Application for Undergraduate Visiting Exchange Students 2015-2016
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Saint Mary’s University, Application for Visiting Exchange Students
Academic Year 2015-2016 (Undergraduate Level)
Dear Partner,
Warm greetings from Saint Mary's University!
In this document, you will find information for your students who have been nominated by your
institution to study at Saint Mary's University as a visiting exchange student in the 2015-2016
academic years. Please kindly share this information with your student.
Important: Your student should please review the Saint Mary’s University Fact Sheet 2015-16 before
filling out the application!
Quick facts…
-The suggested admission application deadline for visiting exchange students coming to Saint Mary’s
in the fall 2015 and in the winter 2016 is April 15 2015. Applications submitted past that date will be
accepted on an individual basis.
-All admission application form and supporting documents must be scanned and e-mailed to
mobility.international@smu.ca (no need for an original document to be mailed). Please note that
the total size of the attachments per e-mail should be less than 5MB, or the e-mail may bounce back
to the sender.
-The complete set of application should include:
1) Document checklist (Appendix A),
2) Nomination form (Appendix B),
3) Letter of Permission issued by the home university (Appendix C),
4) Completed admission application form
5) An official transcript of academic records issued in English by the home university and the grading
scheme
For further information on all aspects, please contact:
Miyuki Arai (Ms)
Project Manager-International Mobility
Office of International Activities (The Oaks Building*)
Saint Mary's University
Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 3C3
Canada
Tel: 1 902 496 8725
Fax: 1 902 420 5530
E-mail: mobility.international@smu.ca
*The International Activities Office is located at the Oaks Building:
http://www.smu.ca/documents/campus-map.pdf (far right, marked “O”).
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Admission application for undergraduate visiting exchange students
a. When to submit the admission application
The recommended* application deadline is April 15, 2015, whether the student will start the
exchange program at Saint Mary’s in the fall semester 2015 or in the winter semester 2016.
*Note: Applications will continue to be accepted until late June for the fall semester and until midOctober for the winter semester. However, the sooner the student applies, the better! This is
because…
- Course registration for visiting students for both the fall and winter semesters start on April
27 2015, and many high-demand courses will start to close once the course enrolment limit
is reached. The later students get accepted and the later they start registering in courses,
the fewer course options there will be.
-
Citizens from certain countries require a temporary resident visa (TRV) to enter Canada.
Also, if the student’s exchange period is longer than 6 months (i.e. two semesters), a Study
Permit is necessary. The processing of immigration documents takes time (see the
processing times at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/temp.asp). Therefore,
if the student applied late, he/she may not receive an acceptance letter from Saint Mary in
time, delaying the immigration application process.
b. How to submit the admission application
Please submit a scanned copy of all application documents as e-mail attachments to
mobility.international@smu.ca (NOT to Systems and Records despite the instruction of the
admission application form!).
- It is not necessary to mail the original documents.
- If the size of the attachments per e-mail was larger than 5MB, the message may bounce
back to the sender.
c. What to submit for the admission application
1. Document Checklist (see Appendix A, found at the end of this document)
2. Nomination Form: Exchange Student Information (see Appendix B, found at the end of this
document). Please type the information in Word rather than completing by hand!
The Nomination Form is to:
 verify the full name and gender of the nominated student
 indicate the period/duration of study
 inform the primary field of study at Saint Mary’s
 confirm that the student is applying to take only undergraduate-level courses
 verify the student’s current e-mail address and mailing address. Please ensure that
the e-mail and mailing addresses in the Nomination Form are consistent with the
information written in the Undergraduate Application form!
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3. Letter of Permission (LoP) and confirmation of English proficiency (see Appendix C for
template).
A Letter of Permission is a letter issued by the home institution which
 enables your student to take courses at Saint Mary's University for transfer credit
 advises Saint Mary's University that your students’ attendance at Saint Mary's
University has the home institution’s approval
 confirms that the nominated student possesses adequate fluency in English to take
academic courses in English
You can use the template shown in Appendix C, or the home institution international office
may write its own letter. The Letter must be printed on the home institution's letterhead
(i.e. university logo/brand mark).
4. Undergraduate Application Form
(http://www.smu.ca/webfiles/8809SMAdmissionForm.pdf)
To complete the Form, your student can do one of the following:
a) Print the form, fill it in by hand, sign and date on the last page. It is important that
information is clear and legible; Or
b) Save the form in PDF, fill it in electronically by using the “add text” function (as shown
below), then print the form. Sign and date on the last page.



Please DO NOT
complete the
Application Fee
on page 4, as the
$40 application
fee is waived for
visiting exchange
students.
Please DO NOT send the form to Systems & Records of Saint Mary’s University
(even if that is the instruction on the form).
Check “Yes” at “Are you interested in living in residence” on page 4, if interested in
applying for on-campus housing
5. Official Academic Transcript (record of grades) issued by the home university and the
detailed explanation about the grading scheme, in English
The student’s transcript will be forwarded to an academic advisor at Saint Mary’s who will
be assisting your student’s pre-requisite waiver (initiated upon your student’s request by email to the advisor) during the course registration process. In some instances, the academic
advisor may ask to see the course descriptions of certain courses, if necessary.
What happens after the applications are submitted?
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The complete admission application is normally processed within two to three weeks for
undergraduate admission. Once a Letter of Acceptance is issued by Saint Mary's University, the
original letter is directly mailed to the applicant by regular mail, and a scanned copy of the letter is
sent to the applicant’s coordinator for the records. The acceptance letter includes the Student ID
number with which students can log onto Saint Mary’s Self-Service student account.
If the student needs a visa to enter Canada (for certain citizenships) and/or a study permit
(exchange duration longer than six months), the Letter of Acceptance should be used in the
immigration application process. For more information on immigration issues, please consult:
-Citizenship and Immigration Canada
-Citizenship and Immigration Canada Offices
About one week after the student is admitted, the Centre for Housing and Residence Life will
contact him/her directly by e-mail about how to start the on-line residence application. It is
extremely important that all required documents and fees are submitted in a timely manner as per
the instruction from the Centre. If the student did not receive the application instruction within two
weeks of the issuance of the acceptance letter, please e-mail mobility.international@smu.ca.
Course Registration
Course registration for visiting exchange students (Category D) starts on April 27 2015 for both the
fall and winter semesters. Course registration is done on-line through the Self-Service account.
If the course the student would like to register in has the pre-requisites (the majority of 2nd, 3rd, and
4th year undergraduate courses numbered 2000’s, 3000’s, and 4000’s respectively), our academic
advisor must check the student’s academic background and approve a “pre-requisite override”
before the student is allowed to register in the course! More specifically, the academic advisor
needs to see in the student’s home university’s academic records that he/she has adequate
academic knowledge (i.e., having passed the pre-requisite equivalent courses at the home university
at a grade of 65% or higher) before an override is considered.
There are advisors in each Faculty (Arts, Commerce, Science, and Environmental Studies). For
instance, a Commerce advisor should be contacted for a pre-requisite override request on a
Marketing course, while an Arts advisor should be contacted for a pre-requisite override on a
Spanish course.
Other general course instruction is found on our website “Register for Courses” at
http://www.smu.ca/academics/ar-register-for-courses.html#d.en.41669 (refer to steps 2 through
5). More information on course registration and on the pre-requisite overrides for visiting exchange
students is to follow in a separate guide.
Students admitted as an undergraduate visiting exchange student cannot take graduate level
courses numbered at 5000’s and 6000’s.
Students should not wait until the start of the exchange semester to register in courses; otherwise,
there will be very few course choices left! Course registration continues from April 27 through to a
period of approximately ten days at the beginning of each semester, and throughout this time
students could change (i.e. “add/drop”) courses. The last day to change courses is September 18
2015 in the fall semester and January 15 2016 in the winter semester.
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Students may not be able to take all courses they need due to the enrolment capacity limit,
closed/cancelled courses, inadequate pre-requisites, schedule conflicts, etc. Therefore, it is advised
that students have alternative courses in mind in case their top choices could not be taken.
New Students Orientation and Residence Move-In
Students’ participation in the New Students Orientation is highly recommended, and therefore, they
should make an arrangement to arrive in Halifax on time. Updated information will be posted at:
http://www.smu.ca/international/services-and-contact-info.html#d.en.42173. We do not
recommend students arriving after the classes start, as this could negatively affect their academic
performance, residence move-in, and other logistical issues.
Visiting exchange students are usually given permission to move into residence a little earlier than
other students. To take advantage of this privilege, students MUST 1) have secured a placement in
residence and 2) register in the orientation by a deadline.
At the end of the exchange period, students are asked to move out of residence within 24 hours
after the final exam. The exam schedule becomes available in mid-semester. Students who will
study at Saint Mary’s for two semesters can stay in residence over the Christmas holiday for a fee
(usually around $100).
If there are any questions, please e-mail mobility.international@smu.ca!
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Appendix A
Document Checklist for Saint Mary’s University Undergraduate Exchange Program
Please check all that apply, and submit this checklist together with the application.
Admission:
___
Document Checklist (this form – Appendix A)
___
Nomination Form: Exchange Student Information (Appendix B)
___
Letter of Permission and confirmation of English proficiency, issued by the home institution
(Appendix C)
___
Undergraduate Application Form
___
Official Academic Transcript (record of grades) and the accompanying grading scheme, in
English
___
Other information and documents – please list (i.e. study plan, learning agreement, etc.)
_______________________________________________________________________
On-campus Residence:
Is this student planning to apply for on-campus residence (please check one)? Yes ___ No ___
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Appendix B
Nomination Form: Exchange Student Information (Please type electronically in Word)
Title (e.g. Ms/Mr)
Last name (i.e. family name)
First and middle names
What is the preferred name to be
used in e-mail communication?
Period of study
(i.e. fall semester: Sep-Dec
winter semester: Jan-Apr
full year: Sep-Apr)
Duration of study
(i.e. one semester, two semesters)
Primary field of study while on
exchange
(i.e. Arts, Commerce, Science, or
combination)
Level of study*
(i.e. undergraduate, graduate)
E-mail address
(as it appears in the admission
application form)
Full mailing address
(as it appears in the admission
application form)
*This form should be used for students in the undergraduate program. If there were graduate
students who would like to take only undergraduate courses at Saint Mary’s, they should use this
form as well.
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Appendix C
(Print on Home Institution Letterhead)
Letter of Permission
__(Date)__
Re: __(Student’s full name)___
This Letter of Permission:

certifies that the above mentioned student is an officially registered student at _(Home
institution name)_;

advises Saint Mary's University that the student is in good academic standing and his/her
attendance at Saint Mary's University has the approval of _(Home institution name)_; and

enables the student to register for courses at Saint Mary's University and to guarantee
transfer of the credits for those courses, if successfully completed, to the student's
academic program at _(Home institution name) .
__(Home institution name)__ also confirms that the student has adequate proficiency in English to
communicate well both verbally and in writing to take academic courses instructed in English.
__(Name of the home institution staff in charge of international exchange)__
__(Signature)_________________