Chances Columbia ED

Colleges and Universities A-Z Columbia University
1

<p>GPA Unweighted: 4.00
GPA Weighted: 5.90
Class Rank: 2/424 (top 1%)
Curriculum: Most Rigorous Available (IB Courses: IB Math HL, IB History HL, IB Spanish HL, IB TOK, Band, IB Chem HL, IB English HL)
IB Scores: Music SL (6)</p>

<p>SAT I: 2280 (700 CR, 780 M, 800 W) *Taking again in October and expecting 2300+
SAT II: Math II (750), Chemistry (720), Spanish (700)
ACT Composite: 32 (retaking next week, expecting 33+)</p>

<p>EC's
Marching Band (9, 10, 11, 12)
NHS (10, 11, 12)
Spanish Club (11, 12)
Teenage Republican Society (11, 12)
Private Music Lessons (9, 10, 11, 12)
Community Band (10, 11, 12)</p>

<p>Leadership
Marching Band: Saxophone Captain
Wind Ensemble & Jazz Band: Principal Saxophone
Community Band: Principal Saxophone
NHS (Treasurer)
American Cancer Society: Committee Member and Team Captain for Relay for Life</p>

<p>Music Accomplishments (Attaching to App.)
All-State Band: 2004, 2006, 2007 (First Chair in the state in 2007)
Solo and Ensemble Festival (10 Superior Ratings)
Stetson University Saxophone Workshop (2006 & 2007): Featured soloist at the final performance
FSU Tri-State Festival 2006: First Chair Saxophone
University of Miami Honor Band: First Chair Sax in the Wind Ensemble
Four County Honor Band: past 4 years (first chair past 2 years)</p>

<p>Community Service
Relay for Life (ACS): 11, 12
Habitat for Humanity (11, 12)
Big Brothers Big Sisters (12)
Music Tutoriung (9-12)</p>

<p>Academic Awards
Sophmore: Recognized by the Math/English/Spanish Departments
Junior Year: Recognized as an outstanding student in HL Chemistry, HL Math, and HL English</p>

<p>Work experience
I have maintained a weekly job for the past 4 years working in inventory control and data entry </p>

<p>Research
Scientific research to develop an assay for the detection of biotin in biological compounds.</p>

<p>Supplements: Will submit an audio recording (saxophone) and a research abstract</p>

<p>Intended Majors: Chemistry, Music</p>

<p>I'm expecting great teacher reccommendations and a great counselor rec as well. My essay will most likely be very well thought out (discussing intellectual development as it relates to chem/music and my contribution to an academic environment). I have visited the Columbia campus and intend to do an overnight visit next month. </p>

<p>Please chance me for Columbia College ED</p>

<p>Also, I'm considering these schools RD:
Dartmouth
Princeton
Northwestern
University of Miami (safety school)</p>

<p>Thank You!</p>

2

<p>Oh, I forgot to post my ethnicity. I am a white male. I live in South Florida</p>

3

<p>Very competitive academically. I like the fact that all your ECs are music-related. It shows passion. I'd say you have a very good shot. Not that big of a reach...take in mind that this is from a transfer hopefully so as always, grain of salt. =)</p>

4

<p>really good chance, don't bother retaking sat 1, it will currently exclude you from nowhere, if anything i'd retake the sat II, but those too are ok, there is more room for improvement there. the gpa, class rank and work load with 5 HLs!! is all fantastic, if you apply ED they should take you, i think you stand a very good chance.</p>

5

<p>good chances as long as your essays are strong. REtake only if you know you can significantly increase your CR to at least 750. Otherwise forget it</p>

6

<p>Thanks for the suggestions! Anybody else have advice? (esp. current Columbia students)</p>

7

<p>As of now, I'm not planning on reporting my ACT scores. Also, on my application I want to attach additional info containing my musical accomplishments, which I feel is necessary. My question is this: would it be considered to be "desperate to fill space" if I also decided to add some extra community service info? I have been active in Big Brothers Big Sisters and Habitat for Humanity but was not able to put this on the app. Also, I helped to raise $25,000 for the ACS while on the committee for Relay for Life. I couldn't put this on the application either, even though I indicated my leadership position. Considering that I am submitting a musical recording and an abstract, I was concerned that these details might take away from my "passion" showing through, even though there is no other place for them. </p>

<p>Also, does Columbia really value those who make an effort to visit the university? I recently went and stayed overnight through their program for HS students. I'm really trying to show my interest in Columbia, as that was the second (documented) time that I have been on the campus. Could this help me more? I'm applying ED. I made a point to deliver my recording to the admissions office myself while I was there, but I'm not sure they would even make a note of that. Thank you!</p>

8

<p>^you should make it known that you raised $25000, that's no small sum of money. </p>

<p>you show 'passion' through your essay and you show accomplishment and passion through your most prestigeous awards. having other ECs is important, it shows some roundedness.</p>

<p>you don't need to show 'extra' interest if you're applying ED, they get the picture. i dont columbia cares much about visits to campus.</p>

<p>you should get into all the school you are applying to, princeton rd might be more difficult, but it's still likely. Columbia Ed is a good bet.</p>

9

<p>I think you will most definitely make it ito columbia. The 25k fundraising should be in your application. After all this commitment to music, I hope you will be pursuing something related to music as a student in college.</p>

10

<p>When you apply to Northwestern make sure that you show you're truly interested in the school (attend info session in your city, make a visit if possible, do the interview, etc.) because they might think you're looking at it as a backup for the Ivys. They get a lot of qualified applicants who are looking at it as a backup and you don't want to be included in that crowd.</p>

11

<p>Thank you for all of your comments! I have a question regarding ECs. On the online application, it states to please not attach extra information about the ECs. How will Columbia know how many hours we actually put in if we don't specifically state in in an extra document? Also, I'm attaching a music resume to the application. Would it be too much info if I were to add a category for community service under the music accomplishments? That way I would be able to state the # of hours, money raised, etc. I've also been involved in organizations such as Big Brothers Big Sisters, Habitat for Humanity, etc. that I was not able to list on the actual app because it said to list ECs in descending order of importance to me. What should I do?</p>

<p>Also, I traveled to Brazil last summer to perform a a 10-day concert series with my community band. I read in another thread that it is not wise to talk about "lavish vacations." I would probably consider my trip to be different because it was music related. If that isn't the case, however, would it be ok to at least add it to my musical accomplishments? I did NOT write about the trip in ANY major section (essay) but I did mention it in the summer activities section. Any help would be greatly appreciated.</p>

12

<p>I attached a one-page "summary of accomplishments and activities". "Resume" may mean "summary" in French, but at least technically I wasn't flouting their rules. If you have enough meaty content to fill a page even written briefly, do it. it'll sound pretentious if you stretch the truth or brag a bit, but stick to bullets and the facts and they won't think less of you.</p>

<p>I agree that you have a very good shot. Retake the SAT only if you were getting consistent 800s in Verbal on your practice tests, because that 800W will be hard to replicate.</p>

13

<p>Thanks Denzera.</p>

14

<p>I am a first generation college student. I just recently heard that this could give me some sort of advantage in the admissions process. Would this be true for me (white male) applying ED to Columbia? I was just wondering if it would make any difference at all. Thanks</p>