<p>I'm a 18 year old boy from Tunisia and I'm actually facing a dilemma : I dream of studying in an american university but I'm wondering if it's too late to invest in that project. In order for you to understand why am I really lost, I should explain to you how things work in Tunisia. At 19 , every passing Tunisian student must sit for the Tunisian baccalaureate which is held once a year in June (I must note that grades in Tunisia are similar to French grading system , so that an average 16-17 would equal a GPA of 4.0), then all students that have got more than 10 out of 20 in the Tunisian baccalaureate are required to fill in their set of choices of Tunisian universities and based on their average in the Baccalaureate, every passing student get into a Tunisian university. Now, my problem is that if I consecrate this summer (and a part of this Fall) to preparing SATs and fail in getting something good , I could end up rejected in american universities and having a low baccalaureate average (since I will lose much time) which means a bad Tunisian university. I sometimes think of transfer application after the baccalaureate since I have a very good shot at participating in IOI 2014 (International Olympiad of Informatics) but I highly doubt that any good us university would accept a student from a Tunisian university. I study in a pioneer school which is an extremely selective (public) high school (students are chosen based on a national exam that they sit for when they're in ninth grade) so it's VERY competitive and grading isn't like other Tunisian high schools , I have an average of 16 (grading system similar to french system so it would equal GPA 4.0) , ranked 12th out of 30 : Physics 8th (average : 16.75) , Maths 13th (average : 18) , Computer Science 1st (average : 20) , English 4th (average : 16.5) , Spanish 6th (average : 18) , French 16th (average : 11) ... I haven't yet sat for SATs but according to practice tests and with more preparation I could reach a score of 2000-2100 : (Math > 750 | CR > 650 | W > 630) and maybe > 700 in both Maths II and physics , also a perfect score in French would be obtainable for me . I have participated in the national Olympiad of Informatics, I really messed up but I still ranked 26th out of 90 qualified participants. I participated in organizing an event . I participated in a summer camp to prepare for the national Olympiad of informatics 2014. I'm a web developer (one of my websites got 1 millions views in a short period) . I also participated in an international essay contest but I don't have the results yet . My English teacher and my computer science teacher have promised to help me with letters of recommendation. That's all I got !</p>
<p>What should I do ? Quit my dream or going for it ? and if so , what universities should I consider (must have financial aid) ?</p>
<p>PS : I know that I have previously created a thread to discuss my chances , but many things have changed by now and I'm creating this one to summarize my thoughts</p>
<p>What has changed since your last post?
You should prepare for the SATI this summer and take it in October, then take the SATIIs (math2, physics, French) in November. No need to study for French the level is much below what you as a French speaking Tunisian would have, so all you’d have to do is review for math2 and physics, which likely would be similar to what you studied in your troisi</p>
<p>Mainly, what differs from the last post is my self confidence, I tried an official practice test and I was disappointed, especially with my CR score (610). I haven’t tried another one yet but I became aware that SAT most common words are necessary so I’m working hard on improving my vocabulary and that will surely help (I checked the practice test I sat for and I saw that most keywords were unknown to me because I hadn’t seen SAT most common words), also my growing concern for my EC due to some aborted plans like working in a company as a programmer.</p>
<p>Yes you need to work on specific vocab. “Direct Hits” books (core and tough) are good, and your French will help you a lot.
The colleges won’t know you planned on being a programmer for a company and you may even be able to spin a “what I learned from failure” essay if you are pressed for an essay topic. In addition, you can still see if you can work as a programmer, I suppose. In any case it may have been a blow but it won’t affect your application terribly.
The SAT is a standardized test. That means questions, answers, and scoring all standardized. In other terms, if you prepare, you can do well. You can use this free website, too: <a href=“https://www.number2.com/index.cfm?s=0[/url]”>https://www.number2.com/index.cfm?s=0</a></p>
<p>You are better off studying for your own country exams unless you can afford to pay US college prices. The chances of getting accepted to an American university AND getting significant financial aid are very, very small unless your test scores are way up there.</p>
<p>If you can afford to study in the US, that’s a whole other story. At full pay, you will have a lot of choices. Even at the levels you are on the practice tests, there are schools that would happily accept you. Pay for you, nope.</p>
<p>@cpofthehouse: the OP is in a special “pioneer” school where basically he’s guaranteed admission to a Tunisian university (I can’t imagine anyone at his school actually fails the Tunisian bac); his own exams will be in June 2014 so if he manages to be done by December, he can focus on preparing them to get into a top university.
It’s true the odds of getting financial aid at a US school are low, but if you read OP’s stats and resume you’ll see that he has better chances than most.</p>
<p>I’m not sure what do you mean by “getting significant financial aid”, but I think I might not afford to pay more than 40% of the total expenses. </p>
<p>@MYOS1634 :
Actually , almost 90% of students get their Bac with a mention of "Tr</p>
<p>I hate to break it to you, but if you’re only able to pay for 40% of the total tuition, it’s going to be difficult getting into places. Try looking into colleges like Bates (although pretty difficult to get into) that give comparatively higher financial aid to international students…and if possible, look into external scholarship sources?</p>
<p>Everything you do that shows drive and excellence, especially if it’s externally recognized, is good.</p>
<p>You’ll have to think out of the box a little though. You will (I assume) apply to HYPSM and other top 20 National universities. Schools like Harvey Mudd, Olin, or MIT would certainly love to have you but how much would they be willing to <em>pay for you</em>? That’s a harder question. You can only find out if you apply. Your resume is impressive (and should continue to be) but so will the resume for a majority of applicants.
Therefore you need to find excellent schools that give a lot of financial aid yet aren’t as well-known outside the US. The Midwest and the South receive fewer international applications than colleges in big East Coast cities and in California, for example. Grinnell and Carleton are both excellent at science, both are superb schools overall, and both give good financial aid to internationals they admit. There are of course a whole lot of colleges that are still in the top 100 yet rank below such top schools. (Look for Colleges that change lives and search the forum for “STEM at LAC” - that’s where the most financial aid is located.) Then for a safety you can look at Juniata, a small school that’s really good at science, and look for guaranteed free rides/free tuition based on SAT scores once you know how high you score. You could also take the ACT since you’d probably do very well in Science Reasoning too. (Plan to take SAT2s to beef up your application: you have the ability to get scores close to 800 for Math2, Physics, and French if you prepare for the test’s format.)</p>
<p>You met with an Education USA counselor, didn’t you? What did s/he advise?</p>
<p>@Truust :
Thanks . I appreciate your realism and honesty.
Maybe I could seek loans from Tunisian banks, but I’m not sure if I could exchange such big sums for dollars. Apart from external scholarships , I heard that part time jobs in the US could also help.
I think that I could manage to afford my studies but only if I got accepted in a good university or college (not necessarily well-known but a good one) otherwise it would be better for me to study in France or Germany or maybe staying in Tunisia and studying for free.</p>
<p>@MYOS1634 :
Unfortunately, I haven’t met her yet. I’m not in Tunis now but I’ll be there in 10-15 days and I’ll go to AMIDEAST to register for SAT and I’ll arrange a meeting with the EducationUSA counselor.
I’m interested in any college or university that is ranked in the top 100 since it is definitely better than almost all the Tunisian universities. I googled your proportions (Grinnell and Carleton) and they seem to be really good, Even though I dream of going to MIT or Stanford or UPenn or an another well-known university, I would be thrilled if I got into one of the Midwestern and Southern colleges that you mentioned with good financial aid.
I don’t think I will be able to sit for the ACT because as far as I know it isn’t available in Tunisia. and I’m planning to take 3 or 4 SAT II : Math II, Physics,French and maybe Chemistry or Spanish. I almost finished preparing the SAT I but I’ll have a month to prepare for them (I mean full time because starting from September 15, I won’t have much time) , I’m not sure if that’s enough but I have no choice.</p>
<p>I took the SAT last saturday and it didn’t go as expected, I might not have a composite score of 1800 and a score in the low 700s in SAT Math. I’m retaking in November and it will be better hopefully. Plus, I could have 800 in SAT Math 2. On the other hand, I got some rare opportunities, I participated in the TCPC (Tunisian Collegiate Programming Contest) which is for college students but I got an opportunity to participate and I did really well, I got an honorable mention signed by the ACM ICPC director and they chose my team to go for the regional contest in Egypt (They said it’s the first time that they choose a high school team). Also, my english teacher chose me for an international written-debate contest organized by New York University and he said it will help me a lot when applying for NYU.</p>
<p>I’m wondering if SAT II are as important as SAT I ? and if the ACM ICPC contest will help me with my application ?</p>