Hiiiii Columbia’s my dream school but I have mediocre stats for their level of competitiveness so, let me know if there’s anything I can work on this late in the game to help my chances! I understand that admit rates are low and it’s obviously a reach, just looking for any insight
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1550, 780 RW 770 M
SAT II: Taking Math II and Eng Lit in October
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.7
Weighted GPA: 4.1
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 10%
AP (place score in parenthesis): Calc AB (4), World (4), Bio (3), English Lang (3), APUSH (3), failed two tests that i won’t be submitting lol
Senior Year Course Load: 5 APs: Macro, EnvSci, Literature, Stats, taking US Gov second semester. 2 visual art classes
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): :/// Presidential Service Award, finalist in a few debate invitationals and a lot of local competitions. AP Scholar and Honor roll n stuff.
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Debate, 4yrs (President)
hs democrats, 4yrs (president)
Journalism, 4yrs (editor)
Varsity Golf, 3yrs
Job/Work Experience:
Paid tutor, 2yrs
Volunteer/Community service:
Tutoring (club president)
Handful of community service clubs, probably will only report one max
volunteered on some local political campaigns
Summer Activities: one paid summer camp thing at a top 20 school
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Common App Essay: 8 or 9 but I’m still editing it. Talks about my ethnic identity and how I overcame internal conflict, and how I’ve learned to embrace who I am through debate and activism
Lists: 10, solid amount of books, movies, etc from a variety of creators and genres that i think represents my personality well
Why Columbia: 8, I like it but def room to improve. I talk about how core curriculum would allow me to explore a wide range of interests and how I could prosper within columbia+NYC’s activism culture
Intended Major Essay: 9, again could probably improve but I think it’s decent. Columbia is the only school I’m applying to with the major I want and I think I expressed that?
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: 10. AP English teacher, really likes me, had him for two years. I think he’d have a lot of really good stories and things to say about me.
Teacher Rec #2: 10, AP History teacher, same as 1.
Counselor Rec: 8, I don’t know her super well but I’ve heard she writes good letters
Additional Rec:
Interview: haven’t done it yet obv but I feel relatively confident, esp. since I do debate
Other:
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes? I don’t anticipate it but worth a shot right?
Intended Major: Sustainable Development
State (if domestic applicant): California
School Type: Public, competitive
Ethnicity: Japanese and white
Gender: F
Income Bracket: upper middle/lower upper
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): First generation college, queer, mixed