Each applicant must show proof of English language ability by providing valid certificate copies of either of the following:

• TOEFL iBT with a minimum total score of 90
• IELTS Academic with a minimum overall score of 6.5
• EmSAT English with a minimum score of 1550

TOEFL iBT and IELTS academic certificates are valid for two (2) years from the date of the exam while EmSAT results are valid for eighteen (18) months. Only standard versions (i.e. conducted at physical test centers) of the accepted English language proficiency exams will be considered.

Waiver requests from eligible applicants who are citizens (by passport or nationality) of UK, USA, Australia, and New Zealand who completed their studies from K-12 until bachelor’s degree and master’s degree (if applicable) from those same countries will be processed. They need to submit notarized copies of their documents during the application stage and attested documents upon admission. Waiver decisions will be given within seven days after receiving all requirements.

A general test certificate is optional and submitting one will be considered a plus during the evaluation.

In an 800-word essay, explain why you would like to pursue a graduate degree at MBZUAI and include the following information:

• Motivation for applying to the university
• Personal and academic background and how it makes you suitable for the program you are applying for stand-out achievements, e.g. awards, distinction, etc
• Goals as a prospective student
• Preferred career path and plans after graduation
• Any other details that will support the application

Applicants will be required to nominate referees who can recommend their application. M.Sc. applicants should have a minimum of two (2) referees wherein one was a previous course instructor or faculty/research advisor and the other a previous work supervisor.

To avoid issues and delays in the provision of the recommendation, applicants have to inform their referees of their nomination beforehand and provide the latter's accurate information in the online application portal. Automated notifications will be sent out to the referees upon application submission.

Selected applicants will be invited to participate in an entry exam that will include questions related to the following topics:

• Math: Basic math questions related to calculus, probability theory, linear algebra, and optimization

M.Sc. applicants are recommended to read about these topics especially on how they are related to machine learning. Online research is encouraged, for instance, searching for “linear algebra for machine learning” on YouTube for useful video lectures. In addition, they can find courses on sites like Coursera, Udemy, and many others. Applicants are encouraged to review as many resources as possible. The following website is recommended for mathematics for machine learning: https://mml-book.github.io

• Machine learning: No previous background is needed for M.Sc. applicants.

• Programming

M.Sc. applicants will be asked basic programming questions. Most questions are in Python but the specific language is not a problem since the questions are algorithmic rather than language-specific. Basic understanding about different data structures such as Arrays, Stacks, Queues, etc is important. In addition, it is also important to read about different programming algorithms such as sorting and searching algorithms, and complexity. MSc applicants will be asked questions which require finding the output of a piece of code, finding the problem/error in a short code, and finding the code which performs a specific task.

The exam instructions are available here.
A general admission interview with the Office of Student Affairs will follow.