chance for columbia ED

Colleges and Universities A-Z Columbia University
1

<p>any constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated. stole the format from somewhere.</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 2210 (first sitting last fall, no preparation, plan to retake)
[</em>] ACT: planning on giving them a shot.
[<em>] SAT II: US History: 720, Math II: 700 (again, planning to retake)
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9 out of 4.3 (I got 4 B's in junior year)
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 5%, rank not available.
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): Lang/Comp: 5, U.S. History: 5, Calculus BC: 4, AB Subscore: 5, Latin Literature: 4, others not worth mentioning.
[<em>] IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: AP Lit, AP Latin, AP Micro, AP Macro, AP Art History, AP Prob Stat
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Qualifier, National Latin Exam Awards (2), Dozen Lincoln Douglas Debate Awards, Best Attorney in Mock Trial, County Art Exhibit Award
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Lincoln Douglas Debate (Varisty), Mock Trial (Defense Attorney), Junior Classical League (Consul), Fencing, Violin,
[<em>] Job/Work Experience: um, none, currently.
[</em>] Volunteer/Community service: Local Library Volunteer
[<em>] Summer Activities: 2008 - Calculus at Community College, Fencing Camp, 2009 - Ancient Greek at the University of Chicago, Library Volunteer
[</em>] Essays: as of yet, unfinished.
[<em>] Teacher Recommendation: Two teachers who absolutely love me
[</em>] Counselor Rec: new counselor this year, so, generic, probably
[<em>] Additional Rec: none
[</em>] Interview: in the future
[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): NJ
[</em>] Country (if international applicant):
[<em>] School Type: large public
[</em>] Ethnicity: Indian
[<em>] Gender: female
[</em>] Income Bracket: upper middle class
[li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): nothing really, hopefully my genuine love for the classics?[/li][/ul]</p>

<p>Mostly, I'm just concerned about my grades. I think I can get a really fantastic SAT score which, though it won't compensate for them, will hopefully mitigate their importance. EC's are definitely my strong suit. I should mention that I intend to pursue Attic Greek at a local university this fall.</p>

2

<p>oh and an addendum:</p>

<p>should I fill all the EC lines for the sake of filling them? I mean, I have positions on the student council, some clubs, and several honor societies, but I only included those EC’s that I gave a significant time commitment. I don’t want to seem like I’m trying too hard, therefore I’m reluctant to include some of my other EC’s, but I’ve been advised otherwise.</p>

3

<p>the app has room for 5 ECs, each with one line of description. so you are right in selecting your most important ones. any others could be put into a resume, but the idea of attaching a resume itself is iffy.</p>

<p>your SAT I is okay, but could you give us a breakdown?
your math II is low, but you know that.
unhooked asian is always a toughie.
4 B’s junior year? that’s an awkward time to take a dive. it’s not disastrous, and you still have a shot. however, I don’t see anything that really stands out, and with below par stats, I think chances are low ish.</p>

4

<p>mm, I mean, if my chances are that low, I wonder if I shouldn’t bother applying ED and aim lower. I figured it was the only shot I had was to apply ED to my dream school, but, I don’t know, rejection seems imminent. </p>

<p>It was an awkward time for me in general. I had some issues. I’m working through them. I mean, I should assure you I had a spotless record of A’s before. In junior year, I took 6 AP classes.</p>

<p>I mean, I guess I’m surprised that nothing stands out. I thought my EC’s pointed to a pretty significant interest in debating philosophy and the classics.</p>

5

<p>you probably already know this, but with any sort of issues that would affect your academic performance, it would be great if your guidance counselor could include a note about it in his/her recommendation for you. in that case, it probably wouldn’t be held against you.</p>

<p>only apply ED to a school that you would go to even if you got in every other school you applied to (in other words, usually your top choice). would be terrible if you would have been accepted but was stuck in a binding agreement at a school you didn’t love.</p>

<p>I assure you an obvious passion in something will definitely be helpful in the admissions process, in organizing your app and in how adcoms will perceive you. however, passion itself is common among applicants, and it is by no means a hook. in this way, yes, it stands out, but not beyond what would stand out in the apps of a large portion of the applicant pool. what I mean is there’s nothing that will put you in a different category when your app is evaluated.</p>

<p>but if you’re simply asking whether you should apply or not, then yes, you should apply. the admissions process is quite fickle, and it is entirely possible that others will see something in your app that I don’t see (especially since I’m not an adcom, what do I know?)</p>

6

<p>I absolutely would give up any opportunity to attend any other earthly school to go to columbia. But, if my chances are low beyond a certain level, then, I would be best served by directing my attention at a less competitive school which would be slightly more likely to accept me if I apply ED. In essence, if it’s really that unlikely, I should pick more realistic schools.</p>

<p>Anyway, what makes somebody “standout”? I don’t know many people who study latin and ancient greek intensively (both for college credit), with a strong interest in the classics. I thought it kind of made me different.</p>

<p>oh, and thanks for your input :D</p>

7

<p>^then apply ED, nothing in your profile disqualifies you, and I think you have a decent shot esp ED. Your stats are good enough, and the rest of your app, while not stand out, is strong enough. I say your chances are definitely not below average, so put in time into the application, learn about Columbia (even through this forum) and give it a shot, if Columbia is your dream school, you might as well maximize your chances of getting in. You are definitely not bad enough that it warrants applying to a school that gives a more “realistic” chance. </p>

<p>Also remember that part of the strength of an application is showing interest and fit.</p>

8

<p>Hmm, I think the aspect of my application that pushed me through was my essay. And my interview. And Yea… well… can’t really judge that here.</p>

<p>And I don’t even know if you were planning to talk about speech and debate since you have a lot of other EC’s that sound really cool to me, but being a speech and debate kid myself… don’t list it as a “Dozen LD awards.” Hahaha… I can’t tell you how many dinky “finalist trophies” I’ve collected from league tournaments over three years that I want to smash to pieces. But if you got something good like State or Nat Championships, now that sounds good to me.</p>

9

<p>Yeah, I only listed the state championship award. I certainly wouldn’t list it as “dozens,” I just included that here to indicate that it was a major time commitment. It’s probably the EC I would describe in depth on my application, that, or Greek.</p>

<p>I was thinking about tiling my floor with the stone bases and ditching the plastic trophies heads. It would be like a declaration of lost hours on my bedroom floor.</p>

10

<p>if you love columbia, then there’s no question, you should apply ED</p>

<p>not gonna lie, 4 Bs junior year as an unhooked asian hurts a lot… </p>

<p>This is obvious, but really try to show them the workload you’re capable of with your first quarter senior year grades. and those sats definitely need to improve.</p>

<p>good luck and don’t give up. you’ll end up regretting not having tried if you aim lower</p>

11

<p>hi. what is an “unhooked asian?”</p>

12

<p>An unhooked asian is an asian that is simply an “average” asian. Like his/her application does not stand out.</p>

13

<p>oh. that might be me…</p>

<p>what is the average asian…??</p>

14

<p>^^^^^ no, unhooked means that you don’t have any special connections or special status… i.e. you’re not an athlete, not a legacy, parents didn’t donate millions, you don’t have a relative in admissions, you’re not famous, etc</p>

15

<p>hm im an athlete. yay…</p>

16

<p>^^^^what sport are you being recruited for?</p>

17

<p>like, i’d say you’re in. but do they have classics volleyball parties at columbia?
signed,
concerned citizens for cc anonymity</p>

18

<p>omg, I’ve been found out. this concerns me.</p>

19

<p>and I miss you dearly, m.</p>