Roughly 2,560,649 candidates applied to the 2025 YKS, and 1,721,052 of them sat the Field Proficiency Test (AYT) that produces the SAY score type. Somewhere inside that crowd sits the 100,000 SAY ranking — long past the reach of medicine or the most competitive computer engineering seats, yet still parked in the middle of a genuinely large preference pool. The exam is over, the results are out, and one question remains for anyone holding this number: which doors are actually open, and which have already closed? The answer is less uniform than most guidance articles suggest. The sections below walk through what a 100,000 SAY ranking realistically buys in engineering, health sciences and teaching ahead of the 2026 preference period.
Table of Contents
- Where Does a 100,000 SAY Ranking Actually Fall?
- Which Engineering Programs Open Up?
- The Health Sciences Cutoff Sits Right Here
- Teaching Programs and Pure Science Options
- State or Foundation? What the Scholarship Tiers Change
- What to Watch in the 2026 Preference Calendar
- Frequently Asked Questions
Where Does a 100,000 SAY Ranking Actually Fall?
Education platform Eğitim.net.tr describes the 100,000-to-150,000 band as the point where a candidate moves "completely away from the medicine and health thresholds" — a blunt way of putting it, but an accurate one. Medicine, dentistry and the most sought-after computer engineering quotas are no longer on the table. What replaces them is a genuinely large set of options: established programs at long-running state universities, and heavily discounted seats at well-regarded foundation universities.
OkulSeçim's historical placement data shows more than a hundred distinct programs admitting their entire quota from within the narrow 90,000-to-100,000 window alone. That single number, in other words, does not point to one type of outcome. It can mean a scholarship engineering seat at a foundation university in a major city one year, and a health sciences program at an Anatolian state university the next — both landing on the same ranking.
Which Engineering Programs Open Up?
For candidates between roughly 90,000 and 100,000, Artificial Intelligence Engineering, Software Engineering, Cybersecurity Engineering, Computer Engineering and Speech and Language Therapy tend to lead the list. Computer Engineering's 2025 base-score range ran from 305.03 up to 547.69 points. That 240-point spread is the whole story in miniature: it is the distance between a seat at a state university and the most in-demand foundation university offering the identical degree title. Artificial Intelligence Engineering traced a similar band, from about 303 to 543 points.
Widen the ranking to 100,000–150,000 and the list grows considerably. Electrical-Electronics Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Architecture and Interior Architecture all enter the picture, largely because state universities outside the biggest cities have opened new engineering faculties in recent years with quotas that reach exactly this far down the ranking. Accreditation is worth checking here rather than assuming: engineering programs carrying MÜDEK accreditation, Turkey's engineering education accreditation board, tend to hold their value regardless of which city they sit in.
The Health Sciences Cutoff Sits Right Here
Pharmacy works differently from almost every other program on this list. Falling within the first 100,000 in the SAY score type is not a competitive advantage there — it is an official eligibility rule. A candidate outside that line cannot list pharmacy as a preference at all, which means a handful of ranking places can decide whether the option exists in the first place. At an established faculty such as Hacettepe University's, the actual cutoff closes far earlier, somewhere near 35,000, so a candidate near 100,000 needs to look at less central cities rather than the best-known names.
Nursing tells a completely different story. In the 2025 placement round, the strongest nursing program closed at a success ranking of 62,538, and the weakest at 1,163,224. That spread covers everything from elite foundation university programs to small state faculties, and a 100,000 ranking sits comfortably in the upper-middle tier of that range at most state institutions.
Veterinary medicine, by contrast, is far more forgiving. One of the most accessible state faculties, Necmettin Erbakan University in Konya, filled its last seat at a success ranking of approximately 807,725. A candidate holding a ranking as strong as 100,000 is nowhere near that threshold and can realistically target far more selective veterinary faculties instead.
Teaching Programs and Pure Science Options
SAY-based teaching programs rarely get top billing in ranking guides, yet they occupy a solid share of this band. Elementary Mathematics Teaching, Physics Teaching, Chemistry Teaching and Biology Teaching are all open at numerous state universities within the 100,000–150,000 range. Graduates are not limited to classrooms: the KPSS exam offers a route into public-sector teaching posts, while the same degree also opens private-sector and tutoring paths, which makes these programs a deliberate first choice for some candidates rather than a fallback.
Straight science degrees deserve equal attention. Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Mathematics bachelor's programs, particularly at state universities with an active research output, are realistically within reach around a 100,000 ranking, and they lead toward postgraduate study or laboratory-based careers that a teaching certificate alone does not.
State or Foundation? What the Scholarship Tiers Change
Most foundation universities structure their quotas across several scholarship tiers — a Full Scholarship covering the entire tuition fee, then descending bands typically set at 75%, 50% and 25%. As the scholarship percentage rises, the ranking required to claim that seat drops. A program that is fully tuition-paying at one foundation university can appear at 50% or higher at another, for candidates holding the exact same 100,000 ranking. TOBB ETÜ's own scholarship structure, built around Full, 75%, 50% and 25% tuition scholarships, is a useful illustration of how these tiers work in practice, and the engineering-focused university has continued reserving quotas within this ranking band for the 2025-2026 academic year.
The choice between a state seat and a discounted foundation seat should not rest on the scholarship rate alone. Accreditation status and the strength of a program's internship network matter just as much, particularly in engineering, where employers increasingly look for MÜDEK-accredited degrees regardless of whether the university is public or foundation-run.
What to Watch in the 2026 Preference Calendar
According to the calendar published by ÖSYM, 2026 preferences will run from July 29 to August 10, 2026, submitted through the ÖSYM Candidate Transactions System. That two-week window is enough to give a preference list — built on the previous year's ranking data — one last, careful review, but it is not generous; quota sizes and score-type rules shift for a handful of programs almost every year.
A second opportunity follows the main placement: additional placement, which reopens seats left empty by candidates who never registered. For a candidate sitting close to 100,000, tracking this second window after missing a first-round program is rarely a wasted step. Cross-checking figures against YÖK's official data through YÖK Atlas, alongside the current ÖSYM guide, remains the most reliable way to confirm that last year's numbers will not repeat exactly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a 100,000 SAY ranking get you into a medical school?
No. In the 2025-2026 placement data, even the lowest-scoring state medical faculty closed at a success ranking of roughly 49,621, well ahead of the 100,000 mark. A candidate aiming for medicine needs a ranking far above this band.
Is a 100,000 SAY ranking enough for pharmacy?
It sits right at the legal edge. Being within the first 100,000 in the SAY score type is an official prerequisite for listing pharmacy at all, so candidates near that line have to be careful with university and city choice. A program like Hacettepe's closes far earlier, around 35,000.
Which engineering departments open up at a 100,000 SAY ranking?
Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, Artificial Intelligence Engineering, Electrical-Electronics Engineering, Industrial Engineering and Mechanical Engineering all appear on preference lists in this band, spread across state and foundation universities.
Can this ranking still get a scholarship at a foundation university?
Yes. Most foundation universities set aside quotas across several scholarship tiers, and a program that is tuition-paying at one university can appear with a 50% or higher scholarship at another for the same ranking.
When does the 2026 YKS preference period begin?
According to the calendar published by ÖSYM, 2026 preferences run from July 29 to August 10, 2026, submitted through the ÖSYM Candidate Transactions System.
A 100,000 SAY ranking is not a single door. It is a wide, real spread of engineering, health science and teaching programs, spanning state universities and heavily discounted foundation university seats alike. Before locking in a final list, pull up YÖK Atlas and compare last year's program-by-program figures rather than relying on a single remembered number.