<p>Greetings. I am a student from Pakistan who just completed his High School. I couldn’t take my SAT exam in 2013, so I took it in June 2014, hence I am taking a gap year as I want to apply into an American University to continue my studies. I want to study engineering, electrical in specific and the college I wanted to go to was the “University of Austin Texas”
My profile is as follows. Please tell me what are my chances at UT Austin Texas and other universities that would grant me aid as I am an international student.</p>
<p>SAT Score: 1630/2400</p>
<p>Academics (High School): </p>
<p>• O’Levels (Cambridge International Examinations) 2012:
Awarding system: Grades.
Grades: 5 A’s and 4 B’s.
• FSc (Faculty of Science Education) 2012-2014:
Awarding system: Marks/Percentage:
Achieved 81.36% in 1st year (2013) examinations.
Achieved 80% in 2nd year (2014) examinations.
GPA : 3.3</p>
<p>Extra-Curricular Activities:
• Awarded 2nd Best Speaker throughout the country (Pakistan) in “All Pakistan Inter-Collegiate Declamation Competition” (October 2013)
• Awarded Runners up team trophy in “All Pakistan Inter-Collegiate Declamation Competition” (October 2013)
• Awarded 1st Position in Annual College Internal declamations. (November 2013)
• Awarded 1st Position in the batch in Internal Declamation Contest. (2013)
• Awarded 3rd Best Speaker throughout the country (Pakistan) in “All Pakistan Declamation Competition” (March 2014)
• Awarded Winning team trophy for being the part of the best team throughout the country (Pakistan) in (March 2014)
• Participated in Forman Christian College Model United Nations (January 2014)
• Participated in Annual Internal Parliamentary Debates. (March 2014)
• Awarded “Certificate of Distinction” in Debates by my school (2014)
• Ranked among the top 5 Declamation speakers in my school for the year 2013-2014.
• Joint Editor of the High School Gazette for the year 2013-2014.
• Awarded “Certificate of Distinction” due to my work for the latter.
• Member of the College’s Mathematics Society.</p>
<p>Preparatory School:
• Top Scorer of the Class in Class 8. A’s In all subjects. Achieved High Grades throughout Preparatory School. Achieved no less than a B.
• Awarded “best leaving student” of the school (2008)
• Participated in International Mathematics Kangaroo Competitions, Essay Writing Competitions, Debates and Spelling Bees consistently throughout Preparatory School.
• Member of the School’s Taekwondo Team. (Yellow Belt Holder)
• Captain of the School Badminton Team for the year 2007-2008.
• School Head boy for the year 2007.</p>
<p>Interests/Hobbies:
• Software Editing, JAVA coding and hacking.
• Music.
• Playing the piano and the guitar.
• Cricket.
• Badminton.
• Writing Fiction and Non-Fiction Short Stories.
• Poetry.
• Gaming. </p>
<p>Please name the US colleges that might accept me and grant me financial aid. I am really desperate.</p>
<p>A 1630 is a low score for most competitive schools in the US. And by competitive I mean any school that accepts less than 50% of their applicants.</p>
<p>Most schools that offer aid to international applicants are among the most competitive schools in the country which typically would not admit an applicant with under a 3.8 GPA or a 2100 SAT score. </p>
<p>The average SAT score for U of Texas for example is a 1900 and that includes Texas applicants at the top their high school classes who are “automatic” admits. For international students (who make up only 1% of the population at this school) the average will be much, much higher.</p>
<p>I suggest you try the ACT. Two of my kids just could not do so well on the SAT, particularly the CR part. They did much better on the ACT. Pick up an ACT book and take a sample test and see how you do there.</p>
<p>You have a really high chance to get into UT at Austin if you apply! And they grant financial aid to international students generously! I would give it a try, never give up!!!</p>
<p>@internationst : On what basis do you make that contention? His stats are way below the norm for UT and there is no evidence that they give international students financial aid.</p>
<p>Another university in which I would want to get into would be Purdue. What are my chances of getting into Purdue with a 1630? I think my co-curricular activities aren’t that bad. I might do more in the coming year which happens to be the “gap year.” I heard Purdue normally accepts students above 1600+ as they have a high acceptance rate. However very few are able to move onto after their freshmen year, but that is a totally different thing. So? Purdue? Or any other Engineering University? Please tell.</p>
<p>No, you’re not quite right about Purdue normally accepts students around 1600. They do have some, but that is the very low range of scores for them. Also, as I was just telling another person, it really depends on which college within Purdue you are applying to. The College of Engineering is the most selective, and requires higher test scores. The average for engineering at Purdue is ~1900 give or take. Your GPA is also a bit low for them, with the average being 3.8
Now, that isn’t to say that you shouldn’t apply to Purdue, because I think you definitely should. But you can’t expect to get in. It is a low reach for you. You need to have other, less selective colleges on your list.</p>
<p>Other than Purdue, there is Florida Institute of Technology and Texas A&M College Station on my list. Can I get into these colleges and get financial aid? My co-curricular activities mentioned above are of no use? What about my college essay? If I nail it?</p>
<p>Sorry, but it’s very unlikely you’ll get a scholarship based on “nailing” an essay. First and foremost you will be evaluated on your GPA and test scores.</p>
<p>Leyland, you can pay to have it hand scored. It looks like there might have been a clerical error in your case. What you describe is very unlikely. </p>