Columbia Class of 2023 ED Results!!

The day is almost here guys!! Results will be posted on December 13th at 7:00 PM EST. Please don’t post here unless it’s an actual decision. Remember, whether you get rejected, deferred, or even accepted does not define you as a person! Good luck everyone!

Just remove the “a” in the bold, size, and color of your decision.

[aB][asize=4][acolor=#008000]Decision: Accepted[/color][/size]**
[aB][asize=4][acolor=#FFA500]Decision: Deferred[/color][/size]**
[aB][asize=4][acolor=#FF0000]Decision: Rejected[/color][/size]**

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown):
ACT (breakdown):
SAT II:
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):
Weighted GPA:
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):
AP (place score in parenthesis):
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load:
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community service:
Summer Activities:
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1:
Teacher Rec #2:
Counselor Rec:
Additional Rec:
Interview:

Other

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

Reflection

Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:

General Comments:

Copied from @mxrxsxa from last year

1 Like

MODERATOR’S NOTE:
Please use this thread for results only, since non-result posts will be deleted. General discussion posts should be placed in the following thread:
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/columbia-university/2107015-columbia-ed-2023-discussions.html#latest

Decision: Deferred

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1590 (790 Reading, 800 Math)
ACT (breakdown): N/A
SAT II:
Math II - 800
Lit - 750
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.92
Weighted GPA: 4.97
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis):
World History (3)
Biology (4)
Calculus AB (5)
Chemistry (4)
Comp Gov (4)
US Gov (5)
Lang & Comp (5)
Statistics (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load:
H Brit Lit
AP Comp Sci A
AP Psych
AP Econ Micro/Macro
AP Physics
H Philosophy
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
NMSQT Semifinalist (hopefully soon finalist lol)
One of 10 school students nominated for 2018 Delaware Valley Consortium on Excellence and Equity (DVCEE)
Statewide finalist for National History Day

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
NHS
Students Against Gun Violence (President and Founder), organized school-wide teaching event with Senator and State Rep as speakers; school Service & Leadership Award
Creative Storytelling and Improvisation Club (President); subject of Swarthmore graduate student’s project on creativity in academic environments
Model UN (committee rapporteur and audition mod); spoke in NYC UN Headquarters to 4,000+ people about committee proceedings
Gender-Sexuality Alliance (President)
Competitive Piano Soloist and Performer; performed in Carnegie Hall 2014-2018 in Weill Recital Hall, invited to perform concerto with professional orchestra in MIT Hall
Job/Work Experience: Paralegal Duties at DE civil practice law firm;
Volunteer/Community service:
Franklin Institute Science Presenter; youngest to have position; run lectures/panels on neuroscience, physics, astronomy, and anatomy to groups of 10-40 to educate/inspire pursuit of science
Summer Activities:
CTY: Academic Explorations; Anatomy and Physiology at Dickinson University; Cognitive Neuroscience at Franklin & Marshall University
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Common App essay (8.5); experience living in fundamentalist Russian household and coming to terms with cultural and LGBT identities, culminating in becoming GSA president and working to change school envt.
Why Columbia essay (8); core curriculum is extremely valuable and is unique in CU in that it’s supplemented by NYC resources/opportunities, specific teachers I admire, rich core curriculum is what I want from a college and what I would benefit most from
What captivates you (6); THIS WAS A PRETTY GOOD ESSAY BUT I JUST NOW REALIZED I FORGOT TO ADDRESS THE LAST QUESTION OF WHERE I TURN TO TO LEARN MORE

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

(not sure how I’m supposed to score these without seeing them but here are my guesses
Teacher Rec #1: (9) Junior year chem teacher who seems to really like me, I’ve heard he writes pretty good recs in general
Teacher Rec #2: (8.5) Junior year lang teacher who also seems to like me and is the sponsor for SAGV club (detailed above)
Counselor Rec: (???) No clue; she’s seen me break down over home issues a lot but she knows I’m a really empathetic person
Additional Rec: (8) Franklin Institute sponsor, said she has ‘only good things to say about me’ and counselor read this and seemed to think it was good enough to be worth including
Interview: (8.5) Was set up for me by Chair of PA Board of alumni – let’s call him Steve – who also said the interviewer had great things to say (but Steve also tends to be overly positive, in my experience)
ADDITIONAL Additional Rec: (9-10) Submitted later by Steve, who seemed very enthusiastic about writing said additional rec for me

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
Intended Major: Astronomy
State (if domestic applicant): PA
Country (if international applicant): N/A
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: F
Income Bracket: $300,000+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): 1st gen Russian immigrant, LGBT

Reflection

Strengths: Lots of leadership and extracurriculars, SAT score
Weaknesses: GPA could be a bit higher, might think I tend to overextend myself, failed to completely answer one of short answers (gdi…)
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Nowhere else yet

Decision: Rejected

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1550 (790 M, 760 R) All in one sitting
ACT (breakdown): 34 but didn’t send
SAT II: 800 Math II, 700 USH, 700 Chem
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: We have a 6.0 system and my weighted GPA is 6.8 so probably like 4.6ish
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 12/965 (stupid school policies, lose GPA point for fine arts and sports. Would be number 1 if I wasn’t in band)
AP (place score in parenthesis): Ap Human (5), WHAP(4), CS A (5), Spanish Lang (4), APES (3 and self study), English Lang (5), APUSH (5), Phys I (4), Psych (4 and self study), Chem (3) (yikes not sure what happened)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP English Lit, AP MacroEcon, AP USGovt, AP Calc BC, Varsity Band, AP Stats, AP Biology, AP Music Theory
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Not sure if these count: Played at Carnegie Hall with Honors Performance Series, First alternate for TMEA All State Band, National Wind Band Honors Outstanding Soloist, Red Cross Presidential Award for Excellence, 2 time gold presidential service award, AP Scholar w/ Distinction, National AP Scholar, National Merit Commended (missed scholar by 1 pt lol Tx)

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Band (Jr Saxophone Leader, Sr Head Woodwind Leader, 10-12 Oboe Section Leader/First Chair)
Red Cross (Club President and Founder, Regional Executive Board President (two other positions in past years), National Field Ambassador)
Model UN (Club Representative officer)
Key Club
JSA (Club treasurer)
CS UIL
NHS- General, Spanish, Social Studies, Math, Science, English

Job/Work Experience: Code Ninjas Sensei (look it up this is literally the job title lmao)
Volunteer/Community service: ~200 Red Cross Hours, ~100 Key Club, ~100 misc organizations
Summer Activities:
Oxbridge Academic Program at Columbia and Barnard
Bluebonnet Girls State Delegate
Lots of band practice
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common App- 10, very personal Columbia Essays- 10, also very personal and I literally lived on campus for a month so I ranted about everything
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 11, I read it and I’m serious I cried
Teacher Rec #2: 8, he’s kinda crazy so I’m not sure
Counselor Rec: 3, my counselor quit at the end of my junior year and I met the new counselor I got assigned to ONCE
Additional Rec: 10, My Red Cross supervisor, she loves me
Interview: 6, the guy was an athletic recruit and so he didn’t seem super academically inclined and we just didn’t connect

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Nope
Intended Major: Poly Sci Econ
State (if domestic applicant): TX
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian (Indian)
Gender: XX
Income Bracket: 2 high 4 aid :confused:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Lol no I’m asian that’s an antihook

Reflection

Strengths: Everything did you read it
Weaknesses: Not sure what happened with counselor and interview so I guess these could’ve been weak. Also I’m Asian so my scores are relatively crap for an Asian
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Clearly I don’t know
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted to UT Austin auto admit, everything else is RD

General Comments: I’m clueless

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1410 (LOL didn’t send for obv. reasons)
ACT (breakdown): Cumulative: 34, Reading: 35, English: 34, Math: 35, Science: 31
SAT II: Math II: 770, Lit: 740
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.97
Weighted GPA: 4.88
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 17/627
AP (place score in parenthesis): 5 — Human, World, APUSH, Lang, Seminar; 4 — AB Calc
IB (place score in parenthesis): none
Senior Year Course Load: 6 APs, and an extracurricular
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Several in my main extracurricular

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
I’m not going to go into detail because I don’t want to give away too much about myself. I had two main extracurriculars that I excelled at (one is a performing art and the other is research) — got thousands of dollars in grants to further my study in the activity, performed for prime ministers and delegates at an international conference, several national scholarships, performances abroad, and earned millions of views on videos posted online. I also used my art form to spread awareness about social issues such as mental health and alcoholism, which connected directly to my independent research on the under diagnosis of clinical depression in third world countries. To further show my passion for the subject, I organized a nationally recognized conference where I invited speakers to talk about innovation in the field, which was well received. I’m a part of a bunch of honor societies as well, but don’t know if that made much of a difference since everyone is.

Job/Work Experience: Tutor at Kumon (I quit tho)
Volunteer/Community service: 200 hours at a hospital, 190 at my religious center
Summer Activities:
Over the summers, I interned at neuroscience labs, volunteered a ton in the psychiatry department at my local hospital, and traveled abroad to perform and research.

Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common app — 10/10, about how I connected performing arts to my research, pretty cry-worthy; Lists — 9/10, I made them funny, and had this joke about satire running throughout all of them haha; “Why Columbia” essays — 1/10, because I had a FREAKING TYPO. But oh well, they were pretty good otherwise.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: 10/10 — English teacher, I’ve been on her writing team since freshman year, we’re pretty close
Teacher Rec #2: 9/10 — Calc teacher, I didn’t do that well in his class but we’re pretty close, and I’m pretty sure he addressed my less-than-awesome grades in his letter.
Counselor Rec: 8/10 didn’t know her that well
Additional Rec: 8/10 my sponsor for the aforementioned conference, seemed like a pretty generic letter
Interview: not offered one

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: nope
Intended Major: Sociology with pre-med
State (if domestic applicant): CA
Country (if international applicant): US
School Type: huge public school
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: upper class
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): nope

Reflection
I think the reason I got in is because there was a sort of “golden thread” running through my application — everything was connected, leading to what I wanted to do with my life at Columbia and beyond.

Honestly, I had two B’s on my transcript. I’m a good student, but my grades were not spectacular by any means. This just goes to show that if you do what you love, do it well, and make your unique mark on the world, Columbia will appreciate that.

Strengths: Extracurriculars
Weaknesses: Grades
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: see above
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: nowhere

General Comments:
I didn’t think I would get in, and I’m so incredibly grateful for the opportunities I have been given and the support I’ve had over the past few years. I’m still in shock, and can’t believe it. Ecstatic about next year!

Good luck to all the RD applicants!!

Decision: Rejected

I didn’t list everything for privacy reasons, but I describe the ones I neglected

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown):
ACT (breakdown): 33 (superscore 34.5).
SAT II: one 750, two 740
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 92% in junior year
Weighted GPA: N/A
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis): French (5), Spanish (4), Human Geo (4) + one 5 + one 4 + one 3
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: 3 APs, 4 regular
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar with distinction, French speech contest (just participant), school debate semifinalist, Silver Key in Scholastic Writing Contest, + 1 national award, + 2 language certificates + 2 national certificates + 1 international certificate + some primary/middle school awards I mentioned in the “additional info” box.

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Foreign languages: Spanish, Italian, French
Varsity tennis,
Model UN (planning member & co-chair),
Debate,
Chess,
New international student leader (kinda leadership),
Peer tutor (kinda leadership)

Job/Work Experience: N/A
Volunteer/Community service:
Food bank (3 years),
Writing Club editor (2 years),
School Newspaper writer (1 year),
Summer Activities: Coding course, language programs, novel writing, tennis

Essays (rating 1-10, details):
10: My personal statement. I talked about my favourite book: Peter Pan. I think it stands out because many consider this is a childish book, but I related the deeper concepts in Peter Pan to the wider picture of my life.
10: The lists of books, entertainment, etc. I have a wide variety of stuff in a couple of languages. Should be reflective of my well-roundedness.
7: Why my major essay. I applied to Political Science. I mentioned some of my motivations. They are okay because I mentioned some small, hopefully unexpected, events that motivate my decision. Not too good because I crammed and come to think of it now, I had so many better things to mention.
6: Why Columbia essay. I talked about I like Columbia’s activism. Crammed. Absolutely I have many better things that I should have listed that would shed more light on me.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Counselor Rec: 8. I told my counselor of a recent novel that I devoted much time to. It is about social/environmental issues, but it’s told as an adventure/mystery. They were impressed.
Teacher Rec #1: 8 History teacher. My best marks are obtained in their classes, and I love history. 8 because they only know me in class and not too well personally.
Teacher Rec #2: 6 Math teacher. I tried hard last year, but I had a 90% (my best STEM mark), so probably not the best class to show my strengths.
No additional recs.

Interview: None (I’m not in the US).

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: sorry, can’t tell.
Intended Major: Po Sci. Second choice: creative writing.
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant): Sorry can’t tell
School Type: Sorry can’t tell
Ethnicity: Sorry can’t tell
Gender: Sorry, can’t tell
Income Bracket: sorry, can’t tell.

Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

  1. I’m different from most applicants from my country or my school. I also speak/am learning 6/7 languages. Both my country and my school are very STEM-orientated, but I’m a strict humanities student, and I do really well in English class (which is my 2nd/3rd language). So my profile should stand out among the others.
  2. I wrote 6 English novels since Grade 6. I put them all on a website and put the link into the additional info box.

Reflection:

Strengths: I’m different from most applicants with my background/situation.

Weaknesses:

  1. I lack leadership roles (after all, my school is STEM-dominated and I cannot do STEM whatsoever).
  2. I crammed my application. (I was going to ED somewhere else, but a visit to both that school and Columbia in the summer convinced me that I would be better suited at Columbia. I do not regret my last minute switch.)

Why you think you were rejected:
I’m international. Nobody in my school has been accepted in the past 5 years. My application is not of the very very best quality. My junior year grade was kind of low.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: University of Ottawa (accepted but I turned it down).

General Comments:
Good luck to those admitted. To those deferred & rejected: don’t worry, this only means that we haven’t found your perfect school. A friend of mine was rejected from her “dream” college and was thankful because now she can pursue her interests instead of following her parent’s idea of her dream college. We will find our place sooner rather than later. Good luck!

**Decision: Deferred **

I wrote this before I received my decision.

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1520 (720 R 800 M)
ACT (breakdown): N/A
SAT II: N/A
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.86
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 31/380
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Gov (3), AP Comp Sci Principles (2), AP English Lang & Comp (3), AP Bio (4), AP Calc AB (5), AP Physics 1 (2)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP English Lit & Comp, AP Human Geo, AP Micro, AP Macro, AP Stats, Intern/Mentor program thing
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Culinary Club we, um, cook (Co-Leader), Junior Civitan (President and Founder) community service type thing, National Chinese Hon. Society (President), Pre-Medicine Club (President) organized medical seminar for doctors and science to come and speak, Class Board (Public Relations Coordinator), Blue Ocean Entrepreneurship Competition (Committee Member) organized largest multi-national high school business competition, Varsity Tennis, USTA junior team tennis national champion, NHS, NHHS, NSHS, NSSHS
Job/Work Experience: Derm office medical scribe/office assistant (3 years), two internships: one at local general hospital ped. ER, other at JHH neurosurgery
Volunteer/Community service:
Summer Activities: 2016 JHU engineering innovation summer program, internships with some research involved, traveling, working at derm office.
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Why Columbia? - (7/10) I wrote about the core :stuck_out_tongue: it was really really really awkward.

Why this subject? - (6/10) this was not very well written; very generic and conflicting. wrote about biology

Common App - (8/10) it was personal for me, but I’m not sure it came off like that. I spent a long time on it though. the concept was almost there but I still don’t think it was the best thing I have written.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: AP Bio teacher (8/10) - probably the teacher I’m closest with out of the three. I was not really one of his favorites, but I worked really hard in his class and I got to know him better towards the end of the year.
Teacher Rec #2: Hon. World History teacher (7/10) - I think he knew me just as well as my bio teacher did. I feel that I demonstrated hard work in his class.
Counselor Rec: Counselor (6/10) - I’m assuming very generic, she doesn’t really know me at all, only talked to her personally like 3 times.
Additional Rec: AP English Lang teacher (6/10) - We weren’t really close at all but I did fine in her class.
Interview: (7/10) it wasn’t bad at all, I just didn’t say anything particularly special. The alumni was very down to earth and made the interview very comfortable.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major and College: Biology / East Asian studies
State (if domestic applicant): MD
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Competitive public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: > $100,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Double legacy

Reflection

Strengths: I’m struggling to find some, I think I was well rounded in my EC’s but I think they were looking for more of a centralized focus?
Weaknesses: my essays. i am not really a creative writer at all, I have written better things than my supplements, and I think the quality of my writing in the application was not very strong at all.
Also I didn’t have awards and outstanding EC’s, etc.
No subject tests! That was a KEY move.
Relatively low SAT and GPA, just to make things better.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: honestly the double legacy I am really not sure it had anything to do with, well, anything.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: University of South Carolina! Yup go gamecocks.

General Comments :

I’m glad the waiting is over! Good luck to everyone. My parents and many of their close friends had a fantastic time at Columbia, and I hope the same happens to as many of you as possible! Wherever you end up, be happy and work hard! I will hope for the best for myself.

Take those subject tests! If you can, raise your test scores! Start you application earlier than I did!

Decision: Deferred

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): um pls lmk why you would take the SAT
ACT (breakdown): 32 (E32 M32 R34 S30)
SAT II: N/A
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.791
Weighted GPA: 4.210
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): hah nope
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Econ (Macro- 4 & Micro-3) AP Lang (3)
IB (place score in parenthesis): nope
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc AB, AP Chinese, AP Lit, AP Gov, Honors Creative Writing, Honors STEM, Symphony Band
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Youth In Service nominee

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
junior optimist international (board member)
student congress
internship for penguin random house
band (section leader)
jv tennis
varsity golf- state team
interact club- community service
NHS
christian youth group
leader for middle school youth group

Job/Work Experience:
babysitter/nanny for 6 years
started a non-profit feeding impoverished kids for 3 years

Volunteer/Community service:
clubs stated above and non-profit

Summer Activities:
babysitting/nannying
non-profit work

Essays (rating 1-10, details):
not sure how to rank; wrote about desire to help others and seeking fulfillment which lead me to developing my love for hobby into a developing non-profit, there is more to being happy and that people should search for meaning rather than happiness

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 9/10 AP Econ teacher; promoted my non-profit, struggled at first in the class but then aced the second semester and knew him outside of just teaching so probably pretty good
Teacher Rec #2: 8/10 H Alg 2 teacher; knew this teacher really well even though he wasn’t a jr/sr year teacher, we went on a retreat for school during junior year where I got to know them outside of school
Counselor Rec: 9/10 I love my counselor, she is super sweet. knows my passion for helping others and determination to do well in school even though I am not a perfect student.
Interview: Interview with admissions representative that said I embodied a Columbia student but it was up to my supplementals to demonstrate the rest; alumni interview went really well but probably won’t do much

Applied for Financial Aid?: nope
Intended Major: English/communications
State (if domestic applicant): mich
Country (if international applicant): usa
School Type: public
Ethnicity: lollllll
Gender: female
Income Bracket: idk man
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): ORM

Reflection

Strengths: essays, focus on outside community service activities, letters of rec
Weaknesses: grades/scores
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: wrote about my potential experience and contributions to Columbia
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Loyola and MSU

Decision: Accepted - CC

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1570 (770 CR, 800 M)
ACT (breakdown): n/a
SAT II: 790 World History, 760 Chemistry
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.78
Weighted GPA: 4.3ish (school doesn’t weight)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): n/a
AP (place score in parenthesis): Sophomore: World History (5)
Junior: US History (5), English Lang (5), Psychology (5), Chemistry (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc AB, AP Bio, AP Macro/Micro, AP Music Theory, AP Lit
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): History Bowl Top 10 Nats, Natl Merit Semifinalist, AP Scholar w/ Distinction, Natl Latin Exam Gold, bunch of music comps and masterclasses listed in additional info.

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Music:
I won’t name too many specific programs to avoid doxxing, but I was fairly serious. I played a super competitive instrument with very few spots.
Made one of the top summer programs in the US a few years in a row, along with another relatively selective one. Received merit scholarships at both.
4 years in precollege at a nearby conservatory.
Top youth orchestra in my area.
I held principal positions at some point in pretty much all of them.
Did a bunch of school activities such as all-state, school productions, etc.
Also worth noting that I had two studio offers from Top 5 conservatories which I had to turn down.
Other:
History Bowl (Captain)
Quiz Bowl (Treasurer)
Literary Magazine (Secretary)
Job/Work Experience:
A bunch of paid music gigs, including one with a professional dance company which I held for a few years.
Volunteer/Community service:
Organized and performed tons of community concerts in retirement homes, religious areas, and public areas.
Helped coach an instrument section in a lower income community youth orchestra and taught many of the players.
Internship at a local history organization: wrote book reviews, screened potential speakers, and helped write a war-game for the 1918 Centennial.
Summer Activities:
Mostly music programs which I covered with ECs.
Dabbled in some lab work 10th grade summer but I didn’t list it.
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Common App - (7/10): Wrote about playing my auxiliary instrument and how its standout sound in performing ensembles helped with social anxiety. Didn’t like it much, as I felt it wasn’t enough about me. Was planning a rewrite if I didn’t get in.
Why Columbia? - (8/10): Wrote about the clash between modernism and traditionalism and how they coexist and combine to form a unique Columbia culture.
Why Major? - (8/10): Wrote about how my love for Tolkien’s fantasy novels inspired me to read about foreign lands in the history books.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: AP Language teacher (7.5/10) - She said that my research paper on sexual assault in classical music was one of the best she’s ever read.
Teacher Rec #2: AP World teacher (7/10) - I never felt super close with him, but he apparently still talks about me to his classes. I also remember talking to him about the Chechen Wars a year back after school.
Counselor Rec: (9/10) - Got to know her really well over the years, she said my rec was one of the first and that it wrote itself. I’m pretty sure that it somewhat covered for some of my grades.
Additional Rec: (9/10) - Musician who plays with a Big Five wrote it, I’ve known her since I was 12.
Interview: (7.5/10) - Talked about multiculturalism in NYC, various history topics, and Russian literature. Interviewer said I already sounded like a Columbia student when talking about the Core.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: nope
Intended Major: History/Polysci
State (if domestic applicant): NY
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Competitive Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 240k+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): parent legacy

Reflection

Strengths: ECs, relevant community service, passion in a couple fields, Columbia supplement.
Weaknesses: I was a bit of a crappy student and had a couple Bs on my transcript, wasn’t super close with any of my teachers, personally didn’t like my Common App essay.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: My app came together really well imo, legacy pulled me over the edge.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted to SUNY Binghamton.

General Comments:
Good luck to everyone; I’m sure you’ll all end up somewhere great!

Decision: Accepted - Columbia College

This is for the people who doubt their acceptance because of their stats.

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1370 (Math:720 English: 650
ACT (breakdown): Didn’t take
SAT II: Did not take any
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: n/a
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/70
AP (place score in parenthesis): school only offers AP for seniors
IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a
Senior Year Course Load: AP English Language and Composition, AP Environmental Science, AP Spanish Language, Civics/Economics, and Pre-Calculus
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Spanish Honor Society, Principal’s Honor Roll

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Student Government (President), Green Team (Co-Founder), Volleyball (Manager), Sponsors of Educational Opportunity (Member),
Job/Work Experience: N/A
Volunteer/Community service: Volunteered at Masjid At-Taqwa for three years
Summer Activities: The Council on International Educational Exchange (Study Abroad Program), SPonsors of Educational Opportunity (Summer classes)
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Common App Essay: 9/10 wrote about merging my mother’s traditional beliefs with my beliefs growing up in the U.S.
Why Columbia?: 9/10 wrote about the core lol but i made a harry potter joke in the end. both the beginning and ending was strong in my opinion
Why the major of study?: 10/10 even though I’m undecided I wrote about my love for mathematics and what influenced me to enjoy the subject

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 6/10 because she literally wrote it in 2 hours. i also read it and it looked like she bs-ed it
Teacher Rec #2: 10/10 she read a sentence from it to me and i could tell it was really well-written and spoke to who I am as a student/person
Counselor Rec: 10/10 love her honestly. i always talk to her so she should have a lot of say
Additional Rec: n/a
Interview: 8/10 it was pretty good. the alumna and i had a lot in common and i walked her to the subway so i guess it was cool

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
Intended Major: undecided
State (if domestic applicant): NY
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: small public school
Ethnicity: Asian (Bengali)
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: <40,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): idk tbh

Reflection

Strengths: my essays were well-written in my opinion and the interview was pretty great. i had a lot of questions for the interviewer. my extra-curricular shows that i’m very involved and hold many leadership roles
Weaknesses: SAT score and lack of AP classes but i didn’t really care
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: basically what i said for strengths. apparently the person who reviewed my app cried when they heard i was on the list of acceptance (idk why but thats cool)
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: i did ED so

General Comments: i don’t want anyone to be discouraged if their stats are low. i did get in through HEOP (or the Columbia’s version of HEOP) so i got some boast but whoever is feeling hesitance towards applying to Columbia, just work really hard on your essays and work on your interview skills. bro i still don’t understand how i got in but

[aB][asize=4][acolor=#FFA500]Decision: Deferred SEAS[/color][/size]**

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1550
ACT (breakdown): None
SAT II: Math II: 800, Chem: 780
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): School does not have unweighted
Weighted GPA: 4.556
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Does not rank
AP (place score in parenthesis): Ap Calc BC, AP Lang, AP Stats, AP Chem. The way my school calculates gpa makes most of my classes “AP level” like Differential Equations and Readings in Chinese
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: Math courses past AP Calc (Differential Equations, Graph Theory, Mathematical Modeling, Combinatorics), Procedural Programming (Python), Javascript, Databases, Evolution with Advanced Topics, Molecular Genetics, highest level english classes.
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Semi-Finalist, Conrad Innovation Challenge Semi-Finalist

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Research at local university, presented at several symposiums, submitted to Regeneron, NCSEF, other competitions. Co-author for next paper my lab publishes.

Varsity basketball
Varsity football
School Counseling Department student representative
Asian Cultures club
Chinese Language and Cultures Club (Culinary Head)
Honors Orchestra, nominated for Governors School for violin

Job/Work Experience: None
Volunteer/Community service: for local city government, 60+ hours
Summer Activities: Research at university, 200+ hours
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common app 9/10, about basketball. Columbia supplementals 9/10 (focused a lot on research)

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: Chem teacher, 7/10 (had like 20 essays to write, wrote last minute)
Teacher Rec #2: Chinese teacher, 9.5/10 (loves me, her current students say that she mentions me every day :slight_smile:
Counselor Rec: 9/10, usually pretty generic but I work for the counseling department so should be good
Additional Rec: Mentor Rec 10/10, mentor is department head at NC State and loves me
Interview: Did not get interview (someone from my school did tho)

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Computer Science
State (if domestic applicant): North Carolina
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public Magnet
Ethnicity: Asian ;(
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: $50000-$80000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None rip

Reflection

Strengths: High baseline stats. I really stressed research in my app so i think that made it a spike
Weaknesses: Not many leadership positions or awards
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I think I was deferred because they wanted to see my research performance in Regeneron and the other competitions I mentioned.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I have been accepted to UNC Charlotte and UT Dallas. For UT Dallas, I have received a full tuition + $3000 a semester scholarship.

General Comments:
I think I had a decent app for Columbia and I don’t have any regrets. Does anyone know what percent of deferrals get into Columbia?

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