Rules for determining a major after completing the preparatory stage

• General rules for the distribution of students among colleges after completing the preparatory stage

• College of Arts

• College of Science

• College of Engineering

• College of Allied Health Sciences

• College of Education

• College of Shari'a and Islamic Studies

• College of Business Administration

• College of Social Sciences

• College for Women

General rules for the distribution of students among colleges after completing the preparatory stage

1.   The student should not be on the probation list.

2.   The student should complete all the required courses in the preparatory stage as  determined by the college of the major in which he/she desires to study in.

3.   The student should pass the courses required by the college for the major in question with a GPA of C at least in these courses.

4.   The criterion of selection among applicants is the student's GPA in the courses required by the college in the preparatory stage. When the GPAs are equal, selection will be according to the number of passed credits.

5.   Students are distributed among colleges and their majors determined twice every academic year, after posting the final grades for a regular semester. Students who do not meet the conditions for determining a major during the set period but meet those conditions by the end of the summer semester may determine their major according to the free seats in the different specializations.

6.   If a student is accepted in a major different than his/her first choice, he/she can compete for acceptance in another major by the end of the semester following acceptance for one time only.

Note: The Colleges of the Center for Health Sciences (Medicine, Pharmacy, Dentistry) and the College of Law are exempted from these provisions.

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College of Arts

1.      Department of Arabic Language and Literature

The student should pass the following two courses with an aggregate average of C for both courses:

·        101   Communication Skills

·        102   Arabic Literature Aesthetics

2.      Department of English Language and Literature

·    The student should pass the two English language courses 141 and 142 with an average no less than C for each course.

·    The student should pass one of the General Education Program courses as offered by the Department of English in English - which are: Literature and Art 297, or Introduction to World Literature Translated 197 – with an average of C at least.

3.      Department of History

The student should pass two of the following courses with an aggregate average of C for both courses:

·        100   Contemporary and Modern History of Kuwait

·        101   Modern Arab History

·        110   Greek History

·        111   Ancient Near East

·        220   History of Early Islam

4.      Department of Philosophy

The student should pass two courses in the Department of Philosophy with an average of C at least.

5.      Department of Media

The following conditions were adopted by the Deans' Committee in their meeting number 3/2006 on 23/5/2006, to be applied starting from the first semester of the academic year 2007-2008.

·     The student's overall GPA should be no less than 2.67

·     The student should pass four of the following courses with an aggregate average of B for the four courses:

o      101   Introduction to Media Science

o      212   History of Media in Kuwait, or 215 Media and Society

o      107   Arabic Grammar (the Department of Media section)

o      One of the two English courses offered by the Language Center (141 or 142)

Note: Meeting all the conditions for a certain department does not necessarily imply acceptance in that department.

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College of Science

1.      Biological Sciences Group

• The student should not be on the probation list.

• The student should pass three or four of the following courses:

o       The student should pass the following two compulsory courses:

1.      161   English Language I, or 162   English Language II

2.      110   General Chemistry (Not for Chemistry discipline) and 111   General Chemistry Lab (Not for Chemistry discipline)

o       Passing one or more of the following courses, depending on the desired major:

1.      Animal Science:   101   Biology I  

2.      Botany:                102   Biology II

3.      Microbiology:      105   Microbiology

4.      Biochemistry:       114   Organic Chemistry

5.      Molecular Biology: 271  Introduction to Biochemistry and 281 Introduction to Molecular Biology

• The student's GPA in the courses that determine the desired major should be C at least.

• In case the student does not meet the condition of having an average of (C), he/she may take one or more of the following courses (3 to 4 at most) to complete the conditions:

   

  o       114   Organic Chemistry

  o       101   Biology I

  o       102   Biology II

  o       105   Microbiology

  o       271   Introduction to Biochemistry

  o       281   Introduction to Molecular Biology

  o       103   Biology III

  o       102   Biology (Morphology and Physiology)

  o       107   Micro-techniques and Microscopy

  o       163   English Language III

  o       173   English Language (Reports Writing)

  o       102 Statistics for Biological Sciences or 103 Biomathematics or 106 Statistical Computing or(121 General Physics and 125 General Physics Lab I)

   

• The number of courses required to determine the major should not exceed seven of the courses listed in the Second and Fourth Clauses above.

2.  Mathematical and Natural Sciences

•    The student should not be on the probation list.

•    The student should pass three or four courses, as follows:

1.      The following two compulsory courses:

o       161   English Language I or 162   English Language II

o       101   Calculus I

2.      One or more of the following courses, according to the desired major:

• The student's point average in the courses that determine the major should be (C) at least.

• In case the student does not fulfill the condition of having an average of C, he/she may take one or more of the following courses (2-3 courses, at most) to complete the conditions:

1.      102   Calculus (2)

2.      111   Linear Algebra

3.      126   Programming Language or 106  Fortran

4.      101   General Chemistry (1) or 110  General Chemistry

5.      102   General Chemistry (2)

6.      101   General Physics (1) or 121  General Physics (1)

7.      102   General Physics (2)

8.      100   Principles of Geology or 101  Physical Geology

9.      102   Historical Geology

10.  105   Minerals and Crystallography or 107  Minerals

11.  101   Principles of Statistics or 102  Statistics for Biological Sciences

12.  101   Biology (1)

13.  163   English Language (III)

14.  173   English Language

• The number of the required courses to determine the major should not be more than six of the courses listed in the Second and Fourth Clauses above.

Note: Meeting all the conditions for a certain department does not necessarily imply acceptance in that department.

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College of Engineering

Students who fulfill the following conditions should submit an application to determine their Engineering major:

·        The student should not be on the probation list.

·        The student should pass the English Language course (090).

·        The student should pass the following 18 Credits with an average of C at least.

Note:

Applications to determine the major should be submitted online, via the webpage of The Guidance and Counseling Office: http://eng-guide.kuniv.edu.kw

Important Notes:

1.   The number of seats allocated in every department is determined by the College Council based on its admission policy. In case the number of students who apply to a department exceeds the allocated seats, selection is based on the average grade of the courses listed in Rule 3. When the grade averages are the same, selection will be based on the number of passed credits.

2.   Students who pass the courses with a GPA of 3.5 or above are accepted directly in any academic department they wish to major in, irrespective of the # of available seats.

3.   The period set to pass the required courses to determine the major is, at most, four regular semesters, not including the preparatory semester and discontinuation of study (such as postponement of admission, semester withdrawal, compulsory or optional stoppage of enrollment), and summer semester.

4.   Students who do not fulfill the above conditions and those who do not pass English Language 090 will be transferred from the College of Engineering and Petroleum to another college in collaboration with the Deanship of Admissions and Registration, bearing in mind that students are given two chances to pass English Language 090.

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College of Allied Health Sciences

Students are distributed to the college departments according to their capacity after the students complete the first study year.

Note: Meeting all the conditions for a certain department does not necessarily imply acceptance in that department.

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College of Education (acceptance in the majors is based on the needs of the Ministry of Education)

·        Students of Science Majors

1.  The required overall grade average in all majors (Intermediate, Secondary / Science Section) is 2.00 points (C) for male and female students.

2.  The required grade average in Arabic Language major (Intermediate, Secondary / Arts Section) is 2.00 points (C) for male and female students..

3.   The required grade average in English major (Intermediate, Secondary / Arts Section) is 2.00 points (C) for male students, and 2.25 points for female students.

4.   The required overall grade average for female students Kindergarten and Elementary majors is as shown in the following table:

·        Students of Arts Majors

1.   The required grade average for male students in the majors (Arabic Language, Islamic Studies, and English Language) is 2.00 points (C), and 2.50 points for all other majors.

2.   The required grade average for female students in Arabic Language major is 2.00 points (C), and English Language major is 2.25 points. For all other majors, it is 3.00 points (B).

3.   The overall average required for female students Kindergarten and Elementary majors is as shown in the following table:

4.  For English Language, the student should obtain a minimum of 60% on the aptitude test; otherwise, the student should register in the preparatory course 090 at the Language Center.

5.  The student should pass the courses 110 and 111, or 114 and 116 with a minimum grade of C.

6.   The student should pass Introduction to Literature 170 with a minimum grade of C.

 Note: Meeting all the conditions for a certain department does not necessarily imply acceptance in that department.

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College of Shari'a and Islamic Studies

Class of 2008 and earlier

The student should pass the following courses with a grade of C at least:

1.      0910101     Quran Sciences                                               

2.      0910106     Memorization and Recitation of the Quran (1)       

3.      0920120     The Islamic Doctrine (1)                                  

4.      0930141     Personal Status (1)                                          

5.      0940152     History of Islamic Law                        

Class of 2009 and later

The student should pass (30 credits). It is permissible that students expecting to pass these credits register in the major courses during the registration period for the next semester.

Note: Meeting all the conditions for a certain department does not necessarily imply acceptance in that department.

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College of Business Administration

The rules for determining the major for students of the College of Business Administration, after completing the preparatory stage, are as follows:

1.      The student's overall GPA should be no less than 2.00 points.

2.      Applications to determine the major should be submitted to The Guidance and Counseling Office during the announced period; no application will be received after that.

3.      If a student is accepted in a major different than his/her first choice, he/she can compete for acceptance in another major in the semester following acceptance for one time only

4.      The student should pass 30 credits of the following common requirements of the college:

Note: Meeting all the conditions for a certain department does not necessarily imply acceptance in that department.

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College of Social Sciences

1.      Department of Geography

• The student chooses the path he/she wishes to determine his major:

          - The path of natural and environmental studies

          - The path of urban planning and Geographical Information System (GIS)

• The student should pass Introduction to General Geography 104 or Man and Environment 101 or Climate Geography 201 with a grade of C at least.

• The number of credits passed should be no less than 15 credits.

• The overall GPA should be no less than 2 points.

2.      Department of Psychology

·     Passing Psychology 101 with a grade of C at least for class 2008 and earlier, and with a grade of (B-) at least for class 2009 and later.

·     The number of credits passed should be no less than 15 credits.

·     The student should pass the personal interview.

·     The overall GPA should be no less than 2 points.

3.      Department of Political Sciences

·        Passing Introduction to Political Sciences 101 with a grade of C at least.

·        The number of credits passed should be no less than 15 credits.

·        The overall GPA should be no less than 2.33 points.

4.      Department of Sociology and Social Work

      Sociology:

·        Passing Introduction to Sociology 101 with a grade of C at least.

·        The number of credits passed should be no less than 15 credits.

·        The overall GPA should be no less than 2 points.

      Social Work:

·        Passing Introduction to Welfare and Social Work 111 with a grade of C at least.

·        The number of credits passed should be no less than 15 credits.

·        The student should pass the personal interview for the Social Work major.

·        The GPA should be no less than 2.33 points.

Note: Meeting all the conditions for a certain department does not necessarily imply acceptance in that department.

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College for Women (Class 2009/2010 and later)

1. The college determines the major after passing at least 21 credits from the prerequisites o f the General Academic Education (the 21 credits include 9 obligatory credits and 12 elective credits). These credits must be passed with an overall GPA of no less than 2 points. (see the table below)

2. The student should pass the major course that she wishes to specialize in (first or second major wish) with a grade of no less than (C).

3. The student average points will be calculated according to the best grades of the elective courses (12 credits) from Section B, in addition to the three obligatory courses (9 credits) from Section A. It is referred to as the scientific average.

4. The number of seats allocated in every department is determined by the College Council based on its admission policy. In case the number of students who apply to a department exceeds the allocated seats, selection takes place based on the scientific average. When the scientific averages are the same, selection will be based on the number of passed credits.

5. Students who fulfill conditions (1) and (2) above and have an overall GPA of (3.5 and above) are accepted directly in any academic department they wish to major in, irrespective of the available number of seats.

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