Chances for Columbia and others?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I'm planning on applying to Columbia, Princeton, Duke, Wash U, U of I, Northwestern, Michigan, BU, and NYU.... please chance me!!!</p>

<p>GPA: 3.87 unweighted, 4.5 out of 4.6 weighted
Class Rank: 51 of 850
Classes (as of end of junior year): 3 years honors English (AP this year), 3 years honors math, 3 years honors science, 3 years in honors history including APUSH and AP Gov (all three years completed in two years; I doubled up), 3 years honors spanish
Classes for senior year: AP Stats, AP European History, Modern Middle Eastern History, AP English Lit, AP Economics, honors spanish
ACT: 34 (super score 35)
PSAT: 213
Won NCTE Achievements in English Writing award (national)
National Spanish Honors Society
Extracurriculars:
1. Representative to the Board of Education (student council officer, only student on the School Board), 3 years of student council
2. 200 + hours of community service, both through a club at school and summer service trips
3. Vegetarian Club
4. Students for Peace & Justice
5. Freshman Mentor
Work:
1. Au-pair in Denmark summer after sophomore year
2. Lifeguard this summer</p>

<p>Any thoughts??? I am also a mixed race female; I'm white, hispanic, african american, and native american. i plan on self-identifying as all of them on the common app. Columbia is my first choice. I also plan on majoring in either History or Political Science, but Columbia has a Human Rights major that I'll put for its app.</p>

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<p>come on, so many views and nobody has any thoughts? please reply!!</p>

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<p>I think you have a great chance everywhere except Princeton</p>

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<p>Princeton is no different than Columbia, duke, northwestern, and wash u</p>

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<p>nah, it’s significantly harder to get into Princeton than it is to get into Duke, Northwestern, or WashU. Columbia, maybe</p>

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<p>No it is not significantly harder. For one can you explain why some applicants get into princeton and rejected from columbia and duke and those schools and vice versa?</p>

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<p>The admissions process is mostly luck, but GPA and SAT scores are higher across the board for Princeton admits. ECs are better too, but you can’t really quantify that.</p>

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<p>Columbia is now MORE selective than Princeton, so clearly lauren44 would NOT have a great chance everywhere BUT Princeton. In fact, Princeton AND Columbia will both be very hard, for reasons I suggest below. But, that does NOT mean that lauren44 should not apply to these schools.</p>

<p>Lauren44, you are in top 10% of class and your ACT score is excellent and competitive. You do not need to take the ACT again. However, some of the schools on your list may require two supplementary SATII tests (probably Princeton and Columbia), and this you need to research.</p>

<p>Where I see the problem is with your ECs. There just isn’t anything really exceptional here at all, and that is what you need to work on. Certainly do not put relatively meaningless ECs like the “Vegetarian Club” on your applications. Eek! If you are interested in history or poli sci, or in Columbia’s Human Rights major, well, perhaps your ECs should show some passionate involvement in these fields or in related issues. These schools look for passionate involvement in a few carefully chosen ECs. This is where you really need to work to be at all competitive. </p>

<p>You have a good list of reaches and possible matches. But where are your safety schools? If your school has the naviance tool, start to use it to see where your stats match up to others from your school admitted to the ones you are interested in. And look for ones that are an absolute “lock” for your stats.</p>

<p>Yes, note your ethnicity. But don’t assume it will get you in. It is a hook, but how big a hook will depend upon the school. As I say, the ECs are a problem in that there seems to be nothing special in them to distinguish you from other similarly qualified applicants, not to mention from the more qualified applicants.</p>

<p>Question, is your class size REALLY 850 students? Wow!</p>

<p>I am not a fan of chancing. I prefer to advise. So my advice: work on your ECs, and put together a list of schools that is broader, to include reaches, matches, and SAFETIES!!!</p>

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<p>I don’t see any Ivies happening, barring a big surprise, but the other schools are matches.</p>

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<p>thanks, guys! swingtime, I have taken my SAT IIs but I haven’t gotten the scores back yet. As for ECs, I know they’re lacking, but I’m hoping that being Board Representative will look good, considering I am the only student on the Board of Ed representing the entire student body (3200 kids). Vegetarian Club & Students for Peace and Justice also include a lot of activism, which I will emphasize. I was under the impression that I could probably count on getting in to Michigan and NYU and definitely count on getting in to BU and U of I. Do you disagree?</p>

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<p>If may offer a suggestion why not take MUN?</p>

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<p>lauren44. Don’t disagree that you are possibly a match for BU and U of I, and possibly for Michigan and NYU. In these days of competitive college admissions, however, it is unwise to COUNT ON getting in anywhere, except perhaps your local community college. Research a few more ABSOLUTE safeties.</p>

<p>Question on financial aid. Will you need it to make attendance possible at any of these schools? If so, be aware that the public unis that you listed do not guarantee to meet demonstrated need, and that financial aid at these schools can be unpredictable, and very low. Wash U does not guarantee to meet full domonstrated need either, by the way. Your other four reaches – Columbia, Princeton, Duke, and NU – do, I believe, say they will meet full demonstrated need (but double check on Duke and NU). The larger point is this: do you have admissions and financial aid SAFETIES??? You could well get into your publics, and then get insufficient funds to allow attendance.</p>

<p>So, start to factor your financial needs into these calculations on applications. You need financial aid and admissions safeties, unless financial aid is not an issue for you.</p>

<p>RE: the ECs? Really start to deeply pursue your passions, as these schools hope to see excellence in focused ECs. If it is activism and social justice, great! And that board of ed thing does sound interesting and promising, if you do MORE than merely sit on the board! How active are you now? How active can you become? It will be irrelevant to your applications if you are just ON the board, but not active.</p>

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<p>Great advice from swingtime, but I would say if you really want to go to Columbia, then apply ED. You have better stats than a majority of applicants, and you are a triple minority. Your ECs are not that impressive by themselves, but if you can show passion, there’s no reason you shouldn’t get into Columbia.</p>

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<p>I don’t know if it would be smart checking all 3 minority boxes. Person reading it might be suspicious that you happen to be all three races that offer significant advantages. Maybe one or two. Are you registered as a native American?</p>

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<p>interesting point, cortana431! i’ve never thought of that, but i would feel just as uncomfortable leaving a minority box unchecked as i would checking an additional one that is untrue, if that makes sense. i don’t really identify with one part of me any more than the others. i am not a registered n.a., though. swingtime, thanks for the additional advice! i am considering financial aid in all of this, which is why i won’t apply ED anywhere (as woollymammoth suggests).</p>