Students who are considering participating in an Exchange Term should read the University of Waterloo Engineering Student Overseas Exchange Program site (specifically, the Exchange from UW), as it contains answers to many questions, course packages, and the required forms to be completed. It is also necessary to read the relevant section in the Undergraduate Calendar which includes a list of all host universities.

The first step for a student is to print the

Exchange Program Check List

which summarizes the steps that must be taken before a student can go on an Exchange Term. This form is not an official document, it is simply a guide to the sequence of steps that must be followed to go on an Exchange Term. Any recommended modifications to the check list should be suggested to a Program Academic Advisor/Co-ordinator.

After a student has read the above check list, that student should book an appointment with Exchange Coordinator to determine which courses should be taken. The Exchange Coordinator must sign the application which lists the planned courses. When a student returns from an Exchange Term, he or she needs to book another meeting with the Exchange Coordinator as the coordinator must issues a memorandum detailing which courses have been received on exchange and this will be sent to the Registrar's Office.

Note that all ECE student must complete a minimum of 50% of

• Academic terms,
• Upper-year terms (3A through 4B), and
• Technical electives

at the University of Waterloo.

The recommended Exchange Terms are 3A or 3B or any work-term surrounding these terms. Because some universities do not match the four-month Winter-Fall-Spring terms at Waterloo, it may happen that a student my have to take both an Academic Term and a Co-op Work Term to go on an Exchange Term. A student who has already not received a job in a previous Co-op Term does not have access to this option. Taking an Exchange Term during 4A or 4B will significantly affect a student's 4th-year design project. A student who takes an Exchange Term during 4B will likely not graduate in June but will likely have to wait until October. This occurs because often the information from the exchange university is often too late for graduation at Waterloo. Taking an Exchange Term in 4A, 4B and 3B for students from the Class of 2012 or 2013 will have to address the consequences listed in Table 1. The Terms are listed in order from the Academic Term which has the least inconvenience to the Academic Term with the greatest inconvenience. The latter has the potential of preventing a student from graduating with his or her Class and delaying graduation to October.

Table 1. Consequences of taking a Exchange Term during 3B, 4A, or 4B.

Academic Term	Consequence
3B	These issues apply to only students from Classes of 2012 or 2013: It is necessary must enrol in ECE 391 and complete the course on-line and through e-mail. All the course requirements must be completed; however, the student on an Exchange Term will not be present when his or her Design Team presents and defends the team's design proposal. The Design Team must submit a Fourth-Year Design Project/Exchange Memo at the time the group is formed.
4A	The ability of a student on an Exchange Term to contribute to his or her 4th-Year Design Project will be severely restricted; such a student will not be present during the prototype demonstration and will, therefore, increase the workload for the remaining members of the Design Team. The Design Team must submit a Fourth-Year Design Project/Exchange Memo at the time the group is formed.
4B	A student will not be able to attend the 4th-Year Design Symposium and will consequently increase the workload for the remaining members of the Design Team. The Design Team must submit a Fourth-Year Design Project/Exchange Memo at the time the group is formed. A student will likely will not graduate with his or her Class if the transcript is not forwarded to the Undergraduate Office by the end of the fourth week of May. In some cases, this will be unachievable, as many universities do not finalize the Winter Calendar-term marks until the middle of the Spring calendar term.

A student must be in the top 50th percentile of his or her class in his or her last Academic Term be considered for an Exchange Term. Keep in mind that while a student is on an Exchange Term, the student is responsible for filling any gaps in his or her background and that there may be missing prerequisites for many of the courses taken. Similarly, as two courses are never completely equivalent, a student will have to read additional material following an Exchange Term. In addition, students will need to include culture time while on exchange as that is an important part of the entire exchange-program experience. A student sure to talk to upper-year students who have come back from an Exchange Term as those students will be able to provide real-life anecdotal experience with the exchange program.

Every student has three terms during which he or she can submit WKRPT 201, 301 and 401. It would be strongly advisable not to have to submit a Work-term Report while on an Exchange Term.

Courses

When a student is take an Exchange Term, he or she should try to enrol in courses that are equivalent to the core courses taught during the Academic Term during which the student is on exchange. If it is not possible to find equivalents for all courses, it is necessary to clear these additional courses before Graduation.

There are many ways of clearing missed core courses:

• Take the course (or an equivalent) during a future Academic Term as an extra course (or, if you have enough credits in one of your elective slots),
• Take the course (or an equivalent) during a future Co-op Work Term if possible (e.g., the Co-op Job is in Waterloo), or
• Take an equivalent course at another university during a future Co-op Work Term where the university has an accredited Engineering program.

A student who is taking an equivalent Core Course either at the University of Waterloo or another university must fill out a Core Replacement Form and submit this to his or her Academic Advisor before enrolling take the course. Equivalent Core Courses taken at another university also requires that a Request for Letter of Permission be submitted and approved before it is possible enrol at the alternate university.