KUSIS – Course Planning

What is course planning?

It is good practice to choose courses that you are planning to take in an upcoming semester during course planning period. This helps the actual registration process to run smoother. Correct estimation of course demand makes it possible to better adjust course waitlist prioritizations.

Do I need to plan my courses on KUSIS immediately when the system opens?

No, you do not need to. Course planning and course registration are two different and distinct processes. Whether you plan your courses before or after does not affect your chances in course registration. You will not have a priority in course registration if you plan your courses immediately when the system opens for planning.

Why is course planning useful?

Besides the fact that it helps in adjusting the waitlist prioritizations, the major benefit of planning for students is that students who plan their courses before registration will have completed the following steps: Choosing between different courses, seeing how different course sections fit into the weekly schedule, preventing clashes of different sections, etc. Hence, students will not lose time during the actual registration period and will have a better chance of enrolling intothe courses they want.

What is the best strategy in planning courses?

The best strategy is to plan your courses realistically and only choose those courses that you really plan to take.  If you need to register for 5 courses, you should plan for only 5 courses. If you choose 7 courses in your plan for some reason, you will have to remove the two extra courses during registration and you will lose time.  You may be willing to choose some courses as reserve courses in case you cannot take the courses that you want during registration, but we recommend you do this planning outside the KUSIS course planning system.

Tuition Calculation for Students with Scholarships and Waivers

Scholarships and waivers are applied to a student’s tuition one at a time.
Note: Some waivers (*) cannot be combined.

(*) Waivers arising from the parent working at or being a retiree of Koç Group, working at Koç University and student being from Koç High School cannot be combined. Only sibling discount (5%) can be combined with any of these waivers.

Current Rules Regarding Tuition Payment
Rules Regarding Leave of Absence
Which students can overload?

The following students can overload (overloading means taking an additional course that has 2 or more credits):

  • Students whose GPA is at or above 2.70/4.00,
  • Students who have completed the previous semester (Fall or Spring) with an SPA of 2.70 or above with at least normal course load,
  • Students who are able to graduate by overloading by one course in addition to their regular course load for at most three semesters with one of those semesters being a summer semester,
  • Double Major students whose request to overload is related to their Double Major program.

The following students can take 2 additional courses that has 2 or more credits:

  • Students whose GPA is at or above 3.60/4.00 (*) (**)
  • Students who have 10 outstanding courses (11 outstanding courses for Law majors) as of the beginning of the Spring semester can overload by 2 courses irrespective of their GPA/SPA.

Other students cannot overload.

Students do not pay an extra fee for overloading in Fall and Spring semesters.

However, students who satisfy one or more of the overload criteria need to pay the additional course fee for the third course they take in Summer term.

(*) Note: College of Engineering students at Freshman status, who satisfy the 3.6 or above GPA condition may only overload with the approval of their advisor.

(**) Note: The School of Nursing students are required to submit their 8th course requests to the University Executive Council with a petition, even if they have a GPA of 3.6 and above.

Students who begin their undergraduate career in the summer term, and become eligible to overload based on their summer GPA or SPA, will not be allowed to overload in the Fall term.

Can students at Freshman (FR) status make changes in their assigned course lists?

  • Freshman (FR) students in their first semester will be able to make changes in their programs by obtaining a KUSIS approval from their FR Advisor (or Dean/Assistant Dean). Students can request approval from their advisors via an e-mail explaining their reasons for the request.
  • However, students are advised to undertake any change in their assigned courses carefully, since they may be on the waitlists of the courses they intend to take instead and it is possible that they may not take the course eventually.

What should the other students take into account when making changes in their assigned course lists?

  • Students who are not in FR status are not required to obtain approval from their advisors for course changes. However, we strongly recommend for all students to share their course change plans with their advisors before the terms starts.

What is the procedure to request for a consent to take a course?

  • For courses requiring instructor consent, the student must send a request to the instructor via KUSIS homepage.

What is the process for adding an 'Independent Study' course?

The decision to add the course to the curriculum of the student should be made by the Faculty to which the course is attached, based on the approval of the relevant faculty member. Independent study courses are also included in the course load calculation.

What are the rules regarding withdrawal from a course?

  • After the add-drop period os over, students can withdraw from a course until the withdrawal deadline stated on the academic calendar. Students do not receive a letter grade on a course they withdrew from, instead, the letter ‘W’ is recorded on the transcript.
  • Students will not be reimbursed for a course they withdrew from.
  • According to the decision made in August 11, 2023 Academic Council meeting, students can withdraw from at most 6 courses during their undergraduate career. This decision will apply for courses enrolled in starting with the Fall 2023 semester. W grades from previous semesters will not be counted towards this 6-course threshold.

Rules regarding CPAP requirement

  • Each student for whom there is a CPAP 100 requirement in the template, is required to complete either the CPAP 100 exam or the CPAP 150 course towards graduation.
  • Students, who prefer to take the CPAP 100 exam instead of the CPAP 150 course, may do so any time during their undergraduate career. However, students should be aware that CPAP 100 or CPAP 150 could be listed as a pre-requisite for other courses they wish to take.
  • Students who successfully complete the CPAP 150 course will be exempt from the CPAP 100 requirement.
  • Students who have successfully completed the CPAP 100 exam will not be allowed to take the CPAP 150 course.
  • The course CPAP 150 “Productivity Tools on Personal Computers” is being offered since Fall 2014 semester. CPAP 150 is a 1-credit course and will be taught in English. Contrary to the CPAP 100 exam, which students complete on-line, CPAP 150 is a regular course with class meetings. The course will have some extra content (as compared to the CPAP 100 exam) especially in internet tools.

In case of changes in course templates, which curriculum will the students follow?

  • Effective as of Spring 2014 semester, students will be required to follow the curriculum templates that were in effect during their matriculation. Students, who enroll in Double Major (DM), Minor or Track programs, will be required to follow the curriculum templates that were in effect when the student begins his/her DM, Minor or Track program. Students will have the option of switching to a new curriculum accepted after they matriculated or after they began their DM, Minor or Track programs.
  • In case of transfers within KU, students will follow the course templates that were in effect during their matriculation, and they will have the option of switching to a new curriculum accepted after their matriculation. However, in case it is not possible for the student to follow the curriculum that was in effect during his/her matriculation (e.g. in case a core course is no longer offered due to a change in the core curriculum), such students may be required to follow the new curriculum with the decision of the relevant College Executive Council.

What are the rules regarding 1-credit courses?

  • From the 1-credit courses a student has taken during his/her period of study, only a maximum of three 1-credit courses will be counted towards the student’s graduation requirement as free electives.
  • In a semester where a student has extra course load in addition to his/her normal course load (overload), he/she can only take one 1-credit course in addition to his/her already overloaded course load.

Where can I find up-to-date information related to Double Major, Minor and Track programs?

Please visit the related webpages:

Double Major

Minor

Track

Core Area Courses

  • Core area codes in the curricula, such as HUMS, indicate that students can choose any course with a HUMS code. However, there are some courses, such as INTL 101 or PSYC 100, whose codes do not indicate a code area but which can actually be taken as core area courses. We recommend all students to visit Core website to view the list of core courses to be offered in the current semester. The most updated list of courses is available in each student’s “My Course Planner” page in KUSIS under the relevant core area.

Current Rules Regarding Additional Exams

Rules and regulations regarding additional exam rights are available at this link.

Can current ELC students register for the summer courses offered in their academic programs?

Current ELC students can register for the summer courses offered in their academic programs, and attend the summer semester, if they are promoted to the Freshman program by the end of a given Spring semester.

(In case of failure to be promoted, students will be fully reimbursed for the Summer Semester courses for which they have registered.)

What is the minimum course load for undergraduate students?

The minimum course load ise 3 courses with a minimum of 3 credits per semester each, to be applied in Fall and Spring semesters. However, undergraduate students who are in their 8th semester will be able to pay and take courses according without a minimum course threshold, if they have fewer credits left than the normal course load defined in their curriculum. Students who are in their 8th semester and have credits equal to or more than their normal course load must take at least 3 courses of 3 credits. Students who are in the 9th and later periods of their education will be able to pay and take courses without a minimum course threshold, regardless of the remaining credit load for graduation.

If you need further help…

If you need further help during pre-registration and registration, please consult with:

  • Your Advisor: You can consult all issues regarding your academic program with your advisor. You can use KUAIS to know who your advisor is.
  • Associate Dean/Dean: When you cannot reach your advisor or for questions that you could not resolve with your advisor, you can consult with the Associate Dean or the Dean of the College you are affiliated with.
  • For any other question you may have, you can contact the Registrar’s Office, or the  VPAA office.