Hello, I am a high school junior from a public school in New York. I am currently figuring out my college apps.
I primarily want to go to Columbia but am confused between that and Cornell for my ED. I would like to go into Computer science and math with a future in finance.
I used collegeboards conversion for the gpas. I have a ~96% unweighted and 100+% weighted.
According to conversion chart on collegeboard:
Unweighted GPA - 4.0
Weighted GPA - 5.0
-AP/IB/honors courses
I am still taking the courses but am in IB chem, physics, and math. I took the AP calc BC test and will recieve my score soon. Will take AP comp sci next year.
No class ranking but am in top cohort for a class of 574.
SAT
1460 800 math, 660 reading/writing - Hoping to have improved this last test
800 Math II
Will take physics this june
-ECs
I have been on the math team since 8th grade and am on the county team. I was president when they had one in 9th grade. I have been in science bowl since 8th grade. Was captain and president in 8th and 11th grade. I am also Vice president of our Math Honors society. I have been on brainstormers team as well. This year I researched with a researcher at Columbia and this summer I am continuing the work as well as starting another project with a Professor at stony brook university.
-Accomplishments
USA Math Talent search HM
Science bowl regional winner- qualified for nats
Mathcounts county 4th place-qualified for states
NY State Math League First Place
JSHS Long Island semifinalist
LISEF Science Fair- Third Place
A lot of county math awards
-Recs
My mentor has written me recs for summer programs and I think he will write run for this. He is a cornell and columbia alumni and is a researcher at columbia. I also think he is a grad school admissions officer at columbia as well but I am not sure how much weight that has. The recs he wrote me for programs are very good though. My math teacher will write a rec and I think it will be good as I am the only junior in the class of seniors of IB HL Math 2 and she likes me. I am trying to figure out who else to ask. Probably will ask my US History teacher.
Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
I’m a novice but will respond so you just don’t feel ignored. Your EC’s are good - your SATs are low - maybe you should try ACT? I would weave in an AP language or AP literature to improve your SAT. Admissions want to see that you challenge yourself. I thought Mathcounts ended in 8th grade - not sure - but they don’t want to see anything prior to HS.
I suggest you have community service/volunteer to be more well rounded.
Sports, musician, arts ?
There are a lot of kids with great grades, awards, research etc - you need a hook.
Good luck!
I think that you have a decent chance, but all are high reaches at best.
You definitely need to consider the likely cost and find out if your parents can afford it. Run the NPC and show the results to your parents, understanding that this is only an estimate and actual results may differ.
Be aware of the risk with ED that you might get in and then discover that you can’t afford it.
Also, you definitely need to consider other safer options.
So let me add… I do community service and tutor underprivileged children. I am sure my parents can afford it but of course I do have safeties. I am trying to improve my SATs but honestly I overthink the writing too much. Could you possibly give me an example of some hooks? I didn’t really tell you all about myself so… Im not sure if I should add this but I was on JV tennis and am a black belt in tae kwon do. I also am an all county vocalist and have gotten a 100 on level 6 NYSSMA.
EDIT- Additionally I play Table Tennis in a local adult league and have played since 4th grade
EDIT2- Also I am probably taking multivar. calc at stony brook next year. My mentor thinks the project can get published and so does my mentor for next year.
Oh and I do take IB every class including language and english.
You should go by your school’s GPA system. I am not sure how credible converting your own grades through collegeboard is. You should improve your SAT to at least 1500, but even if you do all these schools are reaches for every applicant.
So by my school I have approximately a 96.5 gpa and a 100+ weighted. My school uses the 4.67 scale so my weighted average would be 4.67. In practice I can get a 1500 but during the test I end up messing up. I will see if I have better luck on the ACT.
The GPA is not a stand alone standard, it may also be understood in the context of your school profile. Some schools give a 4.0 frequently, others are parsimonious. A diligent admissions person will know how to interpret your GPA.
Your work with the Columbia expert may or may not help you. All kinds of favors can be called on in the admissions process–and many are ignored.
As you are already smart, my counsel is to be lucky!
Yeah… most people think I should ED cornell as my school has better luck with them… I’m still trying to figure it out.