Chance Me- Columbia ED Fall 2022 (Class of 2026)

Colleges and Universities A-Z Columbia University
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Super anxious about this, do you guys think I have a shot?

SAT/ACT → 1580 (790 Math, 790 English)

GPA → 4.8 (4.0 scale)

Teacher Recs → English-10/10, was also my grade level dean and knows me very well; Science-8/10 strong in class but doesn’t know me super well; Counselor-10/10 she adores me and I literally babysit her kids

APs (Sph year) → AP World History (4), AP Stats (4)
APs (Jr year) → AP Comp Sci (1, yikes did not submit this), AP Spanish Culture (4), BC Calc (3, yikes also didn’t submit this), AP US History (5)
APs (Sr Year) → AP Literature and Composition, AP Micro, AP Macro, AP Environmental Science, AP US Gov, AP Comp Gov, Post AP Linear Algebra & Diff Equations

Activites:

  1. Diversity club president (lots of time on this)
  2. Retail job (20 hours/week junior&senior yr)
  3. Summer internships with state house representative & a misdemeanor judge
  4. Every honor society to ever exist (a few leadership positions; vice president, PR)
  5. Photojournalism school editor
  6. Volunteer club leader, organized multiple service projects, volunteer often
  7. School soccer team for 4 years, track for 2
  8. Debate, MUN, and World Affairs (none are super serious at my school so no awards)
  9. Various conferences and programs such as SCHED consent summit, Girls State, NAIS SDLC (diversity), Columbia SHP, UChicago Exploring Frontiers, DC Close Up, Rice ELITE Tech Camp
  10. Run an Instagram account with about 1000 followers about the Middle East

Awards:

  1. Frederick Douglass and Susan B. Anthony Award in Social Justice-The University of Rochester
  2. NMSQT Commended
  3. AP Scholar With Honor
  4. TMSCA 2nd Place Award
  5. Bunch of Photography awards- Scholastic Keys; ATPI-2nd; Arts Student of the Month; Outstanding Photojournalist; EHS Exhibition
  6. 2020 National Spanish Exam Gold Medal
  7. School Awards- Exemplary Academic Effort in Spanish & Religion; Highest Honor Roll all 4 years
  8. Leadership Award- Soccer

Essays:
Common App: tbh 9 or 10, i spent months on it; talked about identity is a creative way and expressed significant growth
Lists- 9 or 10, books were good, media was decent
Diversity Question- 10 since my main extracurricular has to do with diversity
Why Columbia: 8-8.5 not very creative but it was well researched and showed passion
Major: 9; more personal but not super creative, just told a story

Intended Major: Political Science-Economics

School Type: Private, somewhat competitive (my class is the strongest yet)

State: TX (dual citizen)

Ethnicity and Gender: Arab, female

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Naturally, your SAT scores make you a competitive applicant for Columbia College, although it doesn’t align perfectly with the AP scores.
What’s the unweighted GPA and class rank?

If you have a strong interest in graduating from Columbia University, you could consider also applying to their Barnard College, which will look at applications from a different angle to identify exceptional young women.

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Agree with @DigitalDad , the SAT score is great, just surprising with the AP scores and the NM Commended–I would think you would easily have been a SemiFinalist out of TX considering their cutoffs. It will help if you provide theUW gpa and the rank.
And, What Science classes did you take over the years, and why not AP?

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I had an academic disturbance a week before my AP exams junior year that I noted in my application so I’m hoping they will be a little sympathetic. My school doesn’t calculate unweighted GPA but I have had all A’s and 2 A-'s so I’m thinking around 3.9 ish?? My school also doesn’t rank I just know I am top 6% because I was automatically admitted into my state school.

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Yeah, I had an academic disturbance a week before my AP exams junior year that I noted in my application so I’m hoping they will be a little sympathetic. Also, I got a 1430 on my PSAT and that missed the cutoff. As for the science classes- my school only allows us to take honors science classes until senior year, not AP. So I have taken Bio Honors, Chem Honors, and Physics Honors and then senior year AP Environmental Science.

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Everyone has off days, understandable. My error: I forgotTX was such a high cutoff. I think you have a better than average chance for sure! Good luck!

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