Hi, I am an Afghan by nationality and living in Pakistan, Peshawar now. I have completed my college here (as high school there) and looking for admission into any US university that will offer me full ride or full tuition. My grades are pretty good here. I dont know how to calculate GPA as we dont have GPA here. We have percentage system here.
In 9th and 10th I scored 92.9% and 87.8%
In 11th it was comparatively low: 84.9% and I am still waiting for my 12th result which is expected in mid August.
I am looking for major in computer science… Do I have any chance at any US university which will offer me full scholarship if I clear SAT/ACT and TOEFL with good percentile or should I not waste my time on looking for US university which will offer me what I am looking for. Advice and opinions needed. Thanks
It’s hard to say without any SAT/ACT scores. But think about it like this: Are you one of the most qualified young representatives in your country to receive a full scholarship to a US college? It’s EXTREMELY difficult to get a full ride to a university here, let alone to a university that is really strong in a computer science filed, such as Stanford or Duke? That being said, take your SAT and ACT’s and score around a 1400 or so. That will give you a big boost in your application. Again, full rides are almost unheard of, but if you have some major hooks in your application (family struggles, turbulence throughout childhood, etc) then you may have a shot. But try not to go into this shooting for the full ride. Go into it shooting for the admission, with the scholarship to follow. And also, it depends on the university. Some universities have decent but not great computer science programs in which you could probably get a full ride to, but the education won’t be necessarily amazing, whereas a place like Duke will likely never give a full ride and is extremely difficult to get into, but has an incredible computer science program. So again, SAT’s and ACT’s in the 1450+ and 32+ range are a must, and the choice of school is paramount as well.
Full scholarships for international students are very rare. I do know one but she was a music performance major.
Thank you for the detailed input. I have been researching about SAT and ACT lately and I think I can get around 1400 but what I heard was getting full rides at US universities require more than 1500. Secondly I am okay with the computer science being decent and not too good as long as they can offer me full financial aid. I am sure they will be better than the majority of Asian schools.
And yes I have been through lots and lots of turbulence as an Afghan. Lots of difficulties in getting to the stage where I am. Political hardness involved too. Will that hook up my application?
Yes, it will be a hook, but a hook without good academic stats gets you nowhere. Colleges won’t focus too much on your GPA because the quality of grading is drastically different between countries. They want to see a high ACT/SAT score because all students are held to the same standard.
Come back and ask again once you have your standardized test scores, otherwise, we have no real idea how academically competitive you are.
Thank you RMNiMiTz. Do you know of any online websites where I can give a demo SAT or ACT test. Since I can not give the test now. I would like to give a practice test to see how competitive I am as you said…
@NihalAhmad - first - because you will be applying next year - you will need to show some good work during the “gap” year. Second - just do an online search for SAT ACT tests - some sites have actual previous tests and some have practice tests. Third - International admissions to US universities, especially the popular ones, is very limited - like 10% of the total admissions is for International applicants - which means 90% for US applicants, 10% for rest of the world. So, you have to add to your resume to show why you should be one of those select few (remember you are competing with people with perfect stats - people who prepare for college from the day they are born etc!). Fourth - applications are expensive - usually 50 - 100$ per college - unless you can get fee waivers - check with college board and / or each college. Fifth - full ride is very hard to get - to my knowledge only very few universities offer full rides to Internationals - and those are usually very selective. Last - having said all that - don’t lose hope - US has over 3000 universities - I am sure one of them will work out for you.
@NihalAhmad Khan Academy has a ton of free SAT tests. Take a few of those, and they will tell you where you stand, since they themselves are the actual tests
I agree with the others in that in order to be eligible for receiving a full ride scholarship, you should improve your SAT score to at least 1500 or higher. That said, if you can do that and improve your ECs you can get some full ride scholarships from a lot of state schools in the US. I don’t think I can list a bunch here, but I do think if you search them up, you will find some. As far as I know, the University of Oklahoma, the University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa), and the the University of Texas at Dallas give full ride scholarships to students who perform well in school and on standardized tests. That said, there may be other requirements for these scholarships such as being instate or being a domestic student, so you should double-check on that.
@NihalAhmad
There should be an official practice test on the official sites of the relevant exams. As already mentioned in this thread, Khan Academy is useful for the SAT.
I have completed my high school with physics, chemistry and biology. Didnt study math. So I will be studying math of 1st and 2nd year during the gap year… Regarding good work as you mentioned in the gap year, what exactly do you mean? Are you refering to extracurriculars? If you are more specific, I will greatly appreciate that
@NihalAhmad - try doing research, internship, community service etc during the gap year - add to resume both academically and otherwise.
Does being an Afghan refugee in Pakistan boost my application? Will that be a major hook or not? I would like detailed input on this. Thanks
@NihalAhmad
Yes, it will be a major hook but at the end of the day, it’s only a hook. It will give you a boost, but you still need the academic stats to at least back yourself up.
Even if you are from Afghanistan, at the very end of the day, you are an international student seeking a full ride scholarship. That’s not very easy, even for academically gifted students.
Like I said earlier, come back when you have your standardized test scores (your GPA alone doesn’t really mean much because it isn’t standardized).
Don’t confuse full ride with full tuition. If you get a full tuition scholarship you still need to pay room, board, health insurance, travel, etc. I’ve heard people estimate this at $15k to $20k for internationals. Some of the schools people have mentioned give full tuition, not full rides. It is extremely difficult to get a full ride. You really need to be the best of the best.
I am okay with full tuition too. I think my family can afford my expenses.
How much SAT score do you think I need to get into a normal university with a decent and not too good computer science with full ride or full tuition?
1450 for a good university, 1400 at decent but not nationally known colleges.
@NihalAhmad - standardized tests are NOT the only thing needed to get accepted. However, if you want to see what the mid 50% scores are, please go to https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/