General Information

There are two main independent program categories:

  • Apply through another US college or university to study abroad.This type of program can be beneficial for students interested primarily in language and culture study, but the programs can vary widely in quality, are not always up to Berkeley standards academically, and may do little to facilitate contact with the local students.
  • Apply directly to and study at an international schoolFor example, the London School of Economics is a highly-regarded institution with an excellent program for visiting students called the General Course.

Eligibility

The Haas Undergraduate Program will review your academic standing before approving a semester or year abroad. You are required to have at least a 3.0 cumulative GPA and be making normal degree progress.

It is very important that you become familiar with the information on this Haas Global Opportunities website, the Haas Undergraduate Program Academic Regulations, UC Berkeley policies, as well as those of the host university. Failure to comply with the appropriate rules and procedures may affect your UC and EAP status, as well as your degree progress and status in the Haas Undergraduate Program.

Course Selection

Before you choose an international program and begin to consider courses, it is very important to think about your Haas degree requirements. Please refer to your Haas Degree Check. This will enable you to see your remaining requirements as well as the room in your schedule to take non-required courses while abroad. If you have any questions regarding your degree progress, please stop by the Haas Undergraduate Program office for a degree check.

While abroad during the Academic Year, you must enroll in at least 13 semester units of UC transferable work (or the independent program minimum if higher.) Please remember that the Haas International Study Advisor must review your course selections prior to finalizing your enrollment abroad and that no adjustments (add/drop/grading option) may be made to your schedule after the 5th week of instruction (or the non-EAP or host university deadline, if sooner.)

You can make normal degree progress and complete courses that fall into any or all of the following categories:

  • Remaining Breadth Courses (See Breadth Guidelines)
  • Upper-Division Non-Business Courses
  • Upper-Division Business Elective Courses (All Business Core courses MUST be taken at UC Berkeley.)

In addition, you may have room in your schedule to complete a range of other interesting courses that do not fulfill degree requirements. Some students, for example, are able to focus solely on language study while abroad.

Transferability of Courses

For students on Independent Study programs, all courses must be pre-approved. Please review the following link for more information (in particular page 2, step 2):
https://studyabroad-prod.berkeley.edu/apply/2017-2018/Generic/Independent.pdf

Students wishing to receive upper-division credit must provide documentation on the host institution’s numbering system. Students wishing to receive business elective credit must also provide a course description and/or syllabus.

Courses completed while abroad through a program other than EAP will not be listed on your UC Berkeley transcript and will not affect your UC GPA. Only the number of units of credit granted will be shown on your transcript. Business courses must be completed for letter grade and will be calculated into your Business Major GPA.

Reporting Your International Enrollment

It is important that you confirm your course selection with the Haas International Study Advisor after you reach your destination and prior to finalizing your enrollment. You can do so by e-mail to the Advisor at [email protected]

Please include all of the following information:

Your Name
Date
SID
University you are attending
Semester(s) abroad
EAP or other sponsoring school
Send a screenshot of your EAP study list or sponsoring school enrollment page if independent study

 

Cal Central Enrollment
 Service Indicators for the semester of your return to Haas will not be released until after you submit and receive approval of your course enrollment list.

International Transcripts
It is imperative that you have your international transcripts sent to:

Haas Undergraduate Program
UC Berkeley
Attn: Renee Camarena
S450 Student Services Building #1900
Berkeley,CA 94707-1900

Your transcript will be forwarded to the Office of Undergraduate Admisions for evaluation and posting to your Berkeley transcript.

Planned Leave of Absence

Please review the following link for more information and for important deadlines (in particular page 6):
https://studyabroad-prod.berkeley.edu/apply/2017-2018/Generic/Independent.pdf

Senior Residence Requirement

After you become a senior (with 90 semester units earned toward your B.S. degree), you must complete at least 24 of the remaining 30 units in residence at the University in at least two semesters. To count as residence, a semester must consist of at least 4 passed units. You may use a Berkeley Summer Session to satisfy one semester of the senior residence requirement, provided that you successfully complete 4 units of coursework in the Summer Session.

Date of Graduation

Date of Graduation requirements do not change for students who study abroad. Business courses completed abroad will be calculated into your Business Major GPA and will affect your eligibility for honors. Students who go abroad during their final year at Haas may have to be taken off the Spring degree list and added to the Summer or Fall degree list, depending on when the international transcript is received. This would not entitle a student to enroll in classes at UC Berkeley during the Fall semester. Students completing Simultaneous Degrees, please note that this might affect your date of graduation from both majors

Finanical Aid

If you receive financial aid, please check with the Study Abroad Financial Aid Counselor in 160 Sproul Hall about which scholarships and grants are still available to you while you are off-campus. In general, students participating in EAP can keep some or all of their financial aid, but students on other programs are often unable to do so. Recruiting

International study can enhance your marketability, but important employer functions and on-campus recruiting may take place while you are away. A little pre-planning should help to mitigate this problem.

Career Center
2111 Bancroft Way
(510) 642-1716
https://career.berkeley.edu/Business/Business.stm

Recruiting

International study can enhance your marketability, but important employer functions and on-campus recruiting may take place while you are away. A little pre-planning should help to mitigate this problem.

Career Center
2111 Bancroft Way
(510) 642-1716
https://career.berkeley.edu/Business/Business.stm