Participated in the Egyptian Collegiate Programming Contest (ECPC) finals twice.
Silver medalist in the USA Computing Olympiad (USACO), demonstrating strong problem-solving and algorithmic skills.
Sports: Handball player (school team)
Leadership: Frequently help friends with programming problems.
Community Involvement: Tutoring peers in mathematics and programming.
Concerns:
My GPA is not perfect compared to typical Exeter/Lawrenceville applicants, but I believe my achievements in competitive programming and USACO will help differentiate my application.
I come from a public school in Egypt, where access to advanced computer science resources has been limited. However, I have demonstrated resourcefulness by independently excelling in CP competitions.
Additional Info:
Native language: Arabic
Planning to highlight my achievements in programming competitions and my passion for problem-solving through my application essays
Entry to 11th is limited, so that is your first challenge.
Many of the 11th graders accepted are on an athletic recruitment path. Not all, of course, but the profile of those coming in at that point is a bit different.
Do you need FA? That can be another hurdle.
You have an interesting profile. If your goal is to attend BS in the US, you should definitely expand your list of schools. You might get lucky at these two, but amazing unhooked kids routinely are turned down for 11th as well.
FA, particulars for international students, can be very hard to secure. You are going to need to go through websites (and past threads) to find school that provide this. Many do not or just offer partial FA.
Phillips exter offer full FA if your parent annual sallary below 75k$ and I guess lawerncevill too I had just applied to phillips andover I hop they also offer FA like exeter
I just want to know the probability to get accepted in phillips exeter (also I had played handball for over 7y)
Handball can make you an interesting candidate, but it won’t be a hook unless the school has a team. No different than being an Olympian in skateboarding, figure skating, etc.
You should apply and put your best foot forward, but also know that it’s very difficult to get accepted for 11th.
No. A school might recruit soccer players or swimmerd to make its teams better.
Problem-solving can demonstrate that you will be a good student and take advantage of academic opportunities, but PEA isn’t lacking for students with those traits.
My guess is that your nationality will differentiate you more than anything else. The question is whether they are looking for that at 11th or not.
It is rarely a matter of being good enough – it’s whether you bring someone to the makeup of the class they need.
problem solving not only demonstrate that I will be a good student there is a national contests and international one like soccer and I noticed that there is no team in phillips for CP ( not sure ) i guess that make my chance better
Please explain why you believe that your chances would be better at a school without a team.
Schools usually put a higher priority on applicants that could significantly contribute to an existing team.
Yes, we are all aware that there are national and international academic competitions. Yes, we are aware that problem solving skills are useful. However, your reaction to posts in this thread indicate a certain inflexibility.
Do more research about boarding schools and cast a wider net.
And yes, learning about other boarding schools will improve your Exeter application. Or any other application. It will help you express more coherently why you think the schools you apply to are a good fit.
Problem-solving in the OI (Olympiad in Informatics) style is typically an individual competition. If a school already has a strong team, and the team members are better than me, my problem-solving skills may not add significant value to their performance in team competitions
I want to know if students who participate in programming or robotics competitions or olympaid are considered equally as students who excel in athletics.