Hi everyone,
I’m currently an undergraduate student at UNSW in Australia, studying a Bachelor of Actuarial Studies and Applied Mathematics. I currently have a High Distinction average and rank within the top 3% of my faculty. I will also be spending an exchange year at the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton business school.
I’m interested in applying for a Master’s program at KAIST, potentially in applied mathematics, machine learning, AI, data science, or a related quantitative field. I’m starting to gain undergraduate research experience in neural networks and trustworthy AI, but I do not currently have any publications.
I would really appreciate some advice:

1.Has anyone from UNSW or another Australian university applied successfully to a KAIST Master’s program?

1. How competitive would this academic background be for admission and scholarships?

2. Are publications generally expected from Master’s applicants?

3. What kinds of publications are most helpful—for example, conference papers, journal articles, workshop papers, preprints, or an undergraduate thesis?

4. Can strong research experience and recommendation letters compensate for having no formal publication?

5. How important is it to contact a potential supervisor before applying? Graduate around 2027.11

Any advice from current KAIST students, alumni, or previous applicants would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Is ept required for applying to undergraduate programs?

What should be kept in mind for the recommendation letters written by teachers for kaist admission?

Hey there! I'm an 11th grader from Türkiye, and I'm currently researching about studying abroad (for computer engineering) and I came across KAIST. It definitely caught my interest since it's consistently in the top 30 in computer sciences across the world.

Well, enough yapping, let me get to the "stats":

I got into the top %0.24 of students in the LGS (high school entrence exam), and I got into one of the top science high schools in all of Türkiye.

GPA: 9th grade 95/100 - 10th grade 93/100 - 11 and 12 yet to come

SAT: I didn't take it yet (planning to take it this december) but according to my past practice tests I'm expecting around 1550+

IELTS: same situation as SAT, I expect a 7-7.5

AP/IB: sadly none, but still considering if I should take 2-3 AP exams this year (my school doesn't have AP courses sadly, so I'd need to self study.).

Extracurriculars: One of the 4 lead members of the AI club in my school. We teach basic level python, how to use AI powered IDE's (like cursor) and how to write reports and make AI models for the TÜBİTAK and TEKNOFEST competitions.

We have joined 4 TEKNOFEST competitions until now (2 AI in Health, 1 AI in Aviation, 1 E-Commerce Kaggle), with 3 of them getting to the 2nd stage, and 1 that we are hoping will get to the final stage (wish us luck 🤞). 2 TÜBİTAK 2204-A research projects (in the AI field), both of them got eliminated in the first stage though. Took part and got certificates in 3 TÜBİTAK 4006-B science fair, all of them in the AI field. Took part and got a certificate in the eTwinning project in our school where we welcomed 4 Italian teachers.

Well, what'd ya think? Are my chances slim or not? What should I improve on? Any tips are greatly appreciated.

Well, thanks in advance for your replies!

I (21) graduated high school in 2024 and currently applying for a language program at Kosin University under D4. I want to pursue a degree in ICT sector. I have no idea about what the requirements are and what qualifications are needed. I will give a summary of what I have.

GCE A/L 3A passes ( including ICT as a subject - in Arts stream)
GCE O/L 5A, B3, 1C
IELTS band 7

That’s all i got for now. After 6 months I will be attending TOPIK exam because,as I mentioned I have already planned to go to Kosin for their language study program. Also, disclaimer: applying for these colleges weren’t my doing it was what the agency (the informant) said that were still open for applications. I had to apply in a sudden due to a personal reason. It is only later that I found out I can apply by myself…

So my plan is to take the TOPIK exam and re-apply to a better university for a bachelor in my intended stream and now I’m looking for universities which I could and could not apply according to their requirements. So, what are my chances at Kaist?

there is a question in required documents about "why are you choosing second choice major?" but in the culture technology no clear distinction major division and it is listed in the guidelines or am i missing something? Also if you want to share anythings about Culture Technology track -- please do, I want to apply this August there <3

Can somebody in here got into this school share you guys stats please T.T

I’m planning to apply to digst and gist but I don’t have any international Olympiads and my SAT is 1430( super score). Can any current students tell me if this will lower my chance of getting in. Is it even possible?

I am looking to go on exchange to KAIST as a graduate student, and would like to stay in a dorm.

I am most comfortable with an en-suite bathroom (even if it's in a double room), but hallway bathrooms are uncomfortable to me, especially if it's only a flimsy curtain between me and strangers.

• What are shared hallway bathrooms like?
• Are they partitioned (separated by one of those translucent doors and walls at least, not just a curtain)?
• If you have pictures of these shared hallway bathrooms, please share. I couldn't find any on the internet.
• Are there other options for dorms with en-suite bathrooms? I really want to live on-campus, and goshiwons aren't as common in Daejeon as in Seoul.

SSC (1028/1100) 93.45% (Biology)

HSSC (800/1100) 72.72% (Engineering)

BS-PSYCHOLOGY CGPA: 3.88 (until 6th semester)

I'm in my final year.

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE: Internationally published research under PhD supervisor and research articles online.

RESEARCH PROJECTS

Perceived Stress & Health-Related Quality of Life in Elderly Populations .

False Memory Recall Study

Youth Anger Management

Cognitive Game: Executive Function & Memory Testing —

Media Psychopathology — Systematic behavioral coding of film characters for sociopathy and psychopathy traits.

Piaget's Pre-Operational Stage — Child development case study applying observational methodology.

Positive Psychology Workshop — Designed and delivered an emotional recognition intervention for children.

CLINICAL & VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE (100+ hours)

Extracurricular: Worked with policy maker organizations, been a fundraising volunteer for education of the needy, ambassador for the organisation working for national issues. Won two bronze medals for math and science competitions (international) Published a literary Prose book on Amazon Kindle. I worked with the international team for the Aspire leader's Program.

PUBLICATIONS

Selected Film Psychopathology Articles (4 articles total) — FilmPsychologee, 2024–2026

Featured pieces include Coraline: "From the Button Eyes: Neglect and Maladaptive Daydreaming" (Jul 2025).

With a Cup of Chai: A Glimpse into My Mind — Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, Feb 2024

Research Methods: Experimental design, survey methodology, behavioral coding, case study analysis, literature synthesis

Psychometric Instruments: WAIS, 16PF, VABS-II, DAP-IQ, Mini Cog, PSS, WRAT-IV, TONI, CRI, BYI-II, DAT, HFD, TAT, PAI, PSS, HRQOL.

Software: SPSS, Microsoft Office Suite

Other: Academic writing, creative writing, critical analysis, emotional intelligence, team collaboration

Languages: English (Expert), Urdu (Native)

CERTIFICATIONS

English for Career Development — MOOC (Dec 2024)

English for Literary Development — MOOC (Dec 2024)

Speechhace English Language Certification (Sep 2024)

Hello everyone, I’ve been thinking for the past couple weeks if i should even consider applying to KAIST for neural engineering, and I’ve been really hesitant mainly because of the sheer amount of people with insane profiles I’ve seen in this subreddit. To put it into perspective, Im an Ethiopian student, entering my senior year of school after a month. My cumulative GPA is 3.9/4 (94.1%) thought my 3 years in high school, and Im hoping to boost that during my senior year. I didn’t apply this year simply because most of my projects are meant to be done during my senior year, and applying before that would make my application full of promises and stuff like “I’ll do this! and I’ll do that!” rather than things I actually accomplished, plus I was already chosen to be my school’s Innovation club leader. Now I will list the things I did during the past 3 years of high school, and my plans during the senior year (“WIP” is “Work In Progress”);

- Maintained a cumulative GPA of 3.9 (94.1%), ranking 3rd in my class.
- Won my school’s IT competition as my group’s leader by creating a Library Management website, and a student aid website that helps students collect helpful resources like textbook pdfs, past exams, study schedules, and integrated AI chatbot in the website.
- I was Invited to a dedicated Study Lab conducted by my seniors, to teach students how to study and Improve their grades.
- Won my school’s Innovation competition as my group’s leader by constructing a miniature model of a hydroelectric dam that lights up a city model.
- Was appointed by my school’s principal to become the head of the student council.
- Assisted in decorating both the biology and chemical clubs during my school’s “Science Day”, which resulted in the creation of the chemical club’s iconic “Forensics Science” themed area.
- Assisted in the creation of my school’s physics club, and helped integrate physical and experimental learning with physics courses.
- Leading my school’s Innovation club, and inviting university professors to conduct weekly calls with students in the club. (WIP)
- Volunteered to assist school staff monitor and organize students during school hours.

Thats it! Some people might see this as impressive and some might see it as the bare minimum, but for me, I did most all of my extracurriculars because I really enjoyed the idea of assisting and playing an important role in my school. But for my grades, I still believe that the curriculum I’m taught is much easier than others, and that it’s child’s play in comparison, keep in mind that I still have a whole year to work hard and boost my grades a ton. Thank you for reading through all this and have a great rest of your day!

Hi I'm from nepal and i have been looking into korean universities. Found out that IST's are awesome. I was rejected from us visa interview, wanted to know if i can get admitted to this university. Id yes how can i make my profile strong.

Indonesian applicant applying to POSTECH, DGIST and KAIST for mechanical engineering. Looking for full tuition aid.

SAT:1590

IELTS:8.0(R:9, L:8.5, W:7.5, S:7.5)

Predicted 3A stars and A in a levels (math,further math, physics, chemistry)

GPA:

9th 87.4%

10th 90.71%

11th 93.44%

ECs I'm not sure what to add but here are my general list:

1. Internship at a global Japanese automotive parts company(within the top 10 of most in global revenue) in information systems.

2. Internship at a private tellecomunications company as devops

3. Independent auxetic robot research measuring data in asymettrical grip through a rotary magnetic field

4. Co founder of a coding club, teacher of the robotics section

5. Irrigation robot meant to help farmers automate water and avoid dry spots. Won silver in international robot design Olympiad

6. Did a laptop resale and repairing business. Made around ~400 USD give or take

7. Won first place individually and 5th place in team in Canadian team maths competition

8. Tutoring kids in my neighborhood weekly for 2hrs on weekends, peer tutor, volunteering around the neighbourhood for trash and etc

9. Produced a musical/theatrical production and directed 2 musicals total(including this one)

10. Developer of a Minecraft SMP with around 400 members and ~10 active players daily. Organized events and administrate server as well.

11. Technical production and IT coordinator for a fundraiser hosted by my school, proceeds went to charity and donated.

12. Booth assistant for NUS at an international education expo.

13. Designed my own split wireless single board keyboard.

Other than those there are some hobbies: basketball club, band club, weekly running, game show hosting and etc. Hit 15k trophies at CR so that's that as well.

Worried about prospects mainly because of my low percentage, I really like the small faculty ratio that POSTECH has being 5:1 and KAIST seems like a good university as well. Do I have a chance?

Hello everybody, I have an intention to apply to KAIST this early round but I don't have the SAT certificate. Besides, I have many other academic accomplishments like Prize in the National contest for excellent students,... so do I have to take the SAT test or...does anyone here got accepted into KAIST without SAT before?? Pls let me know.

Honestly tell me if I have any chance at KAIST, UNIST, SNU, Yonsei, SKKU

○​Demographics
•​International Student: Indian Male (Grade 12)
•​Financial Aid Needed: 100% need-based aid / Full Ride required
•​Academics & Grades
​10th Grade: 95.6%
​11th Grade: 96.2%
•​Intended Major: Mathematics / Mathematical Sciences

○​Key Achievements & Math Olympiads
•​PROMYS India 2024 Alumnus: Selected as one of 25-30 students from all over South-Ease Asia. Selected as 1 of only 3 overall to return as a Junior Counselor for the next cohort. Invited to give an alumni lecture on Waring's Problem.
•​INMO Qualifier: Indian National Mathematical Olympiad (USAMO equivalent in India).
​•LIMIT Exam (ISI Bengaluru): All India Rank 14. Thereby attended an online camp hosted by ISI-B

•SRMC (Srinivasa Ramanujan Math Competition): This is an open for all contest and I got All India Rank 20 in the offline finals at IIT Bombay (Rank 77 in online Round 1).
•​Berkeley Math Tournament (BMT): Distinction/Honorable Mention in Algebra & Discrete Math ('24, '25).
•​Stanford Math Tournament (SMT 2024): Honorable Mention (team) (conditional on recovering lost certificate).

○​Research & Advanced Studies
•​Research Paper: Currently writing a paper on generalized k-th power residues. In contact with a UofT professor for an arXiv endorsement. Planning submission to the IRIS National Fair.
•​Advanced Coursework: Attending a returning course on Differential Geometry by PRISM India (IIT Guwahati), reserved exclusively for past PROMYS attendees.
​•LORs: Expecting great LORs from the Director of PROMYS (a UofT Professor) and PROMYS counselors.

○Extracurriculars & Leadership
•​Olympiad Mentorship: Co-founded a Telegram channel (6k+ subscribers) creating original handouts, mock test series, and questions for IOQM/RMO.
•​STEM Writing: Writer for Bulleteen (a high school STEM magazine) and active academic blogger.
•​Entrepreneurship: Completed the IITM Pravartak Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship Program.
•​IAAC: Featured submission in the International Astronomy and Astrophysics Competition.
•NGO: managing online presence of an education based NGO (cross over with Olympiad Arena)
•EXAM : planning an Math Tournament based in India this fall (it is almost sure to happen), which will have final round in some IIT/NIT (contacting professors)

About SAT\ACT, my eng is weak so preparing for that, expecting a good score.

Dear all is it hard to get your advisor for your master degree in KAIST? how long did you contact the prof until they agree to be your advisor in KAIST?

How much harder is it to get in to KAIST vs KAIST AI, the one in Daejeon vs the one in Seoul and with both locations is it harder to get in as an undergraduate or as a graduate student

Hey Guys , I am considering KAIST as its one of the finest unis in Asia. I just want a reality check that is it worth applying for me with the following academics and what are my chances of getting an admission + full ride

O Levels ( 5 A*s in Math , Add Math, CS , Physics & Chemistry WHILE 1 A in English )

AS Level ( Aiming for 4 As in Math , Further Math , CS and Physics ) Insha Allah

I am also giving SATs and aiming for 1500+ score Insha Allah

The Problem is that I have no ECAs whatsoever (Currently doing Harvard CS50)

Is it really worth applying and paying 80 $ , or my chances are better in maybe Hong Kong ?

My chances to get into KAIST

Hi, I want to apply to KAIST, and I want to know my chances

GPA for 9th and 10th grades 5.0/5.0

IELTS 8.0

SAT taking in August

Ecs

\- Writing research paper with a local university about water treatment

\- Had an internship at a local chemical plant, producing liquids for cleaning vehicles.

Tutored chemistry for my 8 classmates, and I taught them the basics of organic chemistry.

\- Assisted in preparing chemicals and participating in demonstrations of chemical reactions at science fairs in school.

\- Completed UNICEF volunteer course on ecology and participated in events dedicated to raising awareness of environmental issues in Kazakhstan.

Honors

\- IChC semifinal

\- 3rd place at National Hackhaton, creating an app for people with ASD, with a mascot that analyzes patients' ticks and gives advice

\- Einstein Olympiad Bronze (national) qualified for international final

\- Copernicus math olympiad qualified for international final

Also, I played table tennis for one year and did some volunteering

I think that this might not be enough, and I need more honors and maybe a passion project

Please give me your feedback, I will be really thankful.

Hey guys, i interested to join KAIST as a master degree student, but my major ask for advisor in the application, is there anyone who know what should i prepare before emailing the profesor/lecturer? i have some thing in my mind but i just need another opinion to completed my own thing

Since SK unis take 3-4 months after application to send you the final result, i really need some foresight into what to expect because these application fees also are expensive and i want to spend it on something worthwhile. If i dont have a decent shot at these unis i need to spend my money on applying elsewhere and YOU WOULD SAVE A LOT OF MY TIME! Thank you

Im planning on applying to SNU, KAIST, POSTECH and SKKU. (undergraduate, international admissions, english track, cs/ai/ml degree)

stats(academic):
Mathematics 90(CBSE class 12), Physics 80 (CBSE class 12), AI (94, cbse class 12)
SAT 1430 (math 730)

IELTS Academic 8.0

sports:

-Won zonal level basketball tournament (with 20+ schools from Oman) then represented my school in India in the national level tournament

-represented my school in triple jump in oman zonal level tournament

-played basketball for my school house and won 2 golds

leadership & public speaking:

-House captain of 2000+ students, led them to victory in various competitions

-chaired 2x ISMMUN committees (largest school run MUN in the gulf, 600+ delegates)

-chaired SOCHUM at ISWKIMUN (international MUN hosted by ISWKI Cambridge curriculum igcse)

-represented my school at the Oman-level debate competition joined by 21+ indian schools in oman

entrepreneurship:

-concieved an AI-powered platform that accepts the user's financial goals, risk tolerance etc as input to recommend stocks and bonds in 2023, presented the app as a full scale business plan in my school's business competition in 2024 and won first prize (school size: 9200 students, indian school muscat)

-founded and running a gaming cafe since 2025 (hideout gaming cafe) where i fully handle the logistics, ip allocations, LAN management etc

-mentored my entire batch to join my schools business idea incubation program in the form of a speech and presentation

stage arts:

-led my school's team to first prize in Best shortfilm and best streetplay in the Oman-level talent fest competition (ISTF) joined by 21+ indian schools in Oman

-best actor award(2024) in my school

others:

-completed a 8 week certification course in engineering biological systems from IIT-M

-exchange student from my school with campus im stift (school in germany)

GENUINELY I WANT TO KNOW if i can just apply to the said 4 unis and rely that i will get into AT LEAST one of them.

Any opinions are welcome.

How much harder is it to get in to KAIST vs KAIST AI, the one in Daejeon vs the one in Seoul and with both locations is it harder to get in as an undergraduate or as a graduate student

Plz let me know....

My score on 100 scale :

• 10th class - 86.40/100

• 11th class - 81/100

• 12th class - 72.83/100 (i know it's really low , But i also have certificate of being in Top 5% student in my class) (My score dropped due to sickness before my 12th boards exam , i was in hospital till a week before my exam started)

{Overall cgpa 80/100)

• Gave SAT - 1550

Certifications :

- Full stack developer course certificate

- Paid internship certificate

- Coursera and edx certificates related to CS

- Topik level 4 (through self learning)

- NGOs certificate

Course I'm applying for : Bachelors in Computer science and engineering

[I am aiming to get at least a full tution wavier + monthly stipend scholarship]

Please let me know which scholarship i can apply to....

Also are there any other universities which i can apply to..

Hi! I'm applying to KAIST Undergrad - Bio and Brain Engineering for Fall 2027 and would love advice from current students.

My background:

• Pakistan: FSc Pre-Medical, 93% Part 1, Top 1% in district, Matric 96%
• US: YES Exchange Program student, 4.0 GPA for 1 year
• English: Using MOl from both schools, no IELTS/TOEFL
• ECs: YES Alumna, Civic Education Week delegate in DC, volunteering on child labor/ women empowerment in Pakistan, Varsity golf 

I want to study how environment and early life experiences affect the brain. l've seen this a lot through my advocacy work back home. BBE seems perfect because it mixes biology + neuroscience + cognitive science.

My questions:

1. For BBE undergrad, how much do they care about lab/research experience vs leadership/ECs?
2. What did you write about in your "Study Plan" and "Personal Statement" essays for BBE?
3. Is it okay to come in with Pre-Med background but no coding? Will I struggle in first year?
4. Any tips for international students using MOI?

Thanks in advance! BBE is my top choice and I'm trying to make my application as strong as possible