a chance at all?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Columbia University
1

<p>Columbia is my dream college. Unfortunately, I screwed up my freshmen and sophomore year :( Any chance I could get in? Any way I could improve my application? </p>

<p>Asian Male
California Resident
I attend a very high ranked public school
(blue-ribbon school, was ranked in USNews top 100 High Schools)</p>

<p>Freshmen Year
Band - A A
Spanish 1 - B A
English - A A
Biology - B A
Honors Geometry - B B
Honors Social Science - B A</p>

<p>Sophomore Year
Band - A A
Spanish 2 - B A
Honors English - A A
Honors Chemistry - C+ B
Honors Algebra 2 - B B
AP Euro - B B</p>

<p>Junior Year
Band - A A
Spanish 3 - A A
Pre-Cal - A A
AP English - A A
AP American History - A A
AP Biology - A A</p>

<p>Senior Year Schedule
Band
AP Spanish
AP Statistics
AP English
AP Gov/Econ
AP Environmental Science</p>

<p>UW GPA: 3.61
W GPA: 4.11
UC GPA: 4.25</p>

<p>SAT I
Total:2200
Math: 700
Writing: 750
Crit. Read: 750</p>

<p>SAT II's
Biology: 720
American History: 750
Eng. Lit. : 750</p>

<p>AP Scores
AP Euro : 4
AP American: 5
AP Eng. : 5
AP Bio : 5</p>

<p>Extra Curriculars
Green Club Officer - 4 years
Band Council - 4 years
Literary Arts Officer - 2 years
Internship at local newspaper - 4 years
Pasadena Youth Symphonic Orchestra - 2 years
Glendale Youth Orchestra - 2 years
First Class Boy Scout - (quit after reaching first class)
Architect Institute - 1 year
Business Institute - 2 years</p>

<p>Awards:
Most Valuable Band Player (Band)
Outstanding Freshmen Player (Band)
Also competed in several writing competitions </p>

<p>As you can see, my grades are what slightly worry me. I messed up my freshmen and sophomore year, but my parents were going through a nasty divorce and it was pretty tough. Should I, or can I even, include that somewhere on my application to explain my bad grades. I do have a C+ in Honors Chem (ouch), but my junior year grades were pretty good, so I really don't know right now.</p>

<p>I'm probably going to go ED (b/c that raises my chances slightly?)
Would my chances improve if I declared a major? </p>

<p>any advice, suggestions , or feedback welcome.</p>

2

<p>bump bump bump bump please</p>

3

<p>I think you have a "good" chance, but you must remember that at Columbia having a 20% chance of getting in is more than twice the normal chance. The thing that makes one a good choice for an Ivy League college is a passion for something. In addition you should have a passion for a particular college.
I would play down the divorce angle and play up your passion for band and orchestra. (It would of course help if you play an underrepresented instrument and the sole player is leaving in May.) Your improved academic performance is good. ED is also a good idea.</p>

4

<p>What does "bump" mean? and what's the most important thing in a college app that makes you you? Like something that shows that you're not just numbers on paper.</p>

<p>As to your chances, I'd say even though your freshman and sophomore grades are a bit low, colleges like improvement. I don't know about yours, but for my school you can tell your teacher about reasons for low grades, and they'd include them in their recs.</p>

5

<p>when someone "bumps", they're just bringing their thread to the top of the thread list so there's a higher chance of getting posted.</p>

<p>thanks for the advice btw. anything more?</p>

6

<p>bump bump bump bump</p>

7

<p>it helps that your school is competitive and that your sat score is high, gpa is still low, and your ecs are not outstanding. I think you'll still have a difficult time getting accepted, one of my best friend's brother had a very similar profile to yours except with slightly better ecs, a perfect gpa and no special circumstances, he was an excellent writer (essays weren't great), but he was still deferred ed and rejected rd.</p>

<p>It's better if you have a teacher or councellor write about special circumstances, if you write about it, it could seem like an excuse, and you don't want to appear unable to handle personal difficulties. a tough divorce is a valid justification, it's just more credible and unbiased if a third party writes about it. if neither your teachers nor your councellor knows, talk to one of them and have them discuss it in their recommendation.</p>

<p>I think you still have a chance, it's worth applying ED, if you get in, you're in, but expect to get differed.</p>

8

<p>i think that although you kinda screwed up fresh and soph years, your junior year clearly shows that you're smart - but again, most people applying to columbia will be just as smart, if not smarter. I agree with everyone above me, 2200 is a great score (once again showing that you're intelligent based on a universal assessmen), but you need to write your essays and have your recs be geared toward something that makes u different. </p>

<p>--the grades and the SAT scores at some point become obsolete because they're so common for these schools, you need to show your specific element.</p>

9

<p>Slim-ish chance. The essay and "fit" will make or break. </p>

<p>On a brighter note, I was a similar type applicant (3.76/2350)</p>

10

<p>thanks for all the advice everyone.</p>

<p>to mardad:
thanks for the great advice, I will definitely do what you advised. I talked to my counselor and she agreed to write about my divorce in my rec. However, music isn't really what I'm passionate about, and I'm planning to write about my passion for english and New York City(one of the major reasons I'm applying there) in my essay. Good/bad idea? </p>

<p>to confidentialcoll:
thanks for being realistic, I guess. Kinda what I expected with my low grades, but whatever :/. I can always apply for grad school I guess.</p>

<p>to adman921:
I'm glad you noticed my junior year and such; that's exactly what I was trying to tell Columbia: that my grades were screwed up freshmen and sophomore, but I'm still smart enough to do well there. Again, is there any way I could make my "element", writing and literature, to shine? I don't have much besides my internship at the local paper, a literary arts officer, and a few writing competitions. </p>

<p>to shockwaveride:
what's a "fit"?</p>

11

<p>Certain schools look for certain type(s) of people. I'm not saying that there's only one kind of person a school looks for but they def. consider "whether or not the kid will fit in on campus"</p>

<p>i.e. stellar applicant but with liberal arts tilt might be deferred/waitlisted from MIT while kid with lower stats/stuff but is totally obsessed with research gets in..</p>

<p>Don't try to game it either... that will only hurt you.</p>

12

<p>ahhh thanks, i understand now.</p>

<p>but, uhh what's it mean "to game it"
lol so many terms</p>

13

<p>"but, uhh what's it mean "to game it""</p>

<p>this means to pretend like you are a fit when you are not.</p>

<p>I disagree with this advice a little, I don't think you should present a fake profile, because that will probably get caught out, and an interview / your recommendations would reveal discrepancies. I do think you should tweak your application/style of essay/ emphasis of ECs for different universities. For caltech you might want to play up your geeky side, for columbia (perhaps) your wish to contribute and be part of a vibrant community outside the school, perhaps discuss how you see yourself adding to columbia's reputation by initiating some community service project. Same goes for duke, Upenn, or yale all of which have poor areas nearby. For princeton and MIT you might want to stress your excitement about research etc etc.</p>

<p>Now every university wants a mix of people, so they don't look for a certain type of person, but if you're captain of the math club, most of your ECs revolve around science, you write about math in your essay and you show little interest is other disciplines, columbia will probably reject you. Caltech will probably reject you if you waffle about art history and community service without showing an interest in math and science.</p>