<p>Hey I am new to this but i hear its pretty helpful. I hope you guys can help.</p>
<p>I am African American
My GPA is A-/B+
No Ranking
First Generation</p>
<p>Activities
- Senior Class President this year
- Executive Board for 3 years
- Volunteering over 300 hours
- Captain of the Track team for 4 years
-Swim Team for 2 years
- Best Buddies President - Special Needs</p>
<p>Extras
- Senior Projects in regards to Achievement Gap in my city</p>
<ul>
<li>ACT is 23 = 25 was my highest in Math and 23 in the other ones
SAT is 1650</li>
</ul>
<p>I have taken 6 AP so far including Euro, Calc AB, US History, Lit, Lang and Spanish
all of my grades are pretty much As</p>
<p>I teach at my Church and help with special needs outside of school
My essay is about my fathers stroke & how it has helped me change</p>
<p>My recs are AMAZING.</p>
<p>“Hey I am new to this but i hear its pretty helpful. I hope you guys can help”.</p>
<p>LOL… Ya But… What’s the question that we are going to help you with ???</p>
<p>Probably a chance?</p>
<p>Honestly, even for a URM/1st generation, those scores are a bit low. Maybe an 1800 SAT or a 27 ACT could cut it.</p>
<p>Hey, don’t come to CC asking for help. People on here think a 32/33 is low. I think your SAT’s a bit higher so definitely send that in. I think you’ll be fine!</p>
<p>You could always try right? My SAT scores aren’t the highest either, because I am not a native speaker, but I love Columbia, so why waste the chance? You’ve got nothing to lose!
I would recommend finding some schools you like more tailored to your stats though, not to be discouraging, but you score significantly under the middle 50% range of admitted students, so finding comparable colleges who are less selective might be a good idea. </p>
<p>Try your best and good luck!</p>
<p>All these posts have been way too sugar coated, with an A-/B+ average and a 1650 you stand absolutely no chance of getting in. It would be unethical of admissions to take you, because you have not demonstrated that you are capable of succeeding academically at Columbia. Your highschool record says that you are very unlikely to be able to match competition once here. We are, at the bare bones of it, an academic institution, so Class President is impressive, but doesn’t substitute sub-standard scores/grades. I would honestly look at schools significantly easier to get into than Columbia. </p>
<p>I realize that you might have had several factors which have held you back (URM/FirstGen/other), but Columbia gets applicants with similar setbacks and much better scores and grades. And when you come into a college classroom, those setbacks are ignored when calculating your grades, and Columbia needs to make sure that everyone they admit has demonstrated that they have what it takes to succeed here academically and not drop out.</p>
<p>I am afraid I sort of have to agree with confidentialcoll, if Columbia is your dreamschool, you should apply though, so you will not feel regret for not taking the chance, but you should ask yourself if you can cope academically at Columbia. It is probably one of the most intensive schools in the world intellectually, are you sure you would be happy in such an environment? You should look for comparable schools who are much less selective like I suggested in my first post. Look for other urban colleges that emphasize the aspects you like about Columbia (the broad education?).</p>
<p>does having relatives who go there help ?
I feel like I have a chance</p>
<p>I guess you lose very little by applying to Columbia. In terms of relatives, unless your parents teach at Columbia (which you being first gen probably means they do not) or have donated a significant amount, having relatives like cousins, aunts and uncles affiliated or attending Columbia is not going to help much. Even siblings at Columbia will make way too little of a difference. All I’m saying is, shoot at a lower range of colleges, you want to apply to a spectrum of schools where you have a decent shot at getting into most of the targets. </p>
<p>For your future success, it’s much better to go to a school where you match the competition and do well, rather than go to a prestigious schools and do poorly. The people who are average at Columbia still do well, the people here who are significantly below average academically don’t really do all that well, and I wager they would have been better off kicking a$$ at a less selective school.</p>
<p>oops wrong thread. sorry!</p>
<p>I mean…If Columbia was REALLY your dream school, don’t you think you should of studied a little harder to get 2000+ SAT scores and a near perfect GPA?..Judging by your mediocre ACT and SAT scores…it doesn’t look like you really want Columbia. Because competition is fierce. People out there eat those books 24/7 to get into these prestigious schools. What makes YOU stand out from the crowd? I’m not trying to come off as mean spirited, I’m just being realistic. Being a URM will not help you.</p>
<p>Man, there’s some haters on CC. </p>
<p>Hey, see what happens. Columbia is an ivy league school, annd the students that apply have near perfect GPA’s and test scores. I only say this because I think it’s important you understand just how exclusive these types of schools are. If you stand any chance of getting in, you’re going to need to work on your essays and convey your interest in the school. There’s nothing you can do about your SAT scores or ACT scores at this point. Good luck!</p>
<p>Confdentialcoll- You seem genuinely ****ed off that she’s even trying. You’re not gving her constructive criticism at ALL. You don’t have to sugarcoat, but you don’t have to completely disregard her feelings either.</p>
<p>Yeah, just think, what really makes Columbia THEE place for you that you MUST go? Think of something unique about it that’ll challenge you that some other NYC school like Fordham or NYU wouldn’t.</p>
<p>It’s better to have applied and been rejected than to wonder if you would have made it. GO FOR IT.</p>
<p>confidentialcoll is just being honest. Being urm/1st gen wont make up for a 1650/23 ACT, both very average scores and very below average at Columbia.</p>
<p>In terms of athletics, would you describe yourself as incredible?
I know Columbia has been known to accept wrestlers in the 1600 SAT range. Talk to some coaches, that might be your ticket in.</p>
<p>Otherwise, the posts about your scores being too low are absolutely correct. You should aim for at least - at least - an 1800-50 on the SAT. Even people who aren’t very good at standardized tests are able to comfortably make this range if they are really CU material.</p>
<p>Then again, no reason not to apply even if you don’t get your scores up. But be aware: if you get in, it will be mind-bogglingly difficult for you to keep your grades up and fully engage in the college experience. College is a time for growing, not for wanting to kill yourself over academic work. (That’s only during finals).</p>
<p>Confidentialcoll’s views are too narrow. Columbia may accept high achieving students, but not everyone that goes there has those scores. Often times, people tend to put the Ivy’s on some sort of pedistal. SOMEONE has to go to those schools, and she could be what their looking for.</p>
<p>I would agree, URM status can only help her so much, but that shouldn’t discourage her from applying. My sis is a URM and was accepted to one of the Ivy’s, but her scores were well in the range of those schools. I guess the moral of the story is, think of Columbia as a business. Why is it in their best interest to accept you, instead of someone with more impressive scores? Think of this when you write essays…market yourself, but not in a obvious, showy kind of way. Showcase your writing abilities and your talents.</p>
<p>Okay well I like all of this. I think I will take the chance.
As for my essay, it is really personal & i think its perfect & i have had it read by a professor at harvard.
as to what inconspicuous is saying i have seen PLENTY of people get into schools like Harvard & Yale with scores like mine. A few kids at my school got into Harvard with 1600-1750 scores on the SATs. Ill take the chance</p>
<p>You know what I’ve learned, you never know until you try! I read this thread earlier about some guy with a GPA that was low (like a 3.4) that got into an ivy league. In my opinion, just go for it. No one can REALLY let you know what is in your league or whatever because there are ALWAYS exceptions, that will always be true. Yeah, thats great all these people with a 32 or higher and perfect GPA’s, but wheres their character? You clearly have had some great experiences and if they don’t let you in, their loss, their is a path for you and you’ll find it one way or another. good luck</p>