Contact your department advisor, he/she has the authority to override Wolverine Access and enroll you in a class, under the assumption that you will have passed the course while abroad.
If you cannot get into Wolverine Access, our office can mail a time schedule to you. Send us an e-mail request and we will mail one as soon as they are available. Keep in mind schedules appear on the web much earlier and are more up-to-date than the paper version. If you have difficulty registering, try connecting with your home department.
Overseas Transcript
Before leaving your host institution, you must request your official transcript be sent directly to:
International Programs in Engineering
245 Chrysler Center
2121 Bonisteel Blvd.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2092
You will receive an e-mail confirmation when your transcript is received. We also recommend that you order 1-2 additional copies of your official transcript for your records (kept in the original envelopes). Graduate school applications often requires transcripts from your overseas experience, and it may be difficult to obtain them once you have returned to the US.
Credit Transfer - Upon Your Return
Upon your return you will need to attend a Re-Entry Session, participate in a Cultural Survey, and complete the Study Abroad Evaluation Form. All of these items need to be complete before your credit transfer can take place.
Credit Transfer Requirements:
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Complete the Study Abroad Return Evaluation Form
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Attend the Study Abroad Welcome Back Re-Entry Event
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Participate in the Cultural Survey administered by the IPE Office.
Remember that you must you receive at least a C at the foreign institution in order for Michigan to consider the course passed. Please review the Transfer Credit Guidelines above prior to your semester abroad.
