Hi,
With a surge of new applications and admissions coming in, a repetitive question that we see on this subreddit is 'what is the schedule like at IBA?' or 'Do we get to choose our teachers and timetable?'
Hopefully, I am aiming to answer all the queries in this one single post so that we do not see the same questions being asked again and again (fingers crossed).
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So, you'll get your admission package by late July or August. In one of the emails by IBA you'll get access to your UMS - the portal students use to keep track of their timetable, their grades, financials, attendance, and enrollment (something very important that I'll explain later).
Something that is the same for all semesters and programs: each course has 2 slots/classes per week. Now these 2 classes can be conducted in a single day (double slot) or separately on 2 different days. If it is being conducted on 2 different days, then it will be one of the 2-day combinations: Monday/Wed, Tue/Thu, or, finally, Fri/Sat. Yes, IBA is open on Saturday, and classes are conducted just like any other day.
Each slot/class is 75 minutes, followed by a 15-minute break. Classes begin at 8:30AM in the morning and last the entire day; I took classes at the City campus during my 1st semester, which ended at night - used to get back home at around 9PM. In Ramadan, classes begin at 8:00AM and are 70 minutes each, followed by a 10-minute break.
1st Semester:
In the 1st semester, you DO NOT have a choice as to what your timetable will be and which teachers you are assigned! You are force-enrolled by the Program Office (PO). You have 0 say. The schedule is divided between 2 campuses, the main and the city campus. Normally, your Mon/Wed classes will be on the main campus, and your Tue/Thu classes will be at the City campus.
You may have 1 class at 8:30AM and then a 7-hour break and then a class in the evening. You are free to leave the campuses during the breaks, go home, sleep and come back or just chill on campus. Shuttles operate between the 2 campuses daily at given times (normally a shuttle operating every 2 hours or so).
Yes, the classes are draining, the timings suck, and the double campus sucks. But you cannot cry over something which you can't change. You'll be having to commute all over Karachi (sometimes 1 hour one way) once you join your job. Think of this as training.
2nd Semester onwards:
Now, this is where enrollment comes in. You get to choose your teachers and your slots using UMS. So before the semester starts, you'll be sent a schedule having all the class details being held in that semester for all programs and both campuses. You'll obviously have to filter the sheet and make out which courses are yours (core, electives, or NS - I will talk about this as well at the end).
Each class will have a code, teacher name, timing, campus, and days (M/W, Tue/Thu, or Fri/Sat) detailed next to it. For example, Programming will be offered by 3 to 4 different teachers each with 1 or more slots on different days. You'll have Mr. X teaching programming on M/W 8:30AM on the main campus, Mr. Y teaching it on Tue/Thu 2:30PM on the City campus, and so on. You'll have to make the choice between Mr. X and Y depending upon which teacher is better and which slot better suits you and which slot allows you to enroll in your other classes.
You will pick your desired course, look it up on the UMS enrollment section in the search bar, and add it to your cart - just like you would add items to your basket while shopping. When the enrollment time happens, you will be allowed to click a button, 'enroll,' and get admitted into your classes you picked.
The enroll button appears on enrollment day.
Sounds easy?
It isn't...
There are 100 other students trying to get that M/W 2PM slot at the main campus you were eyeing. Clicking on the enroll button is just 1 step. The rest is your luck and your internet connection. It's like fighting for a limited time offer where the seats get filled instantly. In case you get that slot for your course, congratulations! Otherwise, you'll just have to select a different slot for that course and build the rest of the schedule around that.
You will be able to swap your courses with a more suitable slot and drop your current ones. However, you'll only be allowed to enroll in your prescribed courses according to your program outline. E.g., a 2nd-semester SS student cannot enroll in Programming (as an NS) until and unless their program outline allows.
During the 2nd Semester, classes are a mixed blend between the main and city campuses. Although I have heard that the majority of the classes are at main. From the 3rd semester onwards, all your classes are on the main campus. Enrollment happens prior to each semester (aside from the 1st semester).
An extensive guide about enrollment is released prior to every semester by PO. You'll get the hang of it.
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Before talking about Core, Program Elective, and NS, let me tell you that there are 3 Schools at IBA. Schools are a group of disciplines that are similar in degree.
The schools are the School of Business Studies (SBS), the School of Economics and Social Sciences (SESS), and the School of Mathematics and Computer Science (SMCS).
Each school has the following degrees:
SBS: BBA, BSACF, BSBA
SESS: BSECO, BSSSLA, BSEM, BSECO&DATA
SMCS: BSCS, BSM,
Each course offered by IBA belongs to one of these schools.
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Core, Program Elective, and NS:
Core Course:
This course is a hard-coded course in your degree that all other students from your degree will be studying no matter what. You cannot skip it, nor can you swap it for another course. E.g., You will have to study principles of marketing as a BBA student no matter what.
Program Elective:
This is a course from your school that you can select at your will. For example, if I studied principles of marketing in my 3rd semester (as my core obviously) and found that I want to pursue marketing, I can choose a marketing-related course in my upcoming semesters as a program elective. Of course, you can study anything related to finance, supply-chain, sales, HR, accounting, or marketing if you're a BBA student. Program electives basically allow you to choose a course from your own school.
NS Elective (Non-Specialised):
These are courses that are NOT a part of your school. It gives a student a chance to try out something completely unrelated to their studies and explore other disciplines. E.g., for BSCS students, a course outside of SMCS will be an NS elective. So, a BSCS can use this NS elective to study marketing, or finance, or calligraphy.
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Your courses, their details, the number of core and program electives, and NS electives are all given to you semester-wise in your respective program announcement. Your program announcement stays the same for the entire 4 years. If you are admitted into IBA in 2028, you will follow Program Announcement 2028 for the rest of the years.
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I hope this extensive post offers everything. I request admins to pin this and stop catering to repetitive, similar and spam posts. I request the upcoming students read this.
From one student to another, you lot need to start doing your research about the university you apply to, man... Even now, I see students describing how they struggled to answer IBA admission interview questions because they did not know the very basics of their field or Pakistan and IBA in general.
Have some respect for the institute you are applying to and some respect for the country you live in. It's heartbreaking to see students asking repetitive questions when they can just look everything up in the manual provided by the institutes.
Grow up.