Chances for Columbia 2014 ED!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Columbia University
1

<p>This is for COLUMBIA COLLEGE 2014! I am currently a junior. Please forgive me if I come off conceited. I'm really sorry.</p>

<p>I'm going to apply Early Decision. (P.S. I posted this in the CU general forum as well.)</p>

<p>Scores:
SAT: 2260 (I'm going to retake it, but the breakdown currently is 790M, 730CR, 740W)
SAT Bio M - 800
SAT Chem - 800
SAT Math II - 800</p>

<p>GPA: 4.0/4.3 unweighted and 4.75/5.0 weighted. I'm somewhere from 5th to 8th in my class of 420 students.</p>

<p>AP Coursework (11 listed): AP Bio (10), AP Chem (10), AP Language and Compostion (11), AP American History (11), AP Calculus BC (11), AP Physics B (11), AP Statistics (12), AP Environmental Sci (12), AP Literature and Compostion (12), AP Psychology (12), AP Econ (12).</p>

<p>College Coursework:
UConn Spanish V (12) - An immersion course by University of Connecticut.
Fairfield University - "Human Biology: Form and Function" taught by Dr. Indrani Dutta. It's an undergraduate level Biology course. I ended up with a 99% in it.</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:</p>

<p>Medical-Related Activities and Achievements:
- Qualified for and completed 30 hours in a medical internship under dermatologist Dr. William A. Notaro (11)
- Completed 42 hours as a volunteer at the Pathology Labs at Danbury Hospital (10)
- Completed 35 hours as a volunteer at the Dialysis Unit of Danbury Hospital under Dr. Winston Shih, Dr. Raymond Raut, and Dr. Howard Garfinkel (11)
- Completed 17 hours as a nursing-volunteer at the Ashlar Senior Home (9, 10)
- UPenn Biomedical Research (2009) - A research immersion program that I had to apply to for the summer based off of SAT scores, essay, and extracurriculars.</p>

<p>Science Related Activities and Achievements
- Newtown Science Quiz Bowl Team (9, 10, 11)
- 3rd place and 7th seeded science quiz bowl team at 2008 U.S. High School Northeast Science Bowl (10)
- 4th place and 4th seeded science quiz bowl team at 2009 High School Northeast Science Bowl (11)
- 2008 Connecticut Chemistry Olympiad State Finalist (10)
- John’s Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth Program in the summer for sciences (2007 and 2008)
- Fast-Paced Chemistry Course and Laboratory under Dr. Art Frankel at JHU CTY (9)
- Fast-Paced Physics Course and Laboratory under Dr. William Kallfel at JHU CTY (10)
- Yale Labs (2009) - I research along with my principle investigator, a PHD at Yale who I follow as a mentor. This consumes most of the summer.</p>

<p>Mathematics Related Activities and Achievements
- Founded the Math Team (9)
- President of the Math Team (9, 10, 11)
- 2nd Place Team for Western Connecticut Mathematics League Tournament (11)
- Completed 45.5 hours of volunteer work as a Math Tutor for high school students (9, 10, 11)
- AMC Recognition Award (10)</p>

<p>Debate Related Activities (9, 10, 11)
- Junior-Varsity Debate on the Lincoln-Douglas National Circuit (9)
- Varsity Debate on the Connecticut Extemporaneous Circuit (9)
- Varsity Debate on the Lincoln-Douglas National Circuit (10, 11)
- 8th Speaker at 3rd Connecticut Extemporaneous Tournament of 2008-2009 (11)
- Double-Octofinalist at the Princeton Classic in the Varsity Division (11)
- 2007-2008 Best Underclassman Debater Award with a season record of 15-8 (10)
- Captain-elect for the 2009-2010 [Senior] year (I have to take care of a roughly $20,000 budget).
- Summer of 2007 National Debate Forum Debater in the Varsity Locke Lab (10)</p>

<p>Athletics
- Obtained varsity letter in golf (9)
- NHS Boys Varsity Golf (9, 10, 11)
- 2007 South-West Conference Academic Team Award (9)
- 2007 South-West Conference League Champions (9)
- 2008 South-West Conference Academic Team Award (10)
- 2008 South-West Conference League Runner-Up Team (10)
- Selected teaching assistant for PGA Professional John Hiteshew – completed 30 hours (10, 11)
- Probably placing at some Connecticut State Junior Golf Tournaments.</p>

<p>Religious Services
- Drummer of the junior youth group praise team (9)
- Drummer of the primary youth group praise team (10,11)
- I ended up playing for the church's fundraising concert in order to make money for church repairs. Recently our church burned down due to a severe electrical problems ='(.</p>

<p>Other Awards and Achievements
- 2008 English Department Chair Book Award (10)
- Spanish Honors Society Award (10)
- 2008 CAPT Mastery Award (Perfect Mathematics Score, and highest level scores in all sections) (10)</p>

<p>Other/Misc:
- Korean-American
- Connecticut
- $150,000+, so financial aid won't hinder me.
- PLEASE CHANCE/COMMENT!</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>I’m sorry, I don’t even want to read most of that, and I doubt adcoms will either.</p>

<p>Describe your ECs in one sentence each (like on the app). And limit yourself to your 5 most important/proudest awards (again, like on the app).</p>

<p>But at a glance, you should be okay. Not a great chance, but reasonable. Good enough stats, good courseload, ECs look like you put time into them (not that I read them), and ED always helps.</p>

3

<p>dude you took almost all the aps?
you are at the great standing</p>

4

<p>As the father of a 2013 ED admit, I’d say you have a good chance. If Columbia is where you want to go, apply and lay the issue on them!</p>

5

<p>Sigh… it’s posts like these that internally defeat me in my struggle to compete in this highly academic world… Sometimes I regret making the decision to be in three varsity sports and getting a 3.8 gpa (4.2 weighted), becoming a semi-professional magician, and sticking to all honors courses but only 4-5 Ap’s… I guess I made a bad decision to pursue so much in these other EC’s. Maybe I should have concentrated more on academics</p>

<p>But hey, back to your post. I’m a junior too, and I applied to the Biomed Research Academy also. Maybe I’ll see you there, whether or not I get in. I’m interning with my uncle there for a few weeks (he’s a geneticist there). </p>

<p>It’s all a crapshoot really, as everyone tells me. Everyone ALSO tells me I should definitely go ED/EA to any of the Ivy’s. Sure, I know I have to. Not so sure you have to, but it really IS a crapshoot. If there is something I do know, it would be that after reading ALL of that I know you’re extremely diverse (I LOLed at the varsity golf but then remembered how hard it was for me… so much respect there) and that you have the ABILITY to get into one of these great schools… just demonstrate it through your personal statement (which is the hardest thing to do and sometimes not worried about enough compared to your actual “resume”). Anyways, let’s chat some time. Won’t do any harm. Good luck in your endeavors, and maybe I’ll see you in a few months =)</p>

6

<p>You’re a very strong candidate for wherever you’d want to apply, but there’s really no way to predict chances for any highly selective school, as even the top candidates are not shoe-ins. The input you receive will give you either raise your hopes or discourage you. All you can do is your best and all you can hope for is the best. Keep up the good work!</p>

<p>With regard to what zephyravatar said – you SHOULD put all this stuff on your application. It’s good stuff; however, it might be better if you could put it on a r</p>

7

<p>I am going to be brutally honest. You have excellent academic credentials. But so will half of the other ED 2014 applicants. From a holistic perspective I don’t see what separates you from the pack. You need to make sure your essays tell the admissions committee what makes you special. What will you bring to Columbia that is unique? Why will Columbia be a better place after 2014 based on what you will bring to the table over 4 years?</p>

<p>Now I say this to you as a parent of a 2013 RD Scholar admit. The feedback from admissions is the essays are HUGE when it comes to differentiating yourself. </p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

8

<p>

Firstly, Columbia doesn’t use CommonApp, and doesn’t appreciate resumes. Probably won’t stop half the people from attaching one, but they “don’t look at them”.</p>

<p>Secondly, you shouldn’t put half of these things on a resume anyways.

17 hours is not an EC. please don’t put this on your resume or anywhere on your app. In fact, the other “ECs” in this category have a paltry sum of hours as well. </p>

<p>

I wouldn’t put this either, unless you have absolutely nothing else to put. did you even make AIME?</p>

<p>

this sounds like it’s just a tournament. you wouldn’t mention individual events unless you won awards.</p>

<p>if you’ve ever seen the app, there is space for 5 ECs, and a one line description for each. there is room for 5 awards, and no description. you won’t be able to write half of this, so choose your most proud achievements and leave out the rest.</p>

9

<p>Honestly, I think you should just relax. I got into Columbia with a 1320 on SATs (700 on CR+ 620 on M). My subjects were terrible: 600 on Math II, 590 on Literature, and 490 on History! I did get 790 on the Spanish Subject test, but only because it is my native language. And I am international, which helps I guess. I’m just saying, luck plays its role. Just show them you really want to go Columbia. Good Luck:)</p>

10

<p>Oh, and I forgot to tell you I didn’t apply ED, I applied RD.</p>

11

<p>To be honest, I think what Sofia said is absolutely right. Luck plays a tremendous role in college admissions. I also think, contrary to popular belief, that Regular Decision will, in some cases, INCREASE your chances. I’ve had my experience with this. I applied to Duke ED and was deferred. I was then rejected when the regular deadline came around. Since ED applicants get “special consideration” (not always beneficial mind you) when it comes to the regular deadline, you are not put in with the rest of the applicants from the regular pool. You are separated into the elite ED group (most of the ED applicants are stronger than the regular decision ones, show more interest-obviously, etc.) and then deferred people are chosen from that small group in order to be offered admission. The competition is sometimes higher when you do ED. If you are not completely above Columbia’s range in terms of scores, GPA, etc. (I see that you are not yet, although you may be after your retake of the SAT), I recommend going Regular Decision in order to gain assurance that you will be compared with the ENTIRE applicant pool, not just the elite applicants from ED.</p>

12

<p>I disagree with one part of your advice. If I were this young man, I wouldn’t worry about academics. His SAT scores and grades are solid for Columbia. As I stated earlier, he needs to focus on why he is “unique” and what Columbia will gain from having him as part of the Class of 2014. He needs to focus on essays that will separate him from the pack.</p>

13

<p>Dude, your grade is far beyond what most accepted students had.
Relax, chill, you are turning your life up-side down.</p>

<p>Relax. Use your summer time to think about writing an unique essay.
The best I had heard of is a parody.
No kidding.</p>

14

<p>I’m soooo impressed by the academics. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. The only thing that worries me is that you might be <em>too</em> academically oriented. Personally, I think your community service hours are… problematic (I apologize, I’m not very good with words)? I agree with zephyravatar that the 17 hours at a senior home is just some blip from out of nowhere. 45 house is good, but that’s easy to achieve within 2 months. Personally, I think a little more consistency with your community service hours would have been better, but other than that, I think you have a good chance of going to Columbia.</p>

<p>As with what everyone else is saying, you need to express what you are most passionate for in life, and studying doesn’t count (unfortunately).</p>

<p>PS - I’m in the 2013 class at Columbia and sort of a community service freak (averaged 200 hours a year in high school, 250 hours as a senior).</p>

15

<p>As an ED to Columbia’s class of 2013 myself, I think your ED chances looks good. Regular will be tricky though…</p>

<p>IT also depends on who else is applying from Connecticut. Just be a bit more selective of your accomplishments, you only have so much space on the application.</p>

<p>Your credentials won’t hinder you but you’ve gotta take the Application seriously. Columbia’s app may look easy, but those 300 character questions are Hellish…I spent 3 weeks on my app.</p>

16

<p>Hey, woahitzscotty, did you get in?</p>