Students are responsible for reading and complying with the “Middle East Technical University Rules and Regulations Governing Undergraduate Studies”.
If there is a conflict between the regulations and explanations below, the regulations apply.

 

1.       What is the duration of the undergraduate program? 

The normal duration of a four-year undergraduate program at METU is eight semesters. 

 

2.       Is attendance mandatory?

Students must attend classes, practice workshops and examinations. Student attendance is monitored by the instructor of the course. If there is a time conflict between courses, the academic advisor will not approve the program.

 

3.       How many courses am I required to take in order to graduate and what are the different types of courses? 

Students take two types of courses: required and elective. For more information on the number and structure of required courses, please visit the following link:

https://catalog.metu.edu.tr/program.php?fac_prog=312

In addition to the required courses, students also take three types of elective courses: 1. Departmental electives, 2. Non-departmental electives, and 3. Free electives. Students must take 14 departmental and 3 free electives in order to graduate. A maximum of 3 out of the 14 departmental electives can be taken as non-departmental electives provided that certain conditions are met. Please see the next question. 

 

4.       What are the non-departmental elective courses? 

Although taking courses from this category is recommended, it is not mandatory. Any course, except the ones offered by the Department of Business Administration and Technical Vocational School of Higher Education, can be added as a non-departmental elective course if it meets the following criteria:

• The course should be worth 3 credit hours or more. 
• The course should be 3^rd– or 4^th–year course (For example: ECON 354, IR 401, MATH 349).
• The course’s content should not overlap with any of the courses that the student has taken before or will take in the future.

As another alternative, it is possible to take foreign language courses as "non-departmental electives". The foreign language courses that may be taken as "non-departmental electives" are the third and higher levels of a foreign language. For example, you can take GERM 201 and GERM 202 as your free electives, whereas you can take GERM 203, GERM 204, GERM 205, and GERM 206 as your non-departmental electives.

 

5.       During registrations, how can I register for a course in the “non-departmental elective” category?

Students can add these courses directly at the university’s registration page by selecting “elective” as the course category. If the category of elective does not exist, then the course should be added as a "free elective" and a petition should be given to the Department of Business Administration asking for a category change for the course. The petition template is available at the department secretary offices and should be filled in line with the guidance of your academic advisor. 

 

6.       What can I do if I cannot add a course as a non-departmental elective during registrations?

If you cannot add a course in either the “elective” or “free elective” category, then this is probably because either the course capacity is full or the course has not been defined to accept students from the Department of Business Administration. In this case, you need to see the instructor of the course. If the instructor allows you to take the course, then s/he will inform their department secretary in order to either increase the course capacity or to change the course definition so that students from the Department of Business Administration can register for the course. If the instructor does not allow you to enroll in the course, then you should look for another non-departmental course immediately. It is highly recommended that students contact the instructors as soon as possible since this process may take some time. 

 

7.       What is a free elective course? 

Students must take 3 courses as free electives. Free electives can be any course offered by any department (except BA and Technical Vocational School of Higher Education) at METU. Similar to non-departmental electives,

• The course should be worth 3 credit hours or more.
• The course’s content should not overlap with any of the courses that the student has taken before or will take in the future.

 

8.       What is BA4098 “Honors Seminar”?

It is an individual study under the supervision of a full-time faculty member and taken as a 3-credit departmental elective. It is open only for those students at their fifth or higher semester with a CGPA of at least 3.00. The approval of the faculty member is required for registration.  A student can take a maximum of one Honors Seminar course in their curriculum.

 

9.       What is BA4099 “Independent Study”?

It is an individual study under the supervision of a full-time faculty member and taken as not included (NI). It is open only for those students at their fifth or higher semester. The approval of the faculty member is required for registration. A student can take a maximum of one Independent Study course in their curriculum.

 

10.       What is the IS 100 – Introduction to Information Technologies and Applications course? 

This course is designed to provide introductory-level knowledge about computers and Microsoft Office programs. It is a non-credit course and students should have a passing grade in the course in order to graduate. 

 

11.       When should I register for the IS 100 course? 

Students may register for this course either during their English Preparation year or during their first semester at the department. Students may also choose to take an exemption exam in the course. If a student decides to take the exemption exam, then she or he does not have to register for the course at the beginning of the semester. Later, if the student passes the exemption exam, then there is no additional action that the student has to take. However, in case of failure in the exemption exam, all students have to register for the course without exceptions (in other words, registration is not optional; all students are required to register for the course unless they pass the exemption exam). Also, students will continue to register for the course until they pass the course. For more information about the course content, online sections and registering for the exemption exam, please visit the website of the Informatics Institute: http://ii.metu.edu.tr/tr/is100

 

12.     Is it possible to replace a 4-credit foreign language course with any other (not necessarily foreign language) 3-credit course? 

Yes, it is possible to replace a 4-credit course with a 3-credit course and vice versa. Your cumulative grade point average (CGPA) will reflect the latest course’s credit hours. 

 

13.     How is the course replacement procedure carried out?

Courses with the grades of FF, FD, NA, U, or W must be retaken or replaced with another course approved by the advisor/department in subsequent semesters. The course replacement is also required for courses retaken to improve grades. If a failed or withdrawn (W) course is not replaced, graduation is not possible. Students must complete the course replacement procedure by using the registration system during the interactive registration.