r/KAUST

Hello everyone!

I had applied for MS Bioscience at KAUST in January and had interview in February. But so far I haven't received the decision. I wanted to ask if there is anyone who received the result.

Guys — hi.

Just wanted to ask if there’s any chance for late applicants to still get admitted for the Fall semester… (i.e. people who applied around April–May).

As a late applicant myself, my application got forwarded to faculty review around a week after submission…

Has anyone here applied late and still gotten accepted before?

Note: Applied for MS in ECE as a local.

I applied in early March for MS/PhD in ECE after interviewing with a PI. He seemed interested in my profile and told me to apply asap but he did say that admission might be difficult due to the late application. I applied and few weeks back my application moved from admission to faculty review and last week I had an assessment which went ok, not very good not very bad. But my application hasn't moved ahead and PI is not replying as well to my mails. I'm concerned about the upcoming eid holidays. If I don't hear anything before 22nd May should I consider this a rejection? Or are there still chances?

Hey guys!

I just want to know for people in Mechanical Engineering what is their application status
Because I haven't seen anyone or any post about Mechanical Engineering here and my application has
been submitted in early January so I wanted to see other applicants and what are their situations

Like did you get any final decisions either rejection or acceptance as a mechanical engineering applicant !?

My Interview has been done on early April and it was really positive that even the professor hinted that Im accepted and I will hear in one week to two weeks

But it has been on Admissions review since that
So what do you think guys?!

Did anyone notice their portal changed, on the page where you choose your application "Fall 2026"? the status is blank and the formatting is off. I am not talking about the page with the circles and tracker (Admission review, faculty review, etc.)

Historically does it mean a decision or rejection is soon

My supervisor nominated me in Feb, and he told me that my case has passed division-level review. It seems that my case is stuck at the admission committee. Does anyone have any updates from the new BioMed Science department?

Hi everyone,

I received a conditional offer for the MS/PhD program, but unfortunately, I wasn't able to meet the English proficiency requirement before the official deadline passed. However, even though the deadline is over, I am still regularly receiving onboarding emails and official updates from the university (including getting my institutional student email recently).

Has anyone experienced something similar before? Does this mean:

They might still be processing my profile or giving me an unofficial extension? Or is it just an automated system glitch that keeps sending emails because my portal hasn't been manually updated/cancelled yet?

I would love to hear from anyone who has been in a similar situation or has insights into how the admissions/onboarding system handles this.

Hi, did anyone receive decision emails or updates this week as the university will be closing for Eid break?

Hi everyone, I just received an email from the admission office that said " a decision was made against my application," but if I am logged in on my application portal, it simply says that the decision is pending and the admission and faculty teams are reviewing. Should I assume the worst and think that it was rejected?

Hey everyone,

I submitted my application for the VSRP program back on April 7th and it's been over 40 days now with absolutely no response .

Is anyone else in the same boat? Has anyone heard back recently?

Anyone having updates this week onwards (before May 22nd), kindly share it here.

Also what are the chances to be admitted on June? My feeling is if it is not this week, it is most likely a rejection.

If you fumble the academic interview and the PI really wants you + nationality quota is fine, can the PI be overridden? Hypothetical question.

Anyone got decision? Rejection or acceptance

THIS WEEK

Hey all!

Kinda stupid question but I applied for VSRP and as I check my application portal, I don't really get the progress bar graphics... I would expect at least the first circle to change into smth else to mean that the documents are all received (bcz they indeed all are, it's marked as all good on the checklist below). I don't have a reference for whether the circles go green or smth...

Here's a screenshot of what I see:

Any help is appreciated!

Hello, I’m a computer engineering student planning to apply for the VSRP program at KAUST. I’m particularly interested in working with Mohamed Elhoseiny because I genuinely enjoy his research, especially his work in healthcare AI and projects like MiniGPT-4.

I was wondering: when applying to VSRP, is there an opportunity to suggest or discuss a research topic that aligns with the professor’s interests and potentially work on it with him or with PhD students in the lab? Or is the process limited strictly to the projects officially listed on the KAUST website?

I’m also thinking a lot about how to use this summer effectively to strengthen my profile and hopefully make a good impression. My GPA is somewhat low and doesn’t fully reflect my abilities, so I’m trying to compensate by building strong skills and meaningful projects independently.

At this stage, I’m unsure what level I should aim for before applying. Should I focus on creating interesting and ambitious projects that stand out, or should I prioritize developing the practical and collaborative skills needed to work effectively in a research lab environment? ( i am interested in healthcare X computer vision )

My current plan is to apply around October/November 2026 for a VSRP starting in February 2027 as part of my end-of-study project.

Does anyone know if KAUST is accepting DET this year? I heard they sometimes make exceptions for special circumstances. Are there any Fall 2026 admits here who got in with a DET score? I'd appreciate any info on how the process worked for you.

I applied for the KAUST VSRP program, but my referee never received the automated recommendation request email from the portal.

I contacted VSRP admissions and received an automated response mentioning that recommendation letters can also be sent directly through email. My referee then sent the recommendation letter from his official institutional email address, and I informed the VSRP team about it as well.

However, the portal status for the recommendation still shows “Awaiting,” and I have not received any response even after sending a follow-up email a week later.

Has anyone experienced something similar? Did the status eventually update, or was the emailed recommendation still considered even if the portal did not change?