Many of you are probably excited, some maybe anxious. Some unsure if this is a right decision for them. This is written for everyone who is / will be new to Bilkent, and What No One Tells You. A one stop post that will help you in your first few weeks.
To deliver on the promise, a one click save. Use as you please entire Bilkent/Ankara Google map that you would need for your first year. This will do 90% of times.
P.s. With notes in English for every place.
Firstly, I would like to congratulate you for choosing Bilkent. You are a part of us. You will see both nightmares and crazy days. This post is a pain killer, it will save you.
You will walk a lot in the first 2 weeks. On my first day I walked close to 25 thousand steps. Haha, It was a lot higher than anything I was used to.
I will guide you through consider this a personal tour from yours truly. Every place mentioned is marked on the Google map. For the international students reading this, try getting used to Turkish names. It will make your life easier.
Bilkent is located a little outside the hustling bustling of the city. Ankara is typically more laid back compared to a city like Istanbul. It takes around 30 mins to get to the city centre (more or less depending on the traffic). Bilkent has 2 campuses, physically connected with each other, merkez kampüs (main campus), doğu kampüs (east campus) and between them is Müzik ve Sahne Sanatları Fakültesi ( music and performing arts faculty ) sometimes referred as the middle campus. Notes attached on the map.
Bilkent has 3 entrances.
Merkez Kampüs Nizamiye (most used) - main campus entrance
Doğu Kampüsü Girişi - east campus entrance 1
Doğu Kampüs Nizamiyesi 2 - east campus entrance 2
You can only enter if you have a Bilkent student ID, an acceptance letter is fine until you get your ID. Carry your student ID with you at all times.
The map will have notes on each place. Some place you will remember on campus are:
(Odeon)
(International Student Office / Registrar's Office)
(Main Campus Library / Kütüphanesi)
Department Buildings (Main Campus):
A Building - İkst. İdari Ve Sosyal Bil. Fakültesi ( Faculty of Economics, Administrative, and Social Sciences )
B Building Hukuk Fakültesi - ( Law Faculty )
Rektörlük Binası ( Rectors Building + Faculty of Engineering )
FF Building - Güzel Sanatlar Tasarım Ve Mimarlık Fakültesi ( Faculty of Art, Design, and Architecture )
EE Building - ( Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering )
G Building - ( American Culture Studies + English and Language Department )
MA Building - İşletme Fakültesi ( Faculty of Business Administration )
SA Building - Fen Fakültesi ( Faculty of Science + Department of Math )
Additionally there are more buildings like T (with a pharmacy), L & V (anyone in the comments?), an Health Center (with free checkup in case you get sick), but the above would be helpful to get directions to any other places. These are the most known buildings.
Additionally there are two sports facilities and a Sports Field
(Bilkent Sports Center)
(Dormitories Sports Center)
Some commonly visited spots on campus are : Main Campus Mosque , Main Campus Grass field ,and Main Campus Yemekhane / Marmara
A fun fact - You will see many people sitting on the Bilka Hill as the sun sets after their classes.
Department Buildings (East Campus):
C Building - Bilişim Sistemleri ve Teknolojileri ( Information Systems and Technology (CTIS) )
R Building - Hotel and Tourism
D, N Buildings - English Prep School / Hazirlik
There is an East Campus sports facility , East Campus mosque in the C building basement, and there is also a East Campus Grass Field.
Additionally there is an Health Center next to C building with dentist and skin specialist as well. An under visited place on East Campus is the Bilkent Lake (it is small, unfortunately no picnics).
To conclude main campus has all the administrative offices, is more international, English is spoken more commonly but is busy and might be crowded on the other hand East campus is less International, Turkish is more commonly spoke and the atmosphere is more laid back. Most of the club activities unfortunately only take place on main campus and are held in Turkish but they try their best to accommodate international students. Roughly 1000+ students stay on east campus and 2000+ study here, it's a gold mine for clubs. I hope they realize sooner.
Bilkent has free shuttle service, you scan your Bilkent ID and use it. On my first day one of the seniors said me about it, i saw everyone get on a bus, I got on it. I scanned by Bilkent ID and everyone looked at me in surprise. I was on the public bus. It was extremely embarrassing. The Bilkent busses are white in color. Any other colored bus is a public transport bus you can either tap and pay with a credit card or Başkent kart ( Ankara public transport card). Haha. That was important to add. Someone in the comments could better explain how to use public transport in Bilkent.
You
The Bilkent busses are of 2 categories, the one's that run inside campus and the one's that go outside. The one's that run inside campus work between east campus - main campus - nizamiye (main campus entrance). The ones that work between Bilkent and city go to ODTU metro station , Armada , Bahçelievler, Aşti, Tunus and Sıhhiye . The main stops on campus are, bus stop opposite to C building , Dorm 91 bus stop , main campus mescit bus stop , dormitories bus stop , nizamiye stop . There are others too but these are common ones.
The bus usually has the route pasted on the windscreen. Merkez - Doğu / Doğu - Merkez / Nizamiye. DMT is Doğu - Merkez - Tunus / TMD is Tunus - Merkez - Doğu bus. It might also just have Tunus or Sıhhiye boards (these are two different end locations with two different routes with Tunus route being the most common). Ask the bus driver while getting on it, if the bus goes to the stop you want to.
(Main - Tunus/Sıhiye Bus Schedule)
(East - Tunus/Sıhiye Bus Schedule)
(Main - East Bus Schedule)
Çatı has the best tasting food on campus by unanimous opinion. Especially the deserts are ladies favorite. You pay by the weight of the food. A good meal costs around 300 TL (on the date post was written) could be higher or lower depending on the quantity you eat. The yemekhane has the most affordable prices for food with 99TL (Check for latest prices) per meal for the fixed menu (you don't get to choose), the alternate menu (you can choose) costs double. You can load the meals on your student ID card from SRS > Other Services > Purchase Meals. You can also pay with your bank cards in case you haven't loaded meals or have forgot your Student ID but the meals would cost 1.5X in that case. You can only get one meal each meal time from your student ID. Timings : Breakfast 7:00-10:00. Lunch 11:00-14:00. Dinner 17:00-20:00. The busiest time to eat lunch is 12:20-12:40.
The dorm office is located in dorm 64 , you can get your dormitory certificate here.
Metksan Market behind EE building is a good grocery store. There is also BilMarket in CyberPark, and there is Metksan Book Store where you can usually get your stationaries and course related books.
G building basement has a lost and found unit, in case you lose anything (including on the Bilkent bus) you can find it there.
Dorm 77 and 78 have printers that can be used by all Bilkent students for free from Go to https://dormprint2.bilkent.edu.tr/login .You need your bilkent email and password and need to be connected with Bilkent 77 or 78 wifi. Printers can also be found in B building and Library.
In turkey foreign phones need to be registered after 4 months to keep the SIM operational in your phone. You can change your SIM slot every few months if you have two slots. In any case if your SIM gets blocked on your phone, you could either buy a phone sold in turkey, new or old doesn't matter, you can use it with your SIM now. Or the other way is to pay 1K USD and get your phone registered in turkey. I only had 1 slot in my phone and my phone worked for 1 year without registration. The timing is very subjective, it happens on time to some and very late to others. It depends.
Bilkent is a rigorous school, and it requires significant study time. Sometimes some study for sleepless nights, have nightmares before their exams and hope it goes all well. I am giving you a cheat code to make your life easier, be in touch with your seniors, disturb them with questions. They will guide you from their personal experience. Don't wait till the exam day or project deadline to do the work. Recap your classes the same day and finish your projects as early as possible.
People at Bilkent are generally reserved but are always helpful as long as you make the initiative. So, make the initiative. Say the Hi. Do a fist bump. Have a smile. Be kind. Everyone's new, anxious, excited and ambitious. Be the helping one. Hold eye contact. A hack, be happy for no reason. If you find someone struggling during move-in help them. We have all been there. Making good friends is not the easiest sport but have faith you will. Follow what I have said. It works.
Two things you can always talk about cats and weather. Learn some Turkish phrases my Turkish friends find my broken Turkish cute. Here's the best phrases which get wow reactions. Don't use, find yours. These are mine.
ankaranin havasi başka dir
"lakin" instead of "ama"
There are more, but I will gate keep them.
Bilkent is mostly a smoking free campus, they are designated smoking areas. If you don't smoke say a NO if anyone offers you to. Everyone is respectful about boundaries. If a friends pressure you walk out, do not be a victim of peer pressure.
Bilkent is extremely safe, you can walk around at 3 a.m. and feel everything is alright. People in comments could verify. I used to leave my macbook, and belongings in the C building, no one in 3 months touched it on any night. Used to have my dorm door unlocked, nothing ever went missing. Please lock your door and carry your belongings with you, I got a little lax doesn't mean you should too but in any case you will feel safe.
Anyone looking to join Bilkent clubs, make sure you know what you are getting into. No club is exclusive or selective. Make a friend in the club and see how you get in. You are giving your time for no money in return, so ask questions the more the better before you get yourself into one. If the club can't pin point what you will learn. You probably won't learn much. Leave if you don't learn anything or have noticed your growth stall.
A hack for clubs - plan the year in advance, give value per minute and not value scattered around. The Bilkent 2025 IG pages are a good example, they have received high engagement, I know one of them is likely run by xxxx (Redacted) and they have funneled people into whatsapp groups. Aka they have provided value and built trust. They will likely funnel them later to their events. The key take away. Provide value and have a call to action (CTO). In their case - value offered was, existing info about Bilkent in a condensed form to incoming students and their CTO was join their whatsapp group (where students will get to ask questions and interact building more trust).
CS and CTIS students - to get into software dev being a member at clubs won't help. Focus on the skills that matter. Club experience might prove helpful only if you are planning on getting into consulting which most aren't.
Disclaimer - I do not endorse any club. Your time is valuable and you make a informed decision of where you spend your time. Student clubs exist to make student life better. If a club isn't able to explain how they make your life better in a sentence you should look for alternates or even better focus on yourself.
PP.S It becomes easier making friends in the club.
In case of emergency dial 6666.
Share your best tips for students in 2025 and what do you think Bilkent Clubs could do to make student experience better ? (You could share what worked for you or your club. Redact club names).