Admission to the IU is competitive, the university provides several ways to select outstanding students and help the candidates increase their admission chances. Since the AY 2017-2018, the IU admission has been based on candidates’ performance obtained from either of the six schemes as below:
(1) National High School Graduation Exam: based on the total score of three subjects that students have registered for their expected programmes (applied since 2018).
(2) Admission priority of VNU-HCM: excellent students from high schools designated by VNU-HCM, based on the average score of three subjects during the 10th, 11th, and 12th grades (applied since 2021).
(3) Enrollment without entrance exam: the best students based on the regulation from MOET on selection and registration, or the best students at the high schools designated by VNU-HCM (applied since 2018).
(4) Results from the Scholastic Aptitude Exam held by VNU-HCM or VNU (applied since 2019).
(5) Admission for candidates with International Baccalaureate: based on GPAs of three years and certificates such as Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT), American College Testing (ACT), International Baccalaureate (IB), Cambridge International Examinations A-Level (A-Level), ATAR – Australian Tertiary Admission Rank, ….etc. etc. (applied since 2022).
(6) Academic Records of high schools (applied for twinning programmes): based on the average score of three subjects during the 10th, 11th and 12th grades (applied since 2022).
The selection from either scheme is made by taking the candidates with the highest scores down until the corresponding quota is filled. The quota for each scheme is varied each year depending on the recruitment strategy of IU. Information about student intake policy is updated and published every year in the IU admission brochure and the IU website.
- For national students
- The national university entrance exam. The obtained scores of a candidate participating in the national university entrance exam organized by MOET are valid for admission to all universities. Based on the test results, MOET decides the minimum score for a student to be admitted to a university programme. The IU Recruitment Committee will decide the admission score for each IU programme based on the quota assigned for VNU-HCM by MOET. The scores vary each year; however, they must be higher than the minimum scores set by MOET. The potential candidates applying to each programme take the aforementioned examinations which consist of three subjects: mathematics, chemistry and physics (for block A) or mathematics, chemistry and biology (for block B) or mathematics, English and physics (for block A1).
- IU Student Admission Panel will decide on the case by case for candidates who select other schemes.
- For international students
- International students are those who do not follow the Vietnamese MOET’s standardized curriculum. The IU announces the admission process for international applicants on the IU website. The international applicants are required to attend the interviews with the Admission Committee and achieve the SAT which is equivalent to the entrance examination decided by the IU Student Admission Panel. When they pass, IU issues the decision of admission so that they can pursue the IU programme.
- Students from overseas universities can be transferred to IU programmes. The Student Admission Panel screens and interviews applicants for admission. Students from other IU departments or schools or those of the twinning programme can be transferred to another IU programme. The programmes that admit those students must have enough slots in their quotas and the number of transferred students must not exceed 10% of the quota. Their applications and potential transferred credits are examined by the Departmental Committee. The OAA and the Board of Presidents give the final approval.
- English entrance tests
- All academic programmes in the IU are taught, learned and communicated using English. An English entrance test is necessary to ensure all students who are eligible for studying at the IU are good at English can pursue IU’s education. Therefore, all students who are selected from a specific selection or passed the national entrance exam must take the English entrance test administered by IU. Depending on the results they may have to take some academic English courses to improve their proficiency before entering the regular programme.
- Admission procedure for national students
- After receiving the official admission announcement from the institution, in order to become students of IU, the applicants have to follow the enrollment steps as below:
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- Submit the required documents as in the enrollment guideline (online or offline)
- Submit the tuition fee and other fees (the tuition fee just only can be refunded in special case(s) such as enrollment for military training or sickness)
- Register for the English Entrance Placement Test
- Register for Physical training
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- Admission procedure for international students
Similar to national students, after submitting a full application package, including proofs of a high school diploma, official transcript and/or international certificates, the international students must attend an interview session with the Admission Committee to officially become IU students.
- The importance of admission requirements in promoting the achievement of the intended competence profiles
- The Entrance Exam Group for the CHE program is:
- A00 (Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry)
- A01 (Mathematics, Physics, English)
- B00 (Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology)
- D07 (Mathematics, Chemistry, English)
- The Entrance Exam Group for the CHE program is:
- Admission scholarship
In addition to the admission criteria, IU also has its own scholarship eligibility criteria for the students who got high scores in the National high school graduation examination (scheme 1), excellent candidates from high schools (scheme 2), candidates without entrance exam (scheme 3), and students with high scores from the Scholastic Aptitude Exams (scheme 4) each year. This policy is one of the factors that attract excellent and highly qualified students to the programmes at IU.