Chance me at Yale (SCEA) or Columbia (ED) Class of 2025

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Yale University (SCEA) - Music Major with a Multidisciplinary Study in the Public Health Program (I am interested in their BA/MPH Program) (Pre Med Track)

                                                                          or

Columbia University (ED) - Music Major with a Special Concentration in Public Health (Pre Med Track)

SAT I (breakdown): 1550- 780M 770R/W
ACT: 35- 35M 36E 33R 34S
SAT II: Math II, Bio M, Chem (This Upcoming Fall)
Unweighted GPA: 94.836
Weighted GPA: ~>104
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A (Assuming Top 10%)
AP (place score in parenthesis):
AP Statistics-4
AP World History-4
AP Biology
AP Environmental Science
AP English Language and Composition
AP United States History

Senior Year Course Load:
AP Calculus BC
AP Chemistry
AP Physics 1
AP Comparative Government and Politics
AP English Literature and Composition

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

  • Regeneron Science Talent Search Semifinalist
  • Peer-Reviewed Research Publication found in Journals of Music and Medicine
  • All State Saxophonist
  • Columbus Day Marching Band Parade 1st Place (2x)
  • AP National Scholar with Distinction

Extracurricular Activities:

1.) Columbia University RCSS Peer-Reviewed Research Publication (Co-Author) - MUSIC THERAPY supplement for the treatment of COVID-19 associated Coagulopathy.

2.) Louis Armstrong MUSIC THERAPY Research Summer Scholar - Environmental Music Therapy + Noise Perception in Surgical ICU. Organized the Data from the Study for Statistical Analysis and participated in some clinical sessions for data retrieval.

3.) Nordoff-Robbins MUSIC THERAPY Research Assistant - Music Therapy + Autism Spectrum Disorders. Evaluated Music Therapy Sessions on a Musical Engagement Scale.

4.) State Senator Re-Election Campaign Intern - Leader of the Healthcare Committee → Took a major stance on Public Health Policies; Campaign’s Official Music Performer for Events; Senior Citizen Check-In Calls; Graphic Design Work for Fundraisers and Events; State Senator Youth Leadership Award

5.) Saxophone (Professional): Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone; Church Choir; Solo Events: Weddings, Sweet Sixteens, Religious Ceremonies, Fundraisers, Galas, Association Gatherings, and National Conventions; Played in front of Politicians, Famous Musicians, and other VIPs; Genres include Classical/Jazz/Modern/Pop/Rock; Indian Music as well → Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam; School → Wind Ensemble, Jazz Ensemble, Pit Orchestra, Saxophone Ensemble, Marching Band.

6.) Music Opportunities: Tri M Honor Society Board, Youth Ambassador for a Musical Institute, St. Corona Musical Club

7.) Healthcare Opportunities: HOSA Club (Chapter Founder/Board); Youth Ambassador of a Medical Non-Profit; Pipeline Programs; Hospital Volunteering; Physician & Dentist Shadowing; EMT + CPR Certification

8.) Ted-Ed Club (Founder/President)

9.) STEM Club (Reinstalled/President)

10.) Peer Leadership Program (Peer Leader)

Teacher Recommendation: AP Environmental Science/Science Research Teacher, Band/Saxophone Teacher
Counselor Rec: (Strong Relationship)
Additional Rec: Research Mentor and Music Mentor

State (if domestic applicant): New York
Country (if international applicant): United States of America
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian Indian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 200K+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): N/A

Additional Info: Yale and Columbia are my top choice schools. I plan on early action/decision to one of them. My GPA is not so great and my Test scores are within the range. My end goal is going to Med School to become a Physician but in undergrad, I want to purse the artistic aspect of myself through Music and Playing the Sax. My interests in Public Health corresponds with my experiences of Healthcare on the Political, Social, and Economic Levels. I do have some other reach schools + several match and safety schools on my list. I would like to know if my passions in Music, Medicine, and Research are truly portrayed in my EC’s and would it make me a unique applicant for these competitive schools? I would also appreciate any insights on these specific institutions including Yale or Columbia. Thanks :slight_smile:

2

Yale and Columbia are high reaches for everyone, even with credentials as excellent as yours, @nmanalil12. I’m fascinated by your combined interests in music and public health and hope admissions officers are, too.

Take your time with your Common App and really craft your supplemental essays for both colleges carefully. Both Yale and Columbia have lengthy applications. Truly put yourself and your “voice” in the essays to make you stand out.

Wishing you the best with your applications and your future endeavors!

3

At this point, work on your essays and make them outstanding. Make sure you standout among the top contenders and essays are key that gets you attention.

4

Your interests in music and medicine are quite unique. Definitely caught my attention. Will look great on an application.

However I have some concern about your GPA. While top 10% is nothing to sneeze at, it is normally not in the range that will make you competitive for either Yale/Columbia. You might get a sympathetic adcom member who will push your application though, so dont’ lose all hope.

The early rounds are filled with legacy, URM, athlete and development cases. Then for the non-hooked candidates they will take the cream of the crop (valedictorians, IO gold medalists, etc). Your ECs look fantastic BTW, but I’m worried that your class rank will hold them back.

Do you have access to scatterplots? If so how many students from your HS have been accepted with your GPA?

5

Based off the scatterplots…

Columbia - average GPA with a range of 91-98 for accepted students at my HS.

Yale - average GPA with a range of 93-98 for accepted students at my HS.

We typically have 1-4 applicants admitted to these top tier schools.

I truly understand that my unweighted GPA was gonna be an issue but if you take into consideration of course rigor (I am the only student in my school who is doubling up on AP Science: AP Bio+APES → Junior, AP Physics 1 → Summer, AP Physics C and AP Chem → Senior Year) and weighted GPA ~ 105. I hope it compensates?

6

For comparison purposes, The Val (#1 Rank) usually has a weighted GPA ~ 109.

7

They will not be looking at the weighted GPA. Each HS has a different weighting system, so it is often ignored. The admissions people will pay attention to your unweighted GPA.

So I was a little unclear. How does your unweighted GPA compared to previous scattergrams? If you are in the upper right box beyond the average, then you are in good shape. If not then start to think long and hard. Also keep in mind that there will be very clear outliers. These are often athletes, legacies, or URM. Exclude these from consideration.

If your unweighted stats are within the same range as previous accepted students, then you are looking good. Still not a guarantee, but at least you won’t be auto-rejected.

8

How did you become a Regeneron Science Talent Search Semifinalist- you have to be a senior and those come out after your submit your applications.

9

Also to be an EMT-B, you have to have a GED/ HS diploma. How did you do that as well?

10

My Apologies, I am working toward to the semifinalist award in the Regeneron Competition. A lot of the research that I did during the summer is being turned into a well developed and original research project that is Prize Winning Worthy (According to my Research Teachers 10+ Years of Experience). Sorry For Any Confusion

11

I am also taking EMT-B Classes through my local Fire Department and working my way up to the certification level. Again sorry for the confusion.

12

You are unquestionably qualified with excellent and a diverse set of EC’s. Your main disadvantages are being an ORM from an over-represented state. Pick your favorite and go for it. Make sure you have some match/safety backups, including state flagship honors programs that are on rolling admissions.

13

What is All State?

14

@nmanalil12 So since the awards will come out after you will submit your applications and your EMT- B certification won’t be finished/ valid what will your last award be?

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@nmanalil12 In general, you want to know which colleges should be in which category, assuming that little changes from now. You never know what can happen between now and your application, so it is better not to provide predicted grades or awards that you think that you are likely to get. It is better to underestimate your chances somewhat than to overestimate them, because it allows you to focus more on matches and safety/ies, rather than moon over reaches.

An exception would be National Merit Finalist, with an SI above a certain level, a solid GPA, and a confirming SAT/ACT score. So a student in Mississippi with a PSAT with an SI of 223, an SAT of 1510, and a solid 3.9 UW GPA, is 100% a semifinalist, and can almost be guaranteed that they will be an NMF (assuming they remember to apply for finalist status).

16

Ok wait…your GPA is not bad at all… it is excellent in fact, what’s wrong with a 94.8?
People get into yale with sat scores below 1400(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlsuztCg5QA) …your sat scores prove your worth and aim for a 750+in all your sat subjects…and impress the interviewer…

17

You are a strong and interesting candidate. Your reading ACT subscore and the 4s on the APUSH Exam make me think writing might be a weakness. I suggest working really hard on your essays to counteract that impression. I would not submit the ACT scores.

18

@nmanalil12

Your GPA, test scores, and varied ECs will ensure that your application gets a serious read. Whether you will edge out other applicants who are equally well qualified is anybody’s guess.

Your ACT composite is marginally higher in percentile terms than your SAT but the difference is trivial. I would send both. Yale, BTW, will not be considering subject tests for this admissions cycle so if you aren’t able to take them or don’t like the results, it won’t matter for Yale. Check Columbia’s current policy on subject tests to compare.

Your profile suggests somebody who is interested in interdisciplinary learning and activities. If it were me, that would push slightly in favor of Yale. It also gives you the flexibility to keep other schools in play as SCEA is non-binding but ED is.

Yale’s distribution requirements are much more flexible than Columbia’s Core. Does one of these approaches appeal more than the other?

Bottom line, they are both excellent universities. Make sure to have a well-rounded list that includes matches and safeties in case neither of these works out. Best of luck to you!

19

You won’t be able to use the Regeneron as others have but you can write about the work, there’s a pretty good correlation between semifinalists and admission into selective colleges. The music and stem will help but you’re in tough demographic, higher SES, male Asian in NY. I have seen similar kids do reasonably well with Columbia ED, so I’d lean there. good luck