Direct Admission from High School

Criteria and Procedures

Some students, particularly those from other countries or from international school in the Kingdom where the medium of instruction is English, may seek to bypass the Preparatory Program and be placed directly into degree studies. The student’s eligibility for admission directly into degree studies is based on performance on standardized placement examination given after admission to the Preparatory Program. The application procedure for these students is as follows:

The student initially follows the same procedure as applicants for the Preparatory Program:
  • Application Form: A completed application form accompanied by a prescribed nominal application fee determined by the administration.
  • Secondary School grades: A satisfactory overall grade average on the General Secondary Education Certificate.
  • General Aptitude and abilities Test Scores: A satisfactory total score on this standardized examination.

Those admitted advance to the next phase of the process. In the late spring, the following occurs:
  • IELTS Exam: Applicants seeking direct entry must have achieved an IELTS overall score of 5.5, with minimum score of 5.0 in writing.
  • Additional Testing: As further measure of their abilities, applicants may be required to sit for and score a grade of 70% on the final exams given to Preparatory Program students in the highest level English and Math courses (PRPW 0061, PRPC 0061, and PRPM 0022). This requirement is at the direction of the PMU Admission committee.
  • College Requirement: For admission to one of the PMU colleges, students must complete the steps required of graduates of the Preparatory Program.
  • PMU Placement Tests: (SAT II subject area test in Math, Chemistry, and Physics may be substituted)
  • Interview
  • Essay
  • Assessment of Learning Skills and Maturity: During the interview, the Admission Committee and Faculty seek to determine whether or not the applicant has attained sufficient learning skills and maturity to succeed in university-level work at PMU. Those students who meet all other entrance requirement, but who lack these skills are required to sit for the second semester of the Preparatory Program, particularly the English language courses, PRPW 0051, PRPW 0061, PRPC 0051 and PRPC 0061, which emphasize research, report writing and similar advanced, university-level capabilities.

Alternatively, for students who need work on study skills or who achieve IELTS scores that are nearly sufficient to bypass the Preparatory Program, PMU may choose to institute an 8-week summer session of study skills and English courses that enables students to move into degree studies in the fall semester.