Undergraduate Admissions Requirements & Program Leaflet

Undergraduate Admissions

Your Gateway to An Enriching Education

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW

AUD students come from many different countries and backgrounds and bring a wide range of viewpoints, special interests and talents to enrich the learning community.

Selection of students is based on an individual assessment of each applicant. During preliminary evaluation, scans or photocopies of educational documents can be submitted to make informed decisions. Final acceptance is granted once the University has received all necessary documents including official English translations of all supporting documents. Translations must be literal (i.e., word-for-word).

The University reserves the right to evaluate the authenticity of all credentials submitted for admission. Furthermore, students are reminded that omission or falsification of information constitutes sufficient reason for rejection or dismissal. This dismissal, requiring the President’s approval, may occur at any time during a student’s residence at AUD if an upon omission or falsification is discovered.

Students should be aware that all original records, letters and other documents provided to AUD as part of the admissions process will remain University property, and will not be returned even if the student drops/withdraws from the University. Physical records not collected within two years for students who do not attend will be destroyed.

Here is what we are looking for when reviewing your Application

Your High School Documents
- • A completed AUD application for admission.
- • An official attested high school/secondary school transcript covering the last three years and reflecting a good academic standard. (Required averages vary by school systems. Students should consult AUD’s Admissions Office for pertinent requirements.)
- • High School Diploma, original to be verified.
For British qualifications, the following standard applies to IGCSE/GCE: grade “C” or above. AS-level and A- level will also be considered with a minimum grade of “D”. The student shall complete the 12th Grade (Year 13). A combination of seven subjects (O/AS/A) or four subjects (AS/A) is required.

Students following the IB system, must be awarded the IB Diploma and attain a minimum score of 24 points. Higher Level courses passed with a grade 4 or above will be considered for transfer credit.

Students who complete the IB Certificate/Course, are required to earn at least 22 points for admission.
High School Certificate Attestation and Equivalency
True copy of certificates should be attested by the appropriate authority as stated below:
- • Grade 12 transcripts obtained in the U.A.E. must be attested by the U.A.E. Ministry of Education.
- • High school diplomas and grade 12 transcripts obtained abroad must be attested by:
  1. Ministry of Education of home country
  2. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of home country
  3. U.A.E. Embassy in home country
  OR
  1. Ministry of Education of home country
  2. Embassy of the country of study in the U.A.E.
  3. U.A.E. Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- • Equivalency letter is required from the U.A.E. Ministry of Education for all students.
UAE Ministry’s requirement for Business and Engineering
Effective fall 2021, the UAE Ministry of Education introduced reforms for Emirati and UAE residents enrolling in business and engineering program at all universities in the UAE. The reforms include High School Averages as well as minimum EmSAT scores. Please note, the minimum requirements for these programs are set by the UAE Ministry of Education; however, AUD requires higher scores to waive the placement exams required for admissions. Please consult with the Office of Admissions at admissions@aud.edu.

FOR BUSINESS STUDIES:
- EmSAT score of 600 in Mathematics or SAT Math score 350
- EmSAT score of 600 for Arabic Language; for international students who have studied outside the UAE, they can register for a non-credit Arabic course at AUD
- A minimum High School Average of 70% for Advanced or Elite Track or 75% for General Track
FOR ENGINEERING STUDIES:
- EmSAT score of 900 in Mathematics or SAT Math score 450
- EmSAT score of 800 in Physics or 600 on SAT Physics subject test
- EmSAT score of 600 in Arabic Language; for international students who have studied outside the UAE, they can register for a non-credit Arabic course at AUD
- A minimum High School Average of 75% for Elite Track, or, 80% for Advanced Track
Additional Requirements - If you are seeking admission to the Engineering Program
In addition to satisfying AUD’s general admissions requirements, admission to the School of Engineering is contingent upon the following requirements:
- • All applicants must have completed secondary school coursework in math (with introductory calculus), physics and one other natural science.
- • Students from the Advanced Stream or equivalent** must satisfy both of the following requirements:
  - Minimum of 80% in high school calculus
  - Minimum of 80% in high school physics
- • Students from the General Stream must satisfy all of the following:
  - Minimum of 90% average in Year 12
  - Minimum of 90% in mathematics and scientific courses (physics, chemistry, biology)
  - Pass a preparatory (developmental) course in Physics at the university (tentatively PHYS 101)
General Stream applicants who do not meet this requirement are not eligible for admission into the School of Engineering, per the UAE Ministry of Education regulations.

** Minimum grade requirements are applicable to the MOE curricula. Equivalency for other curricula (e.g., British Qualifications, French Baccalaureate, International Baccalaureate, etc.) can be obtained from the Admissions Office.

Conditional Admission – School of Engineering

Applicants who do not meet the above requirements in math, physics, or natural science may be admitted conditionally to an Engineering program for a maximum of two terms (including summer sessions). During that period, the student must satisfy the following requirement(s) in order to gain full admission to their Engineering program:
- • Applicants who did not satisfy the math requirement must take the SAT® subject test in “Math 1” and score a minimum of 550;
- • Students who did not satisfy the physics requirement must pass a preparatory course in physics (tentatively PHYS 101) with a grade of C or higher, or take the SAT® subject test in “Physics” and score a minimum of 600;
- • Students who have not completed a second natural science coursework in high school must score a “C” or higher in BIOL201 or CHEM201 in order to clear the engineering conditional admission.
Math Placement: Placement into an appropriate math course will be determined by the University-administered ACCUPLACER™ Exam. Students who have the equivalent of MATH 210 transferred from another recognized university or from advanced high school curricula (A-level, AP, etc.) will be exempted from taking this Exam.

Computer Placement: Computer proficiency will be determined by the University’s Computer Proficiency Exam prior to their first term of admission into Engineering. A student who fails the Exam will be required to enroll in and pass COMP 101 within his or her first term of admission. In such cases, COMP 101 credit will not count towards any of the School of Engineering program requirements.
Additional Requirements - If you are seeking admission to the Architecture Program
Students applying to the Architecture Program must also provide the following:
- • A portfolio to be submitted online via http://applyonline.aud.edu/arch/ consisting of three artworks of the student’s production, which may include but is not limited to paintings, drawings, photographs, models, calligraphy or animation (relevance to architecture is encouraged), along with a short paragraph commenting on each piece.
- • Photos of three buildings selected worldwide along with a short paragraph justifying the choice of each of the three buildings (100 words).
- • Students applying for the B.Arch. program are required to sit for the Math Accuplacer exam at AUD. Math readiness and placement into an appropriate math course (MATH105 or MATH205) will be determined by the university administered ACCUPLACER™ Exam.
Your Test Scores
- • English Requirements: English placement test are required for admissions. If you have taken any international/national exams (TOEFL/IELTS/EMSAT), please submit them with your application for evaluation. AUD's international code for TOEFL® is C005.
  
  American University in Dubai is an ETS TOEFL ITP® authorized testing center. To check further regarding the test details and booking, please click here
- • Math Requirements: Applicants with a SAT score of 560 will be exempt from taking the Math Accuplacer™ exam, except for Engineering students. Architecture students with the above score may register directly in MATH105 (Precalculus for architecture), those willing to register in MATH 210 (Calculus for architecture), will have to sit for the AUD Accuplacer and test out of MATH105. AUD’s international code for SAT is 2688.
Your Personal Information
- • Passport photocopy with validity page (and Ethbara page for UAE nationals)
- • Photocopy UAE Residency Visa
- • Photocopy Emirates ID (both sides)
- • Army Exemption Letter (for UAE nationals)
- • Completed Health History Form. This form must be signed and stamped by a Physician.
Financial Requirements

Non-refundable application fee of AED 420. A reservation deposit (non-refundable) of AED 5,000, which is fully applied toward tuition, is required upon acceptance for admission.

Full balance of tuition is required at least one month prior to the beginning of the term.
If you are a Transfer Student
In addition to the above requirements, students transferring into AUD should submit:
- • Official/attested transcripts reflecting courses for which transfer credit is sought (Transfer Students must be in good academic standing [i.e., with a minimum 2.0 CGPA on a 4.0 scale or equivalent] at the institution from which they are transferring. AUD may require higher than this 2.0 minimum CGPA. As this depends on the university from which the student is transferring, all transfer applicants should consult the AUD Admissions Office for the requirement pertinent to his or her institution).
- • Students transferring from US accredited universities are required to submit an official sealed transcript or and E-transcript directly to the Admissions Office.
- • Students transferring from non-US accredited universities should submit an official transcript bearing the original stamp from the Ministry of Education or equivalent in their country of attendance.
- • Confirmation of university records. Form should be e-mailed directly from the student’s university to the Admissions Office at AUD.
- • Syllabi for all courses for which transfer credit is sought (Students should be aware that they will be held responsible for enrolling in any course at AUD prior to receipt of required course descriptions.). Separately, requests for transfer credit that accompany late applications (i.e., those received two months or less prior to the original date of entry) may not be processed prior to the beginning of the semester of first enrollment.
Transfer credit is accepted by AUD solely at its discretion. In the case of courses taken five (5) or more years prior to enrollment, the “age” of such courses may be reason for refusal of transfer credit, contingent upon the assessment of the Dean, Associate Dean or Chair of the academic unit for which transfer credit is sought.

In order for AUD to consider transferring credit from an institution, this institution must be licensed or officially recognized by the Department/Ministry of Education of the country where it is in operation.