Demographics
- International student
- Moroccan
- Moroccan High School
- Second generation to college
Cost Constraints / Budget
My family’s income is $20k yearly so full ride would be good
Intended Major(s)
Computer Science/ Computer Engineering
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
- Since morocco relies on a scale of 20, i’ll post my grades by percentage from freshman
- Freshman: 88.9%
- Sophomore: 93.575%
- Junior: 94.55% (and 91% in the regional exam which is the same for all juniors in a same region )
- Senior: no grades yet
- Class Rank: Im first
- ACT/SAT Scores: Not yet, but I hope i’ll get a 1500 since i’m good in maths
List your HS coursework
There is no such thing as IB or APs in my country’s school system, but there are HS majors , and I majored in maths sciences which is the hardest major here in morocco
which includes maths , physics and chemistry, and engineering sciences
- English: I have C1 level so i won’t have any problem in IELTS or TOEFL hopefully
- Language other than English: Native level arabic and french
Awards
- None sadly,
Extracurriculars
- Founded the only club in my school ever in junior year, chess club, organized a couple competitions and still ongoing in my senior year
- Semi Finals in Debate competition (Regional)
- Won a piano competition organised by ministry of culture in Freshman year
- Third in school maths olympiads in sophomore
- Currently in the informatics olympiad, didn’t get disqualified yet and if i qualify ill get into the IOI
- Main blogger of a moroccan chess page called chessbdarija,
- Among the organisation comittee for a charity buffet, raised 1K dollars (10k moroccan dirhams which is a huge sum here) to help care for 2 orphans financially
- Participated in Highschool “science exhibition” in sophomore year where I showcased a website I made and also automatic watering system.
** Additional Circumstances**
I really wanted to participate in math Olympiads in junior year to get into the IMO course, but my school ignored my requests. I also missed a high school math competition’s second edition deadline because it was organized early in the year. I was waitlisted for the first edition and eventually rejected.
Essays/LORs/Other
Not yet since i’ll apply for next year,
, I’m thinking of writing about how I discovered competitive programming through chatgpt (true story), I was always passionate about cs, learning all kinds of software things without doing anything concrete due to a lack of guidance. until october 2024 where I discovered that morocco participates in the IOI and discovered the of competitive programming in moroccan universities (many students in the cp community knew it through their teachers, while mine strongly discouraged ECs and emphasised on grades, therefore I had no way to know about it). I am currently still working hard to reach the finals and who knows the IOI
Schools
- All Ivies
- NYU
- MIT (i know that’s a huge stretch but who knows)
- UCs, esp UC berkeley and UCLA
- Cal Tech
- WashU
I’m also aiming for full ride if that’s possible
UCs provide no aid for international applicants. Or any applicants outside California. Cost of attendance is 80K USD per year.
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okay thanks for the info, however I could apply for scholarships which would cover my tuiton costs right?
@MyNameIs2 i can’t think of any scholarship you will get that will cover the $80,000 a year or so cost to attend any UC. Really those are not affordable for you.
Are you currently a senior? Have you already taken the SAT? If not, it’s pretty late for this year.
I sure hope you have a couple of affordable sure things for admission perhaps in your home country. The list you put here is high reach schools…and a number are need aware for international students, meaning your level of financial need will be considered when they review your application for admission.
You can apply and see…you could get accepted at one of the reachy schools. You never know what might get the attention of the adcoms there.
I am currently a senior, but I won’t apply for this year, rather I’ll apply next year since I wanna take a gap year , and yes I have a lot of safeties in my home country which are also good that’s why I’m only thinking of reachy schools in the US, very good US universities are honestly the best option for me right now.
Concerning the scholarships I looked up and already found some which cover full tuiton in my country by the US Embassy such as FULL BRIGHT, my biggest concern is getting accepted first I’m curious if by these current stats I might stand a chance, also if I boost my ECs during my senior and gap year.
Are you talking about this Fulbright program? I believe it’s only for graduate studies, but others will need to confirm.
@MYOS1634
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You’re actually right I didn’t notice that, I guess then that I’ll have to cross out US universities for undergraduate studies
With a very low income, it’s possible that a college that meets full need for international students could be affordable…IF you get accepted.
The best scholarships come from the colleges themselves - a couple colleges are need blind/meet need for internationals (=they won’t hold your high need against you, if they decide to admit you they will offer enough money for you to do so), some more are need aware/full need (they WILL hold your need against you but if they decide to admit you will offer a scholarship making it possible for you to do so.) Then, some would offer merit scholarships for your scores - 1500 or ACT 34-36 would generate some merit scholarships but they may not be sufficient. Finally, most universities will not offer anything (like UCs).
So your best bet is universities that meet need. All of them are highly prestigious and highly selective (even if you’ve not heard of them in your country).
Do you mean in your first post that you got 18+ in the Bac de 1e? Did you take Brevet or similar?
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if 20K yearly is considered a low income, then I guess I have to try my shot at unis next year, do you think I might stand a chance if pursue my chess club this year and possibly get into the IOI or moroccan informatics olympiad finals?
I didn’t take bac yet as I am in senior year, but in 1ere bac i got 18.20 in régional and brevet i got 17.10 in freshman year but 17.78 in freshman overal grade,
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In the past 3 years, salaries have shot up in the US compared to the rest of the world so low income is anything below 50k. (Prices are high too and lots of things people in the developed world take for granted aren’t easily available or cheap in the US, though, so the standard of living isn’t as high as the amount 50k could let you imagine).
In Morocco you’re very well-off (about twice the upper bracket for upper middle class, so in quality of life standards like 500k in the US) but in the US your family would be considered very very low income. This type of things is a cultural shock you have 18 months to get ready for.
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not really,$20K here in morocco is roughly 20k dirhams per month, and it’s middle class, kind of near upper middle class but not there,
Ok, that’s very good (and not the equivalent of the % you provided - don’t try to do that. 18 is a remarkable grade, top 1%, a US 90% isn’t.)
You need to try and get Regional/national recognition in whatever way you can, as long as your grades remain in the 17+ range.
Okay (I had 5k Moroccan dirhams as median income and 10k as upper middle class). So, middle class. 
Less of a shock then.
But it means less real-life disposable income for college.
The end result is the same though - you need a near full ride.
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my grades have remained +18 throughout sophomore until now, even reaching 19 in 2 semesters out of 4, the near full ride thing is true, what I honestly lack is ECs, i keep on searching for opportunities but I can’t find them apart frm the IOI course which I am currently in , I also will work hard for the SAT so that I can get a 1500 hopefully or high 1400, for the gap year I might save some money and also tell in my admission profile that I did the gap year to save some money which will be very needed. Overall my biggest concern is EC and idk how to boost them
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how do I tell the admissions officers that 18 isnt 90%?
You don’t. They are familiar with different grading scales and standards
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so if I directly tell them i got +18/20 is better than saying i got 90% ?
You tell them neither, except under the grades section. And then, you list what is on your transcript. You don’t convert grades.
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You don’t convert grades and you don’t write 18/20. Your GC uploads your transcript which will list 8, 12, 15, or whatever and they will know what it means. Your GC DOES however need to indicate your class rank (these grades should make you top of your class) and whether your back results indicate top 1%, 2%, 5%… nationally .
You’ll have to be able to answer this question:
If the college admits 2 boys and 2 girls from Morocco, why should one of them be you?
So, Chess championship, CS Olympiads… Be the best you can.
To review for the SAT use Khan Academy.
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