<p>(Sorry for title , Attending*)
Hi ,
It been a while since I started dreaming of attending a reputable american university and I finally decided to pursue this dream ,
I'm a 17 year-old boy from tunisia , I study in a pioneer school , more precisely Pioneer School of Ariana which is known as the best highschool in tunisia .
its acceptance rate is about 1% and my english teacher said that american univerisities became aware of that ( 5 or 6 pupils got accepted at ivy league universities with full scolarship , and one among them who is really exceptional got accepted in all of the ivy league universities)
My overall ranking is not really so good because of the incredible competition between pupils , i'm the 9th out of 30 pupils in my class , but I'm 1st in English and Computer Science (7th at maths and 5th at physics) . My overall is 15.74 out of 20 but since grades are lower in pioneer schools and the grading system is very different from USA , that could be considered as 3.9 or 4 GPA .
I'm very interested in technologies and my computer science teacher likes me a lot , I learned programming by myself and I program in multiple langages (C,C++,JAVA,PHP,JS,Pascal) , i participated in Facebook Hacker Cup , I qualified to the second round but I failed to continue , i will be participating in Google Codejam this month , I also participated in the Tunisian national programming Olympiad , and even though I messed up so much , I was ranked 26th out of 89 selected contestants from all over the country , but since i'm 17 years contrary to most contestants , I was selected for the tunisian national team of programming but i won't be able to participate in IOI 2013 , and I think I will rank among the top 3 next year .
I decided to sit for the SAT and try to get into a good american university . I have read many documents , and I think I could get : Math >= 760 / Critical Reading >= 700 / Essay >= 690
I'm also planning to sit for 4 subject tests and i expect to get those scores : French >= 790 / Spanish >= 630 / Chimestry >= 700 / Math Level 2 >= 700
I'm going to work hard during summer (improving my English level) and i will attend the SAT preparation courses given by AMIDEAST .
Also my english teacher promised to write a recommendation letter for me , and i will ask my computer science teacher to do so .
For my Extracurricular Activities , i'm going to mention my participation in both online and onsite contests , being part of the national team of programming , being part of the team that organized an event (Similar to a TEDX) , being a web developer that had 1 million page views for his website (but it's difficult to prove it) , i'm going to work in a company in summer (as a programmer) , i'm going to build a robot with a friend of mine and maybe attend an online course at edx.org .
So that's what I'm going to do and I will be grateful if you give me your opinion about it</p>
<p>Hey! I’m an international student too so just take my comment with a pinch of salt!
I think that it’s good that you have a focus (computer science) and you can use that to your advantage. However, I don’t think your scores are outstanding enough for a very good school. Your chances really depend on what schools you are thinking of. Good schools is a very vague phrase…
I think that it will be very hard for you to get a scholarship, or financial aid, considering your grades… Check with your parents to see if they are able to pay 60k American bucks x 4years for your American U education. (Lodging and food is inclusive)</p>
<p>Good luck to you! I’ll be going to college two years later so am really looking out for posts like this :)</p>
<p>I’d agree that it’d be hard to get a full ride, and maybe even an acceptance to an ivy. People with 10x your stats from our own country don’t even get in let alone get full rides, so it’s nothing against you personally. However, you should know that the ivy schools aren’t the only reputable institutions. A lot of states have their own flagships that people would kill to attend, like the University of Michigan, the University of Washington, the University of Pennsylvania, some Californian universities, etc. </p>
<p>Also, you can’t really estimate your score on an SAT until you practice at it. Have you? Because if you haven’t, (as in sitting for a mock version, taking old versions, or simply studying questions) then you can THINK you can score that high but not really get there. (Speaking from experience here) </p>
<p>And also, it’s good that you plan on working on your English over the summer. I study French and am going to study abroad there, so I know what’s it’s like. I’m going to be working my butt off, too, and I’m going to try and narrow in on these small mistakes I always make. I know how harsh it can seem, but some pointed direction can be helpful for you. </p>
<p>For example, you tend to not capitalize things, like I’m and American, and I see that you drops articles like the occasionally. These are very common things that people do, so it’s perfectly understandable. Have you tried going onto websites and working with native speakers of English? Lang8 .com is a really good one that I use for French. You could practice all 3 of your languages on there. Even if it’s just posting a random thought essay every day, people can read it and give you feedback that can help you. </p>
<p>Good luck, study hard, and don’t give up your dream! :)</p>
<p>I’m aware that ivy schools aren’t the only good universities , i would be so happy if I got accepted in schools you mentioned , I think I will apply to ivy schools but I haven’t said that I’m really aiming for it . But the problem is that I’m not sure that I will get accepted in universities like University of Washington , NY University , and even if I got accepted how would I manage to get money , I could pay no more than 10,000 $ per year (Salaries in Tunisia are way more lower than in USA) , can’t I get a financial help ? and if I work a part time job can I make it ?
And about grades that I expect , I tried some SAT preparation tests in math , and I found it very easy , I think I can score even more than 750 , I also saw some examples of 8/12 essays that seems not too hard but I can’t really judge before the end of summer . And french would be extremely easy for me since it’s my second language (english is my third language) and I speak it more fluently than english , I will be aiming for a perfect score , by the way , good luck studying french , it’s a beautiful but a little bit complicated language , it has so much irregular things .
Thanks to both of you , I’m still seeking for help though</p>
<p>It sounds like you’re a hard working student. If you do well on the SATs, SATII I’m sure a lot of schools would be interested in you. Of course, the big problem will be getting enough money to attend… Public universities (University of Washington, University of California, etc.) don’t fund international students, so don’t even waste your time applying. Focus on need-blind schools, and good private schools in less-popular parts of the US, such as the middle of the country. Because fewer students compete for their international financial aid, it could be easier to get something there. My recommendation would be to read this forum thoroughly… watch for posts from b@r!um, who knows a great deal about financial aid for international students, and who herself was studying here (at a very good LAC) with near full-financial aid.</p>
<p>Katliamom’s advice, above, is very sound.</p>
<p>Some problems with your post which are likely to cause confusion:
First, don’t say 15.74 out of 20 because in the US it means barely above the level which would get you kicked out of school. 
In reality, statistically, with that average, you’re in the top 0.5% in your country. (To get an idea of GPA transfer in American terms, divide/multiply by 3: an unweighted GPA of 4 equals a 12, an UW GPA of 9 = 3.00… Anything above 13 is outstanding, and a 15 average is astounding, almost unheard of. To give you an idea, McGill accepts a 10 + 3 subjects at 13 which corresponds for Americans to SATs in the 700s in 3 subjects.)
Most top schools will know what those grades mean but your counselor will need to explain all this carefully, using the proper vocabulary. You can’t just use reverso 
Second, your class is not “une classe”, “class” in English is “promo”, which means “everyone in your school at the same level”. I doubt there are only 30 seniors in your entire school. Your counselor will need to explain that the students in your school only include select students, since your program in the US would be called “magnet for academically gifted” and thus does not include “regular” kids, only kids who have been handpicked through a G/T type test (it’s very different being top 30% among a nationally-selected G/T cohort and top 30% in a high school, which in the US tends to mean “comprehensive” ie bacs g</p>
<p>Erm… sorry… (for the :3 or X3 moyenne<-> GPA), it should obviously read WEIGHTED GPA (not unweighted) :s - just realized the typo and can’t edit.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot , you relieved me .
with all due my respect to the others , you are the first to have understood my situation yet there are slight differences between french and tunisian educational system , indeed tunisian pupils don’t sit for the BAC until they’re 19 , so my BAC will be in June 2014 and since most US colleges’ application deadlines are in January and February , most of those who sat for SAT applied before sitting for the tunisian BAC otherwise they would have been automatically enrolled in a tunisian university in September . So I’m not going to sit for the BAC before applying to US colleges , I’m aiming for an average of 17 in BAC (I chose Maths branch) by the way . I also forgot to mention that in pioneer schools you need to get an arithmetic average of 12 in physics and maths combined , mine is now 17 but it was 15 the previous term. Also even though there are 15 or 16 pioneer high schools in tunisia (based on some estimations that I made there are 1% of each promotion are studying in a pioneer school) , mine is mainly considered as the best in Tunisia ( <a href=“https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_School_of_Ariana[/url]”>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_School_of_Ariana</a> ) . I think that if I were into a normal high school i would very easily get 17 and be among the 3 best pupils in the school (and maybe the first) , and please don’t think that i’m boasting , i’m just being rational .
I know that my EC are not “heavy” enough and that I haven’t tried a mock SAT test , but if I got the scores I mentioned earlier and based on my actual EC and school results , what are the universities that I could apply to (and I know it’s a little bit early but I just want to know how far could I go ) ?</p>
<p>Aren’t the exams divided into two years, with Literature, Latin (for science majors) or Science (for humanities majors) one year, and the specialty subjects + philosophy the last year?
In any case you’ll be judged under the “French-patterned system”.
It may be useful to take that AP French test if you can still register for it ( I’m afraid it might be too late though, the test’s on May 14).
Your counselor will have to fill out an International Supplement where s/he’ll be asked about your predicted grades. If they’re all in the 15-18 range, with 6=C, 9=B, 12=A, it should be clear you’re in the top 0.5% nationwide.
Be careful about the way you “translate” things - no more “15/20” to mean “A+ and national honors” (say “a score of 15”)… and you should be fine.
Right now, you MUST buy a prep book to prepare for the SAT - it’s multiple choice and like a race where you have to answer as many questions correctly as you can, then for the others cross out as many “wrong” answers as you can and pick among the remaining choices. If you don’t have an exam in June, register immediately for the June SAT (last day to do so is soon) and prepare for it. Then take the test again in November.
Have you taken the TOEFL? You should try to have 100 (90 at least), which is very difficult if you haven’t lived abroad. If you’ve taken the IELTS and scored 6.5 or 7 you’re fine, you don’t need to take the TOEFL.
Go to the CommonApp.org page and look at the essay prompts. Start working on them so that when you meet with your AMIDEAST counselor you can hit the ground running.
In order to apply to the truly “top” colleges, you need to be involved in research, science competitions, etc. Considering your school, you should be a prime candidate for the Maths and Science Olympiads. Check if your school registered and if so, make sure you register as a participant.
[url=<a href=“http://www.uan.edu.co/imo2013/en/]IMO2013-”>http://www.uan.edu.co/imo2013/en/]IMO2013-</a> Olimpiadas Matem</p>
<p>No , Tunisian Bac isn’t divided , for Maths branch , we sit for Mathematics , Physics (including Chimestry) , Natural Science (Biology + Geology) , Computer Science , Arabic , French , English , Philosophy and the fourth language (Spanish/German/Italian/Chinese) . all in one week (mid June of every year) . But grades are even more severe than French Bac . I’m waiting for the summer vacation to begin my preparation for the SAT , I will buy that blue book from Amideast and I’m going to spend all summer reading books (Charles Dickens novels maybe) and working on the prep book . and speaking of international contests , we’re required to participate in national Olympiads before going to the international scale and most national olympiads are held in march , so that’s already lost . I won’t be able to participate in IOI 2013 because I wasn’t ranked among the first four in the national olympiad (but believe me I was able to) , by the way the 2013 tunisian gold medalist of programming was accepted in MIT (though that hasn’t helped him when applying since it was too late) . I’m writing an essay for an international contest organised by UNESCO and I may be chosen by my english teacher to write an essay for a contest organised by an american association (I forgot its name) . I’m well ranked in French (5th) but my score is 13 since our french teacher tends to be so severe , I’m 2nd in Spanish with a score of 18 , I have an average of 15 in philosophy , I also had 15 in Islamic thinking (It would seem strange to you but it’s close to philosophy) . I have an average of 20 in computer science (Although it’s pretty difficult , I hope to have an annual average of 20) , I have 17.25 in Physics (including Chimestry) and 17 in Maths , Arabic/History/Geography (12.5/11.5/13) are my worst grades but I haven’t deserved them .
I want to major in Electronic Engineering because I’m fond of robotics and an ideal college for me is a college that enables its students to be part in research and that tends to innovate in learning methods .</p>