Caribbean Applicant - A Hook?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Columbia University
1

<p>Hi, I'm a caribbean applicant and I really would like to know what my chances are...or at least what do you guys think. I applied early decision.</p>

<p>Race: Asian/Caribbean
Citizenship: US, lived outside US for my entire life (international student)
I am pentalingual (spanish, cantonese, mandarin, english, french)</p>

<p>GPA: 3.9ish? out of 4...not too sure... ive got a 98%, with all my classes A and I am 1/70ish in the country's most elite school
Rank: 1/70</p>

<p>Test Scores:
SAT I : M: 680 CR: 590 W: 620
SATII: Spanish 800, Chemistry: 700, Math 1 : 620
TOEFL: 637
APs: Euro 5, US Govt 5, Comp. Govt 5, Spanish 5, Bio 4</p>

<p>Extracurricular:
-Varsity Volleyball/Basketball for the past 2 years... participated in International Competition between numerous latin american countries in both teams. Also, I was JV Captain.
MUN: Local, Boston, Chicago Conferences
Presidential Classroom (1 week simulated U.S. Congress)
Mathematics Olympian runner-up
Chinese Club - President, Founder. Organize fund-raising and local celebrations for chinese new year.
Honor Council - Founder, President, Head Chair
Chess Club - VP
Peer Leader
NHS</p>

<p>Awards:
Scholarship Award worth USD $12,000 for highest cumulative GPA in three years
AP Scholar With Distinction
Underclassmen Awards Science* (9th, 11th) Social Studies (10th, 11th), Math (11th), Academic Recognition (top 5 - 9,10,11), Citizenship (10,11)
*Underclassmen Awards are granted to one student per subject per class... does it have any name in the US?
Basically these are the three awards I applied with...</p>

<p>Essays: Really the greatest ive ever written.
Reccomendations: 2 of 3 ticked on all sections of the report "best of my entire career"... the other one ticked excellent (top10%)...the letters though are all very very good since all 3 know me very well and they all say different things about me.</p>

<p>So what do you guys think? Thanks.</p>

2

<p>cantonese and mandarin are not considered 2 different languages.. they are both dialects of chinese. hehe..</p>

3

<p>Caribbean??... from where?... I'm Puerto Rican</p>

4

<p>I can't comment on chances, but if you are a US citizen, you will not be considered an international student (which is a good thing.)</p>

5

<p>right. if you are a US citizen you are considered need-blind in terms of admissions, which means they don't take into account how much money you'll need to attend, when deciding whether to admit you. big difference unless your family is rich.</p>

<p>the SAT scores are a little troubling though.</p>

6

<p>Woah, I am Asian/Caribbean also! Do you mind telling me what kind of Caribbean we are talking about?</p>

<p>Your app looks good except the SAT score, but they might be lenient because of theURM thing, but I'm really not sure.</p>

7

<p>I know my SAT scores are rather low but I emailed one of the admissions officer and they told me that scores are just but one part of the admissions... I wonder if they can really play the role of getting me rejected though? They also told me that they consider the non-US environment which I grew up and attend school, though for financial aid purposes I am considered US citizen...I guess my question really is, how important are SATs for Columbia? I heard that is the part that they least give importance too...or is that just a rumor?</p>

8

<p>They are considered, but I think that if you truly sucked it up on the SAT (like me), but are able to show that you are still ready for the rigorous world of college, then they will probably be more leniet..... I hope.</p>

9

<p>HighLow I'm Puerto Rican too! Applied to Columbia like 2 weeks ago, how about you? What school are you at?</p>

10

<p>rszanto, are you a current Columbia alumni? what were your SAT scores?</p>

11

<p>No, but I too have bad SAT scores (composite of 2000, but my ACT was 30, so that wasn't too bad), but I am stressing out about low scores. Although I suck at standardized tests, I am showint Columbia that I am ready for college by having taken community college classes since 10th grade. I was just saying if your test scores suck, you better have some other kick-ass assets.</p>

12

<p>hey carou... i go to caribbean scool... im still working on the app... so wer r u from?</p>

13

<p>im at saint john's. are you applying regular?</p>

14

<p>I suggest re-taking the SATs. They're okay, but the 590 looks bad.</p>

15

<p>yup... reg it is... u?</p>

16

<p>Early. I'm nervous..! Sent it in Oct 22.
y Suerte!! :D</p>

17

<p>gracias... igual :)</p>

18

<p>well im not from puerto rico... i wonder if thats a hook though being from PR?</p>

19

<p>any more inputs?</p>