****COLUMBIA CLASS OF 2020 ED RESULTS*****

Colleges and Universities A-Z Columbia University
41

Decision: Deferred - CC

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): N/A
ACT (breakdown): 35 (34 E, 35 M, 34 R, 36 S)
SAT II: 770 Chemistry, 760 Literature, 750 US History, 750 Biology M
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Calc BC (5 & 5 on AB subscore), AP Chemistry (4), AP World History (4), AP Lit (5), AP US History (5), AP Calc AB (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Physics C, AP Stats, AP Euro History, AP Psych, Spanish IV, AP Lang
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): All-American Scholar Athlete for USA water polo, AP Scholar with Distinction, ABRSM grade 5 certified pianist, nothing major

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Varsity Water Polo (captain when on JV), Varsity Swimming, piano for 9 years, cultural dance for 8 years with many awards, a lot of community service, peer tutoring paid & unpaid, member of religious youth group
Job/Work Experience: Lifeguarding in the past summer, paid internship at a start-up during the same summer
Volunteer/Community service: Volunteer at hospital for 3 years, helped at soup kitchens and supportive housing centers, worked with autistic kids and the elderly, hosted fundraisers for the Red Cross and Second Harvest Food Bank
Summer Activities: See job/ work experience, club water polo and Junior Olympics for water polo, immersion trip to South Africa
Essays (rating 1-10, details): worked pretty hard on these but may have rushed them… Common App 10/10, EC was definitely weaker 7/10, Why Columbia and major was unique but probably not too distinctive so both 9/10
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): 9/10 overall, I was a great student but had some flaws as well

Teacher Rec #1: AP Chemistry teacher who is known for writing great recs 10/10
Teacher Rec #2: AP World History teacher who I did very well in the class but not sure how well he remembers me so 9/10
Counselor Rec: Knows how much I LOVE Columbia and knows me pretty well 10/10
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: Pretty well, connected over many things such as we have the same favorite book, but I was definitely not very articulate and at points, words wouldn’t come out of my mouth so 8.5/10

Other:
Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: Biochemistry
State (if domestic applicant): California
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Private Catholic
Ethnicity: Indian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: >200,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Legacy

Reflection:
Strengths: I thought my passion and drive for the school clearly came off in various ways, I’m very well-rounded, all my essays had interesting perspectives, also submitted 2 piano pieces as part of my portfolio, went to many information sessions and visited campus numerous times, legacy
Weaknesses: Not part of any clubs, don’t really stand out in any of my activities, test scores could be stronger (sat 2s and APs)
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: honestly I have no clue, 2 other students from my school got in ED so that’s probably why–one for football and one is URM and has other hooks over me with the same grades and course load
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Nowhere yet, nothing has been released

General Comments: Really bummed out… Columbia has been my dream school since forever but I guess I still have a small chance so I’m not giving up hope just yet

42

Decision: Accepted - CC

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2350 (800CR, 790W, 760M) (o_e my SAT math scores are a hot mess, what even)
ACT (breakdown): 35 (35M, 36R, 35W, 35S) (better, ayy)
SAT II: Took on Nov./Dec. test dates. Not sending.
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9-ish?
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School doesn’t officially “rank,” but GPA-wise, I’m apparently at least top 10%, GPA-wise. Rigor-wise… well, let’s say that my schedule is a bit unique.
AP (place score in parenthesis): Computer Science (4), Calc BC (5, AB 5), Spanish Language (5), Physics (3, didn’t report)
IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a
Senior Year Course Load: Calc III/Linear Algebra, AP Physics C, AP Chemistry, Advanced Biology, Honors English, Computer Science Independent Study
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): A lot of regional Scholastic awards, a regional women in tech award, and a school CS award.

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):

  • Rock Climbing (Captain): Competitive climber. 2 hours a day during the school year and… er… not quite as much over the summer. I’ve placed in every competition I’ve taken part in.
  • Writing Workshops: Iowa Young Writers Studio, Kenyon Review Young Writers
  • Critique Group: Only teenager in a local adult fiction critique group. I attend a yearly conference and have received manuscript requests from small-press editors (I brag about this wayyyy more than I should)
  • American Computer Science League
  • App Development Class: Course for high school students through a local college.

Job/Work Experience:

  • Summer programming/development internship for a local nonprofit.

Volunteer/Community service:

  • Tutoring/ice hockey program for children in the public housing system

Summer Activities:

  • See above (Iowa, internship, etc…)

Essays (rating 1-10, details):

  • According to my counselor, Columbia really liked them. It’s really impossible for me to judge my own writing, but I do feel as though they helped to merge the many… uh… disparate aspects of myself (well, that was the goal, at least). - College Office really liked my “Why Columbia,” (8/10) especially - IDK why, in particular. I mentioned a few things I envisioned myself doing and mentioned talking to a bunch of different students on campus.
  • Book/entertainment lists (10/10), like me, were very weird, niche, and alternative. I tried to stay as far away from “pretentious” as possible. Not necessarily sure it worked, but it might’ve.
  • “Why Your Major” and the “Extracurricular” essays (9/10) were the ones I liked most… I think I may have come off as a little crazy, but it seems like that worked in my favor.
  • Common App essay (7/10) was also a little crazy, but I dunno, I just didn’t like it that much.
    Recommendations (rating 1-10, details)
    Teacher Rec #1: Computer Science teacheer. I was the first female student to win the school’s CS award as well as the only advanced student to every create an independent study. The registrar accidentally let it slip that she’d said I was one of her top students. To this day, I’m still floored - I honestly can’t quite believe it. 10/10
    Teacher Rec #2: English teacher. Wrote my recs for Iowa and Kenyon summer programs. He liked my writing, but I was a little flaky with turning things in for that class. Still, he’s a brilliant teacher and probably wrote a candid recommendation, for better or worse. 8/10
    Counselor Rec: My school is small, so the college office puts a lot of thought into its recommendations. 8/10
    Additional Rec: Nah son
    Interview: Well… funny story. I drove about an hour to meet my first interviewer at a coffeeshop, and the interview went phenomenally. We were both cynical and strange, so we hit it off swimmingly. The interview was candid and incredibly informative about both Columba and life in general - really, it was a fascinating conversation. It lasted about an hour and a half.

However, immediately afterwards, I texted a friend and fellow ED applicant about the interview. Apparently, his candidness wasn’t so well-received by certain other students, and apparently, the Alumni Board was concerned about him (don’t worry - nothing bad happened). I was assigned a new interviewer and was contacted for a Skype session about a week later. That interview also went pretty well, but we didn’t get along quite as well as the first time, and I’d already answered most of my questions by that point. Oh, well. It was so-so

Applied for Financial Aid?: Not eligible.
Intended Major: Computer Science
State (if domestic applicant): CO
Country (if international applicant): n/a
School Type: Private, graduating class <100
Ethnicity: White/Subcontinental Asian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: Well, both of my parents are doctors.
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Underrepresented state, maybe?

Reflection

Strengths: Essays, course rigor, test scores.
Weaknesses: A few B’s on transcript. Blah second interview.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Probably because I’m a bizarre study in contrasts - how many rock climbin’ writer-nerds do you know, huh? I guess that combination of chill-ness, curiosity, and off-her-rocker-hood came together alright, in the end.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Nowhere. Withdrew applications from Colorado School of Mines, UCLA, Cal Berkeley, and WashU.

General Comments: What. What. I’m beyond floored. It’s been such a crazy few months. Can’t wait to see my fellow Lions in NYC this fall!

43

Decision: Accepted - SEAS

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2120 - CR 600 (oops) M 800 W 720 (essay 9) (one sitting)
ACT (breakdown): /
SAT II: Math II 800 Physics 780 Chemistry 760
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): /
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/125 (I go to a Dutch school where kids are put in different “levels of difficulty” when they are twelve years old, just simply depending on how smart they are. 20 % goes to the highest level (which is called VWO) and those 125 people in my year were all in VWO)
AP (place score in parenthesis): /
IB (place score in parenthesis): /
Senior Year Course Load: Physics, Math higher, Biology, Chemistry, Dutch LangLit, English LangLit, French LangLit, Economics (Economics was an extra subject which I studied independently)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): In Holland we don’t really have any awards so none

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Captain of my volleyball team for 7 years now. Played piano for 8 years, 2 certificates from the conservatory. President of a small group that organized a trip to Athens for our senior class, we had to organize everything for 125 people, pretty time consuming. Member of the gala committee (prom). Member of the Stella Maris (my school) Cabaret Choir for 4 years now, have had several solos in our very famous cabaret. (draws an audience of 4000 people every year)
Job/Work Experience: Have worked at a restaurant as a waitress for a year now, 10 hrs/week. Have tutored kids from my school for 4 years now, and I get paid by my school.
Volunteer/Community service: Went to Thailand and Cambodia for three weeks to do volunteering. Had to raise 1800 euros by baking and selling waffles, very time consuming.
Summer Activities: 3 weeks in Thailand and Cambodia to do volunteering. 2 weeks at Imperial College London Global Summer School.

Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common App: 7ish, I wrote it in one day… in the end it did come out allright and it did show my personality, but it didn’t have a stellar writing style or super advanced vocabulary
Why Columbia: 10, I wrote about specific clubs and mentioned how I could contribute to them with my experience (such as tutoring and volunteering Thailand and Cambodia) I also mentioned the Core and how it would form me as a well-rounded and educated engineer.
Why engineering major: 10, it was very personal, I talked about how I always liked Air Crash Investigation and that after studying physics at school, I could understand a lot about what they were saying and was extremely fascinated about it. I also said that I would join the Airplane club at Columbia.
What EC are you most proud of: 9, I talked about my volunteering in Thailand and Cambodia

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): Counselor rec: 10, I saw it and it stated that I was one of the most talented people he had ever seen in his career. I had also worked very closely with him because of the Athens trip and because of my tutoring, and he talked a lot about those two things and how well I did them.
Rec Biology teacher: 10, She has been my teacher for 6 years now (high school starts at 12 in The Netherlands) and she talked about how from day one I wanted to study in a foreign country and how I worked very hard to do that.
Rec Physics teacher: 8/9, we got along very well but she is new at my school so I didn’t know her that long. I did read and it was a good letter, but a little bit generic
Interview: Didn’t get one, probably because there are no alumni in The Netherlands

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: nope
Intended Major: Mechanical Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): /
Country (if international applicant): The Netherlands
School Type: Public, VWO (highest level in Holland, 20 % attends this level and it basically prepares you for university. It is often said that it is the same level of difficulty as IB)
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: dunno, but I didn’t apply for financial aid so it doesn’t matter that much
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Female in Mechanical Engineering. I think that there is currently nobody from The Netherlands attending Columbia… So in that sense I do add diversity, and even though I am white, it could possibly be a hook

Reflection

Strengths: My recommendations, my Columbia essays, my class rank
Weaknesses: My SAT I score for sure… especially my CR score is VERY low, but that can be explained because I attend a Dutch school and my whole family is Dutch, so I have learned English only in my English class. Perhaps admission officers took this into account.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I think my teachers really showed my personality in their recs and described me very well, and this personality fits Columbia. I also think I showed my passion for learning and showed them I did research into their school. Also my course load has a lot of engineering subjects, and my course load is actually the toughest it can get at my school, which my counselor mentioned in his rec.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: nowhere

General Comments: ABSOLUTELY ECSTATIC!! I literally still cannot believe it… I come from a small village in The Netherlands and have never moved, but I am more than ready!! I literally dreamed about this school for years now…

My advice to future applicants is to put A LOT of work into your essays! My Columbia essays were very very good because I spent a lot of time on them, but my commonapp essay could have been A LOT better had I started earlier.
Also make sure that you have a good bond with your teachers! Give them some examples that they can write about in their recs; it makes it easier for them and it can make the recs very personal even if you didn’t know those teachers very well. AND START EARLY!!

Oh and I am living prove that test scores aren’t everything :wink:

44

Decision: Accepted - CC

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2390 (Reading 800, Writing 800, Math 790) one sitting
ACT (breakdown):
SAT II: Math II 800, US History 730
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): straight A
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): NA
AP (place score in parenthesis):
IB (place score in parenthesis): predicted scores: Chinese 6, Math 7, English 7, Physics 7, History 6, Visual Art 5
Senior Year Course Load: hell a lot
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): China Thinks Big competition semi-final, UKMT top 10%

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): editor-in-chief of a magazine, dancer for years, built my own website, flutist, some politics and LGBT activism
Job/Work Experience: None
Volunteer/Community service: TEDx Nanjing
Summer Activities: NYU summer school, Stanford summer school, both awarded credits
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 8 or 9 I guess
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): 9

Teacher Rec #1: Very good
Teacher Rec #2: don’t know
Counselor Rec: Center Principal wrote it, carries a lot of weight I think
Additional Rec: NYU professor, Stanford instructor of a seminar I attended
Interview: InitialView, not as good as I want it to be

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Nope
Intended Major: Women’s and Gender Studies, Political Science, Economics-Political Science
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant): mainland China
School Type: international center under a public school
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: female
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): LGBT? being a feminist?

Reflection

Strengths: strong personal essay (about being an activist and LGBT…); strong recommendations; high SAT; uploaded dance portfolio; interesting and unique topic in one writing supplement; answered questions about favorite books, shows, concerts, exhibits etc. very well (I’m pretty artistic and since I’ve been to New York I focused a lot on museums and concerts in NYC)
Weaknesses: a little big weak academically for an Ivy
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: fit?
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:

General Comments: Try to be unique (I mean as a person). And show your uniqueness in the application (it might not be as easy as it sounds). For example, I submitted my dance portfolio and built a website to basically advertise myself. I pasted the URL of my website in the additional information section, though I’m not sure whether the AOs looked at it or not.

Good luck everyone. And congrats to those who were also admitted.

45

Decision: Accepted - SEAS

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2290 (790W 760M 740R) Superscored though
ACT (breakdown): 35 (32E 35R 36M 36S)
SAT II: Physics 800 BioM 790 Math II 790 USH 760
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.95/4
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 5-10/200
AP (place score in parenthesis):Chinese (5) APUSH (5) AP Physics 1 (5) AP Bio (5) AP Psych (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Physics 2, AP Chem, AP Lang, AP Econ, AP Art History, IBHL Math
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Couple of Regional Science Fair Awards that I think were pretty beneficial to my application, Canadian Math Competition awards, Rensselaer Medalist, AP Scholar with Distinction, some Quiz Bowl awards.
Also submitted Art and Research supplements

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Independent Research on transgenic crops, Quiz Bowl (Captain), Architecture Design Club (President), Science National Honor Society (Founder/President), Varsity Model United Nations (built a website), Art Camp and Quiz Camp over the summers
Job/Work Experience: Internship at biotech firm, ESL English tutor for neighbors.
Volunteer/Community service: Volunteer at a autism school (designed and built a bookshelf for them).
Summer Activities:Art Camp, Quiz Camp, Internships
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common App (8/10, wrote about art), Book List (Mostly science and architecture related books.) Why Columbia (10/10 I thought it was pretty strong, talked about the core and research opportunities) Why Engineering (8/10 Slightly cliched?)

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: Biology Teacher (10/10 Great friends!)
Teacher Rec #2: Physics Teacher (9/10 Knows me pretty well, I think he likes me)
Counselor Rec: 7/10 (He’s new, but I think he got to know me fairly well.)
Additional Rec: 9/10 (My research mentor from my independent research. He was quite impressed with my work so I think it would be pretty good.)
Interview: It went alright, kind of rushed and got cut off cause the office it was held at was closing. Hit it off pretty well with the interviewer and spent the majority of the time talking about I.M.Pei and architecture :).

Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: Nope
Intended Major: Biomedical Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): Not sure what I count as… Born in NJ
Country (if international applicant): China
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: >100K
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Not really

Reflection
Strengths: Independent research, leadership, Architecture/Art+STEM interest really fits Columbia’s ideology.
Weaknesses: Low SAT, could have done much better.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected:First of all I think because of the fact that most of the clubs that I am in I was committed to them for four years, so I have shown commitment and growth within these clubs. Also broke the traditional Asian STEM nerd stereotype with a wider breadth of interests which I think fits Columbia really well.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: ED baby~

General Comments:
Having read a lot of the profiles, I feel extremely blessed to be accepted by Columbia. Really, everyone is extremely qualified. For those who were deferred/rejected, don’t worry! You guys are awesome and you would definitely find great places to go to. I think for an Ivy like Columbia, everyone is great enough to be accepted so the distinction between acceptance and deferral/rejection becomes very nuanced. For young prospective applicants, my advice would be to really consider why you want to go to Columbia, if it is something much more profound than its location in NYC or something like that, your fit for Columbia will naturally reveal itself in the process. BEST OF LUCK TO EVERYONE!!!

Blessed to be a Lion #roar2020~~~

46

Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2220 (idek breakdown)
ACT (breakdown):
SAT II: 800 US History, 780 Bio E
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): dunno
AP (place score in parenthesis): bunch of 5s and 4s
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: heavy
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): national merit scholar, AP scholar(?), mad nationa;-level sports medals, State Scholar Athlete Award, national french contest, national essay contests, poetry contests

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Lots of time in varsity sports with many awards, black belt in martial arts, school clubs
Job/Work Experience: Internships
Volunteer/Community service: Lots of stuff for honor society
Summer Activities: minimum wage job, sports, internships
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common App was a 10 for sure, really loved my little supplemental paragraphs as well. These are a great way to show a lot of personality

Teacher Rec #1: APLAC teacher, 10/10
Teacher Rec #2: AP Bio teacher, 8/10
Counselor Rec: We don’t really know each other
Additional Rec: former boss, Columbia alumi, 10/10
Interview: Went amazingly well. He seemed to genuinely like me

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Physics
State (if domestic applicant): NY
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: Middle Class ish (?)
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

Reflection

Strengths: I had a lot of impressive extra circulars and awards, my essays were good
Weaknesses:
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: A little bit of luck and years of hard work!
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:

General Comments:
Congrats to everyone! And to those students who didn’t get the response you hoped for— keep your heads up and keep grinding!

47

Decision: Accepted - SEAS

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown):N/A
ACT (breakdown): 31C 32 Superscore - 35 Math, 30 Reading, 31 Science, 31 Writing
SAT II: 780MathI,I 740Physics, 630Chem, 690USHist, 790Spanish, 700Math1
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):3.65
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):Top 10%
AP (place score in parenthesis): CalcAB(5), EnglishComp(5), USHist(5), Stat(5), SpanishLanguage(5), Physics2(4), Physics1(3), US Gov(3), Comp Gov(3)
IB (place score in parenthesis): lol
Senior Year Course Load: Calculus BC AP, Computer Science A AP, Physics C Mechanics and Electromagnetism AP, Economics Micro and Macro AP, English Literature AP, Engineering Design Development Honors, Urban Planning Honors, Latin 1
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar with Distinction, Rochester Award for Innovation in Technology, Silver knight Nominee

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Club Soccer Team (Captain 6 years), JV and Varsity Soccer (Leadership Award*2 + State Champions), TECHO- building houses in Latin America (Founder and Pres), Math Honors Society, NHS, Cum Laude, Designing proposal for Miami Dade Courthouse, Submitted a Research Supplement 10/10), Submitted a Visual Arts Supplement (10/10)
Job/Work Experience: Tutoring in math during the summer
Volunteer/Community service: Special Olympics Volunteer for numerous events, Raised funds and mobilized 20+ students to Costa Rica and El Salvador to build houses (+500h)
Summer Activities: MIT Online Science Technology and Engineering Community (10/10 evaluations from science writing and neuroscience instructors from MIT), HHMI Summer Scholars Research for +300 hours in Circadian Phenomena
Essays (rating 1-10, details):

CA: 9/10
Why Columbia: 10/10
Why SEAS: 10/10
Activity: 8.5/10

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: Physics 10/10
Teacher Rec #2: Statistics 9/10
Counselor Rec: 9/10
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: 9/10

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Y
Intended Major: Civil Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): FL
Country (if international applicant): US
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: Hispanic (Out of Country for 9 years)
Gender: M
Income Bracket: ~100,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Columbia Engineering Experience Alumni

Reflection

Strengths: Extracurricular’s and genuine passion for intended major
Weaknesses: GPA, Standardized Testing
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: CE^2, Well rounded with extracurriculars very centered to intended major.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: N/A

General Comments:

48

Decision: Deferred - CC

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown):2310 (800 Reading 800 Math 710 Writing)
ACT (breakdown): Didn’t take
SAT II: 800 Math II, 780 Bio E, 780 US History, 780 Chemistry
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.57 (this is like really bad)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School doesn’t release, but i bet I’m barely top 20% unweighted, although I took just about the most rigorous curriculum available at our school. Probably around 4.2 weighted.
AP (place score in parenthesis): 5 on US History, APUSH, BC Calc, 4 on Chem and Biology, taking 10 APS this year (Self studying 3 of them)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Computer Science, Multivariable Calculus + Linear Algebra, AP Economics, AP C Physics, AP French Language and Culture
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Semifinalist, AP Scholar with Distinction, 5X AIME Qualifier

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):Quiz Bowl + History Bowl captain (We are a top team in the country), ABRSM Diploma in piano, tour guide, Honorable mention at state science fair with recognition from MA House of representatives
Job/Work Experience: Tour guide, interned at Yale, write quiz bowl questions for question producing companies
Volunteer/Community service: Translate Chinese subtitles into English for NTDTV (Largest Chinese-language network outside of China), founder of a group that teaches Chinese seniors English
Summer Activities: Tour guide, Yale internship
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 7/10 Common App, 8/10 supplement
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: 10/10 from AP French teacher, also had her last year
Teacher Rec #2: 10/10 from APUSH teacher, both my recommenders know I’m passionate about history and that I’m an engaging person
Counselor Rec: 9/10, she likes me but I’m not sure how well she knows about my extracurriculars
Additional Rec:
Interview: Pretty good, we had a pretty chill session, and she didn’t need to ask any questions to keep the conversation going

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?:Yup
Intended Major: History
State (if domestic applicant): MA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Highly competitive public school, around 500 kids in class, 2000 kids in school
Ethnicity: Chinese
Gender: M
Income Bracket: ~100,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Dad used to work there, i doubt that counts for anything

Reflection

Strengths: Recs, standardized testing, extracurriculars
Weaknesses: GPA
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: My GPA is shit.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Haven’t heard from anywhere else yet

General Comments:
Congrats to everyone else who got in! :)))))))))

49

Decision: Accepted - SEAS

Stats:
SAT: N/A
SAT II: 800 Math 2, 800 Physics
ACT: 36(36,36,35,35)
GPA: school doesn’t report (one B+ in 10th history, otherwise even mix of A-, A’s, A+) School gives out very few A+'s and has no grade inflation.
Rank: school doesn’t rank
Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): US Physics Olympiad Semifinalist, AIME Qualifier; AP US History, AP Latin, AP CS, AP Calc BC, AP Physics 1: all 5 except 4 in Latin. Taking AP Chem & AP Physics C

Subjective
Essays: just okay?
Supplementary Material: Research paper
Interview: Went well.
Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): legacy from Dad and brother

Personal
Location: CT
High School Type: Private
Ethnicity: white
Gender: Male

Other
Extracurriculars: Summer Intern w/ college professor, Swim captain, Water polo, Lacrosse, Science Olympiad A team, Head of Computer Science Club
Awards: Siemens Semifinalist, US Physics Semifinalist, NMSF, AP Scholar w/ Distinction, Latin Gold Award
Income Bracket Range: lets just say high and no financial aid needed.

Reflection
Strengths: Research with college professor. Had a really good recommendation letter from Math teacher since he let him skip two years of math and has taught him college level math (Number Theory, Real Analysis…) for past two years. He is the definition of ‘naturally’ gifted mathematician. Sorry mom bragging!
Weaknesses: No volunteering? Of course no time for it.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Major awards, perfect ACT’s and legacy. Stars aligned?
What would you have done differently?: Go to a fortune teller to predict Caltech?
Where else did you apply?: Accepted at Columbia and Caltech. Deferred at MIT. Since Columbia is binding that’s were he will go. It was a very tough decision on whether to apply ED since he had coaches support for Caltech & MIT but had legacy at Columbia.

General Comments & Advice:
I hope this information helps someone.

50

Decision: Accepted - CC

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): did not take
ACT (breakdown): 32 (34 English, 34 Math, 31 Reading, 27 Science)
SAT II: 790 US HIstory
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.8
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 8%
AP (place score in parenthesis): English Lang (5) APUSH(5) AP Gov (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Environmental, AP Calc AB, AP Spanish 6, AP English Lit, AP European History
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Spanish Honors Society,USAMO

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Spanish Club (Vice president) Swim Team varsity four years (Team Captain) Quintessence (editor 2 years), Field Hockey varsity 4 years, costume crew for school theater 4 years,
Job/Work Experience: lifeguard and swim instructor for little kids
Volunteer/Community service: youth group in town (help out younger kids gets adjusted to high school), soup kitchen in town once a week
Summer Activities: Pre-College HIgh school program at Columbia, worked as lifeguard and swim instructor, four week exchange program in Madrid, Spain
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 9) I think mine were really good, I spent a lot of time writing them and making sure they were unique to me and very specific to Columbia
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 9) APUSH teacher loved me, I had her two years in a row and she told me I was one of her best students, did very well in the class
Teacher Rec #2: 9) pre-calc teacher, really liked me, I did really well in his class
Counselor Rec: 8) we had a good relationship, she thought I was funny,
Additional Rec: NA
Interview: the alumni seemed to like me and I think the interview went pretty well but you never know

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?:no
Intended Major: History or Applied Math
State (if domestic applicant): New Jersey
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity:White/Hispanic (half-spanish)
Gender: female
Income Bracket:$200k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): half-spanish, legacy

Reflection

Strengths: had two things I was passionate about and pursued them both in many ways (see above): swimming and Spanish
Weaknesses: bad score on ACT science, also my overall score could have been better
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: legacy-but my dad is not super involved and didn’t donate thousands of dollars, so does that still have a major impact?
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: accepted to Fordham, Tulane and U of Michigan

General Comments: Can’t wait to meet everyone!!

51

Decision: Accepted - CC

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2350 (CR: 800 M: 770 W: 780 essay 10, one sitting)
ACT (breakdown): N/A
SAT II: Latin 800, Math 2 800, Biology E 780, US history 770
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.94 out of 4.33
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis): English Language (5) Calculus AB (5) French Language (4) Latin (4) US History (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: 3 APs, 2 post-AP seminars, 1 non-AP seminar type class
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): 2x National Latin Exam gold medalist, 1x NLE silver medalist, 2x National Greek Exam High Honors recipient (do these even count as major awards?)

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): (prefect) (president of model UN) (president of film club) (head peer tutor)
Job/Work Experience: barista
Volunteer/Community service: none
Summer Activities: Middlebury-Monterey Language Academy French, SYA Summer France
Essays (rating 1-10, details): common app 8.5 (I personally didn’t love it but I’d say it was interesting and unique, coming-of-age travel story), why Columbia & why major 9.5
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): probably 10

Teacher Rec #1: very strong from head of humanities department at my school (loves me)
Teacher Rec #2: (probably very) strong from head of classics department at my school
Counselor Rec: probably very strong from college counselor (head of college counseling office)
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: 7.5-8? Though he did email me later to congratulate me on my acceptance if that means anything.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: no
Intended Major: classics and French
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant): South Korea
School Type: boarding school
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: F
Income Bracket: >100k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

Reflection

Strengths: 1) huge focus on classics as an Asian female. You don’t see that often. Who even takes ancient Greek anymore? 2) My high school has one of the best classics departments in the country. 3) Heavy course load. I had 5 APs my junior year.
Weaknesses: not a huge math/science person.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I intend to major in classics and many prestigious institutions like Columbia with outstanding classics departments tend to lack students to fill these departments. I showed a focus on classics throughout high school and excelled at it.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: N/A

General Comments:

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ACCEPTED- CC
SAT I (breakdown): did not send
ACT (breakdown): 32
SAT II: Lit(700)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0(5.4 weighted)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):1/407
AP (place score in parenthesis): taken 8 APs, and 6 more senior year, so 14 in total
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: 6 AP classes
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
A lot of debate awards (national and local level)
MUN awards
NHS
Math honor society
2nd place in state oratory contest
Debate showcase award
Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Debate (captain)
MUN( founder and president)
DECA Business Club( founder and president)
Voter Registration Committee ( Leader and founder of committee)
Mu Alpha Theta
NHS
Teaches speech classes at local children’s center
Blog writer for feminist blog
Camp counselor for local church summer camp
Women’s summer leadership camp at Barnard
Debate camp at Nova University
Key Club
Youth in government ( attended annual YIG conference)
Internship at insurance company
Job/Work Experience: none
Volunteer/Community service: camp counselor, speech classes, judges debate tournaments, library volunteer
Summer Activities: Debate camp, Barnard camp, volunteering
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 10/10 debate coach
Teacher Rec #2: 9/10
Counselor Rec: 10/10
Additional Rec: none
Interview: went really well

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?:yes
Intended Major: Poli Sci
State (if domestic applicant): Fl
Country (if international applicant):
School Type:
Ethnicity: black
Gender: female
Income Bracket: < 60000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM

Reflection

Strengths:Essays, ECs, GPA, rank
Weaknesses: test scores
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I think my essays made up for my test scores. I worked in the essays for months and my ECs clearly showed that I had a passion for debate and politics.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:
Accepted: FSU, UCF, Fordham
Deferred: Tulane
General Comments

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Objective:Decision: Rejected - CC

SAT I (breakdown):n/a
ACT (breakdown):33 - 34, 31, 35, 32
SAT II: math 1-720; us history - 720
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.98
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):
AP (place score in parenthesis): us (4); apes (4); spanish (4); english lang (5); european history (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP psych, AP english lit, AP econ, CP gov, AP stats, AP art history
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): social leadership award (school wide so not that big),

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):model UN, school newspaper (editor), outside of school model UN program (head delegate), president and founder of a non profit, president and founder of a writing club, school magazine (editor)
Job/Work Experience: intern for 2 local newspapers, model
Volunteer/Community service: created my own non profit, supports research for a disease that my brother has; teach spanish to local kids
Summer Activities: took summer school at harvard, model UN
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 6-pretty generic and about how I love journalism - ended up not submitting that to any other school for RD. It’s what my counselor told me to write
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): 9- teacher that I bonded a lot with; 9-teacher that is really nice and knows what’s at stake for kids

Teacher Rec #1:
Teacher Rec #2:
Counselor Rec:
Additional Rec:
Interview: didn’t get one (?)

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
Intended Major: English
State (if domestic applicant):California
Country (if international applicant):
School Type:public
Ethnicity:white
Gender:female
Income Bracket:lowish
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

Reflection

Strengths:courses, GPA, recommendations, maybe extracurriculars?; i had a grad school legacy and a lab is named after some relative that died in the 1950s but idk how much either of those would’ve helped
Weaknesses: subject tests, essay, scores in general
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: scores? wasn’t the right fit? essay was kind of boring
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:
accepted: fordham, northeastern; still waiting on others
General Comments:
if you don’t love your essay, change it! Getting rejected was probably one of the best things that’s happened to me. Tbh, I was pretty sad at first–I cried for about three days lol but it made me buck up and realize what I needed to improve in my application. I ended up making a new essay that I really love–it’s a little risky but that’s more of who I am. congrats to everyone who got accepted and may the odds be ever in your favor (little cheesy but let’s roll with it) for the rest of y’all

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Decision: Accepted - CC

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2390
ACT (breakdown):
SAT II: APUSH 800, math 2 800
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/600
AP (place score in parenthesis): all 4s except on Calc AB (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: swag swag
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Neuroscience Club President, FBLA President, MUN President, Mock Trial President, JSA Member
Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community service: nothing cuz im a sociopath
Summer Activities: JSA classes
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 10/10
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): 10/10 (teachers pet)

Teacher Rec #1: 10/10
Teacher Rec #2: 10/10
Counselor Rec: 10/10
Additional Rec: none
Interview: no interview

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?:
Intended Major: Political Science
State (if domestic applicant): MN
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White af
Gender: Undecided
Income Bracket: lots
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Swag

Reflection

Strengths: test cores, ECs
Weaknesses: none
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: im a god
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: nowhere

General Comments:

55

Decision: Deferred - SEAS

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): n/a
ACT (breakdown): 34 (M:30, E:35, S:35, W:35)
SAT II: 700 Literature, 700 Math Level 1
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.93
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): n/a 5%?
AP (place score in parenthesis): APUSH (4), English Lang (5), Human Geography AP (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a
Senior Year Course Load: English Literature AP, Calculus AB AP, US Government AP, Macroeconomics AP, French AP, Physics 2 AP, Biology AP
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Just small awards - Florida Association of Science Teachers, County 1st place awards in dance, art, and science, etc.

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Internship at university on Genetics and Autism for two years; Internship at another university on drug delivery and cancer treatments for 4 years; wrote, directed, produced, casted, and choreographed a play for a local organization; dance competitions and participation; ceramics
Job/Work Experience: Work at a college preparation and sat, act tutoring center
Volunteer/Community service: Tutored children who do not get attention in schools; volunteer at local hospital; work to fundraise money for children in rural areas in Guyana, Nepal, Africa, and India; volunteer at fundraisers for cancer tratements
Summer Activities: intern at universities as mentioned before
Essays (rating 1-10, details): solid, funny essay about my family life, living in a three-generation household; other essays about my interests and experiences with engineering
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): Didn’t read any, but science teacher and math teacher

Teacher Rec #1: Good relationship, two years, comfortable with him
Teacher Rec #2: I was one of her favorite students
Counselor Rec: Good relationship, comfortable
Additional Rec: from research mentor (short and not that great)
Interview: Flowed well, no question answer, just a lot of conversation, he talked a lot about his daughter and family life, gave him my resume

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: Biomedical Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): Florida
Country (if international applicant): n/a
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: Indian American
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: Upper middle class
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

Reflection

Strengths: ECs and scores?
Weaknesses: GPA?
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I think that I needed more on my application, maybe a little more leadership or something
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Just Columbia and accepted to Tulane with 32,000 annual scholarship

General Comments:
Anyone know what I can do to up my chances?
But whatever happens, happens for a reason

56

Decision: Rejected - CC

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2370 (800 CR, 800 Math, 770 Writing)
ACT (breakdown): N/A
SAT II: 800 Math II; 800 US History; 720 Chemistry
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0 (4.6 Weighted)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): does not rank (but I believe I am in the running for valedictorian out of 300 students)
AP (place score in parenthesis): 5 APUSH, 5 Macroecon, 5 Stats, 4 Calc BC (5 Calc AB Subscore), 4 Microecon (self-studied), 3 Computer Science A (cringe)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: All AP and one required course (foods); counselor indicated in rec that I took “most-rigorous” course load
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): No traditional major awards, but here are some that would be considered better than a minor award:

-top 10 in DECA (competitions about business) internationally in my event
-international test and role-play awards for DECA
-State-level Piano Audition Honors 6 Years in a row
-Piano Award for a private music club that is state-wide: 1st place (probably the best single award)
-International Piano Audition: 1st Place Award, 2nd place another year
-Performed in Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall as part of winner recitals for piano competitions

Minor Awards:
-National Honor Society (elected secretary)
-AP Scholar With Distinction
-Yale Book Award (given to top student in the grade at my school, as determined by guidance office)
-Community Service Award for program (will explain later)
-Chosen as Jefferson Scholar for my school (UVA full-ride; did not win)
-And High Honor Roll every semester (boring)

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
-Community Service (I created a program that has spread across my county; won’t get too into it; won a community service award from school)
-JV Baseball (9,10) - however, this was not put in my application
-Volunteering Club (9, 10, 11, 12) - head of project
-Foreign Language Club (10 ,11, 12) President
-School Newspaper Business Staff (10, 11, 12) - Head of Business Staff
-Stock Market Club (10, 11, 12) - President
-DECA Business competitions(11, 12) - States finalist, States Test award, States 1st place overall, Internationals Test Award, Internationals Role-play Award, International Top 10

Volunteer/Community service: my self-started program (see above)

Summer Activities: Massachusetts Boys State delegate (I was elected/appointed to many positions by peers, including one of the “Big Five” positions of the executive branch)

Essays (rating 1-10, details):

CommonApp - 10 (my college counselor said my essay was the best he’s read, and he has a great record of sending kids to ivies and other similar institutions; highly personal; he was very shocked I didn’t get at least deferred from Columbia)

Supplements: very bland - probably the reason why I didn’t get deferred. Way too repetitive; only talked about what I was interested in studying and tried to sound smarter than I was. Well-written and genuine, but just boring and didn’t show my personality and I kinda sounded stuck-up.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): I waived my FERPA so i didn’t get a chance to read, but I can provide details

I think my recs from one teacher and my GC are very good, not so sure about the third rec from my second teacher (she procrastinated and wrote it in a few hours, but we maintained a good relationship so I doubt she wrote anything terrible).

Other
I included a separate essay in the Additional Info; people have told me I was not supposed to do that. It was a 350 word essay about the community service program that I created, and it told the story of how the program grew. Horribly written, and I don’t think I was supposed to write one in the first place. FWIW, I submitted the same essay to a scholarship thing, and didn’t make it past the first round although my scores were above average.

No interview

Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: Economics, Poli Sci
State (if domestic applicant): Massachusetts
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public, Urban
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: M
Income Bracket: don’t know
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): only anti-hooks (Asian male, middle-class, wants to do econ, plays an Asian instrument - I am a supporter affirmative action, but I think it’s ridiculous to get to a point where my choice of which instrument I want to play would be considered too “Asian” and works against me but again, out of my control)

Strengths: SATs (which mean nothing besides getting your foot in the door, as I’ve found out the hard way); GPA; SAT IIs; CommonApp Essay; guidance counselor rec; my school’s database for college admissions said my weighted GPA and SAT were higher than anyone who ever applied to Columbia ED in recent memory

Weaknesses: SUPPLEMENTS (seriously, start your essays early. Someone who works pretty hard for 3 years of high school but doesn’t take too much time to write supplements- AKA me - will get beaten by all those kids who work just as hard but started in the summer, and even beaten by kids who have worse scores but really awesome essays. Don’t underestimate the importance of the supplements!); my second teacher rec; that additional information essay I included; AP Scores (but I thought they don’t matter in admissions?)

Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Deferred UChicago; Accepted UMass Amherst (safety)

General Comments: Don’t apply anywhere that you don’t love. I tricked myself into loving Columbia after my parents and family friends told me I was shooting too “low” by wanting to apply to a secondary tier school, a lower-tier Ivy (that is such an oxymoron btw), or an elite LAC for my Early Decision. Don’t let anyone else tell you what you can or cannot do (unless it is a financial issue for your parents - then, it’s only fair you listen to them if they are paying for you).

Don’t obsess over your school database (I guess most schools have Naviance? my school had our personalized database for college admissions. Some schools don’t have any I assume). Mine showed me that I should’ve at least gotten deferred based on my stats - know that there are many other soft factors besides scores that go into elite college admissions. And never assume you have a good shot at a top university, even with international awards and perfect test scores; you are one in a sea of many (sorry to break it to you).

PSA: the results threads here are very biased, because people who get rejected (like myself) will be less likely to post than the jubilant people who get in: there are plenty of very talented people who don’t even post their rejection stats up here bc they are understandably too upset, so just know that these results threads are much more optimistic than reality. I speak from experience, as I only worked up the heart to post about a month afterwards. When deciding where I would Early to, I looked at the Columbia results and compared myself to other domestic unhooked applicants (paying especially close attention to people with my demographics applying to the College) and based on this comparison, I thought I had a good chance and would probably be deferred at least. I should’ve taken into account that these results threads are naturally skewed.

I apologize if I sound salty or anything - not my intention at all. Hyped myself up and had everyone around me believing in me. One day, I think I’ll look back and be thankful for this reality check. Also, I’m actually very glad I was not deferred: I only went back and made my CommonApp better and took out that Additional Info Essay flop because I was thought my rejection was a sign. Had I been deferred, I probably wouldn’t have changed anything I did. Good luck to all future applicants, condolences to the rejected, best wishes to the deferred, and my sincere congrats to the accepted!

57

Decision: Accepted - CC

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2080 (680 Math, 690 Reading, 710 Writing)
ACT (breakdown): 33 (31 Math, 33 Reading, 32 Writing, 35 Science)
SAT II: N/A
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): My school only releases weighted GPA on a 100 point scale, mine’s a 105.581.
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Valedictorian (First Gay & Hispanic Valedictorian)
AP (place score in parenthesis): School offers AP Calculus Senior year so nope
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: Band IV Honors, Dual Chemistry, Dual Government, Pre-AP Economics, AP Calculus, Yearbook II, Dual English, Dual Humanities, Dual Psychology
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): 2X All State Band Member (wrote about being the first person from my school to be capable of a three-time appearance in the All State Band since 1997- which I ended up doing :slight_smile: ), 3X 1st Chair Region Band, 3X Area Band Member, 2X Regional Tennis Qualifier, 2X District Tennis Champ, 1st Place in various UIL Writing and Math events, State Alternate for News Writing

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Band (2X Drum Major), Tennis (Captain and MVP - 11th Grade), Yearbook (Editor-in-Chief), WIT (Secretary), NHS (Vice President), Student Council (Junior Vice President)
Job/Work Experience: Panda Express (25-35 hours/week)
Volunteer/Community service: National Honor Society (~20 hours/semester)
Summer Activities: Work, Tennis, Drum Major Camp, Band Camp
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Personal Essay: 8/10 - well-written, good content (coming out story), but had to stretch it out to fit the minimum, so definitely superficial, managed to slide a redneck/incest joke in there.
Why Columbia: 8/10 - also well written, kind of shallow. I literally talked about New York City and the attractions it had to offer (US Open, Philharmonic, Broadway).
Why Majors: 9/10 - also well written, linked each major back to hardships I’ve had to overcome.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 10, English Teacher, loved me, always vented to me
Teacher Rec #2: 9, Math Teacher, best friend’s mom, was first school official to offer support after I came out
Counselor Rec: 3, I was so mad. She gave me a sealed envelope to mail to Columbia that was so thin, I am 99% sure had only the Questionnaire in there. Couldn’t be bothered to write a recommendation (didn’t know how to use the Common App portal). I couldn’t open the envelope so I never found out if a letter was mailed or not.
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: N/A

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Economics
State (if domestic applicant): Texas, y’all
Country (if international applicant): N/A
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Hispanic
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: <$50,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM, first generation college, LGBT, widowed mom, English as second language (does that count?)

Reflection

Strengths: Teacher Recommendations, Extra Curriculars, GPA. AND WORK, definitely work. Working an almost full time job and juggling school and athletics is tough man.
Weaknesses: No APs, Mediocre ACT & SAT Scores, Counselor Recommendation
Why you think you were accepted: I showed I could balance work, school, extracurriculars- yet maintain a high GPA.
Where else were you accepted: Texas A&M College Station, go Aggies! SIKE.

General Comments: I honestly was dead set on going to A&M. One day during the summer, it rained and I couldn’t play tennis and band got canceled so I had nothing to do. I ended up applying ED to Columbia. I wrote all my essays and the main app and submitted it that day. Finished the Writing Supplement the day after. Submitted that. Waited. Forgot about it. Got into A&M. Wasted about $300 on A&M apparel. Was a little sad when December 10 rolled around because Columbia was my dream school and I thought I couldn’t get in. Got in. I don’t know how. I’m just thankful. Dreams do come true. :wink:

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H