Chance me for Columbia ED

Colleges and Universities A-Z Columbia University
1

I’m a Chinese male junior with combined family income of 200k, attending a pretty competitive public school(t50 in nation). I’ll probably apply to one of these school early decision to raise my chances. Thanks for feedback!

Stats:

SAT: 1560 [760 English, 800 Math]

SAT II: 800 Physics, 800 Math 2, 780 Chemistry

GPA: 3.92/4.47

Class Rank: 7

Senior Year Course Load

Multi variable Calculus(Calc 3)

Linear Algebra

AP Economy

AP Lang

Honors Chamber Orchestra

AP World History

APs Taken:

AP Physics C(5)

AP Calculus BC(5)

AP US History(5)

AP Literature(4)

AP Chemistry(5)

AP Biology(5)

AP Statistics(5)

AP Computer Science(5)

AP US Gov(4)

Major(s) Applying For: Math, maybe Statistics.

Extracurricular Activities:

Officer in Debate Club

Officer in Math Club(Mu Alpha Theta)

Officer in Computer Science Club

12 Years of piano

Cello for 7 years(Accepted into All-State Orchestra)

400+ service hours at nursing homes, library, and orchestra.

Varsity Tennis 3 years. Varsity Team Captain.

Treasurer for National Honor Society.

Awards:

2x Debate State Qualifier

RCM Grade 10 First Class Honors for Piano(Highest level of piano mastery for students)

AIME Qualifier

USAPHO Qualifier(Bronze)

USACO(Gold)

USABO Qualifier

District Hackathon Winner(Very competitive district)

National AP Scholar

National Merit Finalist(Aced)

Summer Activities:

Sophomore year:attended PROMYS

Junior year: Very likely accepted into Ross. Will attend in the summer.

These are all extremely competitive programs that are hard to get into. I’m hoping these math camps will show colleges how much I love math and how committed I am to the subject.

My letters of rec prob all between an (8/10) to a (10/10).

-Piano teacher: Has taught me for over 12 years. We’ve had great memories and I’m one of her favorite students. Hoping this LOR will be kinda OP.

-Debate Coach: He’s a really go(o)d writer(won nationals twice). Really likes me and we have a healthy relationship.

-Math Teacher: Taught me precalc and calc. She watched me mature rapidly(I was the biggest meme freshman year). And she watched me persevere and extend my love for math through Math Club.

I know Ivies are crapshoots but I’m hoping ED will help. Please give any genuine feedback! Thanks a lot in advance!

2

Wow, you have wonderful stats. But as I’m sure you know, lots of asian males have similar profiles as you. Are you applying to CC or SEAS? I think you might have a better shot at SEAS based on your ECs.

3

What is CC? And I thought SEAS was for graduate students

4

What is CC? And I thought SEAS was for graduate students

5

Your profile reminds me of my friend @GoBears2023 profile…

You have REALLY solid chances at honestly anywhere. Congrats on your achievements!!!

6

LOL, this guy is super similar to me @MaybeIvy2020. LMAO!

I don’t think you’ll have a problem getting into Columbia through ED. I’m guessing you have a very solid chance although the ivies keep getting more and more unpredictable. I had similar awards and stats as you and I got rejected from Cornell ED but was accepted into most of the other ivies as well as Stanford.

7

Congratulations on your achievements.
SEAS is the School of Engineering which does accept undergrads.
Columbia has a 5.5% overall admit rate. Unofficial estimated admit rate for ED is about 14% according to one website. Your stats put you in the pool, your activities and achievements make you more competitive.
Some questions to ask yourself: How good of a writer are you? Which state are you from? What does your school Naviance show about past applicants from your school to Columbia? Is your family full pay?
Recommendations: I would confirm that using one academic teacher and two other types, debate coach and piano teacher, is a good strategy or not. Maybe someone else on CC can comment on this as well as asking your guidance counselor and even Columbia admissions, in particular your area rep.
Present yourself as well as you can in your writing.
Since you are a mathematician I think you can appreciate that the odds are against you. ED might help. Remember some spaces will be allotted to athletes, legacy, low-income, first gen, et al. so the pool for unhooked applicants is smaller than it appears.
Have a clear back-up plan. If you get in to Columbia ED great, but if not, have a plan B in place. And if Plan B is ED2 to another low admit rate school then have a EA/RD plan that includes a couple of options that you can afford, and are happy with, and that you can get into, perhaps Case Western EA or Tulane EA or your state flagship honors college. You do not want to be sorry next year because don’t have other options.
This might interesting to read this discussion about Asians @ Ivies
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/22165763
Good luck next year.

8

National Merit Finalist???

You might end up being one, but as a Junior, you certainly aren’t one yet.

There are the minor details of a) actually being named a Semi Finalist - which won’t be announced until the fall - as well as b) filling out the Finalist application and c) actually being named a Finalist.

When filling out your college applications - for Columbia ED, or any other application - please be very accurate in describing your accomplishments.

Glaring errors or overstatements can sink an applicant who might otherwise be successful.

9

SEAS = Fu Foundation School of Engineering & Applied Science
CC = Columbia College

Agree with the others, have a good backup plan in case Columbia ED doesn’t work out. Some good schools with ED2 options: UChicago, NYU, etc.

10

If you are in CA, UCB is also an excellent choice, as is Caltech and Stanford. MIT is a difficult, but no more so than Columbia, and Princeton is also up there in Math. Other good schools in Math would be CMU, UCLA, and Michigan. @sgopal2’s suggestions of Chicago and NYU are also good.

However, you should also make sure that you have some schools with acceptance rates that are higher than 10%, and some backups with acceptance rates which are closer to 50%.

You are doing well, and are competitive for these schools, but you never know.