Application Process

2022-2023 ACADEMIC YEAR

APPLICATION PROCESS for UoL-LSE (University of London International Programmes with the academic direction by London School of Economics and Political Science) HONOURS PROGRAMMES 

Application and Admission Requirements for Students Applying to Honours Programmes from Related Programmes:

Application to ‘Economics and Finance’ honours programme by an ‘Economics and Finance’ student, to ‘Economics’ honours programme by an ‘Economics’ student*:

• First time application in the Honours Programmes,
• Student’s original entry (by COHE (the Council of Higher Education) should be in Economics or Economics and Finance programs at İstanbul Bilgi University,
• Application after the successful completion of all the courses included in the first two semesters** of Economics or Economics-Finance program curriculum at İstanbul Bilgi University and upon having received a minimum of 60 ECTS (exemptions will be considered),
• Mathematics Competency: a minimum of B- grade on average in mathematics courses taken at İstanbul Bilgi University or a minimum of 70/100 grade on average in the final year of schooling before university entrance,
• English Competency: IELTS 6.0 or equivalent score (BİLET/Level 5 AT 70, TOEFL 82, FCE B, CAE C, CPE C, KPDS/ÜDS/YDS/YÖKDİL 68, PTE Academic 70),
• Minimum of 2,70/4,00 CGPA,
• Attendance in crash courses and Oral Examination, which will be held in September 2022 (Note: Mathematics and Economics courses will be given and attendance is mandatory)

* Otherwise, ‘Application and Admission Requirements for All Other Students’ listed below are applicable.

** All the courses in the Honours Programme are compulsory. Courses completed in 3rd, 4th, 5th or 6th semesters cannot be used to substitute the courses in the curriculum of the Honors Programme.

Application and Admission Requirements for all the Other Students: 

• First time application in the Honours Programmes,
• Application after the successful completion of all the courses included in the first two semesters** of the currently enrolled program’s curriculum at İstanbul Bilgi University and upon having received a minimum of 60 ECTS (exemptions will be considered),
• Transfer students from other universities must take and pass all the courses in the curriculum of the first two semesters of the undergraduate program they are transferred to and completed the course load for at least 60 ECTS. The content of the courses in the curriculum of the first two semesters is examined by the Honors Programme Commission. If the commission decides that these courses are not sufficient, the student's application is not accepted.
• Mathematics Competency: a minimum of B- grade on average in mathematics courses taken at İstanbul Bilgi University or a minimum of 70/100 grade on average in the final year of schooling before university entrance,
• English Competency: IELTS 6.0 or equivalent score (BILET/Level 5 AT 70, TOEFL 82, FCE B, CAE C, CPE C, KPDS/ÜDS/YDS/YÖKDİL 68, PTE Academic 70),
• A minimum of 3,00/4,00 GPA,
• Attendance in crash courses, which will be held in September 2022. (Note: Mathematics and Economics courses will be given and attendance is mandatory),
• Passing Grade in Oral Examination (the criteria of which will be determined by BİLGİ Honours Programme Commission.)

** All the courses in the Honours Programme are compulsory. Courses completed in 3rd, 4th, 5th or 6th semesters cannot be used to substitute the courses in the Curriculum of the Honors Programme. 

Students who meet the application requirements (students taking a course/courses in the summer school can apply conditionally. Applications of the students who do not meet the application requirements after summer school are considered invalid) are required to submit the following documents to santralistanbul Campus, Faculty of Business, Department of Economics Secretariat between July 6, 2022-September 9, 2022.

• Statement of Purpose (minimum one-page long, written in English),
• PROFILE (to be printed from Student Page),
• COURSE STATUS (to be printed from Student Page),
• National Exam Score Documents (if you have any),
• English Proficiency Certificate,
• (Provided that mathematics courses were not taken at İstanbul Bilgi University) Official document (e.g. transcript) showing Mathematics course grades in the final year of schooling before university entrance,
• A copy of the INTERNAL TRANSFER APPLICATION FORM that you submitted to the Student Affairs Office***
• Click for the Application Form 

*** This form is not required if the student is applying to be transferedr to the ‘Economics and Finance’ honours programme from the ‘Economics and Finance’ undergraduate programme or to the “Economics” honours programme from the ‘Economics’ undergraduate programme.

Application Process:

All applications will be pre-screened and evaluated by BİLGİ Honours Programme Commission.

All students are expected to attend Crash Courses. The duration of the Crash Courses is five days and they will be held on September 12-16, 2022 (Mathematics and Economics courses will be taught).

All applicants must attend the Oral Exam (Interview) on September 19 and 20 (Monday and Tuesday). Oral Exams are mandatory for all applicants.

Applicants with a CGPA of at least 3,20/4,00 can apply for a scholarship for the University of London fees. Partial scholarships will only be granted to a limited number of students. For all applicants, there will be an Oral Exam (Interview) on September 19 and 20. All such applicants must state their grounds as to why they need scholarship and submit relevant documents to the Secretariat before the start of the examinations. The Oral Exam (Interview) for scholarships will be conducted by the Honours Programme Commission. 

After the interview and all other evaluation processes, students who are admitted to the programme will be informed via e-mail on September 21, 2022 at the latest (It is the student’s responsibility to submit a valid e-mail and check his/her e-mail account regularly). 

Students who would like to transfer to Honours Programmes are expected to reply to this e-mail by filling out the attached forms until September 22, 17:00. Students who fail to reply before the deadline will be considered as “disapproving to transfer” to honours programmes.

Important Notes:

• Meeting the application requirements or being invited to the interview does not guarantee admission to the program.
• Having a minimum CGPA of 3,20/4,00 or above does not guarantee to be eligible for the scholarship for the University of London annual fees.
• Admission to Honours Programmes does not necessarily mean admission to UoL.            UoL evaluates each application independently.

Important Dates:

Frequently Asked Questions

• Is there a fee that should be paid in order to study in the programme in addition to the tuition fee of Istanbul Bilgi University (BİLGİ)? If yes, does my BİLGİ scholarship apply to that fee?

Yes, there is an additional tuition fee paid directly to the University of London (UoL) for the programme. As such, student’s BİLGİ scholarship does not apply for the tuition fee of the UoL. A student who is accepted in the honours programme must pay tuition fees of both BİLGİ and the UoL. Total 3-year tuition fee of the UoL was £ 7200 in October 2021 and UoL holds the right to change this total. Yearly payment demanded by the UoL is made in two instalments, one in November and the other in January and these processes of tuition payment to UoL are completely independent of BİLGİ.

BİLGİ, on the other hand, offers honours programme scholarships that vary between 20% and 75% of the tuition fee of the UoL, for the students of the programme. Minimum requirement to apply for this scholarship is 3.20/4.00 GPA, among other criteria to apply to the programme. The selection committee considers both academic success and financial need of the applicant to award a scholarship for the new entrants. For the following two years in the honours programme, the scholarship is based only on academic merit.

• I have an OSYM scholarship. Is there a chance that I lose my scholarship upon entry to the Honours Programme?

Economics Honours programme is a route under the Economics programme in Faculty of Business and similarly Economics – Finance Honours programme is a route under the Economics - Finance programme. Therefore a transfer to one of the Honours programmes is realised under the same conditions and criteria that applies to a transfer to their respective parent programmes. Therefore if a candidate cannot realize the conditions to keep his/her OSYM scholarship when transferred to one of the parent programmes, s/he will lose the scholarship upon transferring to the honours programme as well. Candidates are strongly advised to contact Emine Çağan (emine.cagan@bilgi.edu.tr) in Student Support Centre to learn about their own personal standing regarding this matter.

• Is there a limit to the number of places offered in the Honours Programme?

No. The selection committee tends to accept applications of all candidates who appear to have adequate academic background, as evidenced by their GPA, mathematics and English, and study camp results, and necessary motivation, as demonstrated in Statements of Purpose and interview, to successfully complete the programme.

• Is GPA the most important criterion to make an application strong?

As discussed in response to the previous question, the committee accepts all applications that it believes to be a successful prospect for the programme, therefore no criterion can be said to solely decide whether a candidate is accepted or not. However, it should be noted that, a higher GPA, higher maths grades, higher English results, higher study camp results, all mean a stronger application for the candidate and as such a better chance to be accepted.

• Will Management and Digital Innovation Programme accept students this year?

No.

• I am an Economics – Finance student applying for Economics – Finance in Honours Programme OR I am an Economics student applying for Economics in Honours Programme. Do I still have to write a Statement of Purpose/ attend study camp/ enter written exam or enter interview (oral exam)?

Yes. Writing a statement of purpose, attending the study camp and entering written exam and interview (oral exam), all four, are compulsory for all candidates.

• What are the content of the courses that will be held in the study camp?

Introductory microeconomics and mathematics courses will be taught. Recommended readings will be sent to the candidates shortly before the camp begins.

• What type of questions is asked in the interview (oral exam)? Is the interview (oral exam) in English?

 The interview is a meeting with the candidate through which the selection committee sees and understands how motivated the candidate is to undertake the demanding academic undertakings of the Honours Programme. It is held in English and scientific questions may be asked if the need arises.

• Can I apply online?

Yes you can apply online via sending the soft copies of your documents to Neslihan Sözeri (neslihan.sozeri@bilgi.edu.tr).

• How do I know that I satisfy Mathematics Proficiency Condition?

If a candidate’s final year grade in high school, or for foreign candidates it’s conversion to numerical system, is greater than 70, than the candidate satisfies the mathematics proficiency.

If a candidate’s letter grades from her/his first year mathematics courses at BİLGİ are at least B- or better, than the candidate satisfies the mathematics proficiency.

If a candidates one letter grade from the first year mathematics courses is better than B- and one is lower than that, then average of the two grades are taken and if the average is B- (2.7) than the candidate satisfies the mathematics proficiency.  Method of calculation with examples is given below:  A=4, B=3, C =2, D =1 and F=0. For a plus grade, 0.3 should be added; C + = 2.3, B + = 3.3 etc. For a minus grade 0.3 should be subtracted; A-=3.7, B-=2.7 etc. Therefore if the simple arithmetic average of the two maths courses is 2.7, then it is a B- and proficiency condition is satisfied.  Let’s say a candidate achieved an A from one of the math courses and D+ from the other: 4+1.3=5.3. 5.3/2=2.65, 2.7 when rounded up, the candidate has a B- and satisfies the condition but A- and D+ for instance is insufficient do since the average is 2.5.

• I want to satisfy English Proficiency Condition via IELTS. Should I take the academic or general training test?

As per the requirements of University of London, a 6.0 result from both types of IELTS suffices.

• I am an irregular student/ I have completed more than 60 credits in my original programme, can I apply to transfer to the Honours Programme?

Yes, you can, given that you have completed the 60 credits (exemptions will be accounted for) from the first two academic semesters and you satisfy the remaining conditions. However, if you are accepted, the courses you have completed from semester 3 and above in your original major, cannot be transferred to Honours Programme, they will be discarded and you continue from the beginning of the third academic semester.  As such irregular students should complete the total 60 credits offered to them in the first two academic semesters of their department in order to be eligible for application. Credits above that will be discarded upon the transfer to the Honours Programme. To meet the criterion and receive advice on planning their curriculum with the goal of applying the Honours Programme, the students should consult with their academic advisor.

• Once I am accepted to the programme, what are the requirements to continue?

Of the students who are accepted to the honours programme, those who fail from at least 2 of their courses or fail to have an at least 2.70/4.00 GPA or better, in their first year in the honours programme, will be transferred back to their original programme. For the remaining two years those students whose GPA fall below 2.70/4.00 shall be ‘On Probation’ and they will have to repeat the academic year.

• Will the opportunities for a minor, double major or a student exchange, be changed due to being accepted for the Honours Programme?

Students can be in Honours Programme and study minors and double majors with the same conditions and requirements that apply to any other programme. Similarly conditions and requirements for applying and being accepted for Erasmus Exchange Programme is the same for Honours Programme students with students from any other programme. However credits completed in an Erasmus Exchange Programme cannot be transferred to the Honours Programme curriculum and they will have to be discarded. This automatically means that number of semesters spent in the exchange has to be repeated in the Honours Programme resulting in extra semesters to graduate. The Honours Programme offers its own exchange programme of transferrable curriculum with Higher School of Economics in Moscow.