<p>Hi. I am a rising senior. i am really interested in Columbia. I was hoping you guys could help me assess my chances of getting in.</p>
<p>SATs</p>
<p>New SAT: 2070
Old SAT: 1490 M:790 V:700</p>
<p>SAT IIs:</p>
<p>Biology M:790
Math IIC:780
Chemistry: 720 <--is that decent or on the low side?</p>
<p>Academics:</p>
<p>Unweighted GPA: 3.98 (out of 4.0)
Weighted GPA: 4.85 (out of 5.0)</p>
<p>APs taken:
AP Biology - 5 (taken sophomore year)
AP Chemistry - TBA
AP Statistics - TBA
AP Language - TBA</p>
<p>Next year's APs: Modern World; Physics; Calculus; Human Geography; Psychology; Literature</p>
<p>My school does not rank. Also, I'm from the Washington DC area in which there is a plethora of smart students.</p>
<p>Extracurriculars:</p>
<p>*years include senior year</p>
<p>Debate (4years) Captain (best record on team)
Varsity Tennis (4 years)
SGA (2 years) Parliamentarian/treas
Student Academy of Science (2 years) founder and president
It's Academic (3 years) County Champions
Math Honor Society (2 years)
National Honor Society (2 years)</p>
<p>Volunteer Hours: roughly 200</p>
<p>Summer:</p>
<p>Taken Engineering course at George Washington University
Interned Two years at Walter Reed Army Institute for Research
Created science project entitled "Effects of ACHe on the brains of American soldiers"
2nd place at Regional Neuroscience contest</p>
<p>Awards:</p>
<p>WPI book award for leadership and science
im pretty sure some others but nothing too extravagent</p>
<p>I myself don't go to Columbia however I remember a friend of mine before 2 yrs he was waitlisted w/ 1540 SAT's and 2/250 students. His GPA was as good as yours after finishing seniour year, however he didn't participate in any kind of sports but he was really good in music. My point is that your stats are really good I mean they are well above the reported statistics however I would say you apply to many other schools, you will be surprised what happens, sometimes is more a luck than good grades once you are in the race. I know someone who had much worse record than yours and got to Harvard, well by worse I don't mean he was a bad student he met the statistic standards as you do too but I guess 50% of the students do meet the standards, so I would say it also depends on what kind of application they are recieving, if it's a strong poll of applications or not. Just keep working hard in your seniour year because they do pay attention too, and if you don't get into Columbia you'll end up to a school as good as Columbia, school is four-eight years but your career will last 25-30 years, so it won't hurt you if you got to Columbia or say to some good state school who has a strong program in your field, you can still end up gaining the required intelligence required to succeed.</p>
<p>PS. I personally based on previous statistics would say 9.5/10 if you get A's in your AP classes of course since your midterm transcript will play a major role to the admission office since these AP classes will tell the admission officers how well you could handle the Columbia academic curriculum.</p>
<p>your grades are great and your SAT isn't too shabby, however, like mrphilomath said, you haven't taken much AP classes which might work against you when they see your transcript, however all i can say is that your essay and recommendations will play a LARGE part in whether you get in. Some of my friends last year had similar stats and the reason why some of them didn't get into harvard (yet got into princeton and MIT) was because of the lack of quality of their essay to Harvard not because of their grades, so...show columbia that you really really want to go there through your essay and you should get in =)</p>
<p>what if his school doesn't offer tht many APs? I only took one junior year (US history), but that's the only one I could bc of all the requirements of my school...</p>
<p>try to find out if you can who your regional admissions officer is. it may help to email him/her and reiterate your interest. Hey, constant badgering is what got me off the waitlist.</p>
<p>I just wrote my essay on why Columbia agrees with me, what I could add to Columbia--somehow, very slyly, put in there how Columbia is your first choice. Don't say "Columbia is my first choice;" use something more subtle. For example, I talked about my extended family in NY: "When I told my family that Columbia was my first choice...[here's how they responded]. Something like that. Columbia wants to admit people who really want to go to Columbia.</p>
<p>It's true. There's a question that asks "How has your interest in Columbia developed?" They want to know whether you've visited the campus, seen their video, talked to current students, talked to alumni, etc.</p>
<p>You may want to visit the campus, ask for the card of the admissions officer who is in charge of your reason (mine was actually the guy leading the info session yesterday!). Try to email them and really tell them how excited you are. Don't list qualifications or anything, just talk about Columbia. Maybe ask questions or something.</p>
<p>As an ED acceptee from last year my advice is in the Why Columbia essay do not mention that Columbia is your first choice. It is overkill. You are applying ED, and they understand that it is your first choice. </p>
<p>More importantly in the Why Columbia is your true reasons for wanting to attend Columbia. Whether it is the Core and how it will affect you, whether it is a specific interdisciplinary program or anything about the school. This is your moment to explain your personal reasons for wanting to go to Columbia.</p>
<p>Also, in the Why Columbia short paragraph (and it is a short paragraph, as it is about 7-8 lines on the online application), explain what you can BRING to Columbia, not just take away from it. What can you help to add in campus life? This is what they want to know. How will your high school EC's that you have dedicated many years to translate into life at Columbia? These are the kinds of things that adcom's need to hear from prospective students.</p>
<p>I wish best of luck to all of you who are applying both ED and RD for spots in the class of 2010 and hope to see you on campus in early September of 2006.</p>