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Shamma Al Ketbi

Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics, Statistics, and Data Science

United States · American, GPA 3.9 with AP Statistics · IELTS 8.5

Interviewed 2 November 2026 at 2:42 · 6 min

Summary

Shamma shows a strong, self-driven interest in applied mathematics, grounded in a real regression project and a student math circle. Shamma's answers on the field and on leadership were specific, while the reasons for choosing Khalifa University were more general.

Check before deciding

  • The regression blog project and the school workshop are self-reported and could be verified with a portfolio or reference.
  • Shamma's reasons for choosing Khalifa University were general, so the committee may wish to ask about specific programs or faculty.

Admissions assessment

Band 4 Advanced

67% confidence · level 1.2 ± 0.5

  1. Band 526%
  2. Band 467%
  3. Band 37%
  4. Band 20%
  5. Band 10%

After 6 items the engine's hypothesis was Band 4 (61%). It then asked one item from a random band, Band 3, where an applicant at the hypothesis level has a 83% chance of answering correctly. The applicant answered right, as the hypothesis predicted. Three more items followed. The final band is Band 4, so the hypothesis was confirmed.

2/3English
4/4Quantitative reasoning
2/3Science reasoning
  1. 1B3✓
  2. 2B4✓
  3. 3B4✗
  4. 4B3✓
  5. 5B4✗
  6. 6B3✓
  7. 7B3✓
  8. 8B5✓
  9. 9B3✓
  10. 10B4✓

Probe items 1 to 6, random-band check item 7, then affirm items. Bands come from the difficulty each question was written for and are not yet calibrated on KU applicants.

Integrity

Clear

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Khalifa University interview criteria

  1. Proficiency in English communication

    4/5

    Shamma communicated clearly and fluently across the interview, with some filler words but no real breakdowns in meaning.

    “So I started looking at the numbers, and then I realised maths was the thing that made the numbers make sense.”

    Shamma, in the interview

  2. Familiarity with the relevant profession

    4/5

    Shamma described the core workflow of cleaning data, modelling, and explaining results, and tied it to a real regression project, though Shamma was unsure how the explanation step works in jobs.

    “I think they work with messy data, like, a lot of it, and they clean it first, because it's never clean.”

    Shamma, in the interview

  3. Commitment to pursue a professional degree program

    4/5

    Shamma has sustained, self-initiated work in the field through a blog, a math circle, and a school workshop, showing a clear pattern of commitment.

    “For my blog I wanted to know if strike rate at the death overs was actually more useful than economy rate for predicting who wins.”

    Shamma, in the interview

  4. Reasons for choosing Khalifa University

    3/5

    Shamma gave several reasons for choosing Khalifa University, but they were fairly general and did not reference specific programs, faculty, or facilities.

    “It's a research university, and I like that the work is connected to real problems, not only theory.”

    Shamma, in the interview

  5. Evaluation of potential leadership capabilities

    4/5

    Shamma started a workshop without being asked and ran a math circle, describing a concrete change in method and its results, with a clear personal role.

    “So I started asking everyone to explain their method out loud, and at first it was awkward, like really awkward, but after a few weeks people got better at it.”

    Shamma, in the interview

Full transcript

19 turns
  1. Nura

    Hi Shamma, I'm Nura, and I'll be doing your Khalifa University admissions interview today. It takes about six minutes and there are no trick questions. To start, what first got you interested in Applied Mathematics, Statistics, and Data Science?

  2. Shamma

    Um, okay. So I think it started with basketball, actually. I was watching a game and the commentator said some guard had a really good shooting percentage, and I thought, wait, how do they even calculate that, and what does it really tell you? So I started looking at the numbers, and then I realised maths was the thing that made the numbers make sense.

  3. Nura

    What does someone with that degree actually do day to day?

  4. Shamma

    Hmm. I think they work with messy data, like, a lot of it, and they clean it first, because it's never clean. Then they build models to find patterns, and then they have to explain the results to people who are not mathematicians. I think that last part is important, but I'm not totally sure how it works in real jobs yet.

  5. Nura

    Can you give me one specific example from your own work?

  6. Shamma

    Okay, yes. For my blog I wanted to know if strike rate at the death overs was actually more useful than economy rate for predicting who wins. So I pulled about four seasons of match data, and I had to fix a lot of missing entries first. I ran a simple regression, and the result was kind of surprising, so I wrote a whole post about why, and I think that was my favourite thing I did.

  7. Nura

    Outside of class, what else have you done toward this field?

  8. Shamma

    So besides the blog, I run the math circle at my school. We meet every week and we do problem sets, but also like, small projects. Last term we did a project on probability in board games, which was honestly a lot of fun, even though some people got bored with it.

  9. Nura

    What did you find hardest about leading that group?

  10. Shamma

    Honestly, getting people to show their working. Some students just want the answer, and they skip the reasoning. So I started asking everyone to explain their method out loud, and at first it was awkward, like really awkward, but after a few weeks people got better at it.

  11. Nura

    Why Khalifa University, and not another university?

  12. Shamma

    Um, a few reasons. It's a research university, and I like that the work is connected to real problems, not only theory. Also it's in Abu Dhabi, which is a place I've never been, so that's exciting for me. I also want to be somewhere that has a diverse group of students, and I think that matters for data science too.

  13. Nura

    Can you tell me about a time you took the first step on something, without anyone asking you to?

  14. Shamma

    Yes, okay. In my school, the maths department didn't have any data analysis course, so I wrote a proposal for a short workshop on Python for statistics. Nobody asked me to. I was nervous to present it to the teachers, because I thought they would say no, but they said yes.

  15. Nura

    How did the workshop go, and what did you learn from it?

  16. Shamma

    It went okay, I think. Only about eight people came the first time, and my code had a bug in the first session, which was embarrassing. But by the end, a few of them were making their own small projects. What I learned is that I should check my examples before the session, not during it.

  17. Nura

    Is there anything you'd like the committee to know about you that we haven't covered?

  18. Shamma

    Hmm, yeah. I think I'm a bit of a perfectionist, which can be good, but also I spend too much time on small details. I'm working on that. I just want the committee to know that I really care about getting things right, and I'm willing to keep learning.

  19. Nura

    Thank you, Shamma, that's all we have time for today. Best of luck with your application, and I hope you have a great rest of your day.