Hi, I’m looking at ED Columbia SEAS. My question is, since it is mainly a math/science orientated school, should I emphasis and focus on talking and showing my math/science achievments/interests? Or, should I go for the “well rounded” application by talking about the different things I have done?
I’m just confused since many colleges, I realize, look for a well rounded student. But on the other hand, i’ve seen many people say, for math/science schools, it’s okay to be very math and science orientated.
Also, this is Columbia, where even as a Columbia SEAS student, they require you to take the Core, a list of english, lit, etc. classes. So i’m not sure what to emphasis on my application.
<p>I have no idea who started that stuff on CC about colleges wanting well rounded students. It is the exact opposite. The extremely selective colleges want applicants who show "passion" and long-term commitment to one/two interests. They do NOT want three people where all three of them can play chess pretty well, play a musical instruction, and like art. They want one applicant who is obsessed with chess, another applicant who plays classical guitar and has given concerts, and another person who has won national awards for his/her paintings. In "Admissions Confidential" by Toors, she wrote about being an adcom at Duke and the acronym was BWRK's which means Basic Well Rounded Kids. Being a BWRK is not a bad thing. It is a very good thing, but those are the applicants who weren't getting into Duke.</p>
<p>Another phrase that has gotten picked up and repeated is that "Colleges don't want well-rounded students, they want well-rounded freshman classes."</p>
<p>Meanwhile...though you do want to emphasize how strong you are in the math/sciene area, you want to be wary of looking like all the other applicants. Remember that all the SEAS applicants are into math/science, so they will be strong there too. I think it helps to have another passion, and perhaps talk about that in addition to your math/science strengths. </p>
<p>While they don't want an average person, they also don't want someone who is great at one thing, but horrible at another...just noting that in case you think that "we don't want well-rounded" means "we don't care if you suck at everything else as long as you're amazing at one thing." Basically, they want you to be both well-rounded, and at the same time extremely good at one thing.</p>