Sanzhar Khamitov will continue studying Earth Sciences at the United States’ leading liberal arts college.

Sanzhar Khamitov, Nazarbayev Intellectual School in Aktobe Class of 2023 alumnus, received an offer of admission from Bowdoin College. He is planning to major in Earth and Oceanographic Sciences.

In order to apply to American institutions, students from higher grades pass standardized exams. Sanzhar received 1520 on his SAT Reasoning test and 8.5 out of 9 on his IELTS exam. It is important to mention his many achievements in geography competitions. The most notable one is his absolute gold medal on the International Geography Competition (IGeO) 2022 in Paris, where among 216 students from 54 countries he received the highest exam score.

Sanzhar’s knowledge has allowed him to study geography, environmental science and politics on the college level and increase his chances of admission to his dream university. NIS Aktobe senior chose Bowdoin to continue his education. Sanzhar is planning to take advantage of the institution’s location in the North-East of the US, studying the environmental and historical features of coastal Maine which is popular for its natural beauty such as granite islands with spruce trees.

– I applied to this college because of the amount of environmental degrees available there. Its teaching of environmental sciences is considered one of the best in the US. Additionally, students may concentrate their education on the Arctic, thus I would be able to conduct researches and fieldwork in Greenland and Iceland. Bowdoin is one of the 7 need-blind colleges in the US, which do not consider the financial need of the applicant when deciding on admission. So far I am the first Kazakhstani student there, — said Sanzhar Khamitov.

Bowdoin will provide him full financial aid (80 thousand dollars USD/year), which covers full tuition, room, board and medical documents.