Nigerian CS applicant needing a full ride help me gauge my chances and if there are things to improve 5.0/5.0 UW, 1530, <1000$

waitlisted by colby suprisingly i’m happy because i expected a straight rejection due to not getting css waiver

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rejected by williams and amherst

edit: rejected by tufts, swarthmore, Carleton, W&L and bowdoin

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Rough day. I’m sorry. It’s so hard to get full-ride offers as an international student. I’m glad you do have offers, and hope they’re workable financially. :mending_heart:

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yup thanks :sweat_smile:
At least like u said I have offers thats the part to focus on :pray:

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It’s probably too late to add any update to my stanford application right?

Yes

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Fingers crossed for you this week! You are in a fantastic position with affordable choices. Anything else is icing on the cake. :heart:

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Remember, you already won. Two full rides! Wonderful.

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Rejected from Northwestern, vandy and hamilton on to the ivy leagues and duke tmr

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I imagine it is discouraging…but PLEASE remember that with two full ride acceptances in hand you are already a winner!

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Hugs to you :sleepy::hugs:.
Remember: you’re an amazing applicant. The issue isn’t you or your achievements, but the fact colleges don’t have enough budget :face_with_head_bandage::pleading_face:
Fingers crossed for tomorrow. You never know (especially at need blind/meet need colleges, though those are also the most selective since the entire planet applies, and not random kids just the top students from every country).
Do something distracting tonight to keep your mind off things.
And remember that no matter what happens, you ARE GOING TO COLLEGE in the US. Not only that but you are in the extraordinary position of having 2 full rides and thus having your pick. :hugs::heart:

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Rejected from all ivies plus duke
expected
i’m going to update my post and fix the results
only stanford left to go :fist: :fist: :fist: :fist:

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Demographics

international student
Type of high school : Private School, got a full scholarship to attend( transfered from a public school for the gifted due to insecurity)
Gender/Race/Ethnicity: Male, African, Black

Intended Major(s)
Computer Science

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 5.0/5.0
  • Weighted HS GPA: n/a
  • Class Rank: 1/26
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 1530 (750ERW, 780 Math)
  • 6As 2Bs and 1C in my West African exams(I’m finished😭)
  • 5A*s and 3As IGCSE

Coursework

  • N/A

Awards
Aduvie Regional Maths Gold Medal

Bronze Honors in the 2023 International Youth Math Challenge(IYMC)

Honor Society Member

Best JAMB, IGCSE, and SAT results in the History of the School

Valedictorian(Highest Overall Cumulative score in my school’s History with a score of 97.3/100)

Student of the month 10 times

Star reader 13 times

Honor roll every single time

Extracurriculars
*organized bake sales and charity balls, raising over 1 million naira to fund 20 students’ education and support local orphanages.

Interned at T-Greater Computer Services where I mastered deadlines, client relations, and computer firm operation services while boosting research and tech expertise. 3-time Employee of the Month!

Assistant Head of Student Council, managed a cabinet of 20, events and meetings. Was in charge of stopping students from bringing contraband

Securing a full scholarship to Qubit by Qubit’s Introduction to Quantum Computing Course by researchers at MIT and Stanford where we learned about quantum computing and simulating qubits, circuits, and superpositions using Python and Cirq. then acing the course’s practical applications with a current 100% grade demonstrated my potential to excel in this field

The Captain and Winger of my school’s team, I assisted our coach in training over 60 students. We played inter-house and school competitions where we won Gold and Silver medals.

President of Coding Club

Head Delegate of Ukraine/Ass. Head of Protocol at School MUN

Developed a blog about emerging technology, aiming to demystify complex concepts like AI and inspire people to shape our technologically driven world.

President of STEM/JETS club

I won various dance competitions and helped teach people how to dance, was a source of entertainment to my classmates.*

Essays/LORs/Other
Average essay. ( Wrote how my love for computer science started and how it affects my life. (linked it to how I was trying to save the Krabby Patty formula while watching TV by trying to open the TV and enter SpongeBob’s world but instead finding a world of motherboards and wires ) had some average and above-average supplementals though
I’m not sure how i’d grade my recs

Cost Constraints / Budget

  • I’ll need a full ride, maybe highest EFC of 1000$*

Schools
I had to apply to top schools as they are more likely to meet my full-needs. ( I ended up applying to 38 schools)

I applied to 6 ivys (Brown, UPenn, Columbia, Yale, Harvard, and Princeton), Stanford, MIT, Minerva, Tufts, Rochester, Amherst, Colby, Richmond, Kenyon, Bowdoin, Bates, Umiami, Williams, Wesleyan, F&M, Carleton, Trinity University, Swarthmore, Hamilton, Skidmore, Northwestern, Denison, W&L, Vassar, Vanderbilt, Pomona, Duke, Fisk (Got accepted with presidential scholarship), Jackson state, University of southern mississippi, Oberlin,

Note: Background made it difficult to have access to a lot of competitions and extracurriculars

RESULTS

Accepted
Fisk (full ride presidential scholarship)
University of Southern Mississippi( Full ride honors presidential scholarship)
Jackson State(but no scholarship)

Rejected
Brown,
UPenn,
Columbia,
Yale,
Harvard,
Princeton),
MIT,
Tufts,
Rochester,
Amherst,
Richmond,
Bowdoin,
Bates,
Umiami,
Williams,
Wesleyan,
F&M,
Carleton,
Trinity University,
Swarthmore,
Hamilton,
Skidmore,
Northwestern,
Denison,
W&L,
Vassar,
Vanderbilt,
Pomona,
Duke

Waitlisted
Kenyon
Colby
Minerva

Awaiting
Stanford

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After stanford comes out i’ll post this on the actual results thread

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I sound like a broken record but in the midst of some disappointing results PLEASE also reflect on your success. It is so so difficult for an international student to get a full ride to a US college and you have two options. Your accomplishments as well as the time you spent crafting a diverse application list has truly paid off.

I hope Stanford pans out but whatever happens, you are already a big winner in this process.

Once you have the last decision, focus on securing the funding you will need for anything not covered by the scholarship (ex. transportation, mandatory health insurance, books, etc.) which is not an insignificant sum.

I hope you make the most of your great opportunity!

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Thank you so much for your kind words :grin:
I’m happy to say this was a successful process.
I’m so grateful
once again, thanks

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I am so sorry :sleepy: and, really, it’s their loss. :hugs:
But remember: you ARE going to college, you won a full ride, you won another one, and you’ve got an actual choice, which so very few internationals who need full rides get to. :raised_hands::tada::clap::fire::sparkles:

Stay around even after today please since we can still be of help, comparing your choices, figuring out what comes next…

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I’m genuinely so lucky i found this community, you have helped me cope with a lot and given me invaluable words of advice even though my app doesnt help you in anyway. Posting this chance me thread is among the best things i’ve experienced this application season and it’s all cause of you guys and your never ending support.
Thank you for guiding and supporting me through this process :hearts: :pray: :pray: :pray:

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Getting just one full ride would have been incredible. That you got two, really says a lot about you. Well done.

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Saying it again, despite all of the rejections. You already have won the competition! You got a full ride acceptance to a decent school (actually, two) in the US, and are going to college for free in the US. Now, it’s time to focus on how to get that last dollar, because you’re going to need to apply for your visa, and fly to the US. You may need to search for last dollar scholarships to help with that. Visa application will be at least $185, and flight will be at least $1800 round trip booked now, 5 months in advance - and that’s for a conventional ticket, with a return within 6 months. Unless your family can fly you home for Christmas or the summer every year, you’ll need a more expensive no penalty to change the ticket, since you’ll be re-booking the return for possibly as late as four years from now! As you can see, this is going to likely be several thousand dollars. If your family has it, great, but if not, you’ve got to start figuring out how to get that money now, since even a full ride is unaffordable, if you cannot get to the US to take advantage of it.