Brazilian trying to get into Columbia, and really needing help

Colleges and Universities A-Z Columbia University
1

Well, hello. As the title says, I’m not American and I really need your help. Next year I will be entering in High School, and I really wish to study in Columbia, the college, the city, even the country, everything attracts me. The only problem is: I don’t know where to start.
My English is very good, though. With the new changes on SAT, I feel even more comfortable to take the test. My average GPA is 4.0, but what really worries me, are extracurriculars. On Brazil, the only thing that counts is the ENEM, something close to the SAT, therefore, no school offers summer programs, neither sports activities, that could improve a lot my curriculum.
I intend to create a Debate Club (something that I really wanted, even when I didn’t know my future goals) and take Violin classes, which attracts me too. And I will pursue a summer program.
I really need to practice any sport? Because I can do it, for sure. Next year I will start Boxing, but if necessary I can do Swimming too.
Should I improve and get fluent on another language?
My spanish is regular, and I have 3 years to train it (and get something proving my knowledge).
Should I be worried about not knowing not even a single word in French? There are no classes on my school.
The teachers like me a lot, so I will get good recommendation letters, I hope. But, no one of them obviously studied at Columbia, or even in the USA. Could this get me in trouble?
Do you have any tips that may be useful?

Ending this post I remembered that I should really learn how to thank people in english. Sorry for the massive quantity of questions, but those things I really need to know, they’ll define my whole future. Thanks for your time, I’m really grateful.

2

Hello.

You do not need to do anything in particular to get into Columbia, and I would encourage you not to do anything only to get into Columbia. What you need to do is push yourself to be the best version of yourself that you can be. Starting a debate club would be nice, but only if you want to. Taking violin classes would be nice, but it’s not going to contribute to your application - a lot of violinists apply for Columbia, and the only way it would really add to it is if you’re a virtuoso or have at least won / placed in a couple competitions. Sports are not necessary. I didn’t do any. I’m terrible at sports. Being fluent in multiple languages is not important. I only know English, so you already have a leg up on me. None of my teachers studied at Columbia; nobody on the admissions committee will be disappointed that your teachers didn’t study in the U.S.

I would say you’re not worried about the right things. It’s my impression that colleges like Columbia are looking for people that are interesting, talented at something or another, and relatively intelligent. The only thing I was good at in high school was composing music, but I submitted a portfolio and did a couple local outreach things, and I guess that was good enough. You shouldn’t be concerned with checking off boxes. The Columbia adcom is very straightforward about the definite requirements for admission (SAT scores, transcripts, etc.), and apart from that, you shouldn’t worry about anything except doing well at whatever it is you choose to do and trying to use your skills to impact other people in some way.