Academics

Your academic experience abroad is going to be very different from home. Working under the policies and processes of the local institution, you may find a lot less structure, or a lot more.

Courses and Credit Approval

  • Find information on specific courses using the NTU online catalog. Note, look at the relevant semester when info on future semesters is not available.
  • Students must take 15 NTU credits for 15 Cornell credits.
  • Review information on Chinese language classes (mandatory unless you are taking a class in Chinese).
  • For assistance in selecting courses, see your faculty or college advisor. (Note: You may earn elective, distributional, minor or major credit depending on your major and college.)
  • To discuss program fit, such as program type, expectations, level of structure/independence, or to compare options, get advice from Global Learning advisors and returned students. 
  • Complete the Study Abroad Participation and Course Approval form that is part of the Global Learning application for a record of how your courses will count for credit at Cornell.

Restrictions

  1. The College of Medicine does not accept exchange students
  2. The Department of Anthropology requires students to have Chinese language proficiency because there are no courses taught in English.
  3. The Department of Economics is under the College of Social Sciences at NTU. Courses related to economics can also be found in other departments (e.g. College of Management).
  4. GMBA required courses/ core courses are only open to GMBA degree students, whereas most GMBA elective courses are open to exchange students with the authorization codes given by course instructors.
  5. EMBA and EiMBA courses are not open to exchange or visiting students.
  6. Refer to the column "Limits on Course adding/ dropping" for each specific course on the NTU Online Course Information.
  7. The following courses are NOT OPEN to Exchange/ visiting students: 
    1.  
      1. Practicum courses offered by departments
      2. Lab courses offered by the Department of Chemistry
      3. Courses offered by Center for Teaching Education, and all Academic Programs (學分學程)
      4. School of Professional Education and Continuing Studies (進修推廣學院)
      5. Summer Session (暑修) and Summer College (夏季學院) courses

Academic Policies

  • Study the language of the host country (or take a course in that language) when studying in a non-English speaking country for a semester or year
  • Take the equivalent of 15 Cornell credits for a full semester, even if it is possible to take fewer and still graduate on time
  • Complete all the academic work and stay until the end of the program, defined as the last officially-sanctioned exam for any course you take abroad

Registration and Grades

  • You will be registered at Cornell and will earn credit for approved coursework for your semester/year study abroad
  • Decisions on the final allocation of credit are made upon successful completion of the course (equivalent of a “C” or higher—all courses for a letter grade)
  • Grades will appear on the Cornell transcript in the same format as they are recorded on the original transcript generated by the study abroad program or university. Grades are not factored into the Cornell GPA