Chance Me? :D Low GPA/Good EC

Colleges & Universities A-Z Columbia University
1

<p>Will be applying to a SCIENCE major. Most likely computer science. Not sure if that's an advantage or not</p>

<p>I know this is a reach, but is it a next to impossible one?</p>

<p>I'm a junior.</p>

<p>Asian Female, California</p>

<p>GPA:</p>

<p>Unweighted:</p>

<p>school scale: 3.6/3.7
standard scale (out of 4.3?): 3.3</p>

<p>Weighted:
UC Scale: 3.9
(not sure how to weight otherwise)</p>

<p>Rank:
Not shown anymore but I believe it's around top 20% :/ (if you weed out everyone who's taking Math 2 and Art, I should be ranked MUCH higher)</p>

<p>SAT: 2220; 680 R / 790 W / 750 M (missed 9 SC in reading. retake or no?)</p>

<p>Courses:
Freshman year: Every honors course I could possibly take
Sophmore year: Every honors course + AP World + 2 sciences
Junior Year: Honors PreCalc, AP Bio, AP Chem </p>

<p>ECs:
- Varsity Track 4 years
- 70+ hours of community service and still growing
- California Scholarship Federation (CSF)
- Own several websites [since 4th grade]
- Own several businesses
- Websites + businesses making thousands a year
- Shadowing Orthopedic Surgeon (haven't started yet)</p>

<p>(note: I did not completely program my websites/businesses from scratch. It will be submitted as a portfolio for my business but not as something I've done by myself completely. I want to major in Computer Science to be able to make all my ideas real.)</p>

<p>Hook: Nada, unless a teenage entrepreneur counts </p>

<p>Recs:</p>

<p>Counselor- doesn't know me, it'll be generic
Teachers- too early to tell, but will hopefully have one amazing one from my english teacher who's known for her recs. </p>

<p>Essay:
Finished it in 30 minutes but I have a year to fine tune the heck out of it . It really emphasizes my business + passion and explains my poor grades sophomore year + 2nd semester of freshman year</p>

2

<p>I don’t like to give chances. The acceptance at CC is around 8%, so that’s that. But I will say: your essay is no place for excuses. The business thing will work if it comes from the heart, but no adcom wants to read about your demise in sophomore year. Save it for the additional information section on the Common App – after making sure it’s even worth mentioning at all.</p>

3

<p>i have to completely agree with Photographer. in fact, i don’t think there is really any place on the app for excuses, unless you have a legitimate, powerful reason why your grades were low. if this is not the case, i would say that “making excuses” could damage your application a lot more than it could help it. the thing is that everyone would like to think that they have a good reason for having low grades (i know i would) but the reality is that most people could’ve gotten higher grades and didn’t, for a variety of non-compelling reasons (the case for me). if you are strong in other areas, as you appear to be, try to emphasize those instead of explaining away your negatives (and perhaps appearing to try to seem perfect).</p>

<p>but i would like to add something else about the essay: there is a-150 word section of the Common App to write about a particular extracurricular activity. as for the personal essay, i believe that discussing things that are already elsewhere in your app makes you seem one-dimensional, and is not particularly interesting for readers. you want to give them something fresh to read that “colors in” your app and portrays you as an individual, not another round of screaming about your prolific extracurricular involvement. you don’t need to tell adcoms about your awesome research experience or community service or self-run business 5 different times. they get it, and they’d like to know more about you as a person, less about you as an achievement machine.</p>