Chance me at Columbia, please?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Columbia University
1

<p>Female Asian whose major is undecided. </p>

<p>SAT superscored: 2300 (750 CR, 800 M, 750 W)
SAT Subjects: 770 Spanish; 730 Math I; 640 Chem (will retake in Oct.). Also will take Math II and Physics in Oct. along with Chem retake
GPA: 4.0 UW; around 4.3 W
No class ranking - large public school - ~5-7 per year to ivies/MIT/Stanford </p>

<p>4 APs and 2 honors junior year - all A's
5 APs senior year
(this is about as rigorous as it gets at my school) </p>

<p>Extracurriculars: Math Club (president/founder as junior/senior), Speech and Debate (president as senior), Green Team Environmental Club (co-pres as senior), Spanish Honor Society, MUN, Volunteer Club </p>

<p>Volunteering: Mainly at a local scientific museum, environmental/animal rights activism (planting trees at urban park, organizing letter campaigns, petitions, vegan lifestyle), some various events through Volunteer Club</p>

<p>Awards: National Spanish Exam stuff (1st in state soph year, 2nd in nation; 4th in state and nation jr year), Math and bio and spanish awards at school...that's about it. </p>

<p>Essays: one compelling about family adversity, another unique and laid-back/humorous. (Haha yes, I already wrote them...lots of time to edit over summer.) </p>

<p>Recs: one great, one good (I'm assuming here); counselor's should be nothing special, though. Perhaps getting an extra from a summer program professor (depends on how this summer goes!) </p>

<p>Hmm, what else? Definitely applying for finaid (but this shouldn't affect admissions because of need-blindness).</p>

<p>Strengths: Good grades, essays, well-roundedness/multiple interests. Special family situation on which I will elaborate in my personal essay. </p>

<p>Weaknesses: Not a good test-taker (esp. standardized ones), ECs seem all over the place despite the well-roundedness factor. Is it bad that I don't know what I want to do when I'm older? I have lots of interests... </p>

<p>Any honest additions to the weaknesses list, agreements, and chances would be appreciated!</p>

2

<p>SAT I is fine. Grades are obviously fine.
SAT IIs are ouch. chem is low, and math is low because it’s math I (take math II if you can). </p>

<p>you said it. ECs aren’t exactly focused, and I don’t see how you can emphasize your passion/dedication/etc. towards them if your essays are already set. the thing about having a focus is that one area accentuates another. leadership positions certainly help, but you just don’t stand out.
it’s good that your essays are underway, and that certainly takes some stress off senior year. to be honest, I don’t see much chance though, you being an unhooked Asian with average ECs and decent/good stats. good luck! (are you applying ED? slash are you applying SEAS?)</p>

3

<p>Definitely ED. Not sure if I’m applying to SEAS; I have to do more research. It is definitely a possibility, though. I definitely will retake Chem and also take Physics and Math II in October. I have all summer to study…</p>

4

<p>Hey, you got accepted. I don’t mean to put you on the spot, but what kind of ECs did you do during high school? (You can msg me if you want.) It would help a lot. (Not that I can fudge any of my ECs; it’s kind of too late for that. But I listed here only the few out of many that I thought I would list on the app.).</p>

5

<p>dietpepsi, there is no formula for admission. Aside from practical advice, you need only to be yourself. Don’t try to create an “EC resume”; just focus on your interests. These admissions folks have an uncanny ability to see a real distinction between application “padding” and “passion.” My son will be entering in the fall and, although he had many activities, he followed the application directions and listed only five (as I recall). The five were his main interests, however, and I suspect his recommendations echoed them. Among the five were varsity football an interfaith tolerance organization. Those won’t be yours necessarily, but if you’re totally into them, it will show.</p>