<p>Hi, I'm considering applying early decision to Columbia into the Political Science program, however I'm obviously worried about getting in. I'm a white female from a Utah public school and am currently in the IB program. I have a 30 on the ACT, which isn't the highest, (26 math (which I know is low), 29 science, 32 english, 34 reading, 12 writing) and I'm not sure on my exact cumulative but I know it's above a 3.95, and I'm ranked in the top 5% in my class of 400. I'm not a very good standardized test taker, but writing is one of my strengths, so I'm not worried about the essay/short answers, but I worry about my ACT score. I haven't taken the SAT nor do I plan to. Because of IB, I've only taken AP courses my Sophomore year, two of which I've got 3's in (chem and world history), and I have 4's in Art History and English, which aren't that impressive either. </p>
<p>My extracurriculars would be:
Debate- I've been in the program for 3 years, I am the debate president this year. In varsity policy debate, I've taken 1st in regions and 3rd in state twice, as well as gone to nationals. I'm hoping to debate in college.
Tennis- I've played tennis for 4 years, varsity for 3, and I'm a captain and I just took 1st in my region.
Student Body Officer- I'm my school's historian.
Volunteering- I've volunteered over 120 hours tutoring and mentoring kids from ages 7-15, I also went on a service trip to Cambodia which I'll probably exclude from my admission.
Young Democrats of America- I started this club at my school last year through the YDA.
GSA- I'm the president this year, we had a booth at pride, that sort of thing. </p>
<p>I might also be starting a sort of Feminist club with my sister this year, though I'm not sure if we'll follow through.
I'm trying to go for a very political and social activist angle, considering that's what I find interesting and want to go into, however I'm worried that I'll just blend in with the rest of the crowd, or be rejected because of my ACT score. Thoughts? </p>