Columbia 2025 ED! Chance me

Demographics: Female, White - American, California, private school, middle class

Intended Major(s): Creative Writing

ACT/SAT/SAT II: (NOT SUBMITTING)

UW/W GPA and Rank: 3.9 (UW) 4.3 (W)

Coursework:

2 AP’s so far: APUSH, AP Lang (Haven’t received yet)

Current courses: AP Psych, AP Stats, AP Lit, Spanish 4 Honors, Advanced Journalism


Awards:

TWO National Columbia University Gold Circle Awards for Journalism Articles (awaiting awards for junior year)

3 Columbia University Gold Crown Award for school magazine (I’m the editor in chief, awaiting award for junior year)

National Scholastic Press Association Honor Roll

Selected for Global Leadership Conference (awaiting awards due to COVID delay)

Journalism Excellence (School wide)

Countywide Youth Film and Arts Festival (Was selected for 3 of my literature pieces)

Countywide Cross Country Female Athlete Award


Extracurriculars:

Author of full length young adult novel: (4 years)
Spent 4 years writing and revising 250 pg young adult novel about romance stories; working with agents to get representation and publication.

Freelance writer at #1 Newspaper in City: (2 years)
Review young adult novels for the newspaper in a weekly column. Interview artists & performers for the arts column. Attend meetings with my editor.

Editor in Chief of School Newspaper: (4 years)
News & Feature editor (10th) Editor in chief (11th-12th) I organize the entire issue and work closely w/ writers & editors. Edit & oversee production.

Founder of Animal Rights Club: (3 years)
Built a partnership with Youth of Peta & organized event for elephants in captivity— raised $25,000. Set up information tables throughout the community.

Restaurant Host: (2 years)
Take orders, set up tables, run food out to curbside, deal with issues all around the restaurant/with customers. Bc of COVID, I take temps & sanitize.

Volunteer at Forest Association: (2 years)
Organized dietary needs for all backpackers. Trekked 10 miles in forest & built a sustainable toilet by hand for hikers, chopped down trunks in paths.

Senior Captain of Co-ed Cross Country: (4 years)
CIF qualifier, Best Team Player. Organized team events like dinners and buddies for new freshmen. Ran pre season and off season by choice.

Playwright: (1 year)
Selected for county program. Wrote 10 min play & mentored/learned the inner workings of plays. Play performed by professional actors and directors.

Bird Sanctuary Volunteer: (1 year)
Fed, cleaned, cared for, gave medicine to injured wild birds like hawks, parakeets, crows. Learned to rehabilitate broken wings & various injuries.

Sales Associate: (1.5 years)
Worked solo every Sunday at vintage shop. Input sales, interact with customers, catalogue merchandise, learn background story of unique pieces in shop


OTHERS:

Also attended:

  • Stanford Newsroom by the Bay Journalism Program
  • School of the New York Times Journalism Program

Lived in Singapore for 7 years

First gen college student

Run a vegan food blog (over 1000 followers) and created a vegan lifestyle cookbook


Essays/LORs/Other:

Personal Statement - 10. I believe this is my strong suit and it really ties all of my passions together through a humorous yet honest commentary.

Supplements - 9. I feel confident about all of my supplements.

LOR’s - 10. Have a very good connection with my mentors and especially the outside of school letter who is my boss at the newspaper.

Thank you!! And if anyone could chance me at other elite colleges, I’d really appreciate it!

I will start by saying I am not an expert by any means and certainly not able to weigh the prestige of your awards. I think your hook is “First Gen”. If you are “First Gen” full pay - even better. Your ECs and Awards seem to be good, consistent and back each other up along with reinforcing your selection of major. IMHO, your course load is pretty weak in terms of rigor. You have done well (high UW GPA) but that type of GPA is more expected from someone whose course load shows significantly more rigor that yours. On the softer side for APs and although they speak to your narrative, you don’t appear from your list to be well-rounded in terms of the high school courses selected - science? Again, take my thoughts with a pinch of salt but Columbia is a high reach for most applicants. Good luck!

Your application is very journalism-oriented. Although IVY likes well-rounded I think if you are so good in a specific field, like you did, it is equally awesome as well…

FYI: I am also an applicant this year but my experience is quite scattered around different subjects without being extremely strong in any single field… so, IDK…

what is a full pay? Is it where a student pays full tuition?

did you get in?