'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.