u/Recent_21

Hi everyone,

​I’m an international student from Ethiopia currently preparing for the KAIST Spring intake. I recently finished my freshman year at university and I am determined to apply abroad, despite the heavy financial and logistical hurdles.

​To give some context, I'm a twin, my mother is a single-parent housewife (our father passed away a few years ago), and our family is supporting two of us trying to study abroad. With the weak Ethiopian currency, every application fee and the upcoming IELTS test in September are massive financial commitments, but my family is fully behind me.

​Academically, I’ve pushed myself as hard as I can:

​High School GPA: 3.99

​National University Entrance Exam: 541 / 600

​What I need help with:

I know that for a school like KAIST, stats alone aren't enough—the personal statement and essays are crucial. I want to convey my background authentically (the grit of studying STEM in a resource-limited environment, the support of my family, and my genuine passion for engineering) without making it sound like a generic sob story.

​I am looking for a mentor, a current KAIST student, or an alumnus who wouldn't mind guiding me step-by-step or giving me feedback on how to structure and write my essay.

​If anyone has successfully navigated this or has advice on how to find an essay mentor, I would be endlessly grateful. Please drop a comment or DM me

Hi everyone,

​I’m an international student from Ethiopia currently preparing for the KAIST Spring intake. I recently finished my freshman year at university and I am determined to apply abroad, despite the heavy financial and logistical hurdles.

​To give some context, I'm a twin, my mother is a single-parent housewife (our father passed away a few years ago), and our family is supporting two of us trying to study abroad. With the weak Ethiopian currency, every application fee and the upcoming IELTS test in September are massive financial commitments, but my family is fully behind me.

​Academically, I’ve pushed myself as hard as I can:

​High School GPA: 3.99

​National University Entrance Exam: 541 / 600

​What I need help with:

I know that for a school like KAIST, stats alone aren't enough—the personal statement and essays are crucial. I want to convey my background authentically (the grit of studying STEM in a resource-limited environment, the support of my family, and my genuine passion for engineering) without making it sound like a generic sob story.

​I am looking for a mentor, a current KAIST student, or an alumnus who wouldn't mind guiding me step-by-step or giving me feedback on how to structure and write my essay.

​If anyone has successfully navigated this or has advice on how to find an essay mentor, I would be endlessly grateful. Please drop a comment or DM me

Hi everyone,

​I’m an international student from Ethiopia currently preparing for the KAIST Spring intake. I recently finished my freshman year at university and I am determined to apply abroad, despite the heavy financial and logistical hurdles.

​To give some context, I'm a twin, my mother is a single-parent housewife (our father passed away a few years ago), and our family is supporting two of us trying to study abroad. With the weak Ethiopian currency, every application fee and the upcoming IELTS test in September are massive financial commitments, but my family is fully behind me.

​Academically, I’ve pushed myself as hard as I can:

​High School GPA: 3.99

​National University Entrance Exam: 541 / 600

​What I need help with:

I know that for a school like KAIST, stats alone aren't enough—the personal statement and essays are crucial. I want to convey my background authentically (the grit of studying STEM in a resource-limited environment, the support of my family, and my genuine passion for engineering) without making it sound like a generic sob story.

​I am looking for a mentor, a current KAIST student, or an alumnus who wouldn't mind guiding me step-by-step or giving me feedback on how to structure and write my essay.

​If anyone has successfully navigated this or has advice on how to find an essay mentor, I would be endlessly grateful. Please drop a comment or DM me

Hi everyone,

​I’m an international student from Ethiopia currently preparing for the KAIST Spring intake. I recently finished my freshman year at university and I am determined to apply abroad, despite the heavy financial and logistical hurdles.

​To give some context, I'm a twin, my mother is a single-parent housewife (our father passed away a few years ago), and our family is supporting two of us trying to study abroad. With the weak Ethiopian currency, every application fee and the upcoming IELTS test in September are massive financial commitments, but my family is fully behind me.

​Academically, I’ve pushed myself as hard as I can:

​High School GPA: 3.99

​National University Entrance Exam: 541 / 600

​What I need help with:

I know that for a school like KAIST, stats alone aren't enough—the personal statement and essays are crucial. I want to convey my background authentically (the grit of studying STEM in a resource-limited environment, the support of my family, and my genuine passion for engineering) without making it sound like a generic sob story.

​I am looking for a mentor, a current KAIST student, or an alumnus who wouldn't mind guiding me step-by-step or giving me feedback on how to structure and write my essay.

​If anyone has successfully navigated this or has advice on how to find an essay mentor, I would be endlessly grateful. Please drop a comment or DM me

Hi everyone,

I’m a university student in Ethiopia, and I’m planning to start a small project to help high-school students, especially Grade 12/matric students, study more easily.

My idea is to convert educational textbooks and learning materials into audio format, so students can listen to lessons instead of relying only on printed books. I’m particularly interested in helping students who have difficulty accessing or reading traditional textbooks, but I also think it could be useful for students who want to listen while studying or reviewing.

The part I’m struggling with is distribution.

I don’t want to spend months creating the audio materials and then simply upload them somewhere where the students who actually need them never find them. I want to work with an organization, school network, library, NGO, education group, or another institution that already has access to Ethiopian high-school students.

Does anyone know of organizations in Ethiopia that might be interested in receiving or distributing educational audiobooks?

I’m especially interested in:

Organizations supporting students with visual impairments or other disabilities

Libraries that provide educational resources

NGOs working in education

High-school teacher networks

Organizations working with Grade 12/matric students

Government education offices

Anyone already working on accessible education in Ethiopia

I’m not trying to make money from this. My main goal is to make the materials actually reach students who can benefit from them.

If you know an organization, teacher, school, NGO, library, or person I should contact, I’d really appreciate any recommendations or advice on how to approach them.

Thank you!

​

Hi everyone,

I'm from Ethiopia, and I recently finished my freshman year at university. I'll be starting my second year next semester, but I want to apply abroad for a bachelor's degree.

I want to explain my situation so you can understand where I'm coming from. I have a twin sister, and we're both hoping to study abroad. Applying is very difficult because most universities charge application fees. My mother is a single parent and a housewife. My father passed away a few years ago, and I also have other siblings, so our financial situation is challenging.

On top of that, the Ethiopian currency is very weak, so even small fees in other countries become very expensive for us. It's even harder because there are two of us applying. When I talked to my mother about it, she told me to try anyway. She said she would borrow the money if necessary, and that we could repay it later by working part-time.

I'm planning to take the IELTS this September. Even though it's expensive, my mother believes it's worth it because it will give me more opportunities to apply to universities.

Academically, I graduated high school with a 3.99 GPA and scored 541/600 on Ethiopia's national university entrance exam. I also have some extracurricular activities, although they're not extraordinary.

When I was in Grade 12, I applied to universities in the United States, but unfortunately it didn't work out. I also know that the visa process is very difficult, and I don't want to put all my hope into something with such low odds.

I'm open to studying almost anywhere in the world, but I'm especially interested in Poland and Italy because I've heard there are more opportunities for students to work part-time.

The biggest challenge is that I can only afford to apply to about 3 or 4 universities. I'm looking for universities where I have a realistic chance of receiving a full scholarship, or at least a full tuition scholarship, because I can't afford to take many chances. I want to use my limited applications wisely.

If anyone knows of universities that fit my situation, or has advice on scholarships, application strategies, or the process in general, I would really appreciate it. Also, if you know of any legitimate online assistant or remote jobs that I could do to earn money for application fees, I'd be very grateful.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. I know this was a long post, but I wanted to explain my situation clearly. Any advice would mean a lot to me.

​

Hi everyone,

I'm from Ethiopia, and I recently finished my freshman year at university. I'll be starting my second year next semester, but I want to apply abroad for a bachelor's degree.

I want to explain my situation so you can understand where I'm coming from. I have a twin sister, and we're both hoping to study abroad. Applying is very difficult because most universities charge application fees. My mother is a single parent and a housewife. My father passed away a few years ago, and I also have other siblings, so our financial situation is challenging.

On top of that, the Ethiopian currency is very weak, so even small fees in other countries become very expensive for us. It's even harder because there are two of us applying. When I talked to my mother about it, she told me to try anyway. She said she would borrow the money if necessary, and that we could repay it later by working part-time.

I'm planning to take the IELTS this September. Even though it's expensive, my mother believes it's worth it because it will give me more opportunities to apply to universities.

Academically, I graduated high school with a 3.99 GPA and scored 541/600 on Ethiopia's national university entrance exam. I also have some extracurricular activities, although they're not extraordinary.

When I was in Grade 12, I applied to universities in the United States, but unfortunately it didn't work out. I also know that the visa process is very difficult, and I don't want to put all my hope into something with such low odds.

I'm open to studying almost anywhere in the world, but I'm especially interested in Poland and Italy because I've heard there are more opportunities for students to work part-time.

The biggest challenge is that I can only afford to apply to about 3 or 4 universities. I'm looking for universities where I have a realistic chance of receiving a full scholarship, or at least a full tuition scholarship, because I can't afford to take many chances. I want to use my limited applications wisely.

If anyone knows of universities that fit my situation, or has advice on scholarships, application strategies, or the process in general, I would really appreciate it. Also, if you know of any legitimate online assistant or remote jobs that I could do to earn money for application fees, I'd be very grateful.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. I know this was a long post, but I wanted to explain my situation clearly. Any advice would mean a lot to me.

​

Hi everyone,

I'm from Ethiopia, and I recently finished my freshman year at university. I'll be starting my second year next semester, but I want to apply abroad for a bachelor's degree.

I want to explain my situation so you can understand where I'm coming from. I have a twin sister, and we're both hoping to study abroad. Applying is very difficult because most universities charge application fees. My mother is a single parent and a housewife. My father passed away a few years ago, and I also have other siblings, so our financial situation is challenging.

On top of that, the Ethiopian currency is very weak, so even small fees in other countries become very expensive for us. It's even harder because there are two of us applying. When I talked to my mother about it, she told me to try anyway. She said she would borrow the money if necessary, and that we could repay it later by working part-time.

I'm planning to take the IELTS this September. Even though it's expensive, my mother believes it's worth it because it will give me more opportunities to apply to universities.

Academically, I graduated high school with a 3.99 GPA and scored 541/600 on Ethiopia's national university entrance exam. I also have some extracurricular activities, although they're not extraordinary.

When I was in Grade 12, I applied to universities in the United States, but unfortunately it didn't work out. I also know that the visa process is very difficult, and I don't want to put all my hope into something with such low odds.

I'm open to studying almost anywhere in the world, but I'm especially interested in Poland and Italy because I've heard there are more opportunities for students to work part-time.

The biggest challenge is that I can only afford to apply to about 3 or 4 universities. I'm looking for universities where I have a realistic chance of receiving a full scholarship, or at least a full tuition scholarship, because I can't afford to take many chances. I want to use my limited applications wisely.

If anyone knows of universities that fit my situation, or has advice on scholarships, application strategies, or the process in general, I would really appreciate it. Also, if you know of any legitimate online assistant or remote jobs that I could do to earn money for application fees, I'd be very grateful.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. I know this was a long post, but I wanted to explain my situation clearly. Any advice would mean a lot to me.

Hi everyone,

I'm from Ethiopia, and I recently finished my freshman year at university. I'll be starting my second year next semester, but I want to apply abroad for a bachelor's degree.

I want to explain my situation so you can understand where I'm coming from. I have a twin sister, and we're both hoping to study abroad. Applying is very difficult because most universities charge application fees. My mother is a single parent and a housewife. My father passed away a few years ago, and I also have other siblings, so our financial situation is challenging.

On top of that, the Ethiopian currency is very weak, so even small fees in other countries become very expensive for us. It's even harder because there are two of us applying. When I talked to my mother about it, she told me to try anyway. She said she would borrow the money if necessary, and that we could repay it later by working part-time.

I'm planning to take the IELTS this September. Even though it's expensive, my mother believes it's worth it because it will give me more opportunities to apply to universities.

Academically, I graduated high school with a 3.99 GPA and scored 541/600 on Ethiopia's national university entrance exam. I also have some extracurricular activities, although they're not extraordinary.

When I was in Grade 12, I applied to universities in the United States, but unfortunately it didn't work out. I also know that the visa process is very difficult, and I don't want to put all my hope into something with such low odds.

I'm open to studying almost anywhere in the world, but I'm especially interested in Poland and Italy because I've heard there are more opportunities for students to work part-time.

The biggest challenge is that I can only afford to apply to about 3 or 4 universities. I'm looking for universities where I have a realistic chance of receiving a full scholarship, or at least a full tuition scholarship, because I can't afford to take many chances. I want to use my limited applications wisely.

If anyone knows of universities that fit my situation, or has advice on scholarships, application strategies, or the process in general, I would really appreciate it. Also, if you know of any legitimate online assistant or remote jobs that I could do to earn money for application fees, I'd be very grateful.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. I know this was a long post, but I wanted to explain my situation clearly. Any advice would mean a lot to me.

​Hey everyone! 👋 I’m currently on a gap year and preparing my applications for universities and scholarships abroad. I want to use this time to start or build a meaningful passion project, but I'm keeping an open mind about the field and would love your ideas or direction. Rather than doing something generic just to fill out an application, I want to lead or collaborate on an initiative that creates real impact—whether in education, community outreach, environmental sustainability, social enterprise, or research.

​How you can help:

If you have any unique project ideas that a motivated student could launch during a gap year, or if you know of non-profits, grassroots foundations, or international organizations open to collaborating, please let me know! Also, if you took a gap year and did a project that helped your international university applications or personal growth, I’d love to hear your advice. Feel free to comment below or send me a DM. Thanks in advance!