Boğaziçi University is a major public research university located on the European side of the Bosphorus strait in Istanbul, Turkey. It was founded as “Robert College” in 1863, the first American higher education institution outside the United States. Though under entirely Turkish administration today, the university still maintains strong ties to the American educational system. Only the top 800 of the approximately 1,8 million participants to the annual Turkish university entrance examination are admitted to register for top subjects at Boğaziçi University. To be admitted into other degree programs at the institution, one usually has to be in the top 1% of the university entrance exam as well. This allows Boğaziçi University to attract many of the highest scoring students in the nation; as well as having the most sought applied science, education, engineering, and social science programs in Turkey.