Note: Some of the questions are related to the National University Entrance Exam system in Türkiye 

• How many faculty members and assistants are in your department?

We have 46 full-time faculty members, we also have part-time faculty members every semester, some retired professors, some experienced professionals from the sector. We have 41 assistants.

• How many students does METU Civil Engineering take each year?

The number is determined by Council of Higher Education (CoHE) (YÖK in Turkish), there is a quota of 160 (plus 5 high school students).

• What was the last student accepted by your department in the university placements?

The last placed student's success ranking for 2019 was 40,603, for 2020 it was 43,551, for 2021 it was 51,406, for 2022 it was 49,564, and for 2023 it was 42,219. While this situation is thought to stem from occasional temporary difficulties experienced in the sector, the ranking did not fall below 15,000 until the year 2016. The construction sector can experience ups and downs from time to time, but these are temporary; the construction sector is never a dying industry or one that closes its doors.

• Is Civil Engineering a difficult department to study?

Civil Engineering courses are mainly based on math and physics (mechanics) principles. In the first year, as in all engineering departments of METU, basic courses such as Mathematics 1-2 (Calculus), Physics 1-2, Chemistry are taken. In the second year, some basic engineering courses such as statics, strength, fluid mechanics, statistics, engineering mathematics are also included. From the third year on, courses are taken from research areas specific to civil engineering, which constitute sub-areas of civil engineering, such as Structural Analysis, Reinforced Concrete, Steel Structures, Materials, Transportation Engineering, Soil Mechanics, Hydrodynamics, Water Resources, Construction Management. In addition, the education provided in our department is either equivalent to or more difficult than the civil engineering undergraduate education given at universities abroad (in Europe, America). However, it is possible to be successful with proper and disciplined work. If you become "irregular (irregular in terms of curriculum) student" when you leave the lessons, your school is likely to be extended, because each lesson is not opened every semester, and / or it is necessary to pass a sub-class course that will provide background information for that lesson. However, we also have students who are able to take their classes "regularly" successfully, take student communities or other art-social activities together, and briefly plan their time well.

• Are the classes really instructed in English in the classrooms? If so, does studying in English make it a more difficult issue?

Yes, certainly, the whole lessons, homework, exams, textbooks and presentations etc.  are in English at METU. If you attend an English preparatory class in your first year at METU, there is an intensive English education for 1 year, after that, you get used to using English in lessons (even if it is difficult at first). In addition, METU's English Preparatory program is known to provide a very high quality, solid English education.

• Is there any free time left for social activities while studying in Department of Civil Engineering at METU?

It depends on your own schedule. Among our students, there are students who work intensively in the student societies at METU, or spend a lot of time for social activities outside of the school, but at the same time take the lessons successfully. It's about planning yourself well, and learning good time management.

• Are there any student societies at Department of Civil Engineering at METU? Are there any opportunities where we can develop leadership skills?

Yes, there are 2 student societies in our department, which are Construction Community and International Civil Eng. Students Community (IACES). Both of them have events, they can take part in the board of directors, our students have activities such as organizing technical trips, career days, seminars, community magazines, and our students take part in all these. They find the opportunity to improve their communication and leadership skills.

• How long can graduates find jobs?

According to the studies carried out by our university, METU graduates can find a job within an average of 2.5 - 6 months after graduation. Of course, sometimes our graduates do not like the job they find and want to wait and seek a little more. For example, our graduate, who wants to work in Ankara, may not want the job s/he found in another province if he has that in mind.

• What kind of jobs do graduates work?

Our graduates mostly practice their profession. However, the education you have received here also allows you to work on interdisciplinary issues. When we look at Linkedin data (https://www.linkedin.com/school/orta-do%C4%9Fu-teknik-%C3%BCniversitesi/people/?keywords=insaat), we can say that they took part in various jobs such as 1800 of our 7367 graduates were in engineering, 1150 were in business development, 1000 construction site operations, 720 project management, 600 training, 550 information technology, 500 sales, 250 finance and 10 other positions. There are also employees in many different sectors, banking, finance, computer game development, software, sales-marketing, etc.

• When we graduate from the department, do we only work in building construction as structural engineers?

Civil engineering is an engineering that trains important personnel for a very large sector that undertakes the construction of many infrastructure projects, except for residential and office buildings. There are 7 different departments within Civil Engineering: These are Structure Engineering, Soil Mechanics, Construction Materials, Hydraulics, Water Resources, Coastal and Harbor Engineering, Management, and Transportation Engineering. Civil engineers are the locomotive employees of sectors such as housing, transportation, energy and infrastructure. In addition to building projects, investments such as dams, power plants and the establishment of energy transmission lines, transportation investments such as highways / bridges / tunnels / railways, airports, stream improvement, water transfer and waste water line designs, port constructions, ground improvements, and the cost of these investments Civil engineers are at the forefront as indispensable employees in many areas such as, controlling the execution according to the plan, ensuring that the construction sites work as desired, and developing the materials to be used in these projects. In addition, there are some of our graduates who are very successful by turning to different sectors.

• How much salary do graduates usually start with?

There is no clear answer to this question, as free market conditions and whether the job is at home or abroad determines the entry salary. We have seen our graduates continue their studies that METU graduates hired people can enter easily the leading companies in Türkiye and in a very good position to gain experience in a short time after taking a good salary. Especially if you look at the alternative of going abroad, as many of our graduates do, you will not have any problems with salary.

• Does the department arrange internships for students or does the student meet with companies for their own internship?

There is a construction site internship in the summer of the 2^nd year and an office internship in the summer of the 3^rd year. It is important that students experience both. Some students realize that they love to work on the construction site after their internship. S/he can realize that s/he loves to see a building rise step by step from beginning to end, to develop practical solutions to the problems that may arise on the construction site in daily life, planning, managing people and resources, etc. Some students says that "the construction site is not for me, I prefer to be at the desk, I will be in the project-calculation-design part of the job". Some people like the education-research part more and prefer to be academicians. Students apply to the companies they will do their internship with. Our department professors try to help students who cannot find an internship place.

• Are there any scholarship opportunities?

In our department, a scholarship fund has been created by the civil Engineering Scholarship Committee for students whose conditions are not suitable and many students are given scholarships according to applications. Unlike other years, this year, 1500 TL scholarship will be given to 2 students who are in the top 5000 in the university ranking and 1000 TL per month to 1 student who is in the first 7000. You can check the scholarship website: http://ce.metu.edu.tr/en/scholarship 

• What are the numbers of men and women in the department?

The distribution of civil engineering undergraduate students is approximately 13-15% female (although it has changed over the years, at this level). In other words, there are 27 female students among 180 students. (Generally we are divided into 4 groups while taking the lessons, there are approximately 5-7 girls in each group). Women are also very successful in this sector. To give an example, the person who is the site manager (responsible for everything, controlling everything) of Esenboğa Airport in Ankara was a female engineer. We have many successful women engineers, managers and female graduates who have established companies like this one, who have been working in the sector for many years.

• Is this department a department that female students can study?

Of course, our department is a section that women can rstudy and be very successful in business life. We have many female civil engineer graduates in the project offices and construction sites, to cite just as an example, we have female graduates working in companies such as Yüksel Project, Prota, TAV, Rönesans, GAMA, TEKFEN, or who have established their own companies. In addition, 30% of your faculty staff and 25% of our research assistant staff are female civil engineers. The fact that all of our female faculty members are very successful in their fields can be regarded as an indication that there is no limit to the success of women in civil engineering as in every profession. Raising these percentages higher will easily be achieved with young minds like you, who are willing to take this profession.

• Where do large construction and contracting companies get tenders abroad?

Since 1972, Turkish contractors have undertaken more than 10 thousand projects worth US $ 401 billion in 126 countries. The world successful contractor in ENR's list of the 250 largest international contractors include 44 companies from Türkiye. Türkiye is the 2^nd country with 44 firms have put most companies in this list after China. In 2019, Turkish companies worked on 475 projects worth $ 19.2 billion in 60 countries. The top 10 countries with the highest number of jobs for 2019 are Russia, Qatar, Iraq, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan and Hungary.

• Until graduation, which foreign languages ​​would be beneficial for us to learn besides English?

If you are planning to work in the private sector, it is very important to know where large construction and contracting companies often get jobs and tenders. Since the tenders that Turkish construction companies have taken abroad are mostly Russian Federation, Middle East Countries, Arab Countries and Far-Middle East Turkish states, it will be useful to learn Russian and Arabic if you are going to work in these companies.

• What is the Erasmus program?

Erasmus program grants students to study at partner schools in Europe for 1 semester. Erasmus enables our students to live abroad on their own, to develop language, to see different cultures and university-education systems. All of our students who went to and returned to the Erasmus program say that they are very pleased with their departure and they recommend it to everyone. They say they make friends from different countries and cultures.

• Which schools can be attended with Erasmus?

On our department web page ce.metu.edu.tr, under Education >> Education menu  >> there is detailed information about Erasmus: http://ce.metu.edu.tr/en/erasmusexchange

The European countries that our students visit frequently are stated here: Germany, Denmark, Poland, Spain, England, Scotland, Greece, etc. There is also an Exchange program, that program does not give grants, the student can study in countries such as America, Canada and Japan by covering their own living expenses. We had students studying as exchange students at Berkeley of California which is one of the best civil engineering departments in America with this exchange program recently, and we had students studying at Canada University of Alberta, Singapore, Japan and Australia for one semester each.

• What is ABET accreditation and what does it do?

METU Department of Civil Engineering is an ABET certified department. This certification, which shows that the undergraduate program at METU in Engineering and Technology education provides an education equivalent to accredited institutions in the USA, is asked by both government and private companies in the USA. http://ce.metu.edu.tr/en/abet

• Are experiments done in laboratories in undergraduate courses?

In most of the 2^nd and 3^rd year lessons, experiments are done in the laboratory. However, these experiments are carried out by the lecturers by dividing the students into groups, and the students help the assistants in the experiments. You will be able to conduct your own experiments in the laboratory only for postgraduate studies on your own. Seven separate department serving the building is one of the largest departments of METU campus with research and classroom space around 12,000 m², (also the largest civil engineering department in Türkiye). METU Department of Civil Engineering has 7 laboratories (Hydromechanics, Coastal and Marine Sciences, Water Resources, Transportation, Building Materials, Building Mechanics and Soil Mechanics) where experiments on contemporary civil engineering research topics can be conducted.

• In which fundamental courses do we need to be successful in order to understand civil engineering courses?

Physics and mathematics can be said as the two most important courses for civil engineering undergraduate education.

• What lessons are taken?

In the first year, as in all engineering departments at METU, basic Mathematics courses (Calculus 1, 2), Physics 1, 2, Chemistry 1, Drawing (using a software called Autocad), and Geology courses are taken. In the second year, basic courses such as Static, Dynamics, Strength of Materials, Fluid Mechanics, Materials, which are the basis of civil engineering, are taken. In the third grade, departmental courses related to each department are taken. For example, from the field of Structural Engineering, Reinforced Concrete and Structural Analysis; or, from the soil mechanics area, basic engineering courses on soil mechanics and design of foundations of buildings are taken. In the 4^th grade, a design course (also called a graduation project in other universities) is taken. In this design course, students design a construction project from start to finish in groups. The remaining courses of the 4^th grade include elective courses from each branch. The courses are also written on the department brochure.

• What do we need to do to be academic staff (research assistant, faculty member) in civil engineering department?

We can say that the most important criterion is keeping the GPA high during undergraduate education. In this way, you will be one step ahead in graduate and doctoral applications. Recruitment of research assistants in our department is done transparently and through an examination. Factors such as GPA, department exam and ALES score are evaluated together and recruitment is made to the research assistant staff, which is the first stage of the academic staff. However, personal factors such as being open to learning new things and liking to research can be listed among the indispensable features of being successful in academia. If you want, you can do a research study with a faculty member during undergraduate education. If so, there is a program called CE STAR in our department: http://star.ce.metu.edu.tr/

• Can undergraduate students conduct research with their faculty members in the department?

Yes, of course, research at METU Civil Engineering starts with undergraduate education! Our students can work in a research subject-project under the leadership of faculty members in the department within the scope of a program called CE-STAR. Our undergraduate students, who took part in research in 2019, prepared 7 conference papers and 1 journal article together with their faculty members. At the end of each year, students who have participated in such research present their work with a poster and an oral presentation and are given participation certificates. One of the most prominent features of our department is that it raises questioning-curious-researcher individuals. Starting from the undergraduate level, we encourage our students to learn scientific methods, produce research outputs, and develop the researcher aspects of our students.

• Are there minor and double major options?

You can reach the list of departments that can be double major and minor at https://oidb.metu.edu.tr/en/double-major-and-minor-programs. There are people who studied at METU Department of Civil Engineering and did a minor (Business, Economics, Industrial Engineering) and double major (Statistics, Urban and Regional Planning, Mathematics, Geological Eng.) in recent years. 

• Do you recommend a minor - double major? If so, with which department would you recommend a minor - double major?

In fact, in many respects, keeping your cumulative GPA as high as possible in the department may be more advantageous than doing a double major and minor. However, if you have a special interest, you can do it in that area. When you complete a minor, you get a certificate, and when you complete a double major, you have a second undergraduate diploma.

In the double major, the two departments do not end in 4 years together in general. For example, the graduate of the civil engineering department graduated in 4 years does not have any time to take the necessary courses from the other department because the courses coincide, so s/he finishes the second part by studying for an additional 2 years. Those, who do a minor can finish the civil engineering department in 4 years, can also finish the minor department, or they can finish the minor branch by studying an additional semester.

• Where is METU Department of Civil Engineering in the world rankings?

According to the ranking of world universities science fields based on UK-based Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) organization to 2020 results, the ranking of METU Department of Civil Engineering is between 100 and 150. (https://twitter.com/ODTUInsaat/status/1285553578178945025?s=20)

• Compared with other civil engineering department in Türkiye, why we will prefer the Civil Engineering Department of METU?

The first important issue is the fact that the language of education is English as training in English in such an international sector greatly increases the opportunities to find a job (check job postings, written and spoken English command is now a must). We are the one of only two universities from Türkiye who is in the Top 150 list of Universal QS ranking first in the first 101-150 band in the world.

Some universities may not have every department (structure, soil, materials, hydraulics, water resources, transportation, coastal-port, etc.) or only 1 faculty member in a department. METU Civil Engineering has 7 departments and there are many faculty members in each (For example, just Soil Mechanics our department has 7 faculty members.). Each department has a staff of faculty members, all of whom have either doctorate degrees from abroad or have been abroad after doctorate (https://twitter.com/ODTUInsaat/status/1288716705460637702 p = 20). 

Due to a large number of faculty members of each of the various areas of specialization and elective courses or research in the field-he gave it, our department able to take elective courses in the number and variety so not in any university in Türkiye. This not only provides you with a well-equipped education, but also becomes your gateway to abroad due to the international connections of our faculty members.

In addition, we have extensive laboratory infrastructure and computer laboratories spread over 7 buildings. In many universities in Türkiye, students cannot see experiments in the laboratory or there may be not a computer application course. In our lessons, there are practical experiments and assignments to be done with software. Also, METU Civil Engineering Department which is respected both in Türkiye and in the world is an established civil engineering department.

• What percentage of your graduates go to study abroad after completing their undergraduate education?

On average, around 10% of graduates continue their studies abroad. For example, we can say that it is the most successful 20 of 200 graduates annually.

• Which companies do your graduates work for?

Although it is not possible to count all the companies for now, I can list the construction companies as Renaissance, Yüksel project, Tekfen, Yapı Merkezi, Tav, Enka, Gama, Limak, Kolin. In addition to them, the employees of TÜPRAŞ from the energy sector, employees of TUSAŞ, Aselsan, Roketsan from the defense industry and employees of Tübitak from the scientific research organizations can be given as examples. (https://twitter.com/ODTUInsaat/status/1288012394975854593?s=20)

• In which countries are your graduates?

Our graduates work in both private sector and academia in many countries such as Australia, Netherlands, United States, Germany, Norway, Finland, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Russia and Turkmenistan. (https://twitter.com/ODTUInsaat/status/1290189011894427650?s=20)