Type of high school (current college for transfers): Public High school
Gender/Race/Ethnicity (optional): Middle Eastern / North African
Other special factors (first generation to college, legacy, athlete, etc.): No
Intended Major(s)
CS/ Engineering
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
Unweighted HS GPA: 93.6% G11 - Very good G10 (didn’t give us grades) - 96.7% G9
Class Rank: top 10%
ACT/SAT Scores: 33 ACT Superscore (36 E, 34 M, 28 R, 32 S) plan on retaking if I don’t get in ED
IELTS: 7.5 overall (6.5 Writing, 7.5 Speaking, 8 Listening, 8.5 Reading)
Coursework
Standard Thanaweya Amma (Highschool system) for the majority of Egyptians. AP classes aren’t offered. Awards
Finalist in EOI
Finalist in IYMC
took QubitXQubit (Quantum computing course) by IBM
1st place winner of a state-level competition - Computer section
Extracurriculars
Competitive Programming (C++) Participated in contests and expert in CodeForces.
2.3D Art/Job - Worked as a freelancer for a couple months which changed my life (this alongside Robotics are talked about in my essay)
Robotics team leader.
Chess (1800 rated in chess.com) play in free-time.
Game Development, Self taught, middle school. created games for me and my friends to play
Quantum Computing
YYAS summer program
I’ll probably fill the rest with random stuff I remember
Essays/LORs/Other
currently working on it, getting help from great students from MIT - Stanford and other great schools. very grateful. I’m told it’s decent so far so I suppose 8/10?
Cost Constraints / Budget
EFC <2K
Full need
Schools
ED: University of Rochester would love to get your opinions on this and whether there’s a better match for me - already interviewed and it went well.
For RD if I don’t get in:
Minerva lol
MIT
Macalester
Stanford
Vanderbilt
Dartmouth
Amherst
Union College
Williams
Wellesley
Cornell
Washu
Colby
-non US-
Waterloo, UofT, CMUQ, HKUST, KAIST, NYUAD
the list is all over the place but I’ll probably apply to a few “safer” schools. keep in mind I’ll probably (hopefully) have a better ACT score
Well…except for Minerva and the not US colleges, you have quite the long list of reach schools. In addition to being reaches for just about all applicants, most on your list are need aware for admissions for international students meaning your level of need is considered when your application is reviewed…and can be considered.
Find your couple of sure things for admission and do that now. You need those in place. It’s easy to find reach schools…not so easy to find sure things that are affordable that you like.
I have got a few on mind, besides everything is technically a “reach” since I’m intl and full need… anyhow what do you think my chances are for UofR? I know an Egyptian who got into UofR full need and he had similar stats, not sure how much has changed in 2 years tho
I do not know if Waterloo has full scholarships that cover 100% of the cost for international students. The last time that I checked (which was a while ago) the University of Toronto had a very small number of Lester B Pearson scholarships that do cover the full cost for a few international students. However, these are exceptionally competitive (probably on the level of “admissions to MIT or Stanford” competitive), and I am pretty sure that you need to be nominated by your high school. I am guessing that students ask their high school to do this.
Any of “Lester B Pearson scholarship”, or admissions to “MIT, Stanford” as an international student are the sort of thing that is tough if you are one of the top 2 or 3 students in your high school (and almost impossible otherwise unless you have something else that is very important). However, I do not know how your grades compare with others in your school system (93.6% probably would have been the #1 top student in my high school, and probably would not have been in my daughter’s high schools, although it is still very good).
To me it looks like there is a good chance that you will see a few rejections, and a few acceptances that are not affordable. I am hoping that you will also get at least one acceptance that is affordable for you (and preferably more than one).
Rochester might be one of your best chances for an affordable acceptance. Unfortunately I do not know it very well.
This is by far the most educated piece of advice I’ve received. Thank you! yeah I understand my chances aren’t great at Canada or the US. there hasn’t been a single student to travel to the us for undergrad in my school… usually people from my sort of background don’t apply to the international Universities, so yes my school would definitely nominate me. I don’t know my exact ranking but I wouldn’t be surprised if there are a few students higher than me. I do know I’m top 5% tho (commonapp only has 10% so I decided to write 5% in the form) I also agree that I will see many rejections. I don’t expect I’ll get an affordable acceptance but I can try. Thanks for your help once again
One quick question: Have you thought about whether to ask your high school to nominate you for a Lester B Pearson scholarship (at the University of Toronto)?
By the way, just an odd fact, but I am old enough to remember when Lester B. Pearson was Prime Minister of Canada.
I’ll look through scholarships and if I apply yea I’ll ask them to nominate me and they will, there is no chance they don’t because no one else applies