My background

My name is Imanali, and I am currently studying at the Nazarbayev Intellectual School of Physics and Mathematics in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Why the U.S.

During my first visit to the US in 2022, I really enjoyed my time there and wanted to spend some certain part of my life in this country. I was deeply interested in the quality of education and the vast amount of opportunities US colleges provide for international students. Therefore, the US was my priority choice for getting a bachelor's degree and further studies.

Why the University of Pennsylvania

I chose UPenn because of its strong business program, which is ranked number one among all universities in the US and worldwide. Moreover, UPenn has the most social student community. It was one of the main aspects I considered, as I want to spend more time networking, attending webinars with professionals, and doing other social activities. Also, it is located in Philadelphia, which is quite close to New York and other big cities.

Stats

My GPA is 4.93 out of 5. My SAT score is 1500, 790 in math, and 710 in verbal. For my English proficiency test, I took the IELTS and scored 7.5. I scored 8.0 on reading, 7.5 on listening and speaking, and 7.0 on writing.

Extracurricular activities

My extracurricular activities have been focused primarily on robotics and app development. I participated in the Lumiere research program and researched autonomous robot strategies for lake cleaning. My research paper got into the top 25 research works in the program. Regarding my work experience, I completed internships both locally and internationally, being a game developer at the Daryn Online Company in Almaty, a robotics team mentor at Satbayev University, and a Ladder Internship intern at the Singaporean startup called SmartStickies. Since 2023, I have started several socially significant projects, including mobile apps, websites, and a navigational wearable device. In terms of activities within the school, I lead the robotics team and game/app development club there.

Hackathons and championships also take a great part of my activities and honors. I am the champion of the FIRST Global Challenge 2023 and the finalist of the VEX World Championship 2022, which significantly represents my interests, passion and skills.

Personal Statement

The theme of my main essay was about the opportunity to always learn and grow, making ourselves better every day. There, I mentioned my grandfather's journey and his great love for gardening, questioning myself about my own garden in life. I discovered that robotics, swimming, and other interests have taken some significant parts of my garden and made it beautiful and blooming.

Helpful resources

I became a participant of the "Study With US" program, created with the support of the US State Department. This initiative helped me prepare for the SAT and stand out among the best applicants.

During the process of writing my essays, I was doing some exercises from the College Essay Guy to brainstorm and structure my ideas. I asked for feedback from my friends and found it helpful as I gained many opinions from different perspectives and improved my essays greatly. Also, my friends helped me in my IELTS preparation, particularly in the speaking and writing parts.