Am I good enough?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Columbia University
1

<p>Hello, I'm a soon-to-be senior in HS and wanted to know if I could get into Columbia.
Here's my stats:</p>

<p>OVERALL WGPA: 4.875, UGPA:4.525
Class rank: 124/502 (very competitive class)
ACT: 27 (not happy with this score :(...retaking it)
SAT: taking in Sept.</p>

<p>FRESH:
French II: B/B
Global Issues: A/B
English I: A/A
Algebra I: A/A
Biology: B/A
Woods I: A/A
Health: A/A
WGPA: 4.714</p>

<p>SOPH:
French III: B/B
3D Art: B/A
English II: A/A
Keyboarding: A/A
H Geometry: B/B
Chemistry: B/A
WGPA: 4.5/4.83</p>

<p>JUNIOR:
H French IV: A/B
H US History: B/B
Photo II/III: A/A
AP English Lang: B/B
H Journ/Creative Writing: A/A
H Algebra II: B/B
H Physics: B/B
WGPA: 5.286/5.143</p>

<p>SENIOR CLASSES:
AP French
AP Macroeconomics
H Govt
AP English Lit.
AP Psyc
H Pre-Calc
AP Bio</p>

<p>EC's
Editor for school newspaper (9-12)
Member of NArtHS (11)
Member of FrenchNHS (10-12)
Member of MathHS (11-12)
Member of French Club (9-12) applying for president or secretary senior year
Assistant for Publicity for school plays (10)
Tutoring
Volunteer at Community Hospital (11-12)
Volunteer at Animal Shelter (9,11-12)
Cashier at grocery store (11-12)</p>

<p>Awards
Participation at UIC's Biomedical Research for a Day Mini-Medical School--entered application, got accepted.
Honorable Mention for Upstate 8 Conference (Photography)
Honorable Mention for Norris Art Show (Photo)</p>

<p>Hooks
-I'm a twin, I have a sister who's one minute older than me
-I was diagnosed with two heart conditions when I was in 8th grade--it has affected my life drastically...I can't participate in ANY sports or gym class, ride roller coasters(my fav. thing to do) and many more things that seem normal to kids my age.
-My parents are divorced
-First generation student
-Participated in the Make-A-Wish program and traveled to France</p>

<p>***I have visited JHU (and loved it!) and Boston College, NYU and Columbia (favorite!!!). They were all great...which ones could I get into???
I was also thinking UCLA, Boston University, Northwestern, and....Yale (?).
Where should I apply ED???
Thanks for your time!</p>

2

<p>You’re right in retaking the ACT. Your class rank is too low (although there’s little to be done right now). I’ve seen many kids from rigorous private schools who rank in the top 10. (To be honest, a two-digit rank is considered low by CC standards.)</p>

<p>Sorry, but your ECs and awards are trite; nothing caught my eye.</p>

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</p>

<p>I don’t see how this is relevant.</p>

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<p>Maybe have your counselor briefly allude to these facts. If you’re going to incorporate them into your essay(s), focus on how it shaped you into who you are. Don’t turn it into a sob story.</p>

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</p>

<p>Now this might give you a boost (not too big of a boost though).</p>

<p>In conclusion, I’d say you are “good enough” for BC, NYU, and UCLA (then again, I’m not sure, as I haven’t applied to those schools). The rest are a bit of a stretch.</p>

3

<p>Grades, scores, ECs are a little low…</p>

4

<p>no.</p>

<p>That said, if you bump the ACT up ~ 8 points and write some KILLER essays, you have a shot. Otherwise I think it’s not worth applying to Columbia.</p>