Hazzy

I see...all the best! Thanks! Just wondering, did you apply with the exact same qualifications, or did you gain any other experience that you feel increased your chances of getting in?

Annona, what are your plans now, if you don't mind sharing? I was accepted to another university. My initial plan was to go for it, but after discussing with a few people I'm not so sure if it's the best decision. I am thinking that maybe I should try applying to kaust again and other unis and in the meantime somehow beef up my resume. :/

If only I came from a more obscure, exotic country. I know for a fact that there is already a student from my country in the course so I wouldn't add to the diversity I guess, since the cohort is already so tiny. Oh well, time to move on! And thanks ARJS for the encouragement! I understand your feeling, Annona. I find that this quote helps: "My heart is at ease knowing that what was meant for me will never miss me, and that what misses me was never meant for me." Better opportunities will come for you, inshallah.

Just received an email from them. Rejected. All the best to the others!

Wow, congratulations rudychin and Fa91! I have only looked at Australian universities this round, and as far as my knowledge goes, only University of Tasmania offers postgrad scholarship but it only covers 25% of the tuition fees. I am now looking into New Zealand as well. But which uni is considered good for me may not be applicable for your course of interest. I'm searching for marine science/environmental science courses and these two places are well known for that. Maybe you can try looking at Erasmus Mundus programmes and see if any suits your interest. They offer full scholarships but are of course, very competitive. You can find GPA converters online. Not sure how accurate they are though. @ARJS, by any chance, do you have any idea for the baseline for the other courses, particularly marine bio?

Well, KAUST is my top choice so I do care about whether I am accepted or not. ^^; But yes, at this point I just want to know their decision. I applied to another uni and was accepted. I'm not sure to accept it because a) I'm still waiting for KAUST I was advised not to go for it because future opportunities might be lesser so I am considering if I should apply to other places instead. And if I decide to go to that uni, I would need to make preparations in advance. It starts in July and I need to start preparing at least 3 months earlier, and I can't make a decision till I know KAUST's decision.

Yeah, the wait is horrible. I actually dreamt that I met someone who got accepted while I was still waiting for my second interview lol.

@anjumrauf I'm an MS applicant. I had the academic interview at the end of January. I emailed the admissions office afterwards cos I didn't hear from them since the interview and the officer replied that applications are still under review and to wait for further emails from them.

Sorry for the double post, I just saw ARJS's comment. @ARJS That's a really strange method of accepting students. But anyway, I found out from the professor who interviewed me that there is one student from my country but she is already in the program. In terms of diversity, I guess I may stand a chance if they don't consider past batches. Marine Biology isn't popular in my country. And most of the population have a skewed view of the Middle East. I guess we shall find out.

@ARJS Thank you, that does help! So that's how their admissions work. I hope they would let us know by March/April the latest so I can make necessary arrangements if I am indeed unsuccessful... Just curious, did anyone apply to other schools besides KAUST? And what are your impressions of it as an educational institute? I've been doing some research (though there's not much info) and there are mixed reviews about it. Some people say that degrees obtained from Middle Eastern unis are not regarded as highly in western unis. Plus, it may be hard to get into a Ph.D. program/job outside of the Middle East for students with masters degrees from there due to the stigma attached. D: Personally I've always thought that the uni is not as important, as long as the research done was solid and yielded good results. Anyone knows how true this is? And KAUST seems really good for research plus it has partnerships with reputable unis around the world. Any thoughts, guys?

I got a reply from the admissions office saying that the applications are still under review. Also, has anyone seen the kaust homepage? It says that 'Applications for Fall 2015 and currently being reviewed and will be accepted through to Feb 14th'. Does that mean that we will know our results by 14 Feb? I'm starting to feel really nervous now.

@rudychin How was the personal interview? If you don't mind sharing, what sort of questions that they asked, and how many interviewers were there? Also all the best for your application!

Abdulkader90- I didn't take GRE either so maybe? I can't say for sure obviously but I guess there's a chance.

Alvisyhrn- I submitted my application on 31 dec 2014. The interview was on 23 Jan. Thank you! I hope you guys hear from the uni soon! The wait is nerve wracking. >.<

Annona- thank you. Yes I'm applying for Fall 2015. The interview was through Skype with one of the professors. Basically he asked things like which professor/area I was interested to work with and if there are any specific projects that I would like to work on. He also asked more details about my previous study. Mostly things like my background and experience and plans for what I want to do after the masters program.