Exchange step 2: application at VU Amsterdam

What do you have to do to apply?

• Choose a university

  VU Amsterdam has over 200 partner universities. Do you want to study as far from home as possible, or do you want to stay close to the Netherlands? Either way, there are many options! On our VU Study Abroad Map you will find all our partner universities. When you apply for an exchange semester you will eventually need to make a list of your top 5 preferred universities. The following points are important:

  • Select your own study programme on our VU Study Abroad Map; many agreements that we have with our partner universities are categorised by study programmes or faculties. 
  • Some universities have a minimum average grade requirement. This is clearly mentioned on the Study Abroad Map. If you do not meet the average grade requirement, you can unfortunately not be selected for this university.
  • Some universities also have specific language requirements that you need to fulfil (check the VU Study Abroad Map).
  • If you want to take part in the exchange during the first semester of the academic year, but you still need to complete exams in June and July, it is not possible to choose a university where the semester begins in July (for example South Africa, Oceania and some countries in Latin America). 

• Choose courses

  You've taken a closer look at the universities that are available for students of your study programme on the VU Study Abroad Map. Now it's time to check the courses that are offered.

  • Foreign universities generally do not offer minors: it is up to you to put together a selection of courses.
  • You can find a link to the courses of each university on the VU Study Abroad Map under 'Disciplines'. 
  • You will generally need to take courses within your own field of study while you are abroad, even though the Examination Board might also allow you to take courses from other disciplines.
  • The Examination Board of your faculty has certain requirements for the courses that you follow abroad. For example, the Examination Board usually requires you to follow at least 12 ECTS on third year level. In the process of applying for exchange, you will receive more information about these requirements.
  • Partner universities also carefully check whether you meet the pre-requisites of the courses.
  • If you wish to pursue a specific Master’s programme after you have obtained your Bachelor’s degree, you should also look closely at all entry requirements for the relevant Master’s programme. Sometimes specific Bachelor’s courses are required to be admitted to a specific Master's programme and it is often not possible to find the exact same (replacement) courses abroad.
  • If the courses for next academic year are not yet available, we advise you to base your choice on the courses from this academic year.
  • Check in which language the courses are offered, since not all courses are taught in English. Take a close look at the language requirements on the VU Study Abroad Map.

• Application deadlines

  If you want to take part in an exchange semester of the 2025/2026 academic year (first or second semester), you can apply in our first or second round. We organize these rounds in January and February.  

  First round
  As of Monday December 2 you can apply for an exchange semester during the next academic year. The deadline for applications is Tuesday January 14 at 13:00. Early February we will know the results. You will get an automatic email with the outcome (selected or not selected). Keep an eye on your (spam)inbox! 

  Second round
  Did you not get selected in the first round? Then you can apply in our second round. The deadline for the second round is Monday February 17 at 13:00. Exact dates of the second round will be announced later this year.

• Application

  You can apply for exchange through our application module. Go to your dashboard on VU.nl and log in with your VUnetID. Go to "Apps and pages" and click on the app "Application for exchange at partner university". This is only possible during one of the application rounds. Please make sure to carefully follow the steps from our manual.

• How does the selection process work?

  The International Office will assess all applications after the deadline. The students will be placed according to the procedure described below, involving the students' desired top 5 universities.

  For all partner universities there is a maximum number of places available. You can find the total number of places for each partner university on the VU Study Abroad Map. If you are making a smart, diverse choice regarding your top 5, meaning choosing universities in different locations and not just popular cities, there is a high chance that we will be able to select you in the first application round. During the Study Abroad Weeks we offer a “How to choose your top 5” workshop, to help you with making the right choices for your top 5 universities.

  The selection takes place through the following procedure:

  Selection procedure
  Every student that is applying for an exchange semester receives a total score that is based on two components:

  • Your own grade average (GPA) at VU – We will use the GPA from the Study monitor in your vu.nl dashboard* (50%)
  • A randomly generated number between 6,00 and 10,00 (50%)

  The total score you receive is therefore equally based on your GPA at VU and a random number. This procedure ensures inclusivity and objectivity, while still giving students the opportunity to influence their total score. This selection procedure has been approved by the university student council.

  *We will check your GPA in the third week of January, when most results from period 2 have been registered on vu.nl.

  Example

  As an example, you might have a GPA of 6,8 and receive a random number of 7,22. Your total score will therefore be 14,02. Note that your GPA will have one decimal, while the random number will have two decimals to ensure unique scores.

  Placement process

  On the basis of this total score, we will create a list with all students, sorted from the highest total score to the lowest total score. We will then start with the student that is at the top of the list (with the highest total score) and will look at their top 5 university choices. After we have placed the first student, we will look at the second student and so on.

  When placing students at universities, we always try to place students on their first choice. If this is not possible anymore, we will look at your second, third, fourth or fifth choice. During this procedure, we will also check GPA requirements that some partner universities have, as well as whether you seem to meet possible language requirements.

  Please pay attention to the following:

  • You will be notified if you have been selected for one of your top five universities.
  • You will then have three days to accept your place, otherwise it will be offered to another student. 
  • If you have not been selected in the first round, you will also be notified via email, and you can apply for available universities in the second round. 

  Cancelling or making changes after you have been selected:

  • Once you have been selected, you are expected to take part in the exchange. Otherwise, you will be taking up a place that another student could make use of.
  • After you have accepted your place, it is not possible to change your destination.
  • In exceptional cases, it may be necessary to cancel your exchange semester, for example due to extraordinary personal circumstances or your study planning. In this case, please contact the Outgoing Exchange Team.  

• Privacy statement

  Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam finds privacy important. If you apply at VU International Office for an exchange during your study programme, you have to accept our privacy statement. Read more about how we deal with your personal data and how your privacy is safeguarded if you are going to study at a partner university abroad via VU Amsterdam.