u/Ok_Professor_9329

Hey there! I'm an 11th grader from Türkiye, and I'm currently researching about studying abroad (for computer engineering) and I came across KAIST. It definitely caught my interest since it's consistently in the top 30 in computer sciences across the world.

Well, enough yapping, let me get to the "stats":

I got into the top %0.24 of students in the LGS (high school entrence exam), and I got into one of the top science high schools in all of Türkiye.

GPA: 9th grade 95/100 - 10th grade 93/100 - 11 and 12 yet to come

SAT: I didn't take it yet (planning to take it this december) but according to my past practice tests I'm expecting around 1550+

IELTS: same situation as SAT, I expect a 7-7.5

AP/IB: sadly none, but still considering if I should take 2-3 AP exams this year (my school doesn't have AP courses sadly, so I'd need to self study.).

Extracurriculars: One of the 4 lead members of the AI club in my school. We teach basic level python, how to use AI powered IDE's (like cursor) and how to write reports and make AI models for the TÜBİTAK and TEKNOFEST competitions.

We have joined 4 TEKNOFEST competitions until now (2 AI in Health, 1 AI in Aviation, 1 E-Commerce Kaggle), with 3 of them getting to the 2nd stage, and 1 that we are hoping will get to the final stage (wish us luck 🤞). 2 TÜBİTAK 2204-A research projects (in the AI field), both of them got eliminated in the first stage though. Took part and got certificates in 3 TÜBİTAK 4006-B science fair, all of them in the AI field. Took part and got a certificate in the eTwinning project in our school where we welcomed 4 Italian teachers.

Well, what'd ya think? Are my chances slim or not? What should I improve on? Any tips are greatly appreciated.

Well, thanks in advance for your replies!

Selamlar, ilk post yippie!!

Şu an İstanbul'daki en iyi fen liselerinden birinde okuyorum (LGS 2024'te %0.24'e girdim), bu sene 11. sınıf olacağım ve okulumuzda hazırlık ve AP/IB programı yok (keşke olan bir okula gitseydim ama artık yapacak bir şey yok.). Son yarım yıldır falan da yurtdışında okumayı planlıyorum, ancak son 1 ayda falan ciddi bir şekilde değerlendirmeye başladım. Bölüm olarak %90 bilgisayar müh. / CS / AI okumayı planlıyorum, düşük bir ihtimal olarak da fizik / astrofizik olabilir. Bütçe olarak sınavlar sonrası her şey (yaşama, okul ücreti vs.) dahil yıllık 10.000 € civarı ayırabilirim, ancak burs alabilirsem daha iyi olur.

Okulda yaptığım ekstra aktiviteleri yazmam gerekirse, okulumdaki yapay zeka kulübünde aktif görevliyim ve her sene TÜBİTAK 2204-A ve çeşitli TEKNOFEST yarışmalarına katılıyoruz. Her sene de 4006-B sergisi düzenliyoruz. Onun haricinde de okulumuzda 4 İtalyan hocayı ağırladığımız eTwinning projesinde görevliydim.

IELTS ve SAT konusunda kendimi rahat hissediyorum, İngilizce seviyem B2+ civarı ve ikisine de yaklaşık 2-3 ay çalışarak halledeceğimden eminim. Dün de Bluebook'tan bir SAT denemesine girdim ve hiç çalışmadan 1400 aldım.

AP alıp almamam konusunda cidden kararsızım, çünkü 3-4 tane AP almaya çalışırsam zorlu yazılılar, (gerekirse) YKS çalışması, kulüp çalışmaları vesaire derken hepsini yetiştirebilir miyim bilemiyorum. Eğer AP alacaksam Calc BC, Physics C M ve CSA (ve belki Physics C E&M) alabilirim. Ama cidden kararsızım hala bu konuda.

Değerlendirdiğim ülkelere gelecek olursak, İtalya en büyük aday gibi. Bütçe dostu, birçok İngilizce lisans seçeneği, burs sistemi, AP'nin zorunluluk olmaması gibi nedenler beni cezbetmedi değil. PoliTo, Sapienza, Pavia gibi seçenekler var benim gözüme çarpan. Tabii önerilere açığım.

İtalya haricinde Almanya değerlendirdim, ama İngilizce lisans azlığı ve bloke hesap muhabbeti düşündürmüyor değil.

Başka bir sürü seçenek de değerlendirdim ancak yazmaya çalışsam çok uzun bir yazı olurdu. Eğer ki başka değerlendirmem gereken üniversite/ülke öneriniz varsa lütfen yazın. Ayrıca kendi okuduğunuz ve bana önermek istediğiniz üniversiteler varsa lütfen aşagıya yazmaktan çekinmeyin.

Umarım bunu okurken sıkılmamışsınızdır ve yazarken hiçbir kuralı çiğnememişimdir. Okuduğunuz için ve vereceğiniz değerli öneriler için şimdiden çok teşekkürler.

Hello hello dear friends, first let me introduce myself to you. I'm Efe, a 10th, soon-to-be 11th grade student at a pretty respectable and successful science high school in Türkiye-İstanbul. Before I continue, I'll say that will be a pretty long read (i do yap alot :p), you can skip and get to the questions if you want. Some of you may know our country's situation is pretty... meh, to say the least. Our universities aren't really helping either. So, I've decided that I wanted to study abroad. I knew I wanted to study Computer Sciences in uni, that's clear. I also knew I wanted to study in English if I was going to study abroad, since my English is pretty good. I'd consider myself a C1 range speaker, and I am going to take the IELTS in about a year or so to prove that, hopefully.

My GPA is about 93.5/100 for the last two years (we don't have the preparation year). I also took part in the eTwinning project of our school where 4 Italian teachers came over. I am also part of the AI club of our school, we work in projects for TÜBİTAK 2204-A competition (High School Students Research Projects Competition) and the TEKNOFEST (Turkish Aerospace and Technology Festival) Artificial Intelligence In Health competition, and we have a few small achievements, but not much if I'm honest. We also organize TÜBİTAK 4006-B Science fairs each year, so I have done 2 of them so far.

Well, I guess that's pretty much it for me. Let me get to the questions now.

1. Does it matter if I take the SAT or the CEnT-S for applying? Can/Should I take one or both?
2. Do I have to take the YKS (University entrance exam) here and get a good score? Is that a requirement? Also will taking the AP exams mean anything in the application?
3. What's the general application process like? What kind of documents are needed?
4. If you are studying the subject I'm interested in, how would you rate the teachers? (I'm sure they're the best, but just wondering)
5. How are the prices like? How easy/hard is it to get scholarships (considering the situation im in)?
6. How's Italy/Rome in general? I know this is a very broad question, but I've never been abroad before and this would be a first for me. And as you know, İstanbul, where I live, is a huge and fast-paced city. How would you compare the two?
7. How's the campus like? How big is it? What are the most outstanding capabilities of it?
8. How many Turkish students are there, if you know? I really am afraid of being alone if I were to go there, since I know literally no one outside of Türkiye.
9. How's the dorm? Like the price, quality etc.? Should i just opt for a house to move in?

Whew that was a lot. But guess that's it! If you'd reply, I would really really be grateful about that. Well, thanks for reading and have a nice day. (hope i didn't break any rules or smthn :p)

(edit: deleted a part i left half-written. wasn't really needed anyway)