KAUST Fall 2017 Application

[Doloresss]

I am applying to KAUST's electrical engineering master's program. I had my technical interview through Skype. I want to share what it was like to help out anyone wishing to apply to KAUST.

You will be contacted for the technical interview via email. The email will include a list of topics to study and resources (books and links to material). The four main topics are: calculus, signals and systems, linear algebra, and probability. 

During the interview, the interviewer will send you pdf documents wth questions pertaining to each topic in them. For some topics, you will be asked to explain how you would solve the given problems to the interviewer, without actually solving them. For other topics, you will be given 15 minutes to solve the given questions after which you tell your answers to the interviewer. You may be asked additional related questions. The interviewer is trying to test the extent of your understanding. In my case, the calculus and signals and systems were discussion type questions whereas the other two topics were done in the 15-minute answer and tell format.

Overall, it wasn't hard, but you should study well enough to be able to solve simple problems related to basic concepts.

I wish everyone all the best  

[Sallizbat]

Got a reply and an interview so soon? That's great, congrats!

I thought since they extended the deadline to 3rd feb, it would take them longer. I didn't get any reply from them yet, pretty anxious now...

Edited February 2, 2017 by Sallizbat

[knig pilot]

i have mine in 12 hrs coming on the same subjects

Edited February 13, 2017 by knig pilot

[knig pilot]

On 2/1/2017 at 9:20 AM, Doloresss said:

I am applying to KAUST's electrical engineering master's program. I had my technical interview through Skype. I want to share what it was like to help out anyone wishing to apply to KAUST.

You will be contacted for the technical interview via email. The email will include a list of topics to study and resources (books and links to material). The four main topics are: calculus, signals and systems, linear algebra, and probability. 

During the interview, the interviewer will send you pdf documents wth questions pertaining to each topic in them. For some topics, you will be asked to explain how you would solve the given problems to the interviewer, without actually solving them. For other topics, you will be given 15 minutes to solve the given questions after which you tell your answers to the interviewer. You may be asked additional related questions. The interviewer is trying to test the extent of your understanding. In my case, the calculus and signals and systems were discussion type questions whereas the other two topics were done in the 15-minute answer and tell format.

Overall, it wasn't hard, but you should study well enough to be able to solve simple problems related to basic concepts.

I wish everyone all the best  

what pdf file ?i will be ready I have mine in 12 hrs on the same subjects 

Edited February 13, 2017 by knig pilot

[Shoaibsadik]

I have applied for Material Science call 2017 on Jan 1st, Still no mails from Kaust. Anyone having the same issue.

[Sallizbat]

On ‎2‎/‎14‎/‎2017 at 0:50 PM, Shoaibsadik said:

I have applied for Material Science call 2017 on Jan 1st, Still no mails from Kaust. Anyone having the same issue.

Hello there, yeah same here. I applied on 4th Jan. Still no reply.

 

[Nida MS]

Hi everyone,

Here's my story. I applied for fall 2016 last year but my application was not processed as my IELTS scores were expired. Somewhere around July I received an email informing me about it. So I retook the test and applied for fall 2017. No response yet. I really wished to get into KAUST, but it's a long shot I guess. 

[Sallizbat]

18 hours ago, Nida MS said:

Hi everyone,

Here's my story. I applied for fall 2016 last year but my application was not processed as my IELTS scores were expired. Somewhere around July I received an email informing me about it. So I retook the test and applied for fall 2017. No response yet. I really wished to get into KAUST, but it's a long shot I guess. 

Ohh that's frustrating...till July is a very long wait! But why didn't you apply for the Spring 2017 session instead?

[Student X]

Hello,

I'm hoping this thread is still alive.

I applied to KAUST for Fall 2017-18 (Jan 6,2017), and since then, I haven't heard anything back from them. They didn't schedule any interview with me! Every time I reach out to the admission office, they coldly reply "your application is under-review by the faculty and any updates would be sent to you by email". It's June 29 already, and the semester there starts towards end of August and still nothing so far.

I have my bachelor degree in mechanical engineering with control and robotics emphasis, but I applied for the MS/PhD program in Electrical Engineering (Systems). I was previously an undergraduate intern, last Summer, at KAUST with the same adviser I applied to now. He agreed to be my MS/PhD adviser if I got accepted, but this is not listed in my application as it happened later.  

It's really frustrating and confusing at this point, as I'm in complete void, so please any clues/hints/steps are sincerely appreciated!

Regards,

Student X

[aspirant s9]

Student X

I believe that you did not have your interview taken on the basis that you've already interned at Kaust and the faculty is ready to sponsor you. 

I hope you make it! As for the admissions office response, yes they do give very vague replies as I've experienced it too.

Can you please brief me on your vsrp procedure. I initially applied for a masters in applied mathematics fall 2017. But they've transferred my application to Spring 2018 and do not answer my question to the point when asked why. 

[Student X]

On 7/10/2017 at 1:47 AM, aspirant s9 said:

Student X

I believe that you did not have your interview taken on the basis that you've already interned at Kaust and the faculty is ready to sponsor you. 

I hope you make it! As for the admissions office response, yes they do give very vague replies as I've experienced it too.

Can you please brief me on your vsrp procedure. I initially applied for a masters in applied mathematics fall 2017. But they've transferred my application to Spring 2018 and do not answer my question to the point when asked why. 

@aspirant s9 Sorry for the late reply.

Unfortunately I got my straight rejection last week, and I've been waiting since January 6!

I did not apply to VSRP, the adviser had the opportunities posted to our career center website but I went through the same procedure. You basically sit for two interviews, one with the academic adviser you're seeking and the other is with the office of admissions. The adviser gets to assess you academically and discuss your research interest on which he'll base the acceptance/rejection of your application. The second interview is more of casual where the office of admissions ask you about yourself, family, hobbies, how did you know about KAUST, why you chose KAUST, etc (typically 10-15 minutes chat)... If you passed both interviews, the secretary of the center you're going to contacts you for more details to proceed with the visa arrangements. You can check the available VSRP topics on their website, or try contacting a faculty member for a potential position. I'm guessing you start by filling the document on their website, but I skipped this step because the professor already contacted our career center for students.

They have a very strange admission system, I wonder why?!

Hope this helps, best of luck!

Edited July 14, 2017 by Student X

[aspirant s9]

@Student X oh That's disappointing! 

Their admission procedure is indeed very mysterious. 

I hope you'll have many more better opportunities ahead of you. Thank you for the information. 

All the best to you too

[Roz1986]

Hello,

I applied to KAUST for Fall 2017 for MS Computer Science program. I had the personal interview on 11th July but did not get the final decision yet. 

Is there someone waiting like me ??

Waiting is killing me

[Asma Saleem]

I have issue in recommendation letters. One of my professor has submitted the letter while other two are reluctant. What do I do?

[ZoyaK15]

I too applied for the MS Computer Science program in Kaust. Can anyone tell me what all interviews are there? And type of questions are asked during the interviews.

Edited January 8, 2018 by ZoyaK15