Chance me as a British-Canadian applying for Aerospace Engineering [8.1/9.0 GCSEs, 1460 SAT, parents do not intend to pay]

Chance Me / Match Me
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Guidelines

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  • Please do not include your race.

Demographics

  • US domestic (US citizen or permanent resident) or international student

International student from Canada

  • State/Location of residency:

Alberta

  • Type of high school (or current college for transfers):

Public high school

  • Other special factors: (first generation to college, legacy, recruitable athlete, etc.)

Autistic

Cost Constraints / Budget
(High school students: please get a budget from your parents and use the Net Price Calculators on the web sites of colleges of interest.)

Intended Major(s)
Aerospace Engineering

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: (calculate it yourself if your high school does not calculate it)

8.1/9.0 APS/GPA in GCSEs

  • Weighted HS GPA: (must specify weighting system; note that weighted GPA from the high school is usually not informative, unless aligned with the recalculation used by a college of interest, such as CA, FL, SC public universities)
  • College GPA: (for transfer applicants)
  • Class Rank:
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 1460 (Due to my autism diagnosis, I am normally entitled to 25% extra time. However, the papers to certify this from the UK were not delivered on time to Canada and I had to sit the exam without the extra time) (770 Maths, 690 EBRW)

List your HS coursework

GCSE grades: Grade 9s in Maths, Physics and Further Maths. Grade 8s in Chemistry, Biology, Geography, Spanish, English Language, English Literature. Grade 7 in Computer Science and Music. Note: I averaged 95% average in computer science before gcses. I did 11th grade in the UK.

Alberta Grade 12 scores: Maths IB: 96.22% ELA: 89.47% Physics IB: 84.42% Computer Application: 87.42%

(Indicate advanced level, such as AP, IB, AICE, A-level, or college, courses as well as specifics in each subject)

  • English: English GCSE (Higher)
  • Math: (including highest level course(s) completed) Further Maths GCSE
  • Science: (including which ones, such as biology, chemistry, physics) Physics, Chemistry and Biology GCSE Higher
  • History and social studies: Geography GCSE Higher
  • Language other than English: (including highest level completed) GCSE Spanish (Higher)
  • Visual or performing arts: Music GCSE Higher
  • Other academic courses: Computer Science GCSE Higher

College Coursework (Transfer Applicants)
(Include college courses taken while in high school if not included above.)

  • General education course work:
  • Major preparation course work:

Awards

Youngest Qualifier representing ULethbridge at the William Lowell Putnam Math Competition?

Gold (Senior Kangaroo (Andrew Jobbings)) UKMT SMC 1 Year Early (Top 700 in the UK)

Hamilton British Mathematics Olympiad (Top 500 in the UK)

NASA International Space Apps Challenge Hackathon: Where I built a python program and performed research to calculate spaceflight paths for spacecraft to Mars and other planets.

Led my team to win the Math Cup in the UKMT (National Math Competition) for the first time in their history by teaching them creative solutions that I made and inspiring them to dig deeper in maths.

Extracurriculars
(Include leadership, summer activities, competitions, volunteering, and work experience)

Youtube and Tiktok account with over 100 subscribers

I’ve tutored and aided A-Level students in Maths and Further Maths (Year 12 and Year 13) since Year 10 I also aided in STEP (Sixth Term Examination Papers/Cambridge Mathematics Entrance Exam) Math clubs since Year 10 and tutored kids taking those tests when they were Year 12 to Year 13. On my channels I post International Math Olympiad (IMO) solutions, Orbital Mechanics and William Lowell Putnam Math Competition solutions.

National Field Hockey Champion 2nd in School Chess Tournament

Research to calculate spaceflight paths for spacecraft to Mars and other planets (under review by the AIAA Journal of Guidace, Control and Dynamics)

Essays/LORs/Other
(Optionally, guess how strong these are and include any other relevant information or circumstances.)

I’d say they’re strong. They mentioned their degree-level aptitude for maths and Aerospace Engineering

Schools
(List of colleges by your initial chance estimate; designate if applying ED/EA/RD; if unsure, leave them unclassified)

MIT (RD)
Stanford (RD)
Georgia Tech (RD)
Purdue (RD)
UT Austin (RD)
University of Toronto (EA)

If a scholarship is necessary for affordability, indicate that you are aiming for a scholarship and use the scholarship chance to estimate it into the appropriate group below; also, for colleges that admit by major or division, consider that in chance estimate.

  • Assured (100% chance of admission and affordability):
  • Extremely Likely:
  • Likely:
  • Toss-up:
  • Lower Probability:
  • Low Probability:
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Since Purdue is on your list, you might look at the Purdue Data Digest, here: https://www.purdue.edu/datadigest/; and especially the links to “Applications, Admits, and Matriculations” and “New First-Time Beginner Profile”. You can plug in your stats to some of the interactive links on these sites, and perhaps get an idea where you might fall relative to recently admitted OOS applicants to Purdue.

Purdue will cost you in the mid- to upper $40Ks (U.S. dollars). I didn’t see anything above about what you can afford; would this be in your budget? Because Purdue doesn’t give a lot of scholarship money to OOS/international applicants.

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Is there a reason you didn’t apply to Georgia Tech and Purdue in EA? They are much harder in RD (especially Purdue).

How much can you afford to pay, and what do you plan to do after graduation?

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@TsiolkovskyLagrange, I removed your YT & TikTok accounts for privacy reasons.

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Can you provide budget as some of these are $95K US - so much more in Canadian $$.

And can you do your GPA on a 4 point scale - 4 for an A, 3 for a B, 2 for a C. Don’t weight.

I think a 1460 will make MIT and Stanford very difficult.

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This!

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My parents do not intend to pay for university and thus, I have to get a student job (I’m applying for jobs in AI and as a math tutor)

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My parents do not intend to pay for university and thus, I have to get a student job (I’m applying for jobs in AI and as a math tutor)

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All 4s then. My grades aren’t weighted, they’re from the UK where scores are graded from 1-9.

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Then the US is out unless you can get a full ride somehow. Student visa only allows 20 hours per week of on campus work (usually ends up being around minimum wage). This is hardly going to make a dent in your cost of attendance. If you have British citizenship you will have more working options in the UK (though as you are not currently domiciled there would pay international student fees). Canada seems the most logical choice at the moment?

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How about needs-blind admissions?

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Need blind just means they don’t take your need into account in admission decisions. It doesn’t mean they will give you a full ride, or even anything at all. Publics like Purdue generally have no aid for out of state students. Top schools will base it on financial need of the family (not on what your parents want to pay).

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They can’t even pay full cost.

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They can’t pay full cost thus I have to get a student job. How about off-campus jobs?

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They will fill in financial forms and the college will decide how much need to give.

As I said before, you may only work on campus jobs in the US on a student visa, and only 20 hours per week. Off campus jobs are a visa violation and can get your visa revoked and potentially jeopardize your ability to visit the US in future. Visa violations are taken very seriously.

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Are GCSEs and SATs considered equally in college admissions?

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Each school considers various aspects differently. In general I’d expect GCSEs to carry less weight vs final school results and SATs. Not sure if others have more insight.

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GCSEs ARE my final school results.

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? In the British system, A levels are your final results for college admission. I would think your 12th grade Canadian results would be considered final.
GCSEs are not enough for college admissions here.

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One takes A-Levels after college admission results are released