The School of Architecture Urban Planning Construction Engineering (AUIC) promotes and encourages international student exchange: professors and staff work intensively for the maximum satisfaction of the students we welcome each semester.

The School receives around 500 exchange students every semester, mainly at the Milan Campus, and, in order to manage each student's learning experience in the best possible way, it provides guidelines to ensure that exchange students are always able to include in their study plan subject that are consistent with their academic path.

The AUIC School, while offering many programmes in English, has more places available in the programmes delivered in Italian, which are more numerous. Suffice it to say that at Bachelor level, at the Milan Campus we have 15 studio sections in Italian and 2 in English, plus an additional section in English at the Piacenza Campus.

The Politecnico di Milano does not require any Italian language proficiency certification, but basic knowledge of Italian is recommended to exchange students both to benefit from daily life in Italy and to be able to follow programmes in Italian more easily, if there is no available place for them in programmes taught in English.

Without prejudice to the principle of welcoming exchange students, we believe cultural exchange between foreign students and students native speakers of Italian may enhance the educational experience; therefore, we do not consider the language in which programmes are delivered as a barrier to students fully benefiting from their experience at the AUIC School, at the Milan, Lecco, Piacenza and Mantua Campuses.

We trust that your experience as exchange students at the AUIC School will be up to your expectations and that it will enrich your academic career, while also contributing to your personal growth in an environment that is open, welcoming and stimulating but also demanding in terms of respect for rules and attention to learning.

We are waiting for you!

For all information on how to apply to the Politecnico and welcome activities and life in Milan, you can refer to the website https://www.polimi.it/en/exchange-students-incoming/

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Certain organisational rules are necessary for exchange students:

• Enrolment in a particular Programme and track in English or in Italian requires students to choose one studio of that Programme in the language in which it is delivered in that track. Other courses may also be chosen from other programmes, and even from other Schools of the Politecnico di Milano, subject to availability of places.
• If courses in English are oversubscribed and optimal delivery of teaching cannot be guaranteed, the School will redirect students to courses in Italian.
• You may only enrol in one laboratory per semester, and you will find courses available in the syllabus which are only open to Politecnico students, so you will not have the opportunity to include them in your study plan, but there are plenty to choose from to meet your curricular needs!
• Studios require an attendance of 70%. For other courses, attendance is recommended but when this is not possible, for example due to overlapping schedules, professors provide an alternative syllabus to prepare for the examination as a non-attendee.
• For incoming students in Semester 1 who wish to extend their stay into Semester 2, requests will be assessed around December, but extension is not guaranteed.
• In order to ensure adequate preparation for the various programme, the School requires exchange students to have already completed a minimum number of semesters in their career to enrol in 1st level Laurea (equivalent to Bachelor of Science) or Laurea Magistrale (equivalent to Master of Science) programmes (see dedicated sections), and reserves the right to change the application of students who have mistakenly chosen a Programme that is unsuited to their academic career.
• Before applying, it is strongly recommended that students thoroughly check the course syllabus for the relevant semester (e.g., in semester 2, Bachelor programmes as well as Architecture and Urban Design, Architecture-Built Environment-Interiors, and Urban Planning and Policy Design programmes have reduced studio availability); students should also be aware of the structure of Politecnico's offer and of the fact that the very high number of applications we receive each semester may unavoidably require them to accept some compromises regarding language, location or choice of courses.

Students who will have completed between 2 and 5 semesters before coming on exchange to Italy (i.e., who will be attending their 3rd, 4th, 5th or 6th semester at the Politecnico di Milano) must enrol in a 1st Level Laurea programme (equivalent to Bachelor of Science) to ensure that they are adequately prepared to join the School's courses and programmes.

At the Lecco Campus, it is important that they enrol in Ingegneria Edile-Architettura (Building Engineering-Architecture) and choose courses of the 2nd or 3rd year of this five-year programme.

If the School, when accepting the application, detects a discrepancy between the programme selected in the application and applicant’s academic career to date, it has the right to change the application. The same procedure applies when the tracks taught in English become oversubscribed and the School deems it necessary to move students to Italian tracks.

Exchange students at the AUIC School can take courses for a maximum of 32/34 ECTS in the first semester, or 62/64 ECTS if they stay one year; one-year stay is reserved mainly for those enrolling in the 2nd year of Architectural Design.

The AUIC School, following decisions made by the Politecnico di Milano, does not issue ECTS for progress on degree theses during the exchange period. ECTS for this activity are to be recognised by the student’s home university. Exchange students, although they have the opportunity to start working on their theses, cannot discuss them or obtain a formal assessment at the Politecnico di Milano.

First year: the AUIC School does not make available first-year courses from three-year Laurea (equivalent to Bachelor of Science) or Laurea Magistrale a Ciclo Unico (equivalent to Integrated Master of Science) programmes.

Second year: the Progettazione architettonica 2/Architectural Design studio 2 studio from the Progettazione dell’Architettura/Architectural Design programme is one year-long. Bachelor students, both in their 2nd and 3rd year, who are accepted for year-long exchanges must attend a section of the year-long studio. If, on the other hand, they enrol in and attend a semester-long sudio in the 1st semester of the 3rd year, they may not be able to access the semester-long studio in the 2nd semester, due to a lack of places, as places will be allocated in priority to 2nd semester incoming students.

Third year: the final studio in the 2nd semester cannot be accessed.

With many more sections in Italian than in English, the number of places available on courses taught in Italian both at the Milan Campus and at the Piacenza, Mantova and Lecco Campuses, ensures that student exchange agreements with partner campuses are fully met.

The programmes in Urbanistica: città ambiente paesaggio (Urban Planning: City Environment Landscape) and Ingegngeria edile e delle Costruzioni (Construction Engineering) in Milan, Progettazione dell’Architettura (Architectural Design) in Mantova, and Ingegneia Edile-Architettura (Building Engineering-Architecture) in Lecco are offered in Italian only.

Students who, upon arrival in Italy are able to attend their 7th, 8th, 9th or 10th semester, may apply for a Laurea Magistrale programme (equivalent to Master of Science).

If the School, when accepting the application, detects a discrepancy between the programme selected in the application and the student’s academic career to date, it has the right to change the application. The same procedure applies when the tracks taught in English become oversubscribed and the School deems it necessary to move students to Italian tracks.

Exchange students at the AUIC School can take courses for a maximum of 32/34 ECTS in the first semester, or 62/64 ECTS if they stay one year.

Given the significant number of students we take in each semester, and in order to better manage course placement, especially in the studios, the School does not recommend a one-year stay for those applying for a Laurea Magistrale programme (equivalent to Master of Science). The only exception is the Architettura delle Costruzioni/Building Architecture programme, which can accommodate one-year stay requests on both the Italian and the English track, but only in the 2nd year of the programme.

The AUIC School, following decisions made by the Politecnico di Milano, does not issue ECTS for progress on degree theses during the exchange period. Credits for this activity are to be recognised by the student’s home university. Exchange students, although they have the opportunity to start working on their theses, cannot discuss them or obtain a formal assessment at the Politecnico di Milano.

The places available for incoming students are divided equally between courses in Italian and English for the following programmes in Milan: Architettura-Ambiente Costruito-Interni/Architecture-Built Environment-Interiors, Architettura e Disegno Urbano-Architecture and Urban Design, Architettura delle Costruzioni/Building Architecture.

It should be noted that Laurea Magistrale programmes (equivalent to Master of Science) in Architecture are delivered in English at the Piacenza (Sustainable Architecture and Landscape Design) and Mantova (Architectural Design and History) Campuses, with good capacity to host exchange students; in addition, experience on smaller campuses can foster a greater sense of integration and belonging.