Selection by Tilburg University

Application ranking

To begin with, we import information regarding your GPA and ECTS obtained from OSIRIS*. All applicants are then ranked according to their GPA. The student with the highest GPA will be assessed first. Applications will be assessed one after the other according to their ranking. Please note that having a high GPA does not automatically mean you will be selected for the first of your preferred destinations. Selection depends also on other criteria outlined on this page.

The data regarding your GPA and ECTS is taken from OSIRIS at the exact time of the deadline. Any grades or ECTS that are not in OSIRIS at the exact date and time of the deadline cannot be taken into account.

* Please note: From the July 6, 2023 application deadline onwards, the GPA used in your exchange application will be the so-called Judicium gemiddelde. This means that grades from courses taken outside of your study program will not be calculated towards your overall GPA that we will assign to your exchange application.

For students who are applying to go on exchange in their Master program, we always use the GPA of the highest-level of study program that you have obtained grades in:

• If you have obtained at least one final grade in your Master program, we will use this as your GPA. The grade must be a final grade for a completed course; mid-term grades are not considered. If you only have mid-term grades, we will use the GPA of your most recently completed study program, such as a Bachelor, pre-Master or other prior Master.
• If you did, or are currently doing, a pre-Master, we will use the GPA of your pre-Master.
• If your highest education is a Bachelor (i.e., you did not do a pre-Master and do not have grades from your Master), we will use the GPA of your Bachelor. If your Bachelor is not from Tilburg University, you will need to send a copy of your Bachelor grades transcript to studyabroad@tilburguniversity.edu. 

Assessment criteria

Academic assessment

The Study Abroad & Exchange Coordinator will check if you are able to follow the type of courses you indicated in your online application. It is very important for your study progress that you have selected suitable courses at the partner university. Sometimes the amount of available courses is too limited or the agreement Tilburg University has with a particular university or school does not permit you to follow your preferred type of courses.

Language requirements

If the language of instruction is Spanish, French, German, Italian or Portuguese, you are required to meet Tilburg University’s language requirements. We will assess if you will be able to meet this requirement before your departure.

Partner requirements

Some partner universities have their own application and nomination requirements, for example a minimum GPA average or an English language proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL or IELTS). The Study Abroad & Exchange Coordinator will also check that you meet this requirement.

What's next?

We aim to inform you of the outcome of your application within 4 weeks of the application deadline. 

For those of you who hear that you were selected for an exchange, congratulations! First of all, you need to formally accept or reject your spot in your Mobility Online workflow. You have 14 days to do this. If you accept your spot, you will start to receive more information from your Study Abroad & Exchange Coordinator over the coming weeks. You can also read more about the steps you will need to complete under the 'After selection' section. 

If you are rejected for the first time, you are welcome to apply again for our next deadline. Please wait until at least 6 weeks after the original application deadline has passed before consulting the Search Portal again. If you look at the Search Portal before this time, the information about remaining destinations may not be accurate.

If you have applied twice and have been rejected for your top 3 choices both times, please contact the Study Abroad & Exchange office. We will look together with you one-on-one to hopefully help you to find an alternative destination. This option is only applicable for students who have applied for 2 deadlines for the same academic year, and have been rejected because spots at the chosen universities were already full. Other reasons for rejection (for example, having insufficient ECTS or making a poor course selection), do not qualify.