BITS Pilani offers a wide variety of academic flexibilities to its students. These flexibilities include, but are not limited to, admissions in both semesters, admission with marginal deficiency, admission with advanced standing, transfer, dual degree assignment, admission to a minor programme, auditing of courses, and summer term offerings. These flexibilities need an administrative decision either through an admission process and/or a registration process.
It is to be clarified that any transfer or dual degree assignment will be treated as an admission process.
Admission in Both Semesters: The Institute has a unique feature which allows students to be admitted in both the semesters. However, this admission depends upon the availability of seats and facilities. While most students are admitted in the first semester, it may be possible to accommodate a small number of students in the second semester as well. However, the provision is not guaranteed.
Summer Term: During summer terms, the Institute’s primary focus is to conduct specific courses and internships through the Practice School (PS) programme, which requires engaging teachers for summer duties. A limited set of courses are offered for the students who are seeking either an early graduation or the completion of courses that they normally wouldn’t be able to fit into their even/odd semester schedules. Due to the strain on resources, it is expected of the students to make effective use of opting for a summer term.
Dual Degree Scheme: The regulations of the Institute allow interested students to simultaneously pursue two degrees, while making sure that structural alignment is maintained between both the programmes. The dual degree programme combines the courses falling under the General Institutional Requirements, Compulsory Discipline Courses (CDC) for both degrees, Humanity Electives (HuEl), and Disciplinary Electives (DEl) for both disciplines. Completing the entire composite programme is necessary to fulfil graduation requirements of both degrees. Transfer between disciplines is allowed, but the first degree cannot be dropped. Attaining various types of dual degrees is possible through merit-based selection relying on CGPA obtained after the first year of academics, with the most popular choice being a combination of a Bachelor of Engineering (B.E.) degree and a Master of Science (MSc) degree. Most students pursuing a Master of Science (MSc) degree are allotted a Bachelor of Engineering (B.E.) degree based on their preferences and CGPA at the beginning of their sophomore year.
Advanced Standing: When a candidate applying for any of the programmes offered by the Institute arrives with qualifications surpassing the minimal admission prerequisites for that specific programme, the admission of the candidate is handled under “admission with advanced standing”. Their prior academic record is evaluated against the requirements of the programme, and they are then placed in nominal semesters containing their backlog courses. The students admitted under this programme are awarded a CGPA based solely on the grades that they receive in the courses prescribed by the Institute.
Marginal Deficiency: When a meritorious candidate seeking admission into the Higher Degree (HD) programme is deficient in terms of prerequisite courses essential for admission, they may still be admitted, albeit with a backlog. The Dean, AGSRD, may require the student to take up additional courses. Hence, the students’ CGPA is determined on the basis of all the courses prescribed in the programme and the additional courses the student is required to take.
Audit: The Institute provides an option that allows students to take up courses for the sole purpose of gaining knowledge. These students are mostly those who are not enrolled in any degree within the institute, and they are not awarded credits or a degree on completing the courses that they choose to audit. However, some courses, such as Practice School-I and Thesis, cannot be audited. Certain courses like Foreign Languages and Music are neither a part of a formal degree programme nor are available through elective courses. Students interested in pursuing these courses can enrol in them on an audit basis.
Minor Programmes: Minor programmes are offered in certain areas as options for first degree students. These allow students to pursue a field or a sub-field of interest. Students can choose from a variety of minors including Finance, Data Science, English Studies, Entrepreneurship, and many more.
A student can be admitted to at most one minor programme and can apply for one at the end of their second year. It is important to note that some minors may exclude students from certain programmes from applying for it. Minors may also have additional restrictions and can require students to have a minimum CGPA or a minimum grade in specific courses.
A minor programme has a minimum number of units required to complete that minor. Each minor programme also has mandatory or core courses that students are required to take and a pool of electives from which a student may select courses of their own choice. A student can use a maximum of one project or seminar type course to meet the elective requirements of their minor. Additionally, a maximum of two courses can overlap between the student’s major and their minor. There is no restriction of overlap of courses between the electives a student has chosen and their minor.
A minor certificate will be issued only on completion of the student’s degree or major.
Transfer: Students can transfer from one programme to another within the same tier. Apart from this, students can also transfer from First Degree to Higher Degree or Ph.D. Degree programmes. The option to transfer is usually provided at the beginning of a semester and is assigned on a competitive basis. When a student applies for transfer, their entire academic record is looked at to determine which additional courses they are required to take after the transfer. If a student has already cleared certain courses which are required for the new programme, then the grade acquired in those courses is transferred to the student’s new degree. Additionally, a student’s entire scholastic record including CGPA is carried over to their new degree. If a student is not able to handle the course they have transferred to, the Academic Counselling Board (ACB) may recommend the student to transfer to another suitable programme.
Additionally, in special situations, a transfer between Ph.D. and higher degree programmes may be allowed as well.