<p>Academics:
GPA Unweighted: 3.88
5 AP classes- US History, Statistics, Macroeconomics, Lang and Comp, Lit and Comp
ACT: 31 (10 writing)
Rank: top 10%</p>
<p>Recommendation: Teacher, Teacher/club sponsor, Coach/mentor, Lab Professor (also Director of Psych Department at University, very well known). All gave me great recs!</p>
<p>Essay: how i started a drive for a charity on by myself and how that experienced sparked a new passion for helping people.</p>
<p>ECs: Varsity Cross Country, Varsity Track and Field, Dance Marathon (Executive), Started own club (president/founder), BHM Student Coordinator, intern in Schizophrenia Lab (presented research poster at international conference), NHS VP, LOT Senior, Tri- M Music Honor Society, played piano for 10 year, trombone for 6, Top Concert and Jazz Band, Coach for local track club</p>
<p>Awards: Every Day Hero Award, Zeta Phi Beta Finer Womanhood award, Leaders of Tomorrow award (given to 32 seniors at school), Academic All-State (track and cross country), ISSMA Gold Piano</p>
<p>Interested in Political Science and International Relations</p>
<p>I think your testing profile, GPA, and class rank are competitive for Columbia. I also think it’s interesting that you’ve won so many awards. Congrats!</p>
<p>As for your extracurriculars, I think the science research is interesting. Admissions officers like that. Maybe you could submit your work with your application. However, sports, music, and honor society are very ordinary ECs in the Columbia pool, so they might not stand out. And as for your essay, volunteering is a very common topic in college admissions. But I haven’t read it, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.</p>
<p>Thanks so much! My essay, i would like to think, is a little different than others. I started a bra drive for the charity Free the Girls (definitely check it out its awesome) from watching a documentary on ending modern day slavery. My essay is about how i started the drive on my own and how it turned into this huge thing! and how the whole town really got involved! and from that experience i have really found a passion for service and helping others and how that is really going to be a main focus of mine for the rest of my life! The hardest thing about my essay was making sure that people really understand i didnt do the work for college but for myself!</p>
<p>Also, would it be good to mention something about the two bands i am in? My school has really really good band department (5 kids went to Jacob School of Music last year, the number one music school in the nation- yes it beat out Julliard). So, i suppose it’s not your typical band program…</p>
<p>^Disagree.
I’d say you have just as good a chance as anyone else! That being said, EVERYBODY (save for a very select few) has a pretty low chance of getting in lol, so don’t put too much stock in Columbia! I don’t say that to dishearten you, but it’s much better to be expecting the worst, and be surprised by good news, rather than the other way around, ya know?</p>
<p>@wilguen I think mmnp21’s ACT score is fine. Columbia’s average ACT score is between 31 and 35, and you can still be admitted to Columbia with a 1900 SAT or less than a 30 ACT. I noticed this a few times in old “Columbia Results” threads. Admissions is really holistic, or those people would never have been admitted.</p>
<p>@mmnp21 I think the essay topic sounds really interesting, actually. It could definitely work.</p>
<p>And yeah, I would mention the stuff about the bands you are in. Maybe you can send in a music portfolio too? But still, music is common in college admissions. But I’m not an admissions officer, so take whatever I say lightly.</p>
<p>@ilovethecity You are a bit mistaken. There are reasons for Columbia’s SAT ranges. Low SAT scores in the admitted pool are partially a result of accounting for income and race diversity factors as well as athletes. Without a hook like being a first-generation student, geographic location or the others mentioned, it is extremely difficult to be considered with low test scores and grades.</p>
<p>That being said, Columbia’s admissions criteria probably place less emphasis on test scores than some think.</p>