AIT-Budapest Exchange Program

The Aquincum Institute of Technology, Budapest, provides a unique English language study-abroad experience for Dartmouth Students majoring in computer science, software engineering, and related disciplines.

General Information

The AIT-Budapest exchange program is offered through The Frank J. Guarini Institute for International Education. In the fall, the program runs from mid-August to mid-December; this is the more popular option. AIT's spring semester, however, begins in mid-January and ends in May, overlapping both winter and spring terms at Dartmouth. Students who choose to enroll for the spring semester in AIT (referred to at Dartmouth as the Winter exchange program) have to take a leave term in spring.

Participants enroll as full time students and choose from available courses they are qualified for at AIT. Students must take at least four courses and/or at least 16 credits. Credits for these courses can be transferred back to count toward their Dartmouth diploma.

Students must take COSC 50 before arriving at AIT (they may take it after applying, however, as long as they have taken it before going). It is also recommended that they take COSC 30 before arriving at AIT. Program participants will need to know how to code in C on UNIX systems.

AIT-Budapest was established in 2007 by Hungarian software entrepreneur, Gábor Bojár, to provide an exceptional study-abroad experience to North American undergraduates in IT fields. AIT's curriculum integrates foundational courses in computer science with advanced applications and courses from the fields of creative design and entrepreneurship as well as humanities courses related to Hungary's rich cultural heritage. The instructors come, for the most part, from the Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BUTE).

Contact Information

The Faculty Director for the AIT-Budapest Program is Amit Chakrabarti. Reach out to him via email for more information about the program.

How to Apply

Students must apply through the Guarini Institute by the February 1st application deadline, for both the Fall and Winter exchange programs in the upcoming academic year. Applications are reviewed by faculty from the Department of Computer Science and on March 1st, up to 15 students are nominated each year by Dartmouth. These applications are then forwarded to AIT-Budapest for final decisions. 

The Faculty Director hosts information sessions in the fall and in early winter (before the application deadline) to talk about the program and how to apply. Students must attend an information session to be eligible to apply.

Application instructions, tuition information, and options for financial aid can be found here: https://guarini.dartmouth.edu/programs/ait-budapest

Transfering Course Credits

Below is a table of AIT courses and the corresponding Dartmouth courses for which transfer credit will be approved. Students must contact the Undergradaute Program Director to receive approval for each course.

AIT Course Title Our Equivalent
Advanced Applications
Applied Cryptography COSC 62
Deep Learning COSC 78
Mobile Software Development COSC 65
Foundational Courses in Computer Science
Algorithms and Data Structures COSC 31
Combinatorial Optimization COSC 84
Computer Graphics COSC 77
Data Mining 1: Models and Algorithms + Data Mining 2: Applications COSC 74
Graph Theory MATH 38
Theory of Computing COSC 39