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Advice for an African Student with a low GPA and a high SAT
HabeshaGuy
44 replies4 threads Junior Member
Hey,
I am from Ethiopia and our curriculum is extremely hard,we have no choice over what courses to take and we are given 13 subjects.Because of this my GPA is very low ~ 3.1 but my SAT scores are OK 2200+ and am taking the subject tests on December. I plan on applying to top universities. Do I have a chance of getting accepted to universities like MIT or will my low GPA screw me over?
27 repliesI am from Ethiopia and our curriculum is extremely hard,we have no choice over what courses to take and we are given 13 subjects.Because of this my GPA is very low ~ 3.1 but my SAT scores are OK 2200+ and am taking the subject tests on December. I plan on applying to top universities. Do I have a chance of getting accepted to universities like MIT or will my low GPA screw me over?
Post edited by HabeshaGuy on
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Replies to: Advice for an African Student with a low GPA and a high SAT
Plus if you could give us the official name of the Ethiopian final examinations e.g. A-levels in the UK, IB, French Bacc etc that would help greatly, too. What 13 subjects do you have to do? Do you have individual grades for each?
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html
and possibly some of these:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1461983-competitive-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html
And if you go have a chat with the people here: https://www.educationusa.info/AddisAbaba
chances are, they can tell you where people with your grades and exam scores have been admitted in recent years.
So you may not have a 3.1 GPA.
I got a 4.0 (straight A's) on my 10th National Exam(Matriculation/Ministry of Education)(99th percentile I think). (Math,Amharic,English,Physics,Chemistry,Geography,History,Civics,Biology) and was on the 99.3 rd percentile on my 8th grade national exam. Country wide,Id say my GPA is very high. But its definitely low for my school,as there are some guys with a 4.0 GPA. Should I send my National Exam results,most US universities are very specific about what they want to be sent.
If you're really a top student in your country, you should try CalTech, keeping expectations low.
* I am not talking about moving away, I mean everyone is promoted with their friends every year vs. students who don't seem to have the "right" profile attend other schools.
With regards to your whole package(SAT, GPA..etc) you should highlight the things that make you stand out from every other person who makes the choice of doing the SAT there. Most people who'll take the SAT down there are performing phenomenally and that's why they aspire and think outside the box and seek Education abroad. Just give it everything you got. And not getting into MiT or Stanford does not dictate you won't get in later...you can graduate from say 1 university that'll offer you a full scholarship, then if your grades are consistent, you can seek further studies from the Ivies or wherever..
Goodluck, Jah bless.
I'll be taking my Math1 and Lit this Dec, then Physics and Bio Jan, then SAT in March. Godspeed!!!
Try CalTech, you never know, but look for other science schools. Grinnell is good and is generous with international students.