Hi, i’m a French student in a French highschool in Morocco (Marrakesh). I wanted to ask you guys what you think are the most reasonable choices of colleges regarding my scores, ECs and school reports. I want to major either in CompSci or AerospaceE.
Starting with the test scores, I got a 110 on the TOEFL, which I think is enough. I scored a 1430 on the SAT (690 verbal/ 740 maths) which is like 98th percentile, but I still plan to retake it and I’m aiming at a 1530-1550 (it was the first time I took it). My subject tests scores are not really nice I believe considering my choice of major but there’s only one session so I’ll have to keep them (740 maths II/ 710 physics).
For the high school report now, there’s no such thing as a GPA in the French system, it’s just basically an average grade on 20 (plus you don’t choose your classes you just have to stick with 11/12 classes with variable number of hours depending on its importance), it’s a totally different grading system but throughout my highschool years I managed to have an average mark of around 16.5/20. I looked it up on “grades to GPA calculator” and it seems like a 14 is an A and a 16 is an A+. I’m not familiar with this but I can tell you that a 16 is not very common for us. Also, I don’t know if this really helps but I’m speak fluent French English and literary Arabic as I took an IB course in Arabic on the French baccalaureate which actually weighs twice more on my grade than physics or maths hahah.
Now for the ECs, I have participated for two years of sports (soccer and volleyball) 3/4 hours a week out of the 3 highschool years. I finished in the 7th position in the maths olympiads and in the 13th position in the geology olympiads nation-wise. I also was selected by my professors to participate in the Concours Général (which is basically the biggest and most prestigious contest held by the French govt in all possible subjects ranging from Arabic litterature to physics and maths, with preselection done by the professors themselves who directly select the most capable students of their classes).
I have also been an elected member of the high school board (for two years in a row), which basically organizes polls concerning some internal school issues, hosts events like the annual dance and stuff like that. It’s basically the link between the students and the staff, it’s a really cool opportunity to measure your problem solving abilities and your social interactions with obviously more mature people in the administration.
Other than academic ECs, I also participated (for two years in a row) with a group of 15 students and two professors, in a social mission in a small town basically in the middle of the desert (I was designated leader of the team) . We did a distribution of clothes and books for the least privileged people. But we also had an oasis at our disposal so we planted Palm trees and all sorts of vegetables to provide for the nearby village. Aside from social work, I draw pretty often now and I’m actually considering to send an optional portfolio (I don’t know if it’s really worth it so if you have any piece of advice on that please tell me). I tried to list only positions and achievements I had either succeeded in or held a responsibility of some kind.
That’s kind of it right now. I come from a middle class family so I can’t really afford more than something around 25k$ a year on college so I’ll also need a bit of financial aid. I wanted to ask what were my options in the US considering I am also applying to McGill so I’m looking for a really well ranked school with good enough odds in my favor to get in while also being better than McGill (I know this is kind of specific haha). My first list would be this :
One wild question: Are you a citizen of France? If so, then McGill will fit very comfortably in your $25,000 budget even without financial aid. If not, and assuming that you are not Canadian, then the $25,000 budget might not be quite enough at McGill, although it still is likely to be more affordable than comparable schools in the US.
I am thinking that you might want to check out Université de Montréal. It is quite a good school and I think that it would fit your budget without financial aid. Also, the University of Ottawa gives tuition breaks for bilingual students, but there are some restrictions and you would need to check whether this applies to your program. There are other schools in Canada which would also fit your $25,000 budget without aid regardless of your citizenship.
My understanding is that the Ivy League schools (including the first five on your list) meet what they call full need. However, their definition of need does not necessarily fit your definition of need. You might want to run the net price calculator on the US schools on your list to see what they are likely to cost.
I suggest looking for alternatives to Harvard and Yale that are a bit less selective, yet still have good financial aid as well as the CS and engineering programs you want. Possibilities:
Cornell University
University of Southern California
University of Notre Dame
University of Miami
@DadTwoGirls I am a French citizen so yes I am aware that McGill consist of a very convenient option for me financially. But i still want to try applying to US unis.
@tk21769 I understand, I will give them a look then. But do you think my ECs are consistent enough for top schools? I am not really that confident about them as I see loads of super qualified people here applying to the same schools haha.
@ZODIACXX, Financial aid for internationals is difficult to predict. You might try contacting one or two financial aid de departments to ask what a typical estimated financial contribution would be for a family like yours. The net price calculators are not always valid for international families, but they’re a good starting place for discussion.
Bear in mind that you will be competing with other international students, not with the U.S. applicant pool. The admission rate for internationalS is much lower than it is for American students and the competition, especially for those that need substantial aid, is fierce. (Schools that are “need-blind” still have budgetary restrictions and admissions directors have read enough applications to know if financial aid is required.)
Colleges are looking for diversity among the internationals that they admit. In my opinion your strongest “EC” is your life experience – e.g., living in North Africa and interacting with the community there. You should expand on this experience in your essays and profile. Islam and the Middle East are topics of massive interest today, and even though your major will be in the STEM area, your life experience would contribute to the campus community as a whole, which is an important factor in admissions.
In general, I am in favor of submitting an arts portfolio, because it demonstrates broad and balanced interests. Selective colleges are looking for multi-talented, multi-dimensional students, again, thinking about what they will contribute to the campus community.
I would agree with @tk21769. If your objective is to study in the U.S. and you need substantial funding, you need to widen your net. Look for universities that offer your intended majors and that guarantee to meet full demonstrated need for internationals.
The Common Data Set, section H, specifies whether a college offers aid to internationals.
In stating the average percentage of need they meet, they do not distinguish internationals from anyone else.
About 60 colleges claim to cover 100% of demonstrated need, for US citizens at least. https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2017-09-21/colleges-that-claim-to-meet-full-financial-need
Most of these do not have aerospace engineering programs.
Other than the 4 that I named above, apparently the only other ones with aerospace engineering programs are all super selective (Caltech, MIT, Princeton, Stanford). At Caltech and MIT (if not Princeton and Stanford too, for engineering), your 740M math score would be a bit low. Otherwise, your qualifications (plus interesting background) seem to put you in the ballpark for admission to highly selective schools.
You might also want to check out Syracuse University.
@momrath I will try to emphasize on my cultural environment then, the thing is that I’m actually half Moroccan half French even though I only have the French citizenship, so I always lived in a multicultural space. But I never thought that would be something important to say, thank you.
@tk21769 I will try to broaden my search. And work on my ECs. Thanks.