Columbia Class of 2021 ED Results

Colleges and Universities A-Z Columbia University
21

Decision: ACCEPTED!

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1260 superscored
ACT (breakdown): 26
SAT II:
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA (out of 6.0): 5.08
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 4/519
AP (place score in parenthesis): none
IB (place score in parenthesis): (6)in IB Psychology
Senior Year Course Load: 7 IB Courses & 1 AP
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): QuestBridge Finalist, Governor’s School

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): (President) Students Against Violence Everywhere (SAVE)
(President) Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD)
(Vice President) FCCLA & have gotten 1st in advocacy at States & Bronze at Nationals
(President) Student Council 9th Grade President
(Member) BETA Club
(Varsity) Soccer, but only played in 9th grade
Job/Work Experience: none
Volunteer/Community service: Here’s where I think my application really stood out. I love helping others. I mentored kids in my neighborhood & have created spaces where middle school students can find themselves in a positive helping light. Together, we carry out service projects. I had around 800 hours in this alone. I was also member of a grassroots advocacy non-profit organization where I am a global issues advocate. I focus on poverty issues. I had around 300 hours for this one. I am also a Youth Coordinator for my church. I have devoted probably around 200ish hours, maybe more.
Summer Activities: I was accepted to Governor’s School where I studied social science issues. I also developed outreach programs and conferences to reach out to more youth to get them to mentor in their own neighborhoods. I’ve also traveled to a few countries.
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Major related essay: 10/10. I am extremely passionate about my future career and major. I spoke about an issue that affected me personally & what I did in that situation.
Columbia/school related essay: 9/10. I absolutely love Columbia and it’s location. It’s been my dream to go to an Ivy since I was a kid.
Outside the classroom essay: 9/10. I gave personal examples of how I’d use my expertise with mentoring programs to create one in NYC that would connect low income middle school students to some Columbia resources. I also included how I’d be involved in clubs & I mentioned which clubs.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 10/10. English teacher who absolutely loves me. He’s seen my work ethic, knows about my personal life & the issues I’ve had to deal with in my home life.
Teacher Rec #2: 10/10. Chemistry teacher who has seen me struggle, yet prevail. I took IB chemistry without any prior knowledge in Chemistry. Everyone else (but one girl) had taken chemistry before. She wrote about my grit & my absolute love for knowledge.
Counselor Rec: 10/10. She gave it to me after I was admitted. It was one of the most moving things I’ve read. She spoke of my passion. My active roles in school. My struggles of being an immigrant in the US. Knows me very well as I am always in her office.
Additional Rec: 8/10. History teacher. She knew me decently well, but did see my love for history related issues & my strong work ethic.
Interview: didn’t have one

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Human rights/Ethnic & Race studies
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public Magnet
Ethnicity: Latina
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: low income
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): I had a good story of prevailing many issues in life. Born and raised in a different country. Came to America when I was in middle school.

Reflection

Strengths: My GPA, essays, teacher/counselor Rex’s were definitely my strength. My community service also showed my love for others & my passion for social change.
Weaknesses: LOL MY TEST SCORES
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: While some might think test scores are everything, I do not. I love learning, interacting with people, helping others, and am so sure that I will make a mark in this world. I think that Columbia was able to see that through my strength in a rigorous like IB.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Dont know bc Columbia was ED

General Comments: Test scores aren’t everything, and while they are helpful, it’s not the end of the world if you did not get a 33 or a 34. If you can show college admissions that 1. You have a passion & 2. Can prove that passion by past action, they will see that. Also, if you know you’re not the best test taker, I’d strongly rn royals you to really show schools that you have what it takes by doing well in school.

22

Strongly recommend * autocorrect yikes

23

Decision: [aB][asize=4][acolor=#008000]Decision: Accepted[/color][/size]**

**PLEASE READ IT ALL. THIS IS MY GUIDE. WORKED FOR ME, I WANNA HELP Y’ALL

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): N/A
ACT (breakdown): 32 (English 35, Math 35, Reading 26 lmfao, Science 33)
SAT II: Math II (780), only one sent
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.86, but school doesn’t send
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School doesn’t rank, but top 20% (leaning closer towards 10%)
AP (place score in parenthesis): School doesn’t offer
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A

Senior Year Course Load:
1st semester- Journalism ish, Engineering, Calculus II, Spanish V, Anatomy and Physiology, Speech and Debate, Science Research and Design (Pass/Fail, but counts as credited in the previous years)
2nd semester- Literature, Introduction to Engineering, Physical Applications of Calculus, Spanish V Advanced, Bioethics, Economics, Speech and Debate, Science Research and Design

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Boi if u don’t. Went to Catholic Nationals for Speech in previous years? Got a couple trophies from locals before. Did best in school on AMC exams. Ya, this is jokes for me. Just keep scrollin’.

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Family responsibility (11, consumed time from my ACT studying and caused the dip in grades. Tied with my major and academic interests. I treated it like a calling instead of burden)
Speech and debate (9-12, coaching newcomers 11th and 12th grade)
College engineering course program (11-12)
Varsity volleyball (10, 12)
Math team (9-12, president 11-12)
Business and finance team (10-12)
Nonprofit (7-12)

Job/Work Experience: See summer activities
Volunteer/Community service: Medical center, assisted doctors and nurses, filing and faxing
Summer Activities:
Internship at a museum, built something that is now on exhibition (summer going into Junior)
Medical lab abroad, conducted independent research, treated and tested patients, assisted doctors (summer going into Senior Year)
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 9.5/10 cheesy, but it did the job. Talked about family responsibility. Made it feel like a story. I added a bunch of imagery, edited it like 5 times. Probably my best piece of written work.
Supplements were 10/10, really nice. Connected questions with elements from my personal statement. Connected it to my activities.

Guys, don’t slack on the supps. I talked to some people who used to work in admissions. It’s one of the most important… but sadly overlooked by students… parts of the app.

Essentially, all my essays hinted towards aspects of my identity and my personality. I came off as humble. I wasn’t type to just paste some Plato quote and elaborate on the societal implications of metaphysics. I was real. Every essay was a story.

The list essays are important. They hint towards your personality. Make them connect with the story you’re trying to tell about yourself. They should connect with your personality. Ex: I put engineering books that I read, and I came off as the quirky, destined-to-be-an-engineer person. Even my t.v. shows and lectures hinted towards that.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 9/10, Physics teacher and science research and design teacher 11th grade. Said he’d write me a good one. I was one of the best in his class, but because I was in a small school, I’d sometimes goof around and he’d take note of that. Fixed relations in the beginning of senior year though.
Teacher Rec #2: 9/10, History teacher and English teacher grades 9 and 12, respectively. She worked at my nonprofit, so knows my work ethic. Loved me ALOT in 9th grade, saw me grow up and develop as a student. Sent a few assignments late in her senior class, but she was really excited to teach me again.
Counselor Rec: 10/10. We sit down and get interviewed by our college counselors, and she really liked me!
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: Didn’t get one offered. Got nervous at first, but realized it didn’t matter. Guys, don’t worry about this, it basically counts as much as legacy (which is really not a lot at all). Basically, don’t screw up terribly, but don’t worry if you don’t do too well.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Kek. please look at the bracket.
Intended Major: Mechanical Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): NYC baby
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Private, class size <100, but one of best in the country. Rigorous to many, easy to me. I just got lazy lmao.
Ethnicity: Whiter than the Trump cabinet
Gender: XY
Income Bracket: Pretty dang low
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): The nonprofit, the lab research and the work experience.

Reflection

Strengths: Extracurriculars. I had a story. I had a really strong STEM background and I had experience in the work field. My personality was reflected in them when I talked about them in my essays.
Weaknesses: ACT score, GPA
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: The nonprofit was a big one. The lab experience. The extracurriculars. They all connected. I came off as humble. I told a story, unlike many people who just regurgitate facts about their lives. I came off as the guy who wanted balance even though I had a strong STEM background. IMO, any story that sounds like “I’m an inside the box kid, but I did X activity and it opened me up” is not gonna cut it. Make it a more believable tale. Think hard.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Applied here only.

General Comments:

Look, ACT and GPA won’t be the thing to keep you out unless they’re downright crap. Get within the range of their scores when you search “Columbia student profile” on Google and you’re fine. I mean, like, TRY to get in the top 10% of your class for good looks. If you go to one of the hardest schools in the country… not that much to worry about when it comes to if you’re 10%. If you’re at an easy school, work your ass off to get to the top.

WORK AT A LAB. DO INTERNSHIPS. GET EXPERIENCE. Think logically for a second here. Who’re they gonna take: that science kid with NO LAB EXPERIENCE but the perfect numbers and extracurriculars that are disconnected? Or the kid who’s not so necessarily perfect, but their extracurriculars are connected with their essays and they tell a story? My GPA was low because of English/ Humanities classes ONLY. The ACT score was low because of the reading. But everything else was stellar.

Don’t try to be the all-around guy/gal. Be the kid with the spike. The kid with the experience. The kid who’s telling a story in their essays. Have fun with it.

COLLEGE CONFIDENTIAL HELPS. It adds to the stress, but it helps. It shows you what you’re up against. What you have to exceed. I remember coming to this site from my sophomore year, and it opened my eyes. Look, you’ll find petty people hear who come off as hot shots and make a big deal out of their numbers being low. Don’t give in. That’s not the reason (most of the time). It’s the story that you wanna tell.

24

[aB][asize=4][acolor=#008000]Decision: Accepted - SEAS[/color][/size]**

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): didn’t take
ACT (breakdown): 35 Composite (34E 36M 36R 32S)
SAT II: 800 Math2 800 Chem
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): U3.89 W 4.17
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): n/a
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Calc AB (5), AP Chem (5), AP Calc BC (5), AP Bio (5), AP Lang (4) not a lot of opportunities to take many APs at my school but definitely couldashoulda have taken more last year
IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a
Senior Year Course Load: AP English Lit, AP Physics C Mech+EM, Mandarin IV, Greco-Roman History, Economics, Linear Algebra, Number Theory, Multivariable Calculus
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): 3x AIME Qualifier, AP Scholar with Distinction (What even is this doe), some regional debate and math awards.

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): 4 years varsity water polo (Captain), debate team, math team (Founder and President), played trombone in school’s jazz band, school newspaper (Assistant Opinion Editor), some club water polo, feminism club
Job/Work Experience: One year worked at a housing development non for-profit
One year I worked as a summer counselor and math TA at a summer school/camp to help underprivileged students
One year I was an interned as a lab assistant for a Caltech astronomer
Volunteer/Community service: n/a should have done more
Summer Activities: Same as work experience
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Common App: 10 wrote about losing my dad to brain cancer, and subsequently delivering a speech in front of my entire school about the public outsider perception of death. Spent a lot of time and effort
Activities: 8 I thought it was pretty good, did research on website about specifics of club
Why Columbia: 10 Completely specific to Columbia and its programs it offered for my interests, the core, and the campus atmosphere.
Why SEAS essay: 10 worked my ass off on this one and I think it showed. It was specific and a detailed story.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 10 Math teacher has been part of my support system at school. Didn’t get to see
Teacher Rec #2: 9 Mandarin teacher really likes me and thinks of me as hardworking. Didn’t get to see
Counselor Rec: 9 Really liked me. Explained a lot of irregularities in my application due to circumstance. We also banter very well. Didn’t get to see
Additional Rec: 10 Had the professor I worked under write about the work I did and experience at the Caltech Lab. Just read it, it was glowing.
Interview: Went very well. His last interview, but not sure if that makes any difference. I wasn’t nervous and we talked openly.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Applied Mathematics
State (if domestic applicant): CA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: ~200,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): son of widow? Not sure if counts.

Reflection

Strengths: Test scores, AIME, Essays, Recs, Interview.
Weaknesses: GPA not highest but reasons explained, lack of community service, extracurriculars were good and consistent but looking at everyone else just not enough and I think not focused enough on my major.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I think I wasn’t special enough but my essays carried me.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: noone

General Comments: Whether or not I am in or not I am so thankful I started my essays early. I think the amount of effort shows and it turned a relatively uncompetitive applicant to someone who could compete.