Type of high school : private, but private here in morocco is super different from private in the US, in morocco private schools are for middle class people , the rich people got some prestigious highschools and even “mission”, which means for example french highschool or american highschool etc.
Cost Constraints / Budget
Fam income is 40K dollars yearly
I can pay up to 25K yearly, I found a new scholarship for ppl from my country and the requirement is to be accepted to a university with any kind of financial aid
Intended Major(s)
Computer science/ Computer Engineering/ Maths/ AI GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
I’ll just write in percentage and its equivalent in the ABC system
Freshman: 88.9% A
Sophomore: 93.575% A+
Junior: 94.55% A+
Senior: 82.5% A
Class Rank: 1st however we are only 12 in class so it doesnt matter
ACT/SAT Scores:Didn’t take SAT yet however aiming for 1500+
HS coursework
There are no IB or APs whatsoever but directly major, and I majored in maths sciences engineering minor which is the hardest major here in morocco, it included:
English
Maths (one subject that has calculus complex numbers algebra number theory etc. )
Physics and chemistry (also one subject)
History and Geography (also one subject)
French & Arabic & English
Philosophy
Engineering Sciences
Awards
Third in arab world in EGOI (europpean girls’ olympiad in informatics)
Won national piano competition organised by ministry of culture
MOI Finalist (moroccan olympiad in informatics) ranked 12th nationally
4th in Moroccan Chess Championship for teams women’s section 2025
Silver in city’s chess competition for girls in schools
Extracurriculars
Chess:
Founded the only club in my school junior to senior year, organised some competitions at school
In an official chess club, playing in some competitions which are nationwide such as the throne cup 2025, and moroccan team chess championship
Chess blogger at a moroccan chess page
Competitive programming:
silver on USACO (i might reach gold before admissions deadline)
EGOI participant 2025, i was very close to bronze but missed it
NAOI participant (north african olympiad in informatics), 2 places away from bronze
my team ranked 9th in ITholic (cp comp for university students, participated under the MOI institution as high schoolers )
Participated in M(IT)^2, teamscode , alGIRLithm , among other online cp competitions
Pupil on codeforces, i might reach expert by admission deadlines and it’s like top 20 in morocco
Miscellaneous ECs:
Semi Finals in Debate competition (Regional)
Won a national piano competition organised by ministry of culture in Freshman year, played piano for 8 years
Third in school maths olympiads in sophomore
Participated in maths olympiad qualifications in sophomore and freshmn
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 at my old highschool “science exhibition” in sophomore year where I showcased a website I made and also automatic watering system.
Finalist in national digigirlz competition 2025 for entrepreneurship
Essays/LORs/Other
OI staff wrote me a LOR, and i’ll ask also engineering and physics teacher to do me so too
For the essay, I’m thinking of writing about the struggles my team encountered when wanting to participate in EGOI (europpean girl’ olympiads in informatics) for the first time in morocco’s history, from the OI staff challenging us to prove ourselves by ranking top 5 nationally with the guys ( i ranked second in the quarter finals), to EGOI flatly refusing our participation due to lack of resources, us convincing them through lots of emails to participate online and finally me ranking third in the arab world , very close to a bronze medal but sadly missing it.
I’m also in need of scholarship cuz my family is broke in US standards i guess
So you have meets need, need aware schools - like Franklin & Marshall, Cornell, Dickinson, Grinnell - these can deny you based on your amount of need but if accept you, will meet need.
You have need blind schools - MIT, Bowdoin, Dartmouth and more - they don’t look at your finances in regards to admission. They are need blind.
Then you have a school like U of Alabama that will get close if not there - if you get the 1500. You need a 1420+ SAT. They do not penalize internationals in merit aid like other schools do. You get $2500 more for CS/CompE than math.
If you want computer engineering, your choices will be far less.
This is from a 3rd party list so may not be 100% accurate. Also, they determine how much you need. You don’t get to - just fyi - wishing you luck.
So, this would include public universities with merit aid (but not need-based aid) for international students?
Example: Truman State University is the public honors liberal arts college for the state of Missouri. They don’t have engineering, but they have math and CS. The estimated full-pay COA for international students is under 35K/year, and it would be possible (not assured, but not a long shot either) to get merit aid that would both qualify you for the 25K scholarship, and make up the difference between that scholarship and the cost of attendance.
South Dakota School of Mines & Technology is a very affordable but well-regarded STEM school with a full-pay cost of attendance under 30K for internationals. So you’d need at least 5K in merit to make this work, which you’d receive for an ACT score of 34 or greater, which is comparable to what you say you’re expecting on the SAT.
U of Alabama Huntsville is another excellent school for STEM. Full-pay international COA is just over 56K/year. You’d get 28K/year in merit as long as your SAT is 1420+, leaving a 3K/year gap, which you could plausibly make up with an on-campus job, for which international students are eligible. (The larger Alabama flagship in Tuscaloosa, already mentioned up-thread, is similarly a possiblity.)
You should, of course, apply to schools where you could get need-based financial aid - many have been suggested up-thread. I’m just pointing out a few examples of places that could potentially work, without need-based aid, because your projected merit scholarships plus income could cover the projected costs.
The question is whether you want to study in the US only if you can score admission to a famous elite private university, or whether you’d also come here for a less internationally-known but still reputable public u.
How do you have a senior year GPA already? Have you already graduated and taken a gap year?
Honestly I want to get into any university which is better than all there is here in morocco ,there’s only one top uni here which is ranked 500ish worldwide else all others are awful. So an elite university is indeed preferable but considering my profile isnt top notch i’d also like come for any reputable unis
All universities (ok, most) are strong in America but you will not be staying in America.
Look at some on the list - but look at schools that I provided and @aquapt provided - because you can apply to those on the list - but the U of Alabama types or SD School of Mines types are easy entry. So those give you an assured school to attend if you don’t get in anywhere else.
Of course, you need to travel here, etc. and that’s an expense too.
Keep in mind that just because a school is need-blind for international students doesn’t mean that chances of acceptance are higher. Last year, Bowdoin admitted 1.4% of international applicants.
there isn’t ACT here in morocco, and i’m planning to take the sat on october 4th, i didn’t take a gap year per se because i’ll be studying here morocco at a “cpge” which isn’t a university at all though is post high school studies, i asked MIT admissions once about it and they told me in that case i should apply as a gap year student, i wasnt really set on us universities last year and just decided to shoot my shot and see if i get anything this year that might be better than what i’m usually aiming for (french schools ), tbf i’d choose almost any uni in the us over what i’m currently going for
on a random note thank you so much for telling me about U of alabama, i just realised i can get a full ride if i get 1600 in SAT which is indeed almost impossible but i can still aim for that and who knows, thanks again!
I sent an email to MIT admissions once and they explicitely told me that i’d apply as a gap year student since i’m not enrolled at a university, i guess the same would apply to other universities right?
First year CPGE is treated like a PG year, not college, since it takes place at a secondary school even if it’s after the bac.
(It’s an intense, highly selective program).
