In undergraduate programs, a student’s academic ranking within the program is determined according to their All-inclusive Grade Point Average (AGPA). AGPA is calculated as a weighted grade point average of all the courses the student has taken at Bilkent University, including courses that were repeated later and grades that were replaced due to final exam retakes. AGPA is equal to CGPA for students who have never repeated a course or taken a retake exam. AGPA is usually lower than CGPA for students who have repeated courses, substituted a previously taken elective course with a different one to fulfill an elective requirement, or taken a retake exam.
Continuing students are ranked within a cohort of students who have started their program within the same calendar year. After the fourth year, the older cohort is merged with the new fourth year cohort.
Graduating students are ranked within a group of students who have graduated in a given academic year, including the summer school.
The top three ranked students are cited in the graduation ceremony and on the university web site. However, these students have to satisfy the following additional conditions in order to be cited:
- AGPA should be 3.00 or greater.
- No SE grade on the transcript, unless it was replaced by another letter grade due to retake.
- No disciplinary record should be in file at graduation.
- Students who began their program in a Fall Semester should graduate within 8 semesters. Students who began their program in a Spring Semester should graduate within 9 semesters. For students who have participated in exchange programs for one or more semester, the maximum time to graduation may be 9 for Fall starters and 10 for Spring starters.
- Students who have participated in exchange programs must have obtained a passing grade in all courses taken during the exchange program.
- Graduation status finalized by the deadline set for the graduation ceremony for that academic year.
In case of a tie between two or more students, students are ranked according to the following criteria in order of precedence:
- Fewest number of W grades.
- Greatest number of A+ grades.
- AGPA calculated to a higher precision than two decimal points.
- AGPA of curriculum courses only.
- Youngest student.
The top three rankings are fixed at the time of the graduation ceremony. Remaining rankings may change at the end of the Summer School when new graduates are added to the graduating cohort. Consequently, a student graduating at the end of the Summer School cannot be in the top three ranks regardless of AGPA.