Admission and Transfer

First: Admission to King Abdulaziz University for Students Intending to Join the Faculty of Engineering

 

NOTE: These general conditions are detailed in the web pages of the Deanship of Admission and Registration at: http://admission.kau.edu.sa/Pages-Admission1.aspx

 

·      The student must be a Saudi national or of a Saudi mother (Non Saudis acceptance is subject to the special rules and regulations of the university). 

·     The student must have graduated from high school and obtained the “General Secondary Education Certificate” (GSEC) or its equivalent. The certificate should have been obtained no earlier than three years prior to the expected start of the university studies, however the university may waive this condition for an otherwise acceptable applicant.

·      The student must have had good behavior and conduct in secondary school and must present a certificate to that effect.

·      Students are enrolled on a full-time basis only. Prospective students who are employed should present a written permission from their employer allowing them to register in the university on a full-time basis.

·     The student must take two standardized tests administered by the “National Center for Assessment in Higher Education”:

a.      The “General Aptitude Test” (GAT, similar to the SAT Reasoning Test of the College Board in the US)

b.      The “Achievement Test for Science Colleges” (ATSC).

·     The student should not be registered for another academic degree at KAU or at any other university.

·      The students intending to apply to the Faculty of Engineering should secure admission to the “Foundation Year Scientific Track” program at King Abdulaziz University. Admission to this program is competitive based on the university available capacity, and the ranking of applicants according to the following weighted score:

 

Weighted Score = 0.5*GSEC score + 0.3*GAT score + 0.2*ATSC score

 

Where:

·       GSEC score is the student cumulative grade point average in the last three years of high school (General Secondary Education Certificate)

·        GAT score is the student score in the General Aptitude Test

·        ATSC score is the student score in the Achievement Test for Scientific Colleges

 

Applicants fill out and submit an online application on the Admission Portal of the Deanship of Admission and Registration, and present the required original documents to the deanship at a later stage.

 

Admission to the Faculty of Engineering

The students apply to the Faculty of Engineering after successfully completing all the courses of the Scientific Track of the Foundation Year. Admission to the Faculty is competitive. The Faculty of Engineering Council determines each year the maximum number of students to be admitted (usually around 360 students). The Faculty admits the students with the highest GPA among those who satisfy the following three conditions:

1.     A grade of at least 75% in each of the following courses: Math 110 and Physics 110

2.     A combined average of at least 80% in Math 110, Physics 110, and English ELI 104

3.     A cumulative GPA of 3.5 out of 5 or higher.

 

Admission to Academic Programs in the Faculty of Engineering

To be eligible for specialization, a student must fulfill the following conditions:

·         Passed the courses of the first two semesters in the Faculty of Engineering.

·       An exception may be given in case only one course is left, under the condition that the student must register this course in his first semester of specialization.

Students eligible to specialize in one of the academic programs of the Faculty of Engineering attend the activities of the Specialization Week organized each semester by the Faculty, known as “Engineering Gate”. During the Specialization Week, the different Faculty programs organize information booths staffed by at least one faculty member and a number of senior students. Program fliers are distributed, posters representing student activities and senior projects are displayed, visits to department laboratories are organized, presentations about career opportunities for the graduates of each major are given, and informal discussions between freshmen and senior students take place. Faculty of Engineering freshmen students then fill out electronically a “Specialization Request Form” in which they rank all open engineering programs by order of preference. The students are matched to the programs (specialization majors) according to their GPA, selection ranking, and the requirements and capacity of each engineering program.

Students are allowed to change their specialization within the Faculty of Engineering only once during their whole study period. Such a change is allowed only for the students who have completed less than 50% of the credit units required by the current specialization by the end of the semester during which they apply for specialization change. Applicants for specialization change submit their request electronically and compete with the rest of the students eligible for specialization.

The Mechanical Engineering (Thermal Engineering and Desalination Technology) Program accepts each semester a maximum number of 25 students among the applicants.

 

Second: Transfer Students and Transfer Courses

 

NOTE: These general conditions are detailed in the web pages of the Deanship of Admission and Registration at: http://admission.kau.edu.sa/AccessPage.aspx?Site_ID=210&lng=AR&SYS_ID=116

 

·         Transfer from Other Universities

A student may transfer from another university or educational institution to the Faculty of Engineering at KAU if the following conditions are satisfied:

·       The academic degree pursued by the student in the original university/educational institution is substantially equivalent to the Bachelor of Science degree granted by KAU.

·       The student should have a minimum GPA of 3.5 out of 5.0 or equivalent.

·       The student should not have been dismissed for disciplinary reasons from the institution he is transferring from.

·       The student must complete at KAU at least 50% of the credit units required by the KAU degree.

·       Transfer students may transfer the courses taken in their previous institution provided they are deemed equivalent to the corresponding KAU courses. For such equivalence to be granted, three criteria must be satisfied:

§       The two courses are ascertained to be essentially of the same content by the concerned KAU department or program.

§       The number of credit units of the course at the previous university is at least the same as for the KAU course.

§  The student must have passed the course with a grade of C or better.

·        Transfer courses are listed in the transcript but will not contribute to the student’s cumulative GPA at KAU.

·       The transfer is administered by the Deanship of Admission and Registration.

 

·         Transfer of Students within KAU

A KAU student may transfer to the Faculty of Engineering from another faculty at KAU if the student satisfies all of the following conditions:

·        This is the student’s first request for transfer between KAU faculties

·        The student received a grade of at least 75% in each of the following courses: Math 110 and Physics 110

·        The student must fulfill one of the following conditions:

o    have a combined average of at least 80% in the three-course group [Math 110, Physics 110, English ELI 104]

o    have a combined average of at least 80% in the two-course group [Math 110, Physics 110] and get a score of at least 32 in the TOEFL iBT Test, or show equivalent competency in English via another test.

·        The student has a cumulative GPA of 3.5 out of 5 or higher.

·       The student must have completed at least one full academic year (beyond the foundation year) at the other faculty before becoming eligible to transfer to the Faculty of Engineering.

·      Transfer applicants satisfying the above conditions are included in the general pool of applicants and admission is competitive based on the Faculty of Engineering available capacity and the student GPA.

·      The transfer is administered by the Deanship of Admission and Registration.

 

The courses taken by a student in their previous faculty and required for the FOE degree will be transferred according to FOE course transfer policy. Moreover, all courses previously taken by the student (whether required for the FOE degree or not) do remain on the student’s record and are included in the cumulative GPA calculation.

 

·         Transfer of Students within FOE

Students may apply to transfer to the Thermal Engineering and Desalination Technology Program in the Mechanical Engineering Department if they are studying in another program at the FOE if they have not completed more than 50% of the credit units required in their current program. Transfer is competitive based on available capacity of the program and on the student’s GPA. The transfer is administered by the Vice-Dean of Academic Affairs Office in the FOE.

 


Last Update
2/13/2014 3:06:08 PM