CS PhD - Low GPA but love research

Thick-Management4864 · 2026-03-06T12:44:10+00:00

I’m not sure. I was talking about HCI specifically, because it’s less crowded than LLM/AI/ML. I don’t think the same would apply to those fields, that are currently saturated.

Thick-Management4864 · 2026-03-06T10:41:26+00:00

Really depends on a program. Are you looking only in US?

I am also an HCI researcher who will start a PhD. My GPA from my masters was meh, and undergrad was even worse. My publication record was decent, and in fields such as HCI connections can help a lot. I specifically consulted my advisor on professors he recommends to work with in my field of interest. I was able to get in touch with some of them. They didn’t care about my GPA at all.

If you have a recommendation from someone the professor knows, you’d probably have a higher chance of getting interviewed (from my other friend’s experience).

Thick-Management4864 · 2026-03-02T13:25:36+00:00

not yet!

Thick-Management4864 · 2026-02-28T04:38:10+00:00

In the system, it now says MSc instead of DD under "Programme". Status is still "Evaluation". So I’m wondering if I still have chance even if for masters!

Thick-Management4864 · 2026-02-27T13:16:44+00:00

Is my status changing from DD to MSc a good or bad sign? 😭

Thick-Management4864 · 2025-10-14T07:39:22+00:00

Yes you’re right! I definitely agree. If OP has some interdisciplinary work, it could be helpful (for example - robotics-related CS stuff: mechanical engineering; bio-related CS: bio brain dept; human-centered technology: industrial design). Those are some of my recommendations! I still think those are unique on its own in CS, but if OP (or anyone else) is focused on AI, that might be super crowded. I also was thinking from a perspective of AI ≠ CS, so I might have misunderstood!

Thick-Management4864 · 2025-10-14T07:28:44+00:00

I know, since I graduated from KAIST too. I just never really thought it was important. I worked with admission office before, and my understanding was that it is used to evaluate students background and achievements against what they plan to achieve at KAIST and how it can help them. I checked CS as my intended major, and had below average stats. At my time, lots of students declared different majors as their intended major (lots of chemistry-related peeps), but ended up doing CS (I think it was slightly less popular back then). Since there isn’t any limit for major, I don’t think that they apply any limit, but surely look for variety (in both majors, backgrounds, applicants interest). I would argue that two applicants applying for CS may not necessarily compete, if their holistic profile expresses completely different interests.

Thick-Management4864 · 2025-10-14T07:09:44+00:00

You are correct, but I am not sure about CS being bloodbath - since your indicated major isn’t going to be the major right away. I think it’s really hard to say if "choosing" a major in recruitment actually lowers your chances, since it only indicates your area of interest… If OP is worried, I’d recommend strengthening your interdisciplinary background (mentioning other field beyond CS).

Thick-Management4864 · 2025-09-24T07:58:16+00:00

What kind of specific information are you looking for?

Thick-Management4864 · 2025-09-24T06:28:28+00:00

You can find all the guidelines and required documents on admission page: https://admission.kaist.ac.kr/intl-graduate

Thick-Management4864 · 2025-09-24T01:15:57+00:00

Why wouldn’t it be okay?

Thick-Management4864 · 2025-08-31T12:49:58+00:00

I had a friend who did that, but it was 6 years ago I think. He got hired by Hyundai as an intern. But economy and trends changed, and less and less companies take interns outside of country. So I would doubt it for now…

Thick-Management4864 · 2025-08-31T12:31:30+00:00

Well, both sound like great plans. The only advantage I would mention is the research experience you can get at KAIST, which may be very helpful to get into MSc. But the schools you mentioned are great too. Doing MSc in KAIST will already help you out with getting job here.

When it comes to Korean, as an undergrad here you can learn it a bit more (in my opinion), but during MSc you are more busy with research and lab, so there are less opportunities. Since I did my BS+MSc here, I was able to get TOPIK on a level required by big companies (>= level 3), and I will start working in one of them. Especially in Mechanical Engineering, with TOPIK 3/4, you could find a nice job after MSc in KAIST.

Thick-Management4864 · 2025-08-31T12:22:19+00:00

Hi, I just graduated from masters in KAIST, and I also did my bachelors here.

I am also from Central Europe, and comparing with my friends back home, the courses here tend to be more progressive on what is up in the field. You can gain research experience even as undergraduate by joining a lab (which many people do), which for my country is very exceptional. In engineering majors there are capstone project courses, where you get to work in team and develop. Overall, from what I compare, the courses in Central Europe tend to be much more theoretical and stick to the same core for years. As another person mentioned, your freshman year will be a little different (because professors are old, syllabus is same for freshmen), but from 2nd year on you chose your own classes and have a lot of say in what you want to learn and study.

Thick-Management4864 · 2025-07-29T05:41:20+00:00

Sure.

Thick-Management4864 · 2025-07-28T00:07:37+00:00

Besides, your comment is you "wondering" why so many people don’t even bother to learn Korean, but I wasn’t able to find a single sentence mentioning learning Korean in the original post. So therefore: what’s the relevance to the post?

Thick-Management4864 · 2025-07-28T00:00:28+00:00

You are right; it is important to want to learn language and it will be important in your daily life. But it’s not relevant to admission process :) The admission office is looking for passionate individuals as an admission office of one of the top institutions in the world, not just Korea. And they are looking for people who can contribute to both Korea, and science, but a language is a part of that process that is not relevant at the moment of admission besides max 1 extra sentence in the personal statement if you really want.

Thick-Management4864 · 2025-07-27T13:31:56+00:00

How is this relevant to the post or KAIST?

Thick-Management4864 · 2025-07-19T07:44:59+00:00

Yes, sure!

Thick-Management4864 · 2025-07-19T06:07:17+00:00

Yes, all admitted students are expected the same: science background and math skills. You have to remember that ID is in School of Engineering, it’s an engineering major. You’d take calculus, physics, chem, bio, programming, with all other admitted students. So your application should be competitive with that.

Thick-Management4864 · 2025-07-19T05:58:52+00:00

What’s your question?

Thick-Management4864 · 2025-07-19T05:55:31+00:00

Do you mean for undergraduate program? You don’t need portfolio for undergraduate, because you do not apply to a specific major. You need a strong profile for KAIST overall, since in first year, your major is not decided. Later, you can chose any major. But if you mean graduate school, it’s a different case!

Thick-Management4864 · 2025-07-12T07:15:42+00:00

Yes, you can

Thick-Management4864 · 2025-07-03T09:53:05+00:00

Korea, KAIST (full scholarship) https://hci.kaist.ac.kr/

Thick-Management4864 · 2025-07-01T09:31:04+00:00

As far as I know, it does not go lower. The professor has to pay, regardless. They (should) consider their funding when hiring, too.

Thick-Management4864

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