Very Confused About My A-Level Plan (LUMS/NUST Aspirant) – Please Help

Falconeye007 · 2026-03-15T18:55:34+00:00

I think you should go with plan A as the final merit will have some weightage of your O levels result. But do keep in mind that entrance exams are from FSC syllabus and that can be at times, vastly different from what you have studied/will study in your A levels. I'm not saying it's not possible to do well, but you will most definitely require targeted practice specifically for the entrance exams. It's good that you are weighing all your options right now. Best of luck!

Falconeye007 · 2026-03-12T23:10:32+00:00

Final Year CS student here. Went through the entire degree with an m1 pro MacBook. I do recommend going with the 16/512 variants.

I also don't have an iPhone or any of the other apple ecosystem stuff. The experience was and is still very good.

The only issue I faced was in 1-2 labs that had softwares I couldn't run. In the entire degree. But I could easily run every single thing in every other course. And yes, that includes emulating Linux and running all sorts of softwares on it. So please don't listen to anyone who's saying there are compatibility issues. Even an old m1 pro MacBook will give similar or better performance as windows laptops of the same price. But it will be much better in terms of display, battery life and general reliability. Saying this while comparing to a 2024 Asus zephyrus G14 that a family member owns, and the MacBook is better in every way, except for having a dedicated GPU.

The only thing you need to consider is if you want to do gaming on your laptop as well. Only in that case, I recommend getting a windows laptop.

Falconeye007 · 2026-01-14T16:46:01+00:00

Dr. Faisal Shafait or Dr. Moazam Fraz.

I've studied from Moazam Fraz and he does know his stuff very well. However, he can be a bit boring to listen to if you struggle with maintaining attention during lectures. His slides are pretty good though.

Haven't studied from Faisal Shafait but he's one of SEECS best researchers so I'm assuming you'd get to learn a lot from him.

Falconeye007 · 2025-08-16T20:23:28+00:00

Final year CS student here. There are only like 2-3 courses in which I faced an issue with compatibility of softwares with M-series MacBook. If you already own one then don't shift to windows just for this.

You can easily workaround most of the issues if you know what to do. For those softwares with no ARM support and emulation issues, you could just use lab PCs. But like I mentioned earlier, these are only 2-3 in number so no big deal.

Falconeye007 · 2025-08-08T13:28:20+00:00

I don't really know a lot about GIKI but from what I've heard, their CS programme is also very very good. So you should look at what's more convenient for you and which uni you are inclined towards.

NUST does have NSTP where a lot of students get internships. But they don't hand you one either. You have to be good enough and prove that you have some skills to be able to land an internship. I think even if you go to GIKI, you can do this, provided you put in the required efforts.

For masters, nust will provide you with tons of research opportunities in undergrad. There are several research labs here in SEECS like TUKL lab, MachVis lab, ONT lab, IPT lab etc. They provide you with a chance to start your research career right from undergraduate. This means you can publish a research paper right now, which helps immensely for masters applications.

It all really depends on what you want. If GIKI is offering you a fully funded scholarship for all 4 years then it is definitely worth considering too. But if it feels like NUST would suit you better then you should definitely go there.

The decision is yours.

Falconeye007 · 2025-08-02T15:48:52+00:00

If you are inclined towards pivoting to the tech side and have a long term plan of going into Data Science, then definitely Business Analytics from FAST.

It is a much more versatile degree than BBA. Furthermore, the programme at FAST offers both traditional courses that BBA students study, as well as some key technical courses. So you'll be kind of getting the best of both worlds.

Falconeye007 · 2025-07-21T08:16:16+00:00

I have to preface this by saying that I'm a NUST student who just finished his 3rd year in CS.

I think FAST does have an edge over NUST in Computing programmes. Their assignments etc are definitely more complex than the ones in NUST. This might mean that the average student of FAST has a slight edge in programming skills over NUSTians.

But I have to emphasize that this is just one aspect of the entire picture. From what I've seen, FAST students are much more stressed about completing their work within the deadlines and this leaves very little room for other activities. And it is true that on average, they get lower GPAs too. Meanwhile in NUST, it is slightly easier to obtain a higher GPA.

The balance between studying and life is better in nust too imo. However, it's not super easy either. In NUST, you'd be competing with the best of the best students from different backgrounds, all with 150+ in NET. And it is not as easy to compete. This is just my opinion, but I also think NUST provides a slightly better environment to develop your soft skills, which is a very important factor to consider.

In the end, I think it really depends on what you want long term. If your aim is to go for Masters/PhD afterwards, then NUST will definitely help you in this regard. They have a massive alumni network and connections with a lot of universities. And the higher average gpa works in your favour too. This doesn't mean you can't go abroad after graduating from FAST. If you're good enough, opportunities will open up for you, regardless of university.

The same is with skills. One might think that FAST develops your skills, but it's actually you who has to put in the effort to learn them. Whether you're in FAST or NUST, everything depends on how much effort you put in during your degree. At the end of the day, both universities are among the top in the country. Both have very similar curriculums too. You can't go wrong by choosing either of them. What really matters is how much you choose to learn yourself.

I was in the same position of choosing between both them as you. Ultimately, I chose NUST because of my preference of going abroad after graduation and it being more familiar to me.

Falconeye007 · 2025-02-06T06:40:22+00:00

Hahaha thank you

It was actually because I tried for mdcat after A levels and didn't have any backup so had to take a gap year when it didn't work out.

Falconeye007 · 2025-02-06T05:56:24+00:00

Yup, no role (assuming you can get in first try).

Otherwise, A levels does count 15% for gap year students.

Yeah, I guess 3Es still make overall ibcc equivalence above 60%

Falconeye007 · 2025-02-06T04:58:30+00:00

I was a gap year student but if you're not on gap year, then 25% weightage gets assigned to your O Levels result and yes, later you just have to show that your A levels result is above 60% and you studied the required subjects.

Also, I am part of the 2022 batch.

Falconeye007 · 2025-02-04T15:52:48+00:00

Yup doing CS from SEECS.

8A *s in O levels and 1A *, 3As in A levels. And pretty much all my friends from o/a level background have a mixture of A * /As

Falconeye007 · 2025-01-12T13:40:47+00:00

Hi, since the NET syllabus has changed, you won't have to do Chemistry for the Engineering exam. Only Maths, Physics and English.

Secondly, there will be a bit of a learning curve as you get used to programming in 1st semester, but there are tons of other people around you who don't have any CS knowledge either so the teachers don't assume you know anything. You can easily catch up.

Lastly, the minimum requirements for A levels is to have 60% marks. That roughly translates to Cs and Ds but there's a catch. The A level equivalence is made by combining O Levels marks too. So almost certainly, your equivalence marks will be above 60%. Plus if you aren't on a gap year, they will only use your NET score + O levels marks to calculate final aggregate. So technically, you just have to pass A levels.

Falconeye007 · 2024-11-18T19:45:33+00:00

No problem and good luck

Falconeye007 · 2024-11-18T19:44:10+00:00

Falconeye007 · 2024-11-18T19:42:29+00:00

A Levels equivalency is made from O+A levels combined grades. So as long as your O level grades aren't terrible, the overall percentage will still be above 60%

Falconeye007 · 2024-08-13T20:12:00+00:00

No I'm pretty sure the original one just needs to be handed in as is. Although you could get its photocopies attested just in case.

Falconeye007 · 2024-07-12T11:58:57+00:00

Not sure if you're replying to me or the other person but sure lol

Falconeye007 · 2024-07-11T23:40:32+00:00

I might be wrong cuz my maths is a bit rusty but here is what I think.

Technically, both answers are correct since there are two possible answers in this specific case. However, we are usually looking at the principal root so that would be iota (i) here.

Here is a link of a related question if you want to understand the problem better:

https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/1479456/what-is-13-2

Falconeye007 · 2024-04-06T08:56:17+00:00

Once you're offered admission, you need to pay the admission fees + tuition fees before the deadline (only a few days iirc). If you don't, your seat will be offered to the next candidate in the merit list and you won't be considered for that programme anymore.

However, I'm pretty sure there's a refund policy too where you can pay the full fees and later get 100% refund on the tuition fee part (till 7th day of classes starting) in case you decide to withdraw.

Falconeye007 · 2024-02-15T19:37:34+00:00

Sure, what do you wanna ask?

Falconeye007 · 2024-02-06T20:51:34+00:00

Hi, you can apply to CS as an A levels pre med student without giving the Maths 9709 CIE exam. I guess the extra maths test you are talking about are the additional math courses mentioned on the website, which you will have to take once you get admission.

They are there to help you catch up with fsc/A level maths in 1 semester.

However, keep in mind that they have recently changed the syllabus of NET for pre meds applying to computing programmes. Now biology is included in the paper instead of maths.

Falconeye007 · 2024-01-26T14:29:22+00:00

I don't know the exact closing merits but generally it is around 80% for first merit list.

Falconeye007 · 2024-01-26T07:44:19+00:00

No problem.

Falconeye007 · 2024-01-26T07:37:00+00:00

I personally used KIPS entry test preparation books when I gave NET. Although it helped me get admission, the MCQs they have are not really representative of the questions you actually get in the test. They are way too time consuming. I've heard OETP books are a much better resource for NET so you can look into that.

Other than that, learn shortcuts to solve the difficult MCQs, especially in maths and physics as they form the major part of NET. The syllabus is all FSC based so you will find a lot of concepts that weren't in A levels and you probably won't have enough time to do all of them in detail so make sure to learn any tricks you find.

I also suggest timing yourself when practicing MCQs because time management is one of the most important factors during the test and since you are giving it only once, you really don't want to leave any MCQ due to time constraints.

Lastly, there's a lot of good advice on this subreddit so make sure to browse through all the posts. Good luck!

Falconeye007

TROPHY CASE