Requirements & procedure

General information sheet

For an overview of all information regarding exchange, download the general information sheet.

Requirements

UCU has bilateral exchange agreements with many universities. Through these agreements each semester a certain number of students can be selected to study at UCU. There are a couple of minimum requirements that have to be fulfilled by the nominated exchange student:

• Proof of English Proficiency (e.g. TOEFL, IELTS, Cambridge Certificate)
• A GPA higher than 3.0
• Liberal Arts and Sciences profile

Utrecht University (UU) has many university wide exchange contracts. Students from those universities are also eligible to study at UCU, if they meet our minimum requirements. The first selection will be done by the UU International Office.

Please contact your international office for information about the nomination requirements at your home university.

Proof of English proficiency

Since English is the official language at UCU, non-native speakers are required to demonstrate proof of proficiency. Accepted are the IELTS test, TOEFL test and Cambridge Certificate: 

All Chinese students must apply for a “Nuffic Certificate” before their visa application can be submitted. This includes taking an IELTS or TOEFL test. For more information click here.

Students with an International Baccalaureate or European Baccalaureate diploma in English are exempted. Dutch students with a 5 VWO average of 8 or higher for English can also be exempted if they include a letter from their English teacher stating their level of proficiency.

Procedure

1. You must be nominated by your university to be eligible for admission to UCU
2. Your university sends UCU a list of nominated students
3. Nominated students are invited to submit their applications to UCU online 
4. Your application will be assessed by UCU's Exchange Officer and Director of Education.

Criteria of judgment are the same as for all applicants at UCU:

• academic excellence and curiosity
• ambition and motivation, academically as well as professionally 
• broad intellectual orientation
• interest in contributing to campus life
• social engagement
• affinity with living and studying in an international environment

Sometimes a student will have an additional  telephone interview with the Exchange Officer. In general the students will be accepted when they are nominated by a UCU exchange partner. Final decisions of admission are taken by the UCU Director of Education.

After acceptance (decisions taken after the application deadline), the UCU Admissions Office informs your home university and will send you an invitation letter and acceptance form.