Nurymzhan Baktygali

NurymzhanBaktygali

I finished Gymnasium 27 in Almaty with Altyn Belgi, Kazakhstan’s state gold certificate, and I am now in the Foundation Year at Nazarbayev University in Astana, where I sit on the Student Council. I am applying to MBZUAI for the BSc in Artificial Intelligence (Business).

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Nurymzhan Baktygali
Almaty, 2025

01Results

The numbers, in full

  • SAT

    SAT: 1530 out of 1600.

    August 2026

  • GPA

    GPA: 5.0 out of 5.0.

    Gymnasium 27 — top mark in every subject

  • IELTS

    IELTS: 7.5 out of 9.

    Academic

  • UNT

    UNT: 122 out of 140.

    Unified National Testing, Kazakhstan

State award — Republic of Kazakhstan

Altyn Belgi Алтын белгі

The national “gold badge”, given to school leavers who finish with the top mark in every subject across their final years. Mine came with a 5.0 out of 5.0 record at Gymnasium 27 — it is the one line on this page that cannot be partially earned.

02Education

Where I have studied

Nazarbayev University

Foundation Year, Astana — current

Programme
The university’s pre-undergraduate year: academic English, mathematics and sciences taught in English.
Alongside it
Elected to the Student Council.

Gymnasium 27

Almaty, Kazakhstan — graduated 2026

Programme
Trilingual academic track, with advanced coursework in mathematics, physics and geography.
Leaving record
GPA 5.0 out of 5.0, diploma with distinction, and Altyn Belgi.

Harvard University

CS50: Introduction to Computer Science — online

Covered
C, Python, algorithms and data structures, with weekly problem sets.
Why it mattered
It was the first time I had to make a program work, not just make it look right.

03Experience

What I have actually done

Paid work and volunteering, newest first. I have not had a gap since September 2023, and several of these overlap. Filter it if you are only here for one kind of thing.

  1. Aug 2026 — now

    Student Council

    Nazarbayev University, Astana

    • Represent Foundation-year students on the university Student Council
    • Carrying over the method that worked at school: open feedback sessions first, written proposals second
    • Helping run council events for a cohort that has just arrived in a new city
  2. Sep 2025 — Jun 2026

    School President

    Gymnasium 27, Almaty

    • Ran student forums that collected feedback on teaching, school life and wellbeing
    • Worked with the administration on exam support sessions and facility repairs
    • Organised school-wide events, and set up formats that let other students run their own projects
  3. Jul 2025 — Jan 2026

    Website Developer

    Russell ISC

    • Built and launched websites for academic programmes and events
    • Set up analytics to track traffic and engagement
    • Supported IT operations across departments
  4. Jan 2025 — Mar 2025

    Online English Tutor

    Volunteer — two students, Abay region

    • Taught two students from a rural school, free of charge
    • Wrote a study plan for each of them rather than a shared one
    • Ran speaking practice sessions to build fluency and confidence
  5. Dec 2024 — May 2025

    Curator, Kazakh Language Club TIL

    Volunteer — mentoring and tutoring

    • Taught supplementary classes for junior students
    • Designed the lesson plans and tracked each student’s progress
    • Kept attendance up by building the sessions around activities, not lectures
  6. Jun 2024 — Aug 2024

    Website Developer

    Narxoz University Finance Club

    • Rebuilt the site structure and made it work properly on phones
    • Implemented front-end features and fixed outstanding bugs
    • Worked to the club’s deadlines alongside the rest of the team
  7. Sep 2023 — Jun 2025

    Leader, School Parliamentary Faction

    Gymnasium 27, Almaty

    • Gathered student opinion through surveys and open meetings
    • Turned it into written proposals and presented them to school leadership
    • Chaired sessions and followed up until decisions actually landed

Paid or elected role Volunteer

04Awards

Competitions and honours

  • Altyn BelgiKazakhstan’s state “gold badge” for graduating school at the top mark in every subject
  • 1st placeNational Mathematics Competition “Kangaroo”
  • 2nd placeDistrict Mathematics Olympiad, grade 10
  • 3rd placeDistrict Mathematics Olympiad, grade 11
  • SemifinalistCity interschool debate tournament
  • Best GraduateNamed best gymnasium graduate by the school administration
  • Top 1% worldwideSudoku solving times — expert, hard and easy modes

05Skills

What I bring to a room

Technical

What I build with

  • Python, C, HTML
  • Website development and deployment
  • Google Analytics
  • Notion, Miro, Trello
  • Microsoft Office

Working with people

What the roles above actually needed

  • Student leadership and talking to people who can change things
  • Tutoring and mentoring younger students
  • Designing lessons and learning plans
  • Coordinating projects from proposal to follow-up
  • Event planning and community organising

06Away from school

Four things not on a transcript

Three of them are about getting a movement exactly right. The fourth is about getting a number exactly right — and you can play that one.

Parkour

Almaty, filmed 2025

You commit to a jump before you know it will work, and you only get to commit once. It has taught me more about judging risk than anything in a classroom has.

Hiking

Zailiysky Alatau, above Almaty
On a trail in the mountains above Almaty
A ridge in the Zailiysky Alatau
A view back down the valley towards Almaty

The mountains start where the city ends, so a long walk is always available. It is where I think through things that will not resolve at a desk.

Ukulele

Self-taught

Four strings, no theory, and a short walk from not knowing a song to playing it badly. It is the one thing I do where being approximately right is enough.

Sudoku

Top 1% worldwide — try to beat the clock
0:00the clock starts on your first digit
Sudoku puzzle, 9 by 9. Type a digit from 1 to 9 into an empty square.

81 squares left.

A real puzzle, reshuffled every time you press the button, checked against the rules rather than against one stored answer — so any valid solution counts. Your best time stays in your own browser; nothing is sent anywhere.

07Contact

Get in touch

I am applying to MBZUAI for the BSc in Artificial Intelligence (Business). If you are reading this as part of an application, the CV at the top has the same record in one page.

I also answer messages about web work, tutoring, and anything to do with student government. I write in English, Kazakh and Russian.

Email me