Another chances thread haha

Colleges and Universities A-Z Columbia University
1

<p>Heyyy. I'm kinda freaking out over this haha (what senior who's applying isn't though? pfft)
It's a yo-yo feeling, some days I feel awesome and other days I feel like I shouldn't even bother applying. So I was hoping you guys could give me a reality check, in either direction.</p>

<p>This is going to be long, sorry guys. </p>

<p>Applying: ED
Graduation: 2012
Gender: Female
Race/Ethnicity: Black
GPA: 3.73 unweighted, 4.23 weighted (sophomore year was messy, explanation below)
SAT: 2160 (took 'em in January, retaking in October)
SATII's: US History: 740, Math 2: 720, Biology: 800
AP's:
9th Grade (both self study)
US History 4
English Comp 5
10th Grade (aka, why my GPA suffered haha. 5 of these were self-study)
English Lit 5
Macroecon 4
Euro His 4
Psych 4
Bio 4
US Gov 4
Micro 2 (not reporting)
11th Grade (both self-study)
Bio 5
Physics B 4
12th Grade (tentative)
Human Geo, French, Comp Gov, Micro retake, Calc AB (possibly BC instead)</p>

<p>Senior courseload:
AP Calc AB (may switch into BC)
AP English Lit
Honors Anat & Phys
Honors French Film (they took away AP since not enough people signed up)
Photography
Internship (History department Teacher's Assistant)
Independent Study 1 (Neuroscience)
Independent Study 2 (Ancient Japanese History, participating in National History Day with this)
Dual Enrollment (Statistics at local private research university)</p>

<p>I've always had an extremely rigorous courseload.</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
President of Anime Club
President of Toastmaster's Club
President of MediClub
Hospital volunteer
History Museum volunteer
Special Olympics volunteer
Biology Teacher's Assistant
Physics Teacher's Assistant
History Teacher's Assistant
Varsity Volleyball Team Captain
Secretary of the Speech and Debate Team
Costume Director of Drama Society
National Honor Society, head of the PR committee
Assistant Music Director at Church
Counselor in Training at YMCA
Sports Medic for School Athletics
Piano lessons for 9 years
Large art portfolio (my counselor's letter is going to mention this. It was recommended to not submit the actual art supplement) </p>

<p>There's a few others but that's all I can remember right now..</p>

<p>College courses:
2 during the summer, and I'm taking 2 during the school year, 1 each semester. </p>

<p>Awards:
AP National Scholar
AP Scholar with Distinction
Scholastic Art Competition Silver Key
6th (by forefeiture) in State Speech competition
Numerous regional Speech and Debate awards</p>

<p>Community Service: When I submit my apps, I'll have about 1250 hours. When I graduate I should be up to 2000+</p>

<p>Teacher req's:
Guidance Counselor: She's going to be mentioning a lot of my EC's that don't easily make their way onto the Activities section. I assume it's going to be very good
History Department head: he's been teaching me for over 6 years (I go to a weird school where middle school and high school are combined) and he literally says I'm the most determined student he has ever had, and the student with the most hunger for learning he has ever taught.
Biology teacher: I've taken 2 classes with her and I've been her TA, she knows how crazy and intense my schedule is and she'll definitely mention my AP's and how much work I put into all that self study. </p>

<p>Essays: My main one is about Alexander Hamilton and his influence on me. I'm kind of afraid they'll think it's corny that I chose a Columbia alumni, but he seriously is my favorite historical figure and I look up to that man immensely, so choosing him was natural. And because of how much research I've done on him, I really think it's one of my best essays I've written to date. </p>

<p>Intended major: History. Though I also want to double major in Neuroscience on the pre-med track. But for officially, it's history. </p>

<p>My biggest thing I'm concerned about is that they'll look at it as "Okay, she's all over the place. She's just trying things out." When really my interests are very specialized in history and the medical field. So I just want to convey that point across well, I guess...
Um I think that's it.. c: Thanks for all your help. I can't tell you how much it means to me if you've even read through this whole thread.</p>

2

<p>Regarding your last worry, make sure Columbia is aware of that.</p>

<p>You have strong test scores,pretty good GPA, get points for being african american, very good extracurriculars. </p>

<p>You are a solid application and are clearly qualified. Now you need to show Columbia why they should take you and why and how you would fit in columbia.</p>

<p>Dont be too sad if you dont a thick letter in the mail, Columbia is very, very selective, denying many outstanding applicants a year.</p>

3

<p>I’m not exactly sure how to show them that. I guess grouping EC’s on the activities section and mentioning it in my essay somehow? I know my guidance counselor planned to bring it up in her letter…</p>

4

<p>I guess I’ll bump this? x:</p>

5

<p>Raise your SAT and you’ll be really solid. Do note, however, that race is less of a hook at Columbia because their applicant pool (and the group of students who matriculate there) is unusually diverse. So don’t rely on that as a crutch.</p>

6

<p>Really good chances as is, but if you get your SAT up 90 points, there’s no way they’ll reject you…</p>

<p>Chance me?(:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=1211013”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=1211013&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;