STUDY ABROAD

The Economics Department views study abroad as highly desirable and strongly encourages Economics
majors to consider it. Students interested in Study Abroad should keep in mind the following.

• WU Economics has a new exchange program with Bocconi in Milan, Italy. The program is fall
semester only. Although classes at Bocconi are taught in English, students interested in the program
must take a year of Italian.
• For students interested in studying in an English language country, the preferred options are
University College London, the London School of Economics (LSE), Oxford, and Auckland (New
Zealand). LSE is one year only. Auckland currently requires a petition to Overseas Programs but
qualified students will not have difficulty getting their petitions granted.
• For many overseas programs, all or nearly all economics electives have effective 401 or 402
prerequisites. For such programs, therefore, students should take 401 and 402 before going abroad. A
few programs are more flexible. Consult with the Academic Coordinator for details.
• Students can do both study abroad and honors provided they start early, plan carefully, and get the
necessary prerequisites out of the way. Consult with your advisor and the Academic Coordinator
immediately.
• Similarly, students can do study abroad and prepare for application to economics Ph.D. programs, but
again this requires an early start and careful planning.

For procedures and available programs, visit the Overseas Programs website
http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/%7Eoverseas/overseas.html Talk to your advisor and the Academic Coordinator
for additional information about specific programs.

Majors who study abroad are subject to the same ceiling of 6 units of overall economics transfer credit that
applies to all economics majors. (See the next section for further details.) Thus, for example, if you have
already transferred introductory micro and macro from another school then you will not be able to transfer
additional economics credit from study abroad. (You may, however, still take calculus and statistics abroad,
provided these courses meet the approval of the Academic Coordinator.) Students who study abroad do,
however, have some extra flexibility.

First, students who study abroad for one semester may apply up to two economics classes toward the major
requirement of two 300-level electives (in contrast, the normal limit is one such class). In practice, study
abroad economics electives are often higher than 300 level (400-level or even grad level), but the department
counts these courses as 300-level for the purpose of major requirements.

Second, students who study abroad for a year may use study abroad coursework to fulfill either the 401 or 402
requirement (but not both). Check with the Academic Coordinator to make sure that your planned course is
acceptable for this purpose. Note that if the department accepts a transfer of 401 or 402, you must take an
additional 400 level course while at WU; all majors, including those who go abroad must take a minimum of
four 400 level economics courses from the Department during the regular term. 400-level means 401, 402 and
any course with a 401 or 402 prerequisite.

For a class taken on a study abroad program to count toward the major, it must be at least 300-level and be
taught in an economics department. Students must verify with the Academic Coordinator that a course
potentially qualifies before taking the course. The Academic Coordinator will then evaluate the course after
the student returns. The student should be prepared to present the course syllabus, documenting the course
prerequisites, as well course materials (homework, exams). To get transfer credit, the student must get the
equivalent of a C- or better. See Section VII for additional discussion of transfer rules.

Special guidelines apply specifically to study at the London School of Economics (LSE) because of the nature
of LSE's trimester program. Classes are taught at LSE during the first two trimesters and exams are given
during the last trimester. Students cannot receive credit for Econ 401 or 402 unless they take the exams in the
third trimester. Students can still receive credit for up to two 300-level classes by taking classes in the first
two trimesters, provided they have satisfactory documentation of participation in the class. Similar rules apply
to any other programs abroad where there is an option to take exams at the end of the year.