North South University: All You Need to Know

Juairia Haque Mahi

Are you looking for an overall view of the undergraduate programmes in NSU? This article will help you with the information you should keep in mind before you confirm your enrollment at NSU.

Established as the first private university of Bangladesh in 1992, North South University is ranked 1st as a private university, and 4th as a research university among all the universities in Bangladesh. NSU ranked 301st in the Graduate Employability Ranking 2020 (published by QS).

Unlike many private university campuses which cover minimal areas, NSU owns the second largest area among private universities — located at Bashundhara, Dhaka.

The admission rate is up to 40% at NSU. Usually. There are three semesters per year in this university. NSU runs its academic programmes under four schools.

Prospects of the business school (SBE)

Four departments of the business unit inhere within NSU’s business and economic school, which are accounting and finance, management, economics, marketing and international business.

Undergraduate programmes in SBE include BBA in

Accounting
Economics
Entrepreneurship
Finance
Human Resource Management
International Business
Management
Management Information Systems
Marketing Supply Chain Management
BBA General

They also provide BS in Economics. Undergraduate programmes in these subjects are of 120-125 credits. NSU SBE was the first to obtain American accreditation in Bangladesh. Therefore, this university is, undoubtedly, a good choice for students who wish to pursue business degrees.

Prospects of the engineering and physical sciences school (SEPS)

NSU SEPS offers undergraduate programmes on Architecture,

and BS in

Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)
Computer Science & Engineering (CSE)
Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE)
Electronic and Telecom Engineering (ETE)

Architecture takes up around 170 credits in its undergraduate programme, the highest among all EPS subjects one can complete graduation on. Other subjects of SEPS take upto 130-150 credits. Maruf Hossain, an EEE graduate, shared his experience,

“Generally, one needs to do a thesis and take an internship in the last semester. Most of the practical courses were 1 credit, and the theoretical ones were 3 credits. The academic curriculum was structured in my department. I liked how they took exams regularly, like quizzes, midterms, and finals. Thus, the syllabi of final examinations weren’t too huge to complete.”

Research facilities with abundant books and resources are provided to ensure a skill-based learning atmosphere for engineering students. But the SEPS is limited to only basic engineering subjects and does not extend to a wide range of physical science or pure science subjects for undergraduate to undertake. Hence, SEPS would not meet their needs of students seeking pure and applied science subjects or engineering subjects i.e. IPE, MME, ME, or URP.

Health and life sciences school provides

BS in

Biochemistry and Biotechnology
Environmental Science & Management
Microbiology
Public Health and BPharm Professional
- BPharm professional requires around 200 credits during the undergraduate programme — the highest number of credits in the university.

The School of Humanities & Social Sciences

This school offers BA degrees in

English & modern languages
History
Philosophy
Political science
Sociology
LLB-Hons.

Enrollment requirements at NSU

Minimum requisites to apply

A minimum of GPA 3.5 both in SSC & HSC
Average grade point of 2.5 in five subjects and 2 in two subjects respectively in GCE O-levels and A-levels

Minimum requisites for various programmes

The eligibility to apply for life sciences requires a B grade in HSC and a C grade in A-levels in Biology and Chemistry.
Minimum grade requirements in Mathematics and Physics are the same for physical sciences and engineering subjects.
Application procedures follow the conventional system of enrollment i.e. form fill-up, transcript submission, submission of application fees online.

The admission process

Admission tests at NSU are held thrice a year.

Students are evaluated on the basis of

Grammatical and vocabulary skills in English
Quantitative proneness (Mathematics of O-level/SSC)
Comprehension analysis
Composition

The admission exam takes 2.5 hours. Applicants of the architectural department need to showcase their constructive drawing ability in an extra segment, with extra time provided.

Student Clubs and Forums

Instead of being fresh graduates, students who join clubs and forums and actively participate in them are more likely to have better professional and practical skills.

That is why NSU has numerous clubs that are well-functioning, and the clubs conduct various workshops and events to serve their motives . If someone is enthusiastic about joining clubs and performing extra-curricular activities, NSU provides the best opportunities to dive into multiple activities.

Some of the student clubs at NSU are: HR club, Finance club, Marketing club, International Business club, Young Economists Forum, MBA Club, Young Entrepreneurs Society, Communications Club, Diversity Club, Law and Mooting Society, Model UN Club, Earth Club, Public Health and Sciences Club, Pharmaceutical Club, Art & Photography Club, Computer and Engineering Club, and so on.

Extra-curricular clubs include: Athletics Club, Cine and Drama Club, Debate Club, Ethics Club, Sangskritkik Sangathan, and Social Services Club.

These clubs are quite active, so students can hone their skills in these fields and make progress in their careers from the interactive learning environments. Ankon Bhoumik said,

“Lots of functions and concerts take place here. If you’re into these, you will enjoy your time here.”

Tuition Fees & Financial aids

100% scholarships are offered to the top 10 performers in the admission test.
50-75% scholarships are offered to the next top 100 scorers in the admission test.
Financial aid is offered to the needy and meritorious.
Bursaries to siblings of students are also provided.
Opportunities to utlilise financial aid through student employment, student loan, tuition waiver etc are prevalent.

Excluding the provided aid, tuition fees range from 1800 USD to 3000 USD per academic year during undergraduate programmes.

Library and Other Facilities

NSU has a vast library consisting of 70,000 sq.ft., and it is the first fully automated university-library in the country, using its own library management software. The library holds around 1 lakh books, e-books, journals, and digital resources.

Raina Ahmed, an MS student, shared, “I love how huge the collection of books in the library is. The environment is mostly silent. There’s even an IT centre here where students can print upto 200 pages of their materials per semester. NSU also provides some skill-development workshops for the students, and students’ own university email addresses.”

NSU has several internationally acclaimed institutes, such as

NSU ACM Student Chapter
IEEE NSU Student Branch
- IEEE NSU SB intends to turn students’ passions into professions through workshops, field-trips, enhanced technical and technological skill development, and research facilities.
The NSU ICMA Student Chapter conducts research programmes and credentials management skills.
The Genome Research Institute of NSU is the first genomic research institute in Bangladesh.
Confucius Institute of NSU, a language institute, offers a Chinese-language learning platform.
There are institutes for environment and strategic studies, and global health.