I have the second list for Europe, please see the latest post...

Assalaamu alaykum warahmatullahi wa barakaatuhu,

Some interesting news for you all.

Firstly, there is a second list of accepted students. It came out about a week ago and comprises around 120 students in total, of which I think 29 are from Europe and the US. Unfortunately, the list is not published in its entirety, and the letters haven’t yet been sent out. I can confirm that there is one British student: ‘Abdi Kareem Saaleh, and one American student: Abu Bakr Ahmad Mas’ad (excuse any spelling mistakes), who have both been accepted as part of the ‘second list’. To the best of my knowledge these two are the only two from the US and UK, but like I said, I had to fight a bit to see those names and the list was not complete, so no guarantees. Also congratulations to Buba Sulle Dicko from Cameroon, who was also accepted as part of the second list. Inshaa Allah, I’ll try to get the whole second list by the end of the week.

Secondly, To all of the accepted students from the US. It seems like you are all waiting for a letter to be sent to the embassy, detailing how many years you will be studying and your visa numbers. This information was faxed to the cultural attache on Wednesday night, so the university requests all students to contact the cultural attache and chase this up. I presume that they will forward this information to the embassy, who will then process all of the visas inshaa Allah.

Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, I just signed up to work for the university in the Dept. of Admissions. This will inshaa Allah, help all of you in two ways. Firstly, I will be able to get information and answers to your questions promptly, since I will be there for at least an hour every day inshaa Allah and develop better contacts with the people who work there. Secondly, my first task will be to revamp the section of the university website which deals with admissions. That means a new fully electronic method of submitting applications (which is already under development), an accurate English translation of the website, and the most important and most frequent questions and comments from this site will inshaa Allah be incorporated into the official site, with the responses checked and signed off by university officials.

This is a chance for all of you to give your feedback and comments.

From the top of my head, these are some things I think we need to focus upon:

  • The requirements, conditions, requested documents, and actions that are required from prospective students should be clear at all stages: before submitting documents, when you are accepted, and after you arrive. A google earth ‘map’ of the university wouldn’t be a bad idea for new students.
  • The website should contain frequently asked questions based on this blog and others, and a means to effectively communicate with the university electronically.
  • Accepted students’ names should be published on the website, even if it is that every student who applies is given a reference and has to enter the reference to find out. It would even be nice if they were informed of their acceptance by email.

Please post some comments with your ideas & suggestions, then I will collate them and present them, inshaa Allah.

Wassalaamu alaykum warahmatullahi wa barakaatuhu,

Muhammad


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