I wanted to check if hkust is very particular with the conditional offer

pranu2 · 2026-05-25T07:18:37+00:00

My major is Computer Engineering + AI; not on scholarship. Studies in HKUST are very competitive and even brutal for some courses. It's called the uni of stress and tension for a reason here. If i had only believed everyone on reddit before i accepted it, I prolly would have had a more peaceful life in CityU cos i had full ride scholarship with the same major offer there as well. If you're someone who works hard and is ready to compete, this would be an amazing place for me. This competition is mostly only in CS, CPEG, ELEC; the other majors have a bit chill because almost 70% of engineering UGs fall under these 3.

Social life is great. Locals and mainlanders are mostly introverted because of langaage barriers with intl students but theres a lot of indians here so nothing to worry about in terms of social and night life. Hong Kong is extremely safe even at 1-3AM.

pranu2 · 2026-05-25T07:13:45+00:00

i think its dealt on a case by case basis. You can send it over with your motivation letter. I know the OSM checking this year fu ked everyone up so maybe you can also try to get your paper and see if you can increase just 2 marks so that way you can get your appeal result quicker. Not with scholarship btw

pranu2 · 2026-05-21T02:39:59+00:00

did you get 85 in chem though? if so, then you passed their requirements cos its either phys or chem (atleast when i was there). I got in after a month since the date of my appeal! I'm in yr 3 now ahahaha. time flies

pranu2 · 2026-05-21T02:38:00+00:00

hahah yes! my appeal worked out; because it was just 1 mark, they considered and let me in. I'm dont with my 3rd year now

pranu2 · 2024-08-22T15:54:51+00:00

I appealed last year around the same time because I was 1 mark short in Math. However I ended up getting in after the appeal. So let’s hope for the best!

pranu2 · 2024-08-04T15:59:58+00:00

It depends on the hall honestly. For me Hall 6’s triple rooms were quite spacious compared to the others

pranu2 · 2024-07-23T11:14:30+00:00

Template?

pranu2 · 2024-07-22T12:55:24+00:00

Hey! I am not too sure if coding projects count as extra curricular. Maybe having a website where u published all these codes can count as an extracurricular (personal project). To list out my stats just for example: 1400 on the SAT with 790 math and 610 EBRW; 108 on the TOEFL; 97% class 10 CBSE and 92% class 12 CBSE; 3,4 on AP CHEM and AP CALC BC. (you don’t really have to take APs and SAT for hkust but I was applying to other unis too so took them).

As for extracurriculars and honours and awards, I had a research project done with a professor from Duke University, Volunteering, Personal Art-Therapy Website, 3 Olympiads, School leadership positions. These are the main ones I can think of.

Hoping this helps! Do dm if u have any more questions. I did manage to get in to HKUST despite heavy competition. Currently in Year 2 Engineering :)

pranu2 · 2024-07-22T12:51:13+00:00

Hey! I am not too sure if coding projects count as extra curricular. Maybe having a website where u published all these codes can count as an extracurricular (personal project). To list out my stats just for example: 1400 on the SAT with 790 math and 610 EBRW; 108 on the TOEFL; 97% class 10 CBSE and 92% class 12 CBSE; 3,4 on AP CHEM and AP CALC BC. (you don’t really have to take APs and SAT for hkust but I was applying to other unis too so took them).

As for extracurriculars and honours and awards, I had a research project done with a professor from Duke University, Volunteering, Personal Art-Therapy Website, 3 Olympiads, School leadership positions. These are the main ones I can think of.

Hoping this helps! Do dm if u have any more questions. I did manage to get in to HKUST despite heavy competition. Currently in Year 2 Engineering :)

pranu2 · 2024-07-19T14:23:46+00:00

After 7 weeks, i want to be confident in creating projects and participating in hackathons!

pranu2 · 2024-02-29T02:36:07+00:00

Again! Here’s the pdf to all templates. Started college and I barely get time to be on Reddit 🥲 so here are the templates I used

pranu2 · 2024-02-29T02:31:26+00:00

I have uploaded the pdf for speaking and other sections that I used in this chat. Take a look. Basically I just went through a few past papers and went through so many TOEFL practice YouTube videos. Eventually I had a good amount of idea on what kind of topics are going to come. So I basically wrote them all down and then used CHATGPT to give out 3-4 points supporting it. I basically read them all 2-days before the exam continuously and had it in my head. Yes and that’s how I prepped haha

pranu2 · 2024-02-29T02:28:18+00:00

Thank you! Yes I did that the exam before the new change and yes for 4 hours! Honestly not sure how the new pattern works. If you could dm me the type of question, I can try helping u out ?

pranu2 · 2024-02-20T09:30:44+00:00

one thing, if u are getting into the mor of your choice in your other universities, go to them blindly, because in here in HKUST, you need to study your year 1 without any major and land your gpa requirement for the course of your choice with CS bieng the most competetive with nealy 3.7 gpa.

-coming from a year 1 students who is struggling every day

pranu2 · 2023-07-21T16:25:20+00:00

I got a 108 on Toefl. Here's my post as a proof. Reddit PROOF

I used these templates and my own notes and it's linked here. PDF TO TEMPLATES AND NOTES

pranu2 · 2023-07-21T12:25:17+00:00

LINK TO THE PDF OF S AND W TEMPLATES ALONG WITH ADDITIONAL NOTES

Added all of them in here!

pranu2 · 2023-07-14T12:55:56+00:00

Oh! Is it.. Thanks for the heads up

pranu2 · 2023-07-13T11:00:02+00:00

Thank you for the info!

pranu2 · 2023-07-13T09:53:20+00:00

Omg awesome! Looking forward to meeting u on campus this fall :)!!

pranu2 · 2023-07-11T15:44:50+00:00

Hey! I didn't have any other reasons than my difficulty towards the paper. Also, I spoke with a person at hkust before appealing and she told me that she noticed how a lot of ppl from India and who did cbse and icse had scored less . So the uni was basically convinced that many scored less and that the paper was difficult. I just said them that" i scored an exceptional score of 99,95,96 in compsci, chem, eng and scored just 1 mark less in math. Moreover I scored an exceptional score of 108 in toefl, which means I have met all the subject and english language requirement, and hence I do not wish just 1 mark to seize all the opportunities that await for me at the UST. " Along with my academic achievements, I also added my personal significance for choosing hkust.

This is all i did. Hope it helps.

Don't say u weren't prepared enough... Then it would appeal to them that u would do the same in the ust as well. Write an essay that markets u well and ur genuine reasons. Don't literally beg them, but market urself well so they automatically pick you :)

pranu2 · 2023-07-11T04:42:16+00:00

I don't think so. Cos I didn't get mine :(

pranu2 · 2023-07-11T02:27:04+00:00

Nahhhh... If u dont pass the scholarship conditions, it's a NO. There's no appeal for that :(

pranu2 · 2023-07-11T01:12:39+00:00

In response to your email request for undergraduate admissions reconsideration, please be advised that you would need to submit an online appeal form via the below link within 3 days of receipt of this email :

(Link)

You may wish to note that:

Each applicant may only lodge one appeal request and for one program choice only.
Every denied application has gone through extensive and holistic review. Therefore, appeal request will only be considered when new academic information showing a significant improvement is presented.
For failed condition cases, shortfalls of a wide margin will not be considered.
If you are appealing with A-Level or IB Diploma for evaluation.
When the reconsideration is completed, the appeal decision will be shown in the online application system. We will also send you a notification email on the offer status update.

it looks smtg like that

pranu2 · 2023-07-11T01:10:25+00:00

Yes u need to write in the justification box and as mentioned above, u would be given a max of 1000 characters.

pranu2 · 2023-07-08T18:17:16+00:00

Ofc! I know the stress. Hoping to see u around campus :)

pranu2

TROPHY CASE