Visually impaired girl ranks first in five sections of Turkey’s national university entrance exam

Gülseven Özkan – KONYA

A visually impaired high school senior in the Central Anatolian province of Konya ranked in first place in five scores of Turkey’s undergraduate placement examination.

Fulya Akkaya received the highest score in the TM (Turkish-Math)-1, TM-2, TM-3, TS (Turkish-Social Sciences)-1 and TS-2 categories on the exam, for which the second and last round results were revealed on July 12.

Akkaya, who graduated from the Konya Meram Anatolian High School this year, aims to enroll in Galatasaray University’s Faculty of Law or Boğaziçi University’s Department of Business, both in Istanbul.

“Because I have a special interest in mathematics I did not find it difficult. My teachers and family helped me a lot and I also attended a special teaching course,” she said, adding that not a day passed without her studying in preparation for the exam. 

“I put in a great effort. I made sacrifices in my social life. I knew that beautiful days would come after the exam, so I trusted myself. I was determined and patient. Five of my girlfriends from high school all supported each other,” she said.

“I was expecting to receive a place, but not first place. I shared the [good] news with my family. They were even more delighted than me. I am also happy with my success because it made people around me happy.

 Galatasaray University’s Faculty of Law is my first choice, but if that does not happen, I would like to be placed in the Department of Business at Boğaziçi University. My dream is to become an executive and CEO at a good company,” Akkaya added.

“I have never studied saying to myself ‘I have to rank first.’ I study to improve myself, to enrich myself with knowledge. I will explore my potential,” she said. 

Beyza Gürbüz, who graduated from the Muradiye Nene Hatun Girls High School, is another notable success story from this year’s university entrance exams, receiving the highest score in Turkey in the MF (Math-Science)-1, MF-2, MF-3, and MF-4 categories. 

Gürbüz also gave a correct answer to all questions in the LYS-1 exam on science and the LYS-2 exam on mathematics which took place last month. 

She is also reported to have ranked second in the first leg of the national exam, YGS, which took place in March and which evaluates students’ knowledge in a number of fields including Turkish language, history, geography, philosophy, religion, mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology. 

Gürbüz told reporters that she was happy about her results, stressing that hard study forms the basis of her success. 

Turkey’s national exam to secure a university place consists of two rounds. The first leg took place on March 12, with more than 2.2 million students across the country taking it. Only those who scored over 180 were then able to apply to the second round, the LYS exams, which took place on June 18.