The Preparatory Year Program

Details

Category: Academics

All newly admitted students are required to complete the preparatory year program, which aims at preparing students for undergraduate study. Students may be exempted from part of this program according to the implementations of the promotion exam rules.

The newly admitted students join the preparatory year program to achieve the following goals:

To improve students’ proficiency in English before they undertake undergraduate study;
To develop and improve students’ knowledge of mathematical and analytic techniques through the medium of English language;
To introduce students to new subject areas and techniques such as workshops and graphics, thus improving their mental and manual skills;
To familiarize students with various majors available at the college;
To improve students’ physical health and stamina through the Physical Education program;
To familiarize students with the requirements of undergraduate study, including study skills and discipline in all forms.
The duration of the Preparatory Year Program is one year, divided in to two regular semesters. The preparatory year represents the first and second academic levels of all undergraduate programs. The following courses are offered during each of the two semesters:

Prep English
Prep Mathematics
Prep computing
Prep Physical Education
Prep Physical Science
Study skills.

The grades earned in the preparatory year courses are recorded in the students’ transcript ,together with the semester GPA and cumulative GPA. However, these grades are not counted in the calculation of the cumulative GPA for the BS program. The academic status assigned to the students at the end of their last regular semester in the preparatory year continues through their third academic level (i.e. first semester of the freshman year).

If a student passes only the English part of the promotion examination, he/she will be partially promoted to the next academic level, but is required to fulfill any remaining preparatory year requirements during the same year.

Students’ performance will be evaluated at the end of the preparatory year to determine the status of those who have fulfilled the College preparatory year requirements. The performance of the student in all the courses he/she has taken shall be calculated along with the results of all the exams taken at the end of the program. Levels of the evaluation are classified below.

Fully Passing the Preparatory Year Program

Any student may register for the third academic level if he/she fulfills the following requirements:

Successfully passing English and Math courses.
Earned GPA of 1.75 or over.
Completed the preparatory year program in no more than 3 semesters.
Promotion of a student to the third academic level after completion of all preparatory year requirements takes place immediately at the beginning of the semester following his completion of these requirements. The student may then select any of the majors offered by the College.

Partial Passing of the Preparatory Year Program

If a preparatory year student passes only the requirements of either English or Mathematics, he/ she will be eligible to study some of the third academic level courses, provided that he simultaneously fulfills the remaining preparatory year requirements during a single semester; otherwise, he will be obliged to dedicate his time exclusively to the preparatory year.

Absentees Policy

A student will get a DN if he/she:

i. Misses 20% or more of his/her classes without an acceptable pretext.

ii. Misses 30% or more of his/her classes with an acceptable pretext.



Dismissal from the Preparatory Year Program

A student will be dismissed from the Preparatory Year program if he/she:

Earns the grade F or DN or WF twice consecutively in the same English or Mathematics courses in the preparatory year
Failes to complete all the preparatory year courses within a maximum of three regular semesters as opposed to the two semesters normally required for completing the preparatory year.
Obtains GPA less than 1.