<p>Hey all - Just trying to see if I have any chance at getting into Columbia at all. What do you think?</p>
<p>ACT: 34 (didn't take SAT 1s)
SAT IIs: US Hist: 710 Lit: 760 Math 2: 740</p>
<p>I go to a prestigious east coast boarding school with a messed up grading scale, but my grades are probably in the 3.8 range (unscaled - we dont scale grades). Top 20% of class, Honor Roll</p>
<p>Extracurriculars: Dorm Proctor (like an RA), Peer Tutor, Big into Environmental Activism, Varsity soccer 4 years - varsity captain sr year, lots of community service for all four years, athletic advisory board</p>
<p>Jobs: Camp Counselor for 10 weeks in the Summer</p>
<p>Also, I'm from a midwestern state that doesn't send kids to boarding schools/ ivies very often.</p>
<p>
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It doesn't mean anything.
If my school were to rank, the top 10 percent would consist of 14 students.
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</p>
<p>I think it means a fair amount. Granted, the valedictorian at an easy school could not make it into the top 50% of a private, aristocratic prep school. But, there's a reason why 95% of the people accepted to Columbia are in the top 10%, which is that rank is something they do consider. Obviously it's not THE most important factor, but it's relevant.</p>
<p>You're talking about opportunities, as if the prep school kid is at a disadvantage because his classmates are intelligent. But if you want to talk about opportunities, you have to talk about the myriad more opportunities that the prep school kid than the public school kid. Private/prep schools are much more wealthy, as are the kids that attend them. </p>
<p>The OP goes to a prestigious school where grades may be harder to come by, and so his GPA will definitely be evaluated on an individual basis. But his rank--well his rank is how he will be evaluated on a comparative basis.</p>
<p>As far as the small student body issue goes, I don't really see the relevance. My grade's top 10% would consist of 6 kids--5 by next year since at least one is getting held back and one is about to be expelled.</p>
<p>"By top 20%, I assume you mean not in the top 10%? If so, then that's not good. . . ."</p>
<p>nope, you can't pull this out of context, someone in the top 1% of a large mediocre public school, could easily get rejected at a bunch of places, but if the op's boarding school is highly competitive, and takes students who were previously in the top 10-20% of their classes, then he is effectively in the top 1-4% of an average high school class, which means he could well stand a good shot.</p>
<p>having a lot of opportunies at the prep school is true, but if the applicant is taking advantage of them, he/she is showing that he/she is amply capable of suceeding at columbia.</p>
<p>i hope y'all are right. my school is an academic magnet and while i am ranked 5th, i would probably be higher at any other normal school in the area. i've actually been worrying about how that will affect my chances of admissions...</p>