YKS requirement for those who want to study abroad

The article you are about to read this week might be a bit confusing. Because of the many changes and decisions made, and the constant stream of explanations between the day I sat down to write this and the day I submitted it, my head is spinning, and my text has become just as muddled. The subject, ladies and gentlemen, is the requirements introduced for students who will study abroad in 2024. Let's take a look at it together...

According to the amendment published in the Official Gazette on March 15, a YKS score requirement has been introduced for enrollment in higher education institutions abroad.

This decision, taken after the date when all students had already charted their paths, those who were going to study abroad had made their applications, and university applications had been submitted and registrations closed, created great panic among all students and parents, and also caused chaos in schools. Some students had not applied for the university exam to be held in Turkey because they did not need to take it.

The most important results that emerged with the changes were listed as follows:

*Students who want to study Medicine, Law, Architecture, Engineering, Teaching, Dentistry, and Pharmacy will be required to take the YKS (University Exam in Turkey) and qualify for the department they intend to study. Otherwise, it will be impossible for them to receive equivalence, and the diploma they receive from abroad will be considered invalid in Turkey. (This explanation was made after the application deadline.)

*In addition, the schools where students who will study in all fields are enrolled must be in the top 1000 in at least two ranking lists (for example, The Guardian and Times Higher Education). Otherwise, the student will not be granted equivalence, and the diploma they receive from abroad will be invalid in Turkey.

*Effective from March 15, 2024, those who plan to study abroad in programs that require a certain success ranking in Turkey according to the YKS guide after completing their secondary education in Turkey will be required to enter the ranking bracket sought for the relevant program in the central placement exam conducted by ÖSYM in the year they enroll in the program abroad. (I have included the required ranking brackets below.)

*While the document regarding this will be added to the application documents, it will be presented to the institution during the application. The equivalence applications of candidates who do not take the YKS or who take it but fail to enter the success bracket sought for the relevant program will be rejected.

While I was preparing this article, or rather trying to gather the correct information, an email from the school contained the following information:

''Dear Parent,

In accordance with the 'Regulation on Amendments to the Regulation on the Recognition and Equivalence of Higher Education Diplomas Obtained Abroad' of the Council of Higher Education, which was published in the Official Gazette dated March 15, 2024, and numbered 32490, the 2nd late application process for the 2024 Higher Education Institutions Examination (2024-YKS), which will take place on June 8-9, 2024, will end on March 28, 2024 (Today) at 23.59.”

As a result of the chaos, voices of objection were raised, and as a result, an additional right was granted and applications were reopened. But...! It didn't end there...

Today (the day I am wrapping up this article), on March 29, 2024, we learned that a press release was published on the YÖK website in the breaking news.

I am copying the statement below exactly as it is.

“An important regulation from the Council of Higher Education concerning those who want to study abroad:

“Those who graduate from universities in the top 400 in the rankings will be granted direct equivalence, and those who graduate from those in the top 1000 will not be required to take the YKS”

March 28, 2024

The Council of Higher Education has determined and published the procedures and principles to resolve the hesitations that arose in the implementation of the amendment made to the Regulation on the Recognition and Equivalence of Higher Education Diplomas Obtained Abroad, which was published in the Official Gazette on March 15, 2024, regarding the equivalence procedures of higher education diplomas obtained abroad. According to the determined procedures and principles:

“Direct equivalence for graduates from universities in the top 400 in the rankings, no obligation to take the YKS”

Those who graduate from all programs, including medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, and law programs, of higher education institutions that are in the top 400 in the three international higher education rating organizations accepted by the Council of Higher Education will be able to receive direct equivalence.

For universities in the top 1000 in the same rating organizations, equivalence applications will be made as before in all fields, including departments where a success requirement is sought, but there will be no obligation to take the YKS.

Those who graduate from medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, and law programs of universities in the top 1000 will apply for equivalence, and their applications will be examined individually according to their transcripts as before, and a decision will be made.

Those who graduate from medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, and law programs of universities not in the top 1000 are required to take the YKS and meet the success requirement.

Those who graduate from medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, and law programs of a university not in the top 1000 will take the YKS, and if they have met the success ranking requirement of the relevant program in the YKS, their equivalence applications will be accepted and an individual examination will be conducted by taking their transcripts into account.

In other words, only those who will study in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, and law departments of universities not in the top 1000 will be required to take the YKS and meet the success requirement. For other departments, there will be no obligation to take the YKS.

The regulation amendment did not introduce a restrictive regulation regarding programs for which a success ranking requirement is not sought. In equivalence applications to be made in these fields, applications will be examined individually and decided upon as before.?”

THE PROGRAMS REQUIRING A SUCCESS RANKING WERE AS FOLLOWS;

Medicine: 50,000

Dentistry: 80,000

Pharmacy: 100,000

Law: 125,000

Architecture: 250,000

Engineering: 300,000

Teaching: 300,000

The statement made today shows the following:

According to the calendar published by ÖSYM, it was announced that 3 million 36 thousand 945 people would take the YKS 2024 to be held on June 8-9 this year, and students who cannot meet the required conditions will not be able to receive equivalence.

Why put young people under such stress with only 2.5 months left until the exam?

These forced decisions, which have not yet been announced in the Official Gazette, do more harm than good to these young people.

Why did you cause such a stir among students and parents by making these changes and creating chaos with so little time left for the exam?

Crazy questions in our minds... Things that defy logic...

Opening Istanbul University to visitors, foreign student quotas in schools, the increasing number of foreign students, our education system that is gradually losing its quality... There are many more topics to talk about, aren't there?