My name is Zulqar Nain, and I’m from Bangladesh. This is my journey of how I got into Yale University.

My Background

I was born and raised in Bangladesh. For most of my life, my world was confined to this little bubble. I studied at Rajbari Government High School in Rajbari, Dhaka. All our subjects were in Bangla, styled after the traditional Bangla curriculum. The cutthroat academic culture made it hard to pursue anything outside of studying.

However, in 2023, I got to step outside my little bubble and see the world. The YES program gave me the chance to study in the USA for a year as an exchange student. Moreover, the fact that the program was fully funded also convinced me to apply—my family wouldn’t have been able to afford something like this. I intended to take the chance to the fullest.

I was accepted and spent a full year in Arkansas, the United States. It was truly an eye-opening experience that broadened my horizons—not only in terms of opportunities but also all the amazing people I met and the diverse cultures I experienced. When I returned, I transferred to William Carey Academy, where I’m presently studying.

Choosing to Study Abroad

My experience in the United States during my exchange year fueled my desire to return to the States because the USA almost became like a second home to me after my exchange year. The liberal arts curriculum taught in many US colleges was greatly appealing to me as it would give me the opportunity to explore my interests in both science and humanities—something that wouldn’t be possible in a Bangladeshi university. After my return to Bangladesh, I switched to the only American curriculum school in the country to focus on preparing my college applications.

My Stats and Activities

I applied to Yale with a 4.0 GPA. My SAT score was 1540, and my Duolingo score was 155.

I had a variety of activities in the sciences and humanities, some more impactful than others. One of my main activities was my exchange year. I believe it helped me distinguish myself from the very competitive international applicant pool.

Another key activity I did was speech and debate. I did this all four years of high school, even during my exchange year. The debate was very significant to me personally because it allowed me to analyze various socioeconomic and political issues worldwide. I have done Asian parliamentary debates in Bangladesh and Lincoln-Douglas and IPDA debates in America. It helped me hone my communication skills and inspired me to advocate for causes I believe in, something I tried to showcase through my application. I also had multiple national level awards, helping show my skills in the activity.

I was also heavily involved in science fairs and academic olympiads, including math and biology. Resources for preparation were scarce in Bangladesh, so I had to rely on a lot of self-studying and free internet resources. I put these activities on my application because I thought they would demonstrate curiosity, dedication and resourcefulness.

Lastly, a big part of my application centered around political advocacy and community service. This ranges from personal initiatives like tutoring underprivileged kids to larger service projects: fundraising for natural disaster victims, letter writing campaigns for changing laws, etc.

For my honors, I tried to include achievements that showcased my dual interests in science and humanities:

• National debate awards (I grouped them into one slot)

• Silver medal in the Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition

• Champion in the National Creative Talent Hunt (Language and Literature category in English and Bangla)

• Olympiad medals

Why Yale?

The first thing you see on the Yale website is “Yale is and”. The academic freedom and flexibility offered at Yale amazed me. The sovereignty to explore both its strong engineering and interdisciplinary interests in the humanities drew me to Yale, as those were key themes in many of my activities. Yale gives you the freedom to explore various disciplines and doesn’t require you to declare a major until the end of your sophomore year. Furthermore, their global reputation and generous financial aid policies were pivotal in my choice.

Personal Statement

I centered my personal statement around my political advocacy. I used a narrative structure, starting by introducing the challenge I faced and what I did to overcome it. I finished it off with key epiphanies and how I plan to utilize the lessons I learned in the future.

Resources

I mostly used free resources that were available online. Some of the helpful ones were CollegeVine, College Essay Guy and ElevatED by Kevin Zhen.

Application Advice

For international students, my biggest advice would be to hone your unique selling point (USP). Because international admissions is so competitive, it’s not enough to be qualified—you need to have something that makes you stand out. This can be through your essays, activities or significant lived experiences. For example, some of my USPs were studying abroad and having an interdisciplinary interest in engineering and policy/humanities.

Once you’ve figured out what you want your USP to be, focus on honing and sharpening it. Pick a few activities which fall under the umbrella of your USP—and that you genuinely enjoy—and go deep. There’s no need to join every club possible. Winning national and international-level awards can also help distinguish you from fellow international applicants, so if there are competitions related to your activities, try to compete and win.

Another key piece is to start as early as you can with your essays and other application components. Try to have standardized test scores that are at or above the 50th percentile of your desired universities. Be sure to do some thorough research on the universities that you want to attend so that you can write unique supplemental essays.

For essays specifically, my advice is to be authentic and vulnerable, while remembering to showcase your potential for future success. It’s crucial for you to begin early, revising and rewriting as you go along. It’s even more important to not give up if the first draft isn’t to your liking, because it usually takes 8-10 drafts before your essay shapes up to be a good college essay.

My last piece of advice: It’s a personal essay. Engage the reader and treat it like a story, instead of your typical academic essay.