chance me- columbia ED

Colleges and Universities A-Z Columbia University
1

So I know that there is no way to guarantee an acceptance, as the majority of “qualified” applicants get rejected, but I was just wondering if I have a shot
Columbia has been my dream school (know I shouldn’t have a dream school haha) for forever so I think applying ED gives me the best chance at admission.
So, here it goes…

Personal stuff:
Ethnicity: white
Gender: female
State: MD
School: large, super competitive public school in a DC suburb
Intended major: biology, neuroscience, premed, something science-y

Stats:
GPA: UW 4.0 W 4.8
SAT 1: 1540 (770 both math and CR)
SAT 2: Math 2 790, Biology 800, World History 790
APs:
NONE FRESHMAN YR

SOPH YR:
AP NSL (5) AP French 5 (4)

JUNIOR YR:
AP World (4), AP Bio (5), AP Lit (5), AP Studio Art, AP Comp Sci (5)

SENIOR YR:
AP Chemistry (5), AP LANG (4), AP European History (5), AP Physics (4), AP Calc (5),

-i didn’t take the every AP offered at my school but I had a super rigorous schedule and took classes I was genuinely interested in

  • not sure about class rank but in the top 5% for sure

Extracurriculars:
JV Field hockey (1 year, captain), Varsity Field hockey (3 years, captain last year)
Nationally ranked squash player
Varsity tennis (4 years)
Half marathon runner
Debate team (there were tryouts and only 8 pairs out of 40 hopeful pairs got on the team)
Girls in STEM Club
Premed Club
President of Girl’s Self Defense Club
Girl Up and Intersect (Feminism Clubs)
National Honors Society and National Science Honors Society

Job/Internship Experience:
Internship for neuroscience at NIH
Performed research on Alzheimer’s at NIH
Experience in retail/worked as a server in a restaurant and a cashier at the local gardening center

Community Service:
Created and single handedly organized a 5k event for charity in my community
260+ hours of community service (special tassel at graduation)
Various community service jobs (working in a daycare over multiple summers, soup kitchens, food drives, stream clean ups)

  • Im not sure about my recommendation letters but I think i have unique written essays.
  • I also love reading, creative writing (wrote a 200 pg book for fun and its self-published so not that impressive), and I love to learn so I know that's important
  • I'm also vegan and care about my impact on the world, animal rights, and the environment but i'm super chill about it (I don't rub it in people's face)
2

Average gpa for freshman Columbia undergrads was 4.18 I think. For that, you’re way above average. You hit the SAT requirements and among a lot of sporty EC’s, the extra experience in science looks even better. Your transcript is good enough to the point that you were able to casually remark a self-published novel when that isn’t even your main area of interest. This is probably just me being a wide-eyed sophomore but I wouldn’t be surprised if you got into something like Columbia. At the same time, don’t be too sure that you’re gonna get in. There’ve been plenty of strong seniors who’ve been denied from top universities on early admissions. Anyways best of luck to you!