Free-Mover Semester
Update: March 26, 2024
Free-Mover Semester law information and website for A.Y. 2024-2025 will be available around mid-April.
Students are strongly advised not to undertake any binding financial commitment before the release of the updated information and/or having secured their place at Punto Blu.Students interested in spending a semester abroad without participating in the Exchange Program can enroll as Free-Movers (Fee-paying Visiting Students or Independent Students or Contract Students or Study Abroad Students) at some foreign Universities where they can study for a semester only. The period abroad can take place:
- only once, during the first or second semester of the 5th year, by the Integrated Master of Arts in Law program (CLMG) students
Università Bocconi has singled out a series of schools, exclusively from its own international network, which are willing to accept such students. The list at Punto Blu is tentative only as includes institutions which accepted Bocconi students in the past. The difference between the Free-Mover and the Exchange is the admission process which is freely defined by the host instutions and out of any Bocconi responsibility or involvement.
Students who have previously withdrawn from the Exchange Program cannot apply as Free-Mover in their Bocconi career.
Requirements
Only qualified students can apply for the Free-Mover experience and they are required to prove the following before departure:
- Course year: the period abroad must be the 1st or 2nd semester of the 5th year;
- Credits: 100% of 1st year, 60% of 2nd year credits and 60% of 3rd year credits registered before semesters departures (the Exchange Program rules on credits apply).
- Language Requirements: Language of instruction of the Host University - the Exchange Program language applies* - at Level B1 or higher for all languages EXCEPT English language which must be at a minimum Level B2 (obtained with a minimum grade of 24/30) or higher.
* The language of selection indicated by Università Bocconi in the Exchange Program destinations is to be considered compulsory also for Free-Movers.
In addition, each hosting School has its own Requirements which have to be fulfilled by the applicant.
Destinations
The lists provided on this page are designed to assist current Bocconi students in finding a suitable partner university for the Free-Mover Semester since most of the partner schools do not accept free-movers if they have already an Exchange agreement with Bocconi.
The universities listed in the pdf document "possible destinations" are those who have accepted Bocconi Students in the past. This does not guarantee these schools will accept students in the future.
Schools which inform Bocconi that they do not accept Free-Movers students are listed in a different pdf document.
The following information may help students decide which universities offer the most suitable courses for their study plan.
Faculty: This indicates the faculties opened in the past at each partner university. For example, Law only means only Bocconi law students may apply.
Level: Indicates whether each partner accepted undergraduate or graduate or law students from Bocconi or both.
Language: The language required is the same as that indicated by Università Bocconi for the Exchange Program and it is compulsory also for the Free-Movers.
In addition, we strongly advise students to check if there is a link for each country to the relevant Government visa information website. These contain current advice about visa procedures for each country and should be used as the primary source of information about visas.
The list of foreign Universities is to be considered as the only valid list in terms of possibility of recognition of the tuition received by Free-Mover Semester students at foreign institutions.
Any other destination must be endorsed ex-ante, on a case-by-case basis, by the Study Abroad Office. The request, accompanied by a letter of motivation and information material on the University selected, has to be presented before enrolling in the foreign university as a Free-Mover Semester student and sent to the Study Abroad Office through B in Touch.
Unlike the students selected for the traditional Exchange Program, the Free-Movers Semester will have to directly contact the host University to request programs, deadlines, fees and all the information they need in order to finalize the enrollment procedures. The students will have to fund all their travel, board and accommodation expenses during their period abroad, as well as the university fees both in Italy and abroad. The student is advised to take out health insurance coverage for the period spent abroad.
How to apply
Please refer to this link, in order to get all the necessary information in terms of: selection process, application procedure & timeline.
Recognition
Study Abroad will provide eligible students with a Recognition Platform in their yoU@B Mobility sections once the process is finaiized.
At the end of the study period students must upload the official transcript of records in the Study Abroad Office Recognition Platform, soon after the experience abroad.
Without this document the Study Abroad Office will not proceed with the conversion procedure.
The conversion procedure is similar to the one applied for the Exchange Program ("Academic Recognition" chapter). Only upon admission is the table of conversion of grades available at Punto Blu.
Law Free-Mover Semester students can have a maximum of 5 Bocconi courses recognised once back from their experience abroad.
Contact us
For further info you can contact our office through B in Touch available on the yoU@B Diary
Online meetings for administrative emergencies only are available (book through yoU@B Diary).
Postal Address:
Study Abroad
Free-Mover Semester
Università Bocconi
Piazza Sraffa, 11
20136 Milano