Hello! I am Mahmoud from Egypt. I graduated from Red Sea STEM School in 2022. Now, I am a sophomore at Drexel University; this is the whole story!

My background

My high school was Red Sea STEM School. I had been targeting this school since grade 8 in middle school. Throughout the first year, I did not think about studying abroad. All my focus was on academics and improving my English skills because the transition from a public Arabic middle school to STEM Egypt schools was difficult. I began thinking about studying abroad in my second year at school, especially after I found that students in older classes were being admitted to universities abroad.

Why the U.S. as a destination

I was striving to work as a Mechanical Engineer. For this career, the U.S. is the best choice. Moreover, many of the highly-ranked universities are in the U.S., and the lifestyle in the U.S. is simply perfect. Although the U.S. was my top choice, I was considering other countries such as Hungary. I won the Hungarian Scholarship!

Why Drexel

I built my college list according to STEM Egypt Alumni admitted universities. My ED1 was the University of Rochester, but I got rejected. Drexel University was one of my Early Actions and my first acceptance.

Stats, Grades, and Test scores

My GPA while in high school was almost 4.0/4.0. My ACT was 27/36 but I went to Test-Optional. I took IELTS and my score was 7.0/9.

Extracurricular Activities & Competitions 

I was the head of the Red Sea STEM Fab Lab Graphic Design Club, tutoring students in digital design through weekly sessions with Adobe Illustrator. I was also a graphic designer at TEDx STEM Luxor. Furthermore, I formed an international team to work on a challenge in the Junior Academy program at the New York Academy of Sciences.

Personal Statement

My personal statement focused on a few hours in a specific situation. The situation was when I was dealing with the capstone project after it was marred 24 hours before the exhibition. I showcased some of my leadership skills while dealing with this problem.

Financial Aid Package & Work opportunities

My financial aid offer was 80% off tuition. My engineering degree is a 5-year program, not 4 years. Moreover, I was offered the opportunity to earn a master's degree along with my bachelor's degree. After I received this offer, I began to conduct in-depth research on the university curriculum. Drexel University operates on a quarter system, not semesters. The most amazing part is the Co-op programs. Co-ops are internships you complete throughout your years of study. These internships are added to your credits. In total, I have 12 quarters of studying and 6 quarters of internships. Additionally, there was a competition for designing T-shirt merchandise for the Drexel School of Engineering. I won this competition with my design. As a result, one of the professors contacted me to work with him as a graphic designer for a new project with a generous salary. This work helped me to afford my tuition.

Life at Drexel

Drexel University has balanced diversity, and the campus is amazing, as it is in the central city. The quarter system is impressive. In my opinion, it is better than semesters. My GPA at Drexel is 4.0/4.0 without spending much time studying, due to the rigorous Red Sea STEM curriculum that has many similarities to the university curriculum. Regarding the Co-op, the university has contracts with some companies to facilitate their students getting internships. I researched internships outside the contracted companies; my target was getting an internship at Tesla. I was accepted to do my Co-op at Tesla.