University of Waterloo
200 University Ave W, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1
Phone: (519) 888-4567
Staff and Faculty Directory
Contact the Department of Software Engineering Engineering
Exchange study abroad can be a rewarding experience. An important part of planning your exchange study abroad is course selection.
The SE Associate Director is the person who approves exchange study plans.
Note that SE students are members of both the Faculty of Mathematics and the Faculty of Engineering. However, as a practical matter, SE student applications are routed throgh the Faculty of Engineering. Let the SE Associate Director know if you think it's important for your desired exchange university to know that you are also part of the School of Computer Science in the Faculty of Mathematics, and we can pass that message along to your target university.
There are three resources to show you exchange courses that have been previously approved:
These lists get built based on student requests: if you want to take a course that you do not see on the list, or if you see a discrepancy between the lists, then ask the SE Associate Director about it and we will modify the list if appropriate. If a course has been approved by CS, ECE, MTE/Tron, SYDE, or some other Math or Engineering program, then SE will probably approve it too --- but ask just to be sure. The main exception to this is likely to be the courses at other schools that mix SE463/SE464/SE465 might be appropriate for other UW students, but are not appropriate for UW SE students --- you must take our core curriculum of SE463, SE464, and SE465 (or equivalents of those courses at your exchange university).
If you are going on exchange, then we are more flexible about which term you take certain courses in, and whether you take the regular course with your cohort or take a local alternative.
While it's good to try to match the courses that your cohort is taking at home at UWaterloo, it might not be possible to do so, and in that case you might need to take some core courses at UWaterloo in a different term than the rest of your cohort.
Course | Terms Offered | UW Alternatives |
---|---|---|
SE350 Operating Systems | W | CS350, ECE350 |
SE380 Feedback Control | F | ECE380 |
SE390 Design Project Planning | F | |
SE464 Software Design & Architecture | F | CS446, ECE452 |
SE465 Software Testing | W | CS447, ECE453 |
CS341 Algorithms | F, W, S | ECE406 |
CS343 Concurrent & Parallel Programming | F, W | |
CS348 Databases | F, W, S | ECE356 |
CS349 User Interfaces | F, W, S | |
MATH213 Advanced Math for SE | W | AMATH250, ECE205, MATH211, MATH218 |
Notes about some specific courses:
Electives that you take abroad do not have to match UWaterloo courses exactly. In other words, if your exchange university has an interesting course with no similar course at UWaterloo, that's ok: we can potentially approve it in the appropriate elective slot (e.g., "ATE-CS" or "ATE-ECE" or "ATE-ALL" or "NSE", etc.). Part of the opportunity of going on exchange is to study things that are not available at your home university.
For ATEs that are approximate matches for UW courses we could potentially approve under the UW course code (e.g., ECE429, CS488, etc), or under the generic ATE-ECE / ATE-CS / ATE-ALL umbrellas, depending on various factors.
Your one term away on exchange is typically surrounded by two co-op terms. So you will be off-campus for 12 months. It is possible to move things around within this 12 month period. For example, you could do an 8 month co-op term, instead of two 4 month terms. Alternatively, if you do not need the co-op credit, you could spend 8 months at the exchange university. Or 6 months of co-op (for one co-op credit) and 6 months of exchange study. Speak to the SE Associate Director about what is possible and how to accomplish it.
SE students usually go on exchange for 3A or 3B. It is also possible to go on exchange in 4A and 4B, although we do not recommend going on exchange in 4B. If you go on exchange in 4B, you will miss the Iron Ring Ceremony, and you will not convocate with your cohort (because it will not be possible for your exchange paperwork to get back to UW in time). Instead of convocating with your cohort in June, you will convocate the following October.
When going on exchange in any of 3B, 4A, or 4B, then students typically participate in their team's capstone design project remotely (SE390, SE490, SE491).
You will be graded by your exchange university according to their system. Different countries and different universities have different grading systems and norms.
When you return to UW, we will interpret your exchange transcript on a credit/no-credit basis, and this is what will appear on your UW transcript. While on exchange, you are representing UW & SE, so it is important that you present a positive and respectable impression. In terms of UW norms, we are looking for you to earn grades abroad that are at least a C (70%) and above. Perhaps we will give you UW credit for lower grades if your exchange average is sufficient --- similar to how UW Engineering considers a 50% to pass a course, but requires a 60% average to pass the term. Students on exchange are held to a higher standard than our local bare minimum.
Also note that we will interpret your exchange transcript according to the norms of the country and university you studied at. For some universities, nobody is ever awarded a grade over 70%, so we would understand "C" differently in that kind of context.
Finally, a large part of exchange is cultural experience. You should not spend all of your time abroad studying. The extra effort to go above 85% should probably be directed elsewhere, unless you really enjoy that particular course.
If you go on Exchange, you can earn the International Studies in Engineering Option by taking a few extra courses and writing a reflective report about your experience. Up to three of these courses may be languages.
Last updated fall 2019
University of Waterloo
200 University Ave W, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1
Phone: (519) 888-4567
Staff and Faculty Directory
Contact the Department of Software Engineering Engineering
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