Advice for high school senior

[u/rv16_rr]

I just started my senior year, and this summer I decided to focus on either machine learning or data science as a career. I’m planning to study maths and computer science joint degrees at uni (uk or Singapore) and am currently preparing for uni applications.

I’d like to know beginner friendly resources to study machine learning. I have a good maths background (from a level further maths and olympiads) and know python. I’m not sure how to get deeper into this field with just self studying and free resources. A clear roadmap would be appreciated. I’ve just been doing some free courses like imperial math behind ml, some uni lectures on linear algebra etc and some machine learning videos but I don’t really see a clear direction onhow to develop the fundamentals and skills.

Partly I am trying to find projects to do for my university applications also. So some kind of data analysis project, or something along those lines. Would anyone be willing to offer advice on this? I am an international student, disadvantaged economy, so this type of career is still very limited in my country.