<p>Hey everybody! I'm kind of new to all of this and was just trying to get your opinion on whether or not I would make it into either Princeton University or Columbia. I am currently a Junior in high school. </p>
<p>I have yet to receive an official record for my gpa but unofficially my weighted is around a 4.78 and my unweighted is around 3.9 I believe.</p>
<p>I am in national honors society, science national honors society, and social studies honors society. I am taking two ap classes now (our school doesnt offer many junior year) and the rest of my workload is pretty rigorous too because I am in honors. Senior year I will be taking 4 AP classes.</p>
<p>I volunteer at community events such as senior citizen proms and at a local hospital and retirement home.</p>
<p>I havent taken the SATs yet but I did take a prep course and on the diagnostic test I got writing: 750, math: 690, cr: 710 and I also did well on my PSATs. I got a 770 on SAT II bio.</p>
<p>Extracurriculars: I have been an avid member of international club and science league for 3 years now. I tried out for positions in both clubs but there seems to be a whole bunch of politics going on and I did not make it in. I'm concerned...will a lack of a leadership position hinder my chances of getting into a good college?</p>
<p>I'm open to all sorts of commentary and opinions (please be nice =) )</p>
<p>What colleges do you think I could make it in?
Are Princeton and Columbia reaching too far?
What could I do to increase my chances?</p>
<p>I'm also going to be attending the Columbia University Summer Program and am trying out for the Science Honors Program.
I graduated with honors from the UMDNJ Pre-Medical Honors Program and also gradueated from the UMDNJ Science Medicine and Related Topics Program.</p>
<p>Your SAT's should as an unhooked applicant should be well into the 700's for each of the three sections of the SAT's. Your lack of leadership isn't neccessarily a problem--- your lack of a conspicuous passion is. Obviously Columbia and Princeton doesn't want everyone in their class to be Type-A leaders, but they seek people the best in what they do. From what you've written---- nothing strikes me. With Columbia College's and Princeton's admit rate (8.9, 9.6% respectively), you're going to need to beat out 10 to 11 applicants to get that spot. Do you think your stats are better than that of 10 other applicants?</p>
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With Columbia College's and Princeton's admit rate (8.9, 9.6% respectively), you're going to need to beat out 10 to 11 applicants to get that spot. Do you think your stats are better than that of 10 other applicants?
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<p>Actually, that rather understates the difficulty of getting in. A better way to ask it: is your profile as an applicant more compelling than those of the at least 17000 applicants who will be rejected.</p>
<p>ha yeah... plus it's not just like you have to be better than 17000 random people, you have to be better than 17000 of the smartest high school students around the world who apply to those types of schools</p>
<p>haha sorry i didn't mean to make you intimidated about the admission process or anything. i'm sure you'll go to a great college, but for now just enjoy high school if you can!</p>
<p>All right. I think your lack of extracurriculars or leadership positions will hurt you in your application. As an unhooked, non URM applicant, I would suggest getting the SAT score to at least 2200. Your rank will also be important in a way. I would consider you a far reach from both schools if you were to apply with the above stats.</p>
<p>Well rememer that the 9% (or so) admit rate is a very general trend...it isn't very accurate to see what one person's chances are.</p>
<p>Using the overall admit rate and applying it to your own chances is a bit like taking a rough approximation of a derivative at a particular point on a curve by assuming a linear fit versus algebraically solving for it (sorry...that's the best analogy I can think of in 30 seconds!)</p>
<p>Point is, it's not going to be that accurate at all.</p>
<p>You are not competing against all 17,000 applicants or so but rather against a smaller subset of applicants who comprise a certain percentage of an accepted class.</p>
<p>Athletes and legacies typically have a certain amout of spots to fill, as do even more specific sports like football, lacrosse, etc. If you are a lacrosse player and are sought after, you have a much higher chance of getting in than the overall admit rate would suggest. That's pretty clear to anyone.</p>
<p>But what may not be as clear is that the average SAT scores won't apply to you either; getting in the mid 600s might be above average for, say, accepted lacrosse goalie recruits over the past 20 years. Same with GPA, class rank, extracurriculars etc.</p>
<p>The trends I am describing don't just apply to student athletes or legacies but all genres of students - people with strong science backgrounds from Manhattan prep schools, etc.</p>
<p>So I hope you get what I am attempting to getting at; take into account all of the details about yourself before estimating what your chances will be.</p>
<p>The more specifics about yourself you account for, the better.</p>
<p>Why do people usually think that applying to two very different schools means somebody is applying in a shallow manner? Maybe the two schools appeal to different parts of the person's personality. Maybe they're indecisive. Maybe it's snob appeal, sure, but it doesn't <em>have</em> to be.</p>
<p>Princeton and Columbia are more or less the same different. Princeton is more preppy. Columbia is more diverse. Both are top tiered schools and close to the city. Students from both generally want to go into banking, law, medicine. First class faculty at both.</p>
<p>It's the people that apply and actually try to decide between BrOWN (extremely liberal course requirements--- read :none:) vs. Columbia (rigidly defined Core Curriculum) that leaves me scratching my head.</p>
<p>Well, I feel that it's important to apply to lots of different schools, even schools as different as Brown and Columbia. You need to have options, just in case you decide all of sudden that you dont like city schools or small colleges, it will make your decision a lot easier. </p>
<p>If your schools are all so similar, you'll end up making your decision on something insignificant, and going to whatever LAC has the best food or whatever. If you have diversity between your schools, all of your options are open and you can choose based on the actual school you prefer.</p>
<p>Heh, I plan on applying to both Columbia and Brown. They both have things I love and things I'm not so sure about. In the end, I'll have to visit all the colleges I apply to in order to figure out which of my ideas about what I want are accurate and which are misconceptions.</p>
<p>columbia and princeton? one is in city, and the other is in middle of nowhere, i cannot believe you are considering two that are of dead opposite characters</p>
<p>Junelay, Princeton is not quite in the middle of nowhere. </p>
<p>Its absolutely true that Princeton has a suburban campus, as opposed to the urban campuses of many other Ivy League schools but that doesnt mean that it has a feeling of isolation. Commutes to Philadelphia and New York are easy with a train that comes right into the campus and each trip takes about an hour. Many professors make the commute from one city or the other. Is it a five minute walk to the high energy levels of the big city? No. Is it possible to get to the city easily? Yes.</p>
<p>While lacking some of the excitement of a large urban area, there are also some offsetting advantages. Both campus and town are extremely safe and the campus setting is stunningly beautiful. A lake at the southern edge of the campus allows for boating, crew racing and jogging along a sunlight-dappled path that traverses its length. The majestic American Elms on campus frame gorgeous views of the sky and the park-like setting quickly draws students out of their rooms on nice days.</p>
<p>I found it to be a perfect mix of urban availability and natural beauty. There are some who seek more of the former while others want the even more rural settings of schools like Dartmouth and Cornell. I suppose its just that, a personal choice.</p>
<p>Actually, the town of Princeton was recently recognized in a national survey as one of the best college towns in the U.S.:</p>