This is a copy/paste of a post I made my post in Princeton university because I just found out this board.
Hello!
I’m a Tunisian national, I’m basically gathering as much information as I can before taking the plunge and start applying.
I truly admire places such as Princeton and I think if you wouldn’t aim high, you’re probably going to end up somewhere low.
Lets talk academics, the Tunisian schooling system have big differences than the US’s, I attend a regular high school in Tunisia and I’m in my junior year, studying Computer Sciences (One of the five majors available in Tunisian high schools), I’m the top of my class. Similar to the GPA, we use something called “averages” (rough translation), my average is about 16.5 out of 20, I speak 3 languages fluently, english is my third language after arabic and french, I do speak a little Italian and I’m trying to get the basics of russian in my spare time.
As for the SATs, I’m planning to start preparing for them in the next couple of weeks, I did the Practice Test offered on the college board website and I scored of 2070 (first time taking the test with little practice before, I’m more than certain i’ll be able to score much more with practice and preparation.) The scientific Subject tests look in reach and the TOEFL seem rather easy.
For my non-academic activities, one of them is the fact that I’m the founder of the Computer Club in my high school. I do also play sports and play local tournaments of chess once in a while.
That is basically it, what do you think of my chances aiming for the Ivy leagues (especially Princeton) and other institutions like MIT and CalTech? and thanks.