How to register for an exchange program

You will need to research the exchange partners you are interested in and identify courses offered at that institution which will allow you to transfer the credit to your RMIT program.

The process operates via a reciprocal student exchange agreement between RMIT and the partner university: we send a student to the partner university and they send a student to us. You continue to pay your tuition fee to RMIT in Vietnam.

Please follow the steps below to register for the Global Exchange Program to a partner university of RMIT.

Apart from the information in our website, you can learn about the program by:

  1. Attend an information session to find out about eligibility, deadlines, how to apply and more. The Info-session will take place around week 4 and week 10 and will be announced on our RMIT Vietnam Global Experience Fanpage.
  2. Book an appointment with us via Consultation Appointments for advice on the process

What to consider when choosing your preferences? For each preference you choose, please ensure you have considered the following:

  • You meet the eligibility criteria for the Global Exchange Program
  • You have at least 4 favourite partner universities with at least 1 place graded as Low Demand

For details on Demand Level, please refer to each Exchange Partner page on Mobi for reference.

  • The host institution offers sufficient courses that are available to exchange students in your study area, in the semester(s) that you will be on exchange
  • The host institution offers courses in English or in a language of instruction for which you are eligible
  • The host institution offers additional services that you require; for example, disability support
  • The host country’s climate, culture, geographical situation, language(s) spoken and political situation
  • The estimated cost of living in my host country for the duration of my exchange
  • The host institution offers accommodation options and/or services that suit my lifestyle and needs
  • Whether you can meet your academic, personal and professional goals during your exchange if you attend this institution; for example, add a minor to your program/complete an internship and/or learn a new language and/or travel to other places etc.

Make sure you have researched and are happy with all of your host institution preferences before registering your interest, as you may be nominated to your second, third, or fourth preference.

In order to ensure that you have room in your program structure and to effectively research potential institutions, we recommend following the below steps:

1. Check your RMIT program structure:

  • In order to determine how far you have progressed in your program and what courses you have remaining, consult with your Senior Academic Advisor (Student Connect) and your Program Coordinator about how an Exchange Program can fit into your current RMIT program structure
  • It is possible to take courses at a host institution to meet the requirements of core courses, program electives or general electives

2. Save your electives:

  • Remember: Using general electives will reduce the complexity of your registration and increase the chances of your study plan being approved

Select your host Institution preferences

  • Preference guidelines: When registering for exchange, you are required to choose up to four host institutions, in order of preference, where you would like to be placed for your exchange

Note: The institutions to be ranked in the order of preference (i.e. the most favourite one is placed on top and others follow the order accordingly)

  • Grading scale: Each host partner has a limited number of exchange places available. To give an indication of how competitive a host institution is and how many exchange places are available, each host institution is rated by Demand Level: ‘Low’, ‘Medium’, ‘High’ or ‘Closed’:

Low Demand

Medium Demand

High Demand

Closed

  • High Availability - usually more exchange places (10+) available than applicants
  • Less Competitive
  • Possibly more funding available
  • GPA Requirement: >2.0
  • Moderate Availability - usually similar exchange places (5 – 10) available to applicants
  • Moderately Competitive
  • Popular Destination
  • GPA Requirement: >3.0 (approximately)
  • Low Availability - usually more applicants than exchange places (less than 5) available
  • Highly Competitive
  • Very popular destination
  • GPA Requirement: >3.5 (approximately)

Closed - currently no exchange places available

To ensure we can successfully place you at one of your preferred host institutions, choose at least one host institution preference that is graded ‘Low Demand’.

Note: The rating on Demand Level is based on the exchange agreement between RMIT and the Exchange Partners. ‘Low Demand’ does not mean that the program or destination is not good. Instead, many universities in fantastic destinations are rated as ‘Low Demand’ thanks to the expanded partnership between universities that allow more exchange places to be available for students. Therefore, you might want to consider to choose more universities in this group to better secure your place at the Global Exchange Program.

 

How to search for suitable preferences

To ensure your preferred host institutions are suitable for you, you are required to carefully research your preferences and identify courses available for credit transfer to RMIT. To help you do this, we have designed the following tools:

1. Browse the Host Institution List

We suggest you start your research by exploring the List of Global Exchange Partners. You can visit each Exchange Partner’s page on Mobi to view the partner institution profile. Please pay particular attention to the ‘Study Level’, ‘Demand Level' and ‘Disciplines Available’ sections to determine whether exchange to your chosen host institution is possible within your study area, and note the host institution’s grading, as explained above.

Each host institution profile features a link that will take you to a dedicated brochure that contains more information about the host institution, academics, living, funding, and more. Please follow the links to the host institution webpage; for example, under ‘Academics’, ‘For Exchange Students’, or ‘More Information’, to search for more information about courses on offer to exchange students and in your study area.

If you require any additional information, please contact RMIT Global Experience - do not contact the host institution directly at this stage to avoid any confusion caused.

2. Tips for choosing courses at partner institution

When considering courses at the partner institution, make sure that:

  • They are available to exchange students
  • They are offered in the semester(s) that you will be on exchange
  • They are offered in English or in a language of instruction for which I am eligible
  • You meet any prerequisites associated with the course
  • The courses fit in your RMIT Program Structure 

When searching for compatible courses at your preferred host institutions, please keep in mind that using RMIT electives, will broaden your options of what you can study whilst on exchange, and make the process of getting a study plan approved further down the track a lot easier.

To register for exchange and submit your host institution preferences, please create an account on Mobi, RMIT’s online application portal.

Once you have created an account on Mobi, please log in and complete your exchange registration by the deadlines.

Once the deadline passes, RMIT Global Experiences will review your application. If eligible, you will be allocated to a suitable host institution.

Get Set Session

Once you are allocated to a host institution, you will be requested to attend our “Get Set Session”. The briefing will provide you with all necessary information you need to know to finalize your application process for the Global Exchange Program.

Accept or withdraw your allocation

To accept the allocation, you must login to Mobi and choose ‘Commit’ your Exchange Program allocation. Once you have accepted the allocation, an instruction of the next steps will be followed.

Please note that a nomination by RMIT Global Experience is not an acceptance by the host institution. Acceptance by the host institution depends on your submission of a finalised and approved study plan, and successful application to the host institution as per our instructions.

In order to approve your study plan, your Program Coordinator may require information such as course descriptions, credit weighting and assessment requirements. Please follow the instruction in this Study Plan guide to complete your study plan.

Then submit the following documents to Student Connect:

  1. Completed Study Plan
  2. Course description of the subjects that you apply for
  3. Completed Course Guide Template:

Assessment criteria of course equivalencies

Some host institutions do not release course descriptions until quite late. If this is the case, please base your research on courses offered in the previous year.

If you require additional information, please contact RMIT Global Experiences - do not contact the host institution directly at this stage to avoid any confusion caused.

We recommend you seek approval for a minimum equivalent of 60 RMIT credits in order to have some back-up options in case some courses are not available upon arrival at the host institution.

Submit your finalised and approved study plan via Mobi by the required timeline. 

Once your approved study plan is submitted on Mobi portal, the Global Experience team will assess and nominate you to the host institution. 

You'll receive official exchange application instructions once the host university accepts your nomination. 

Follow your host institution’s instructions to complete the application.

Following your application to your nominated host institution, your host institution will send notification of the outcome of your application, either to RMIT Vietnam Global Experience Office or directly to you. If the latter, please notify RMIT Vietnam Global Experience Office of the outcome of your application.

Only once you have received your official acceptance from the host institution, you should make further travel arrangements, including flights and visas.

Pre-departure Session are facilitated by RMIT staffs, Global Experience Peer Advisors and Global Experience Ambassadors.

The session is a great way to prepare for your global experience – it combines advice and first-hand experience from returned students, with tips and strategies from experts on your health for coping with the initial culture shock or unexpected situations.

There is an opportunity to address specific questions to the returned student panel at the end of the session.