<p>hey, can anyone comment on my chances at columbia or cornell</p>
<p>SAT 1: 2050 (680v, 670m, 700w) - going to retake this one, realistic score: over 2150</p>
<p>SAT 2: 720 lit, 750 us hist, 740 bio</p>
<p>AP: 5 bio, 5 english, 4 us hist</p>
<p>in all ap and honors classes, GPA: 3.6 uw, school does not weight or rank</p>
<p>also taking anatomy and physiology at local community college for college credit - grade=A</p>
<p>EC:</p>
<p>founder and president of world soccer club
created fundraiser for german honor society
worked on research project to isolate cancer-causing gene- got rec from phd in charge of lab</p>
<p>published in a research project to isolate n oncogene- really tried to emphasize this</p>
<p>accepted as an intern at national aids research institute in india for summer 2006
captain of jv tennis team - 2 years
played violin in honors orchestra for 2 years
first aid and cpr certified, hipaa certified (random extras lol)</p>
<p>over 140 hours volunteering at local hospital
about 30 hours volunteering at soup kitchen in trenton
designed webpages for Univeristy of Medicine and Denstistry of NJ and for a univeristy in rural India</p>
<p>I'd have to say you have a 1/2 chance in those. Your SAT's and GPA are a little low for ivy's. Clubs seem a little weak. The research paper, however, seems to be a really strong point for you, and if you really try to emphasize it it can definately help. Are you playing Varsity Tennis or Soccer now? If your essays are really strong, good recs etc, and you can raise your GPA and SAT, you have a decent shot...</p>
<p>well i'm trying to emphasize all of my research experience, including the one in india im doing next year. i think i can raise my SAT by 100 points. plus, i founded the world soccer club, which i thinks shows non-academic interests</p>
<p>"World Soccer Club" seriously... what do you do? I have a friend that founded "The Fellowship of Religious Understanding" and he DEFINATELY did it for college apps. I'm not saying you aren't, but maybe if you put in the Description category on apps what u do, it might help</p>
<p>I'm guessing you're applying to columbia college and not the engineering school. I would say you have 1/2 chance too. You should get your sat up. Overall, you have nothing that makes you stand out...Columbia has alot of similiar applicants like you. Your chances are higher at cornell.
good luck though</p>
<p>meateater, thanks for your constructive post, very helpful</p>
<p>weird, colleges like to see that you have a continuing interest in a certain thing, that youre not just doing it to get in. at least thats what hopkins said, but i guess some of you are more of an authority on the topic.</p>
<p>I believe his chances at Columbia are less than 30%. I have seen brilliant students with brilliant SATS and great EC's get turned down from columbia first hand.</p>
<p>well it could be personality, maybe they seemed arrogant, but my interview went really well, and i gotta hope that i get in. at this point, it doesn;t do anyone any good to be pessimistic, i hwish all of you best of luck in your college admissions, and hope you can do the same for mine.</p>
<p>Not an incredibly biting use of sarcasm on your part but, I wasn't trying to mock you, I was mocking the "1/2" chance comment. I was simply stating that to say you have a "1/2" chance is ridiculous, it just isn't 50 percent chance for you, it's 50 percent chance for somebody with perfect SAT's and grades, just look at the number of valedictorians with 1600's they reject, probably about half. Best of luck.</p>
<p>well there are always reasons why the reject the valedictorians, but all i can say, is that at my interview today, my interviewer made it clear several times that CU is not looking for the straight A, 1600 students. They put a much higher priority on extras, which i think i have. i make no attack on any other person, but i like to think i have a decent shot at getting in.</p>
<p>I also say about 15% acceptance rate. Your ECs seem pretty good but your scores are a bit low. </p>
<p>Dont take offense at the posts, everyones being honest, and you seem quite self confident. however don't EXPECT an admission and dont be too crushed if you get rejected.</p>
<p>oh of course not, nobody can really expect to get in at any school, but all i'm saying is that since all the apps are in anyway, what's the use in feeling that you won't get in? believe me, i;m not self-confident, if i were, i probably wouldn't be posting this, but what can any of us do now except get good grades to boost the gpa and/or retake tests?</p>
<p>i understand everyone's being honest, but part of the debate is defendnig my resume. i really appreciate people just posting anything constructive, but i hope nobody really thinks i am getting too defensive. just trying to really find out what my weaknesses as an applicant are.</p>
<p>well...lemme give you my stats and you decide whether you have a chance. I think u do, but not a great one, since u're applying for liberal arts and not engineering.
Accepted into Columbia SEAS class of 2010
SAT: 570V, 740M, 630W (clearly, SAT isn't everything...)
SAT2s: 800IIC, 740BioE, 730Chem.
APs: 5 on Calc AB, 5 on Biology
GPA: 96.76/100 Weighted. (I only took 2 AP courses prior to my senior year, and no honors classes...school sucks)
Rank: 21/325 (unjusted grading system...don't ask about it)
Essay: I think that got me in.
Activities:
2 Jobs (it took alot of my time)
VP of student govt.
Biomedical Research during summer of jr year...did a research paper
Engineering Research during summer of sophomore year...also did a research paper
Volunteer at NYPL
National Honor Society
and some other activities
Hooks: socioeconomically disadvantage, first generation college.</p>
<p>Idk, but I think the fact that you didn't apply early might hurt you. Overall, you're more solid than I am, but then again, I don't really know how the admissions work. From my point of view, you do show that you have an interest in biological science. I guess all you have left is to put it on paper...
Due date is jan 1. Good luck.</p>
<p>congrats man on getting in. apparently the ED pool is actaully stronger than RD, so i'm hoping i can benefit from that. just have to wait and see what happens now i suppose. thanks everyone for your help. :)</p>