University of Edinburgh
Course Registration Instructions and Form
How to Select Your Courses from the Online Liistings
Courses available to study abroad students are located on the Edinburgh website: http://www.ed.ac.uk/studying/visiting-exchange/courses.
- This URL will take you to the Visiting Student Prospectus.
- Click on “Course Finder” to select the appropriate period of study.
- Courses are then presented by school and subject and are generally listed by level, starting with level one.
- Clicking on a course will take you to a page listing the course duration, year of study, requirements, credit load, and a brief description.
- The course number does not give you information about duration or year of study, so it is important to click on each course to learn more about it.
In addition to the course catalog, the College of Humanities and Social Sciences has also compiled a list of “Study Abroad Special Interest Programmes” to assist visiting students with selecting courses in specialized areas of study.
For example, they have created listings of relevant courses within areas such as Scottish Studies, Religious Studies, Muslim-Christian Studies, and Pre-Law. More information about these special interest programs can be found at:
http://www.hss.ed.ac.uk/AcademicAdmin/VisitingProgramme/index.htm.
You should pay particular attention to:
- Duration – Under duration, you will see semester one, or semester two, or full year. The website will usually indicate if a year long course can be taken for one semester.
Semester one (fall) runs from September to December, Semester two (spring) runs from January to May, and the academic year runs from September to May. Each semester is comprised of eleven weeks of teaching plus evaluations.
- Year of Study – This is the year (of a four-year degree) in which an Edinburgh degree student would take the course. Because Scottish students come into university ahead of most American students, Year 1 is considered equivalent to a Sophomore level course, Year 2 a Junior level, and Year 3 a Senior/Graduate level. Year 4 courses are not available for study abroad students since they require all three years of prior study at the overseas university.
- Honors courses - Year 3 courses are HONORS level. Many departments fill these courses on a first-come first-serve basis. In order to qualify for an honors course, you should have taken four courses in the subject matter and received grades of ‘B’ or better.
Departments will limit a qualified student to no more than one or two honors level courses per semester. Some departments are more selective than others pre-registering students for honors courses.
- Credits – Most students take three or four courses per semester depending on the departments and levels of the courses. Each course is usually worth 20 Edinburgh credits per semester and 40 for the academic year. Exceptions may apply to honors courses.
Some Science and Engineering courses are worth fewer credits and require that more than three be taken in order to equal a full credit load.
You must register for a total of 60 Edinburgh credits per semester. To determine your required full academic course load, keep the following in mind:
- Academic Year = 120 Edinburgh credits = 30 semester hour credits (permissible range 29 to 33)
- Fall or Spring semester = 60 Edinburgh credits = 15 semester hour credits (permissible range 14 to 17.5)
Regardless of whether you study at the University of Edinburgh for the academic year, fall or spring semester, you will take examinations or final assessments with the host country peers during the end-of-semester revision/examination period.
Making Sure Your Credits Will Transfer Back
Meet with your advisor to discuss course selections. It is your responsibility to make sure that you are registered for a full academic load and that the courses you take abroad will transfer for credit to your home school. While every effort will be made to accommodate your course selections, Arcadia University does not guarantee placement in any course.
Keep in mind that your course selection form is used as part of your application and for the pre-registration process by the host university. Actual course registration does not take place until you arrive at University of Edinburgh and meet with your assigned director of study.
If accepted you will be admitted to one of the colleges at the University of Edinburgh, either the College of Humanities and Social Sciences or to the College of Science and Engineering.
We suggest that you secure approval for at least 8-10 courses per semester. Make sure to list alternate courses. List your choices and alternates in order of interest. Your first choices may not be available due to schedule changes, time conflicts or cancellations.
Flexibility is very important. If you mandate certain courses that might be unavailable or inappropriate, you may limit your chances of admission, even though you meet the program’s overall academic requirements.
Questions?
For assistance with any part of the application process, call Traci Chupik, your program manager, at 1-866-927-2234, or email
chupikt@arcadia.edu.
Please review your course choices with your academic or study abroad advisor, and submit the online course registration form to the Arcadia University College of Global Studies.
top
