Columbia Chances (and others?)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Schools: Columbia (ED), HYPSM, Carnegie (CS), UCs, Upenn, Uchicago, Brown, UVA, Upitt
SAT I: 2280 (will retake October)
SAT II: 800 Math II, 780 Chem, 760 Bio M
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0, Weighted GPA: 4.88 (Honors also gets GPA boost)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/~350
AP (place score in parenthesis): Calc AB (5), Calc BC (5), Chem (5), Bio (5), Eng Lang (5), MicroEcon (4), MacroEcon (4), Computer Science (4), US Gov (4), Phys C: Mech (4)
Senior Year Course Load: Differential Equations Honors, Spanish Lang AP, Eng Lit AP, Stats AP, Photo AP, Phys C: EM AP, World History AP
Awards: Nothing Major- State Debate Varsity Finalist, County Volunteer of the Year, Minor Debate Awards like Harvard JV Octas

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Computer Club (Pres 15-16), Varsity Tennis (Captain 14-15), Key Club (PR Officer 14-15, Volunteer Coordinator 15-16), Games Club (VP 14-15), Chemistry Olympiad (Co-Pres 14-15, Co-Founder), Drug Abuse Prevention Club (Pres 14-15, Founder), Science NHS (Co-VP 14-15), Debate Team (Assistant Coach 13-14,14-15), County Gov. Advisory Board on Drug Usage (Student Rep, 13-14,14-15), Helped Organize First County Hackathon
Job/Work Experience: NIH Research Internship (may submit to Intel STS)
Volunteer/Community service: Lab (Pre Internship) 200 Hours, Local Health Clinic 100 Hours, Various Key Club Stuff 50 Hours
Summer Activities: Intern (2015), Volunteer (2014), Summer School (2013)

Essays: Lol no idea, probably something quirky and weird
State (if domestic applicant): Mideast
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Public- Very White
Ethnicity: Asian
Sex: Yes please. Jk male
Intended Major: Biochem or CS

I care much more about advice as to how I can increase my chances of getting into these schools rather than just being chanced - after all ivys are always reaches

Thanks guys! – will chance back

2

At this point, I’d just say stick to what you are currently doing, since picking up another activity 5-6 months before admissions close won’t do you too much good given your heavy involvement already.

The NIH research internship and lab work is interesting, but quite a few prospective applicants have done the same amount of lab work as you have. What’ll separate you from the pack is a publication (ideally as first author) or public presentation of your findings (maybe at a seminar, maybe at a conference).

Now, this might just be me, but by looking at your EC and then looking at your awards, I get a feeling that you aren’t too “in depth” with your ECs, since there are a lot of them with a lot of leadership positions. I’ll let you interpret and decide where to go from there (though I’d say focus on a few clubs and see if you can advance them in some way/shape/form)

Outstanding/excellent essays can make a difference in the application process, so I would also suggest spending more time on them and getting as many eyes as you can to read over it.

Other than that, you are certainly qualified for Columbia. I can’t say more than that since I haven’t looked at Columbia too much, but I can say that the advice I gave is applicable to the top-tier institutions such as Columbia.

If you’d like to chance me, here is the link!: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1790828-chance-me-though-it-does-come-down-to-luck-for-the-top-schools.html?new=1

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Looks excellent ! the things that will hurt you ; Male, Asian ( both because your too smart and 'over represented at top schools because of it 0, Music ? Sports ? ( showing how well rounded you are )

4

Very solid candidate to all of them, but the Ivies and UChicago on your list are reaches for everyone. The others are matches or safeties or you. Good luck.

5

@tenderp I agree, I’ve been thinking of cutting the fluffier extracurriculars (like Games Club lol) and focusing on my passions/focuses (CS and Drug abuse). I also did an internship for 2 years with a non profit doing web design idk if that helps too much with in depth. I think a publication is a little out of my reach atm, but I am planning on doing Intel STS as well as presenting my research at a smaller conference soon so hopefully that works. And yes I definitely plan on spending boatloads of time on these essays. Thanks!!

@fatpapa Hoping tennis since freshman year and being captain my junior year will advance me slightly on the sports field (nothing even close to recruiting for sports tho). Do you think being accelerated to photo ap helps in the arts?

@stepay Thank you!

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Bump for any more advice?

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I think you have a solid shot for all. The lab research looks great, maybe try for a publication, because those look really good. Other than that, your stats and extracurriculars are good, so just write a good essay and I think you got a chance

8

To start with, I’d recommend that you list BioChem as your intended major; it is not that difficult to switch majors, and after all you have 5s on AP Bio and Chem while you have a 4 in AP CS (shouldn’t matter too much though).

You are definitely a competitive applicant. You have fine scores (I wouldn’t worry about your SAT too much, increasing from that should not matter too much P.S I scored the same initial SAT) and GPA. Your ECs, while not fantastically unique, are enough to show that you are all around (such as Varsity Tennis, Debate STEM stuff and plenty of leadership positions). Your Lab work can help separate you from a sea of other Asian STEM majors tho, try to get a publication, or an Intel STS award, which will definitely help you. Also focus on your essays, and try to sell yourself as unique.

Schools: Columbia (ED)- ED shows your commitment, you are a qualified applicant: Low Reach or High Match
HYPSM-Reaches, but they are for everyone, let’s be honest
Carnegie (CS)-Match
UCs-Match for Berkeley, Low Match for UCLA, others are safeties
Upenn, Uchicago, Brown-Reaches for everyone
UVA, Upitt- don’t know too much about those, probably low match or safeties tho.

Also, remember that top school applications are way too random to predict accurately, so don’t be disheartened if you get rejected (which hopefully won’t happen): for all you know, it was a mistake.
Good Luck!

9

Not sure what I can say that others haven’t. You have the GPA and test scores for Columbia and all the schools on your list. I wouldn’t bother retaking the SAT, as you are already within each college’s range.

Top colleges have more highly qualified students than they room for in their freshman class, so each Admissions office reads your essays and teacher recommendation with great care, looking for clues to your “character.” That’s an old-fashioned that means the way you develop your inner qualities: intellectual passion, maturity, social conscience, concern for community, tolerance, inclusiveness and love of learning. That’s a touchy-feely kind of thing that cannot be quantified or measured. It’s a gut reaction. It’s subjective. One college may love your essay, but another may go “meh.”

So, without actually reading your essays, or your teacher recommendations, along with your guidance counselor report and interview report, I cannot even guess as to your chances at Columbia, Brown, Upenn or UChicago.

You should have a good shot at Carnegie Mellon and UPitt, as they are not as selective as the other schools.

If you a resident of Virginia, you also have a good shot at UVA. However, state colleges are balancing their budgets by charging non-residents full fare tuitions. If you can pay full fare as an out-of-state student at UVA, that will increase your chances. Can your parents afford to pay the full-fare cost of UVA tuition, room and board? http://records.ureg.virginia.edu/content.php?catoid=11&navoid=177.

Several thoughts on Columbia and Brown. Why do you want to go to each of those schools?

Columbia and Brown are almost complete opposites. Each school has a very different educational philosophy. Usually students that love Brown dislike Columbia and vice-versa. So, I’m wondering if you have done your due diligence.

Columbia is very proud of their core curriculum. Every Columbia student since 1919 has had to take the same basic set of “core classes.” All students – no matter what their major – cannot opt out. This means that during your freshman and sophomore year, you only have room for one elective per semester, as the rest of the time is devoted to your core classes: Contemporary Civilization, Literature Humanities, University Writing, Art Humanities, Music Humanities, Frontiers of Science, along with a Science Requirement, Global Core Requirement, Foreign Language Requirement and Physical Education Requirement. It’s very much like high school. You have very limited choices for your first two years: See: http://www.college.columbia.edu/core/

On the other hand Brown has an open curriculum without any requirement’s or core classes. Student’s chart their own map over their four years and study what interests them. It’s very different than Columbia. See: https://www.brown.edu/academics/college/degree/curriculum

As you’re Asian, and your EC’s tend to read a bit Asian (sorry), you may want to read this thread: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/1789566-presenting-yourself-as-less-asian.html#latest

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CMU’s CS had a 5% acceptance rate in 2015. One of the lowest (if not the lowest) acceptance rates in the country this year was CMU’s School of Drama (3%), with average SAT’s for the College of Fine Arts lower than the SAT’s for CMU’s other schools but still very high. The OP is a strong candidate but CMU’s CS is very high reach for everyone. The admission statistics for each of CMU’s schools can be found in CMU’s website.m