Exchange Program Requirements

The following process applies to students studying at one of our Partner Institutions who wish to spend a semester at Heinz College, Carnegie Mellon University, as an exchange student. Students currently enrolled at Heinz College who wish to study abroad as an exchange student should contact their program director for information on eligibility for available opportunities.

Prior to participating in the student exchange program at the Heinz College, students at our Partner Institutions are required to submit the following to the Heinz College:

1. Online application—Submitted via Heinz College’s application system
2. Required essay—Uploaded to online application: an essay of about 1,000 words describing your background, your academic and career goals, and how the exchange program will help you to achieve your expectations
3. Professional Résumé—Uploaded to online application
4. Recommendation forms (two)—Students interested in the exchange program must be recommended by the exchange partner's liaison to Heinz College. Within the online application system, the student should "register" the liaison as their #1 recommender (the other recommendation can be registered as “John Doe” with email address deber@cmu.edu).
5. Official transcript—From the partner institution (the student’s current “home” school, sent by the Exchange Program Liaison)
6. Unofficial transcript—For their bachelor's degree, including date of graduation
7. Proof of English language proficiency—Displayed by submitting any one of the following:
   • TOEFL exam scores
   • IELTS (academic version) exam scores
   • Duolingo English Test on the 160-point scale with subsection scoring
   • English is the student's native language (or mother tongue): student may indicate this on the online application
   • The student studied for five years or more in Australia, Botswana, Canada, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), Ghana, Ireland, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, New Zealand, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States, and/or Zambia: student may indicate this on the online application
8. "Courses of Interest" form—As part of the application process, students will be required to submit a list of courses at CMU in which they want to enroll while they are exchange students. This list will enable administrators to engage the student prior to their arrival regarding which classes will and will not be available to them as exchange students.

For those who will pass the first selection phase, an interview, to be held via video-conference with the program director, may be requested and planned four to six weeks after the application deadline. The interview will focus on your expectations in the academic and professional field, your interest in the exchange program (please, carefully read its website and coursework), your background and your personal interests for your career.

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