chance me:International undergraduate

Colleges and Universities A-Z Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1

<p>Hi everyone
I am so excited to write to you!!
So, I am Tunisian (Northern Africa-Arab-Below Italy).
And two months ago thanks to Amideast(USA EDUCATION CENTER) i've heard for the first time about the possibility of going to Study in the US.</p>

<p>And since Our family income can't be compared to the american lifestyle ,i've decided to aim high ,and have a shot at applying to the most selective colleges.
And to be honnest I've always dreamt to go to MIT .</p>

<p>So, as for my capabilities (which is a bit hard to translate to the american educational system) let me first tell you that english is my THIRD language after arabic and french and i speak german too.</p>

<p>Ok ,the Sat , I haven't took it yet but a practise site offers a predicatble minimum score, all i had to do was having a diagnostic in the 3 sections and then practise for two hours, and
i received a minimum score of 2200: 780Math-720 Reading-700Writing,
but i know that with some practise i could have 2300+ easily.</p>

<p>As for my academics i am the top of my pionner high scholl(top 3 HS in the country) ,and my GP varies from 90 -94 (i have to say compared to my country HS my school is pretty competitive), and in my senior school (that's when i and my peers start work seriously i could have 97/100).</p>

<p>As for my extra-curricular activities i play chess ,tennis, and MAth olympiads in addition to mathematical games,(top in the country and going to compete in the international in france with great chances).I have many other extra-currilcular activitites but didn't have a good position .</p>

<p>SO, i am still thinking of the essay and reading some books(HArry potter dan braown and sometimes shakespeare) Toefl llokks easy and the sat Subject tests i'll have to prepare the new english scientific vocabulary)</p>

<p>So as an international student :what are my chances at Mit or Princeton ?
and Thanks</p>

2

<p>just wonna add for EC’s
*could be in Model Un
*could get in the IMO 2012
*Going to the interantional mathematical games(hopefully:it’s easy)
*Kangoroo competition forst in the country</p>

<p>so what are my chances (SAt 2300+ possibly:easily)</p>

3

<p>I’m pretty sure you have seen the “not even me” thread by MITChris, so I won’t be pointing you to that thread but instead sum it up: no one can estimate your chance in admission, this includes Nostradamus too.</p>

<p>First of all, an 2200 is perfect for a non-native student. However there are 3 things you must note.

  1. The free tests on Collegeboard website, are a bit old as I remember. So some content may differ.
  2. On test day, the exam will seem a lot harder or a lot easier, depending on how you motivate yourself and keep your stress under control.
  3. You also need to take 2 SATIIs. One being SATII Math1 or SATII Math2, AND the other one being a SATII science test(Physics, Chemistry, Biology E or Biology M)</p>

<p>I’m pretty sure you’ll do a lot better on the SATI test day but SATIIs are as important if not more since you can also submit TOEFL instead of SATI.</p>

<p>Note that, your personal qualities and how much you used the opportunities around you, which would show up in the essays and the interview, are major factors too. By personal qualities, I mean your behaviour, decisions in life, your viewpoint etc…</p>

4

<p>…The International Math Olympiad is extremely difficult… If you can qualify or even get a medal, your chances will increase significantly.</p>

5

<p>Hi guys
thank you for answering
@Danny: i could get qualified next year (i missed this years chance:I got sick during the preparation stage) howevere there is the mathematical game to which i ma going and coulg get something
the problem is that in tunisia there isn’t much of clubs and international competitions recognized by the us
@Phoestre: i checked college board but the site i talked about is GROCKIT, i am buying the SAt official guide tomorow to start some practise later
As for SAt II i 'll need to learn the Physics vocabulary in english(in my country we learn it in French) that’s the challenge</p>

<p>All in All i’s not as if i wanted a percentage of chance i just wanted a moral lift
to know whether may dream has anything of concrete to knoow whether i am ever going to get a bit close to my everlasting dream</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

6

<p>Come on guys help me!!!
Do i even have a chance :what to do to increase it , and what about the interview there is no way i am going to travel to the us,besides there is no alumni in my whole country((i think so at least))!!</p>

7

<p>For the interview, you’ll probably find alumni in your country. If not, you can have an interview by phone, Skype, or just get your interview waived.</p>

<p>Just believe in yourself, and do everything you can to accomplish your dreams. You won’t loose anything if you applied and got rejected, but you’ll always regret it if you don’t apply.</p>

<p>For the essays, you could write about the revolution, if you participated in it :)</p>

<p>p.s. I’m from Egypt, and in a French school as well. I got admitted to the class of 2015!</p>

8

<p>I’ve just checked the EC directory, and last year we did have an EC in Carthage. There is of course no guarantee of how many Tunisian EC’s we will have in the admissions year coming. EC’s move and there is some turnover, but I would be very surprised if you did not have a Tunisian interviewer for MIT.</p>

9

<p>Well, to be honest; i never heard of a tunisian going to MIt our elite pupils go to france!!
At emadwilliam; of course i partcipated in it but i am looking for a subject that engulfs the whole situation in tunisia before and after the revolution how one man chnaged the world and from there talk about opportunities and I HOPE BEING A TUNISIAN WILL BE AN ADVANTAGE I HOPE that at least they know where tunisia is!!!</p>

10

<p>Of course, it is just next to Japan! Sssh, they even know where Atlantis is!!</p>

<p>:D</p>

<p>Just kidding but really don’t stress yourself. Admission Officers aren’t random people selected from a group of uneducated wild people.</p>

<p>Plus, thanks to the revolutions in the mideast, everybody knows them very well know.</p>

11

<p>You should really think of applying broadly and not just focus on MIT or other elite schools. Admission for internationals at MIT is extremely competitive even more so than for US nationals. MIT does not really reserve spots for certain counties or regions although it could help somewhat to be applying from a country with few prior applicants such as Tunisia. I actually know several Tunisians who went to MIT but in all cases they were graduate students who attended engineering schools in France such as Polytechnique. I will try to find their names and emails and PM them to you. One of them could probably act as your EC. If necessary, an MIT EC will do the interview by phone. </p>

<p>Don’t underestimate the SATs and you may even want to plan to take it more than once. It is never as easy as in practice. </p>

<p>You will be surprised about how much MIT admissions will know about your school system and your relative merit when reviewing your application. The EC and other sources at their disposal will ensure they give it a fair review. Don’t assume they will believe that every applicant from Tunisia necessarily comes an underprivileged background. All the Tunisians I knew studying in France came from upper-middle class backgrounds with parents in the administration or working for big international corporations. If you really did have to overcome major challenges in your education make sure to cover that. If the “Arab Spring” affected you you can of course cover that but again it only lasted a few months so it is not as if you couldn’t go to school for a year. </p>

<p>If you want to rely on the IMO to give you a boost for your application you will need to go beyond the initial national level where everybody can participate and qualify for the international level. The IMO in Tunisia is comparable to the AMC in the US which is not a big deal. If you become a member of the Tunisian IMO team that would be different. Last year, one of the members of the Tunisian Team (Amine Marrakchi) got a Silver medal and he is now at IHEC Carthage. I believe that in Tunisia most IMO team members come from the Ecoles Preparatoires which makes it tough for regular high school applicants like you. </p>

<p>Again, don’t fixate on MIT. There are many good colleges in the US and a number of them offer scholarships even to internationals. You also have excellent schools like McGill which are much cheaper than US private colleges.</p>