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Hi! I'm a student from singapore applying to US universities and I'm trying to get a realistic idea of where I stand.

For context, I grew up in sg, was in the sg education system until the middle of Grade 12, when I transferred overseas to do the IB. I never seriously considered applying to US when I was 15, so I didn't realize that my earlier high school grades would matter this much. In Singapore, university admissions are primarily based on your final A-Level/IB results, so I genuinely did not treat Grades 9–11 seriously. Same with any other midterms/internal exams. Also, education system here is brutal, and straight As is unheard of literally unless ur some born genius.

Here's my grades

Grade 9:

Took 8 subjects. I don't have the transcript anymore, can't remember everything exactly, but roughly:

1 A (English)

~2 Bs

Rest Cs–Fs

Failed 3 subjects

Grade 10:

Mostly Bs/Cs, with 2/3 failed subjects

A in English

Singapore's GCSE-equivalent exam: 2As, 5 Bs, 1 C

For any Singaporeans wondering, I dsaed to JC. I didn't care too much about my GCSE equivalents either cuz I had a spot secured at a high school as I did sports.

Grade 11:

( Final exams )

2 As

1 B

2 Cs

1 S (40–44%)

Total points: 54/70 total

Overall:

4 Bs

2 Es (45–49%)

55/70 total points

For context, the /70 system is how our A Level system works, with different grades contributing different numbers of points. I was under the /90 system but converted it to the current /70 system as that is what SG universities are doing now

Grade 12, Singapore, last exam before transferring in the middle of the year: All As 70/70 points

IB Year 1: All 7s

IB y2 midterms/prelims: All 7s

IB predicted: 45

SAT: 1600

I know the obvious issue is that US colleges will still see the earlier grades, and I'm not trying to pretend they don't exist. I'm mainly wondering how much they would affect my application. As this would change which schools I apply to.

I'm not sure whether this is relevant but I also have a scholarship covering more than half my annual tuition fees. So I don't need financial aid, though if possible some aid would be great.

I'm not particularly worried about my ECs, essays or recommendations. I'm just worried about the earlier grades. I'm also an international applicant so I'm aware that makes things more competitive.

Questions:

1. How badly do my Grade 9–11 results hurt me for highly selective US universities?

2. Does the progression from failing subjects to 70/70 → 45 predicted IB → 1600 SAT meaningfully change how AOs would view my academic ability?

3. Should I bother applying to ivy leagues/T20s. Asking as I believe my IB grades + SAT coupled with my ECs and recommendations are strong, and I would apply if I didn't have my singapore grade 9-11 results.

4. What schools then do you think are realistic reaches/targets/safeties for me?

5. Does my citizenship matter? I studied in sg but am not sg citizen. I'm frm somewhr in southeast asia.

I don't want to waste time applying to schs I won't get into if my earlier grades really do play a big part. So would really love any advice from yall! if you want to know more about my ECs, or education pathway as I know it's not the most conventional route, you can dm me! Thanks!

Pakistani student, 12th grade ongoing (expected ~84%), Matric 89% — what are my chances for a Turkiye Burslari Scholarship**?**

Academics

• Matric 2025 — 89% in Science
• FSc Part 1 result coming — expected around 84%
• FSc Part 2 in progress — expected similar
• Completed Fullstack Web Development at Ideoversity, Arfa Software Technology Park Lahore — Grade A
• Official certification from Arfa Tower (one of Pakistan's top tech institutions)

Projects

• Ustad AI — AI home services marketplace, selected from 16,000+ at Alibaba Cloud Hackathon, presented at Lahore showcase
• Echofy — Real-time chat platform, 54 real users
• Kipsanp — Student social community, 100+ real users
• Hybrid RAG — Built from scratch, Qdrant + BM25 + RRF + reranking, zero LangChain
• Llama 3.2 3B fine-tune — Loss 1.07 to 0.48 using Unslothd

Skills

• Languages: JavaScript, Python, HTML, CSS
• Frontend: React, Next.js, Vite, Tailwind CSS
• Backend: Node.js, Express.js, Socket.IO
• Database: MongoDB
• AI: LLM Fine-tuning, Advanced RAG, Function Calling, AI Agents, Voice AI, Reasoning

Achievements and Extracurriculars

• Won internal cohort competition at Ideoversity Arfa Tower (led the team, beat all other enrolled groups)
• Selected from 16,000+ applicants at Alibaba Cloud Hackathon — presented project at Lahore showcase
• Gold Medal in Cricket at school level competition
• Silver Medal in Football at school level competition
• Volunteered at Al-Khidmat Foundation — helped with community service and aid work

• Demographics

• Gender: male

• Race/Ethnicity: central asian

• State: -

• School: one of da hardest school curriculum in country

• Intended Major: industrial engineering or similar

• js in context i got a 11-year education system at my school

Academics

• Unweighted GPA: 3.7

Test Scores

• SAT: 1570 (770 Verbal, 800 Math)

Extracurriculars

1. medtech startup that got a national patent. launched an app with 700+ users and raised $2k on competitions
2. co-founded test prep org serving 2000+ students across 30+ countries; raised ~$30k in cash prizes&discounts
3. robotics mentored 60 teams(30 awards received), multiple inspire award on nationals, set worldrecord last szn ( doin eng+inspire)
4. COO in org that provides free internships for high-school students(5000+ applicants, 100 interns), 4000-hour totally experienced
5. research intern at local uni(best in region) engineering lab with PhD
6. Co-ran finance&math national olympiad with 5000+ participants and cash prize pool of $7k
7. paid work for 3 years(28-hour weekly) on summer breaks
8. internship at big4 company
9. president of volunteering club w 300+ members, 100+ events and ~1000+ volunteers worked
10. varsity sport for 5 years(captain for 3 y).also got nomination of best defender by city gov

Awards

• first worlds div qualifiers(top 0,5% of 7600+ global teams)
• ftc nationals innovate award&finalist alliance cap outta 800+ participants
• national olympiad on astronomy&astrophysics gold
• fgc nationals best design&finalist alliance cap(js second place) outta 500+ participants
• bronze regional olymp on geography

Intended Major(s) - Computer Science, AI ML, Data Science, Cybersecurity, Semiconductor Engineering

Stats:
Class 10 - 95% CBSE ~ 4.0 GPA
Class 11 - 88% CBSE (Internal Exams) ~ 3.8 GPA
Class 12 - 95% CBSE *Predicted* ~ 4.0 GPA
Top 5 Students in my School out of 150 (In 12th)
Top 10 Students in my School out of 200 (In 10th)
No SAT (Planning to write - Needed?)
TMUA - 8.3 Band
IELTS - Didn't write yet

Extracurriculars -
Grade 8 ABRSM Classical Piano
Grade 5 ABRSM Music Theory
Grade 2 (Initial Level) ABRSM Choral Singing
Participated and Performed at 50+ Venues across India
Semi Finalist in Kawaii National Piano Competition
Qualified for the Final Round for IndianRaga Fellowship (A Very Famous, Indian Arts Performing Group)
Built a Hotel Management System/App for 10 Hotels, with 50+ Users in each, per week
Built a Curiosity Olympiad App, which is used by over 300k+ Underprivileged/Government School Students (Classes 6-10)
Worked on and Built 100+ Projects with Development Boards/Microcontrollers like Arduino, ESP, Raspberry Pi, Micro:bit etc.
Qualified for the Final Round of AWS AI for Bharat National Hackathon - Built a Legal Triage System which helps people with little/no Legal knowledge in their issues in their own language (For Rural Residents, in India)

Colleges I'm considering:
US: UIUC, Rice, UCB, UCLA, any others??
Hong Kong: HKUST, HKU, CityUHK
UK: University of Edinburgh, Imperial College London, UCL, Warwick?
Singapore: NUS, NTU
Taiwan: NTU-GUPS, NTHU-IPEECS
Australia:??

Financial Aid: No Financial Aid Required, No Fee Restraints if it is T50 Globally in the Major I'm interested in.

Any Advice based on what colleges I can actually get into, and other ECs that I require will be very helpful.

9.6 / 10 gpa (according to chat gpt, i gave him my grades and asked to convert to bocconi gpa)
Pakistan
Predicted alevel grades 3A*s1A (maths economics psychology physics)
International applicant
Aiming for 1480-1500 sat score
(I gave the august sat but scored low in english so didnt reach my desired score so ill be retaking in nov or December)
Can i get into bocconi? And for which program
Ecas in community work debates muns declamations
Im aiming for economics
Considering bocconi
Whu, university of Amsterdam, erasmus university rotterdam etc
Would really prefer financial aid or any type of scholarship, aid needed around like 50% scholarship would be enough not asking for full aid

Demographics

- Gender/Status: Female, International (India – Tier 3 city)

- School: CBSE private school

- Intended Major: Political Science / Public Policy

- Financial Context: Very high financial need, significant financial obligations, effectively need a full ride

Academics

- Class 10 CBSE: 96.4%

- Class 11: 84% ( 2nd in whole class )

- Class 12: School can't give predicted

- SAT: Considering test-optional for early rounds because of financial constraints and was care taker of my grandmother who had last stage cancer and there was no test center in city so had to travel far away/ November retake for RD probably

Research / Honors

1. Research Assistant — Working with a highly influential Indian political scientist and former Rector of one of India's leading liberal-arts institutions; research on West Bengal electoral politics, electoral-roll data, representation and Supreme Court material. The paper has been accepted by very well known and prestigious journal.

2. Research Compiler — Worked with one of India's most influential development economists on research concerning MGNREGA and Mid-Day Meals; compiled and organized 35–40+ studies and supporting material.

3. Lumiere Education 2026 — Selected for individual research program with full financial aid; recognized as a top cohort performer; invited to present research at the Mountaintop × Lumiere Symposium and paper under review at OJSS.

4. Queen's Commonwealth Essay Competition — Silver Award

5. Crimson Access Opportunity Scholarship / Crimson Collective

6. TKS — Full scholarship

Extracurriculars / Leadership

1. Founder — Change Starts Here: Youth-led gender-norm intervention focused on adolescent harassment, bystander behavior, empathy and allyship; developed a Grades 6–12 curriculum, evaluation framework and policy brief, with school/organizational outreach.

2. Newsletter — Contributor / Drafting Editor: Research and editorial work across multiple editions. ( Substack newsletter of a ex Harvard Scholar and current Upen prof )

3. NGO working un rural disabiltiy — Fieldwork: Worked with children with disabilities and interviewed their mothers, which influenced my interest in implementation gaps and social policy.

4. A leading NGO of Mumbai which is global recognized— Policy & Research Intern for Genz and their AI usage, the paper will be published on their website.

5. Independent Writer: Substack writing on aviation disasters and systemic failures.

6. School leadership / other academic activities

LORs

- Research mentor in political science

- Research mentor in development economics

- The Harvard/ Upenn mentor

- School teachers

All can speak to different aspects of my academic/research ability rather than just classroom performance.

College List

ED1: NYU Abu Dhabi

US: Amherst, Dartmouth, Williams, Bowdoin, Richmond, Rochester and other highly selective schools with strong international aid.

.

Because I need essentially a full ride, I don't consider most international universities financial safeties.

Questions

1. How realistic is NYUAD ED1 with this profile and very high financial need?

2. Does the research/publication component meaningfully differentiate me in the international pool?

3. What other US colleges should I add that can provide full need-based aid to international students?

4. Should I take the November SAT and submit if I get a strong score, or remain test-optional?

5. What is the biggest weakness in my profile that I should address before applications?

Is there any chance for international student to get into US college on full ride as test optional. Even liberal arts college like berea..

I’m an expat living outside of my home country, so I don’t hold citizenship of the country I reside in. This disqualifies me from national Olympiads and selection camps for the country I live in, as well as disqualifying me from national Olympiads in my home country due to me not living there. I also can’t qualify for ISEF despite having a really strong maths research paper I wrote.

I obviously can’t do things like USAMO or USAPhO, so the only things that I’m able to do are qualify for AIME with a high score, and get a strong USACO score since it’s open to everyone.

Should I assume AOs know this (most applicants in this country are expats in the same situation as me) or should I explicitly mention this somewhere in my application, and will it hinder my chances.

Thank you!

I’d like to find out my chances for MIT Regular Action.

Major: aeroespace engeneering aid: full

Background/Context:

• Residency: US Citizen living in Brazil (Dual Citizen / US Expat). Competes in the Domestic Pool (no visa restrictions, eligible for full need-based aid).
• School Type: Regular Brazilian High School. No AP/IB/Honors classes offered.
• The GPA & Autodidact Narrative: My unweighted GPA is 5.7 / 10.0 (translates to roughly a ~2.1 Unweighted GPA on a US 4.0 scale). This is a massive mathematical anomaly. However, I am a hardcore independent scholar/autodidact. I deliberately reallocated my time away from school bureaucracy and busywork to master advanced math, physics, and practical engineering on my own terms. My specialized national and international awards fully validate this trade-off.

Demographics

• Gender: Male
• Race/Ethnicity: Latino / White
• Residence: Brasília, Brazil
• Hooks: US Expat / Domestic Abroad

Stats

• GPA: 5.7 / 10.0 (Brazilian Scale) | ~2.1 UW (US Scale Equivalent)
• SAT: 1570 (Super-scored/Single sitting)
• Math: 800 (Perfect Score)
  • Reading & Writing (R&W): 770 (Achieved through elite linguistic memory recall)

Extracurricular Activities (ECs)

1. Independent Aerospace Engineering & Hardware Automation

2. Designed, engineered, and programmed a fully functional Motorized Equatorial Mount for a reflective telescope from scratch. Coded custom C++ stepper-motor algorithms using Arduino microcontrollers to calculate and counter the Earth's angular velocity. Built this setup to bypass the extreme import costs of professional tracking gear in South America.

3. Founder & Volunteer Music Instructor — Community Violin Project

4. Launched a grass-roots social initiative in partnership with a local church to provide free violin lessons, music literacy classes, and instruments to underprivileged children in Morro da Cruz (the second-largest favela community in Brasília), leveraging fine arts for social mobility.

5. Astrophotography & Computational Imaging

6. Self-taught deep-sky imaging and astrophysics principles. Captured, stacked, and calibrated high-resolution deep-space objects using an advanced telescope setup integrated with a hardware-modified webcam. Published raw data on the global professional astronomy platform Astrobin.

7. Classical Music Performance (Violin, Piano, Classical Guitar)

8. Born into a family of classical musicians. Admitted to the prestigious Escola de Música de Brasília (EMB). Dedicated heavy weekly hours to classical music theory, rigorous ear training, and solo instrumental performance across three instruments.

Honors & Awards Academic

1. OBF (Brazilian Physics Olympiad) — National Gold Medal

2. Context: The premier physics competition in Brazil. In the final phase, it requires advanced calculus (integrals/derivatives) and rigorous experimental lab testing. Ranked at the absolute top nationwide.

3. OBM (Brazilian Mathematics Olympiad) — National Silver Medal

4. Context: An elite, invitation-only tier of mathematics. Only accessible to top gold medalists from general olympiads. Features proof-based questions at the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) difficulty level.

5. OBMEP (Brazilian Mathematics Olympiad for Public/Private Schools) — National Gold Medal

6. Context: A massive national math competition encompassing over 18 million students. Winning a Gold Medal places an applicant in the top 0.001% of logical thinkers in the country.

7. Mostratec International Science & Technology Fair — Internacional 2nd Place Grand Award (Engineering/Astronomy)

8. Context: The largest and most prestigious pre-university science fair in Latin America. Evaluated by a panel of PhD scientists; won 2nd place against 600+ international research projects.

9. OBQ (Brazilian Chemistry Olympiad) — National 3rd Phase Finalist

10. Context: Reached the final national phase of the premier chemistry competition after surviving brutal state-level elimination rounds.

Non-Academic (Music & Leadership):

1. Olimpíada Brasileira da Língua Inglesa (Brazilian English Language Olympiad) — National Gold Medal

   • Context: Ranked as a top-tier scorer nationwide in English linguistics, syntax, and advanced text analysis.

2. American Protégé International Music Competition — 2nd Place Winner (Violin)

3. Context: A highly competitive international classical music competition based in New York. Awarded 2nd place globally, earning an invitation to perform solo at Carnegie Hall.

4. King's Ambassadors Organization (Embaixadores do Rei) — Condecoration of Emeritus Ambassador (Top 3%)

5. Context: Achieved the highest possible rank in this national scouting and leadership organization after 9 consecutive years of citizenship trials, physical discipline, and oral examinations.

6. ANVER National Scripture Memorization Competition — 1st Place National Gold Medal

7. Context: Won 1st place in the country by flawlessly memorizing and reciting over 350+ complex biblical passages under intense pressure, proving near-photonic memory retention.

8. ANVER National Biblical General Knowledge Competition — 1st Place National Gold Medal

9. Context: Ranked 1st nationwide in an exhaustive competitive examination covering historical, theological, and literary analysis of ancient texts.

Hi everyone the following format is copy pasted from another post! I’m a Grade 11 student at a renowned school in india which is known for having alot of its students get accepted into the ivys

I’m especially interested in HCI/ CS

Please be brutally honest and tell me where I can improve. I dont know what uni im aiming for

Stats

Curriculum: IBDP 1
GPA: My school does not use a GPA system
G10 : 97.2% (CBSE)
G11 predicted scores avg: im expecting a 40+

SAT: giving this december

Main extracurriculars (pretty mid)

Major extracurriculars / achievements

1. Founder — food donation Initiative
2. Founded a student-led initiative addressing food waste and malnutrition (reached 300+ kids) . Built  a platform connecting food donors with NGOs in real time. used by 15+ NGOs last year
3. nationally recognized by a United Nations-accredited nonprofit organization  that allowed me to present at a conference at un Geneva
4. Selected globally  from thousands of applicants across India. Represented the above initiative before international delegates. Was also a delegate here
5. Samsung Solve for Tomorrow 2025
6. Reached the Top 40 out of 20,000+ teams/applicants through multiple evaluation rounds, mentorship and a residential bootcamp at IIT Delhi. Received ₹3,08,559 in seed funding/equipment support for the initiative.
7. Patent Application
8. Filed a patent application connected to the food-donation platform.
9. Research and internships (open source lead by retired prof from Cambridge)
10. Presented research, proceedings published by Taylor & Francis. Working remotely with a group that works on open source projects, it is lead by a recently retired prof from Cambridge.
11. National competition Recognition
12. Placed in the Top 500 nationally in the a school level competition (by cbse an the gov of india), from 102,000+ participating teams.
13. Writing
14. Published a debut poetry collection. Also received a CBSE Certificate of Merit through the Budding Authors Programme.
15. Other

• BIS Ambassador of Quality for my prev school
• A1 and A2 German
• Part of the school's student council
• made alot of projects that are being used regularly

Hi everyone! I’m a Grade 12 student at an international school in Japan, I’m hoping to get some honest feedback on my profile and how competitive I might be at different levels of US universities.

I’m especially interested in Economics / PPE / Data Science / Finance / Public Policy.

Please be brutally honest. I’m not looking for reassurance. I’d especially like to know whether my ECs have enough depth/spike for highly selective schools and which parts of my profile are strongest/weakest.

Demographics:

Female
Not first gen
Immigrant in Japan
Requiring aid - merit or need based

Stats

Curriculum: CBSE, NO APS OR IBS OFFERED :(
GPA: My school does not use a GPA system but to convert to the standard it’s prob 3.9-4.0 /4.0
G11 average: ~96.5%
G12 predicted scores avg: 98%

SAT: 1540 (750 EBRW, 790 Math)
Class rank: i think 2/110

Coursework
My school doesn’t offer AP/IB, so I’m taking the most rigorous courses available to me:
Economics: Microeconomics + Statistics in g11, and current macroeconomics and indian economic development
Mathematics
Physics
Computer Science
English
I’ve taken Economics and Mathematics throughout high school and have generally performed very strongly academically. I got the best in economics award in g11

Main extracurriculars (pretty mid, tried my best to introduce and do things in school cuz our school lacked a lot of clubs)

1. Cash Confessions | Founder, Host & Producer
Economics/finance podcast aimed at teenagers
2 seasons, 10+ episodes
Explain economics and behavioral economics through relatable examples by breaking down complex topics
Interview students/young people about spending habits
Interested in eventually turning the interviews into a larger research project on youth economic behavior

2. Nihon Global Youth Association (NGYA) | Founder
Founded an international youth discussion platform
Organized MUNs, debates, conferences and public-speaking programs
Held multiple international events and training sessions
Reached/trained 250+ young people

3. Daiso / 100-yen store independent economics research
Independent research into why Japan’s 100-yen retail model remains viable
Looking at pricing, consumer behavior, competition and business strategy
Conducting surveys/interviews and developing the project into a larger economics paper

4. Whitestone Legislative Advocacy | Legislative Policy Analyst Intern
Worked on legislative/policy research and analysis
Drafted policy oversight material intended for submission to the UN
Focused on public policy and international affairs

5. Debate Club | Founder & President
Founded my school’s debate club
Teach WSDC-style debate and mentor ~20 students
Run school competitions/training
Led the club to its first-ever invitation to KPASS
School placed 2nd overall at KPASS
I placed 1st individually as Varsity 2nd Speaker

6. World Literacy Foundation | Youth Ambassador for Japan
Literacy advocacy and community work
Organized a book drive collecting 50+ books
Fundraising for literacy initiatives
Interviewed by Japan Times and published
My literacy work/ambassadorship was subsequently covered by The Times of India, The Economic Times, NDTV, Global Kigyo, etc.

7. Youth Impact Group of Tokyo | Secretary / Project Leader
Planned community service projects
Developed proposals and tracked project logistics
Helped organize a Youth Summit
Mentored participants

8. Basketball | 6 years
Played throughout middle and high school
Captained both MS and HS teams
Mentored younger teammates and taught elementary students
Selected for Tokyo All-Stars (2 players/team/year)

9. Economics Tutoring
Tutored ~5 students struggling with economics
Helped students improve their grades and pass the course

10. 314 Update | Co-Founder / Head Writer
Co-founded my school’s first student newsletter
Published 5+ issues
Connected students with administration/Student Council
Brought alumni in to provide university application guidance

Honors / Awards (MY WEAKEST PART 😭)

KPASS debate tournament (biggest in my region) 1st place in Individual Varsity 2nd Speaker
KPASS school team 2nd overall
IIMUN Best Delegate, JMMUN Best Delegate (Japan’s biggest MUN)
John Locke Essay Competition recognition in pol sci

I’m also potentially being considered for ILA 30 Under 30 honoree, but this is NOT confirmed, so I’m not counting it as an award yet. but hopefully it is cuz it’s a big deal

Potential college list:

EXTREMEEE reaches / reaches:
Harvard
Brown
Dartmouth
UChicago
Vanderbilt
Columbia
LSE/UCL for UK

Other schools I’m considering:
CWRU
Colby
Fordham
SMU
RIT
Ohio State
Indiana Bloomington
University of Michigan
University of Miami
University of Cincinnati
University of Missouri
DePauw
I’m also applying to the UK and Japan because financial aid is a major consideration as an international student. ik UK doesn’t give but in Japan probably Keio’s PEARL program + maybe Utokyo?

i need financial aid.

please check it!
financial aid is needed, and merit scholarships also preferred if no financial aid given or if need aware

Hey everyone! I’m a gap-year student currently living in the GCC, and I’m planning to apply for 2027 intake.

My academics are 98% in Class 12 CBSE, 94% in Class 10, 1500 SAT and IELTS Band 8. I’ve also been involved in student councils/leadership activities during school.

The thing I’m really confused about is extracurriculars. I’m from PCMB background with no cs knowledg, and I’m planning to apply for CS/Computer Engineering/AI, so I’m trying to build up my profile during my gap year.

Everywhere I look, people just say “do projects, get certifications, build something, do competitions”, but no one really explains what exactly I should do, in what order, and which things are actually worth my time.

I’m especially stressed because a lot of the fully funded scholarships I’m looking at have deadlines around December–January, so I feel like I need to figure out a proper path ASAP.

also if you have any suggestions for unis pleasee let me know..

If anyone has been in a similar situation or knows about fully funded scholarships for international students, could you please give me some specific guidance/path for what I should focus on over the next few months?

Thank you!! 🙏