I’m an Indian national and I was educated in my home country for the first ten years of my academic life. In my GCSE equivalent examination (Grade 10) I had all A’s and A*'s with a single B in Biology. After this I decided to complete my further education abroad, to broaden my experiences, and I was awarded a fully funded scholarship at a leading British school.
However, I still had to take care of my own expenses (namely examination fees and extras like clothing, travel, etc) and coming from a poor family I utilized my work permit to work in bars, hotels and did various casual jobs (sometimes for 8 hours a day) to support myself which I believe had an impact on my academic record. During my two years in the UK I also served under Her Majesty’s Coastguards starting as a VHF Radio Operator and I left service as the Officer In Charge of my team.
My primary passion was engineering (especially aviation) from age 10. I founded an Engineering Society in the UK during which time I worked on a supersonic rocket and built and flew drones. With regard to these endeavors I also completed two courses on Edx from the University of Queensland and from the Technische Universität München. Besides Edx, I have been interested in and completed aviation related courses from the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association and the Federal Aviation Administration over the past couple of years.
I have also been interested in Peace and Conflict studies and have 3 certificate courses from the United States Institute of Peace (completed online). I’ve also had 2 articles published in National Science magazines authored by me on topics of aviation.
All in all, I wish to apply to US universities where I can pursue significant research on my subject and I’m also intending to apply for need based financial aid.
My A levels are - A in Mathematics, B in Physics and C in Further Mathematics.
ACT Score - 33
SAT Subject Tests - 730 Math II, 750 Physics, 720 Chemistry.
All I want to do in the future is to be of some support to landing humans on Mars. Realizing my dream is going to be difficult but I am not willing to surrender to my circumstances.
P.S - I have an offer with the University of Glasgow to study Aeronautical Engineering (MEng) but it has become really difficult for me to get an appropriate amount of financial aid.
I’ll be really glad if you could point me in the right direction. My financial circumstances are pretty dire and I would need an almost full ride, spending less than $1000 a year.