Columbia ED (but also Duke, Cornell, UPenn, NYU)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Ethnicity: Asian</p>

<p>Standardized Tests
-SAT I: 2320 (760CR 760W 800M, one sitting)
-SAT II: Math II 800, Bio M 790, Chem 800, USH 750
-AP Exams (6 so far, will take around 6 more in senior year): Chem 4, Bio 4, Psych 5, USH 5, AB Calc 5, Eng Lang 4</p>

<p>Course Load for Senior Year
-AP European History
-AP Economics
-AP Physics E/M
-Accounting 1 Enriched
-Molecular Biology Honors
-AP English 12
-Spanish 4 Honors
<em>I always took the highest classes for every single subject for all four years, if that makes a difference or not
*</em>Because I had no space in my schedule for Orchestra, I will be taking it as an independent study course</p>

<p>GPA/Class Rank
-4.3 Unweighted, class rank 5%</p>

<p>EC's
-very music-based (I play the violin): All-State Orchestra for one year, Regional Orchestra for 2, school concertmaster for 2 years, leading the chamber ensemble and my own string quartet
-Varsity Swim Team for four years, will be captain next year
-NHS
-Math Club, good chance I will be president next year
-Science Honors Program</p>

<p>Volunteering (around 280 hours total)
-regular weekly volunteering at a hospital</p>

<p>Jobs
-Intern at cancer research center</p>

<p>Recommendations/Essay- my essay should be pretty good, and same for my teacher recommendations. My guidance counselor and I are in very good terms so she should write a very nice one.</p>

<p>Thanks for taking the time for chancing me! Columbia CC is my top choice but I am also applying regular decision for Duke, UPenn, Cornell, and NYU. Obviously, I want to go into medicine but not completely sure what I want my major to be. Be as harsh as you want, and if there are any other colleges I would be a good fit for, please tell me.</p>

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<p>First of all, congratulations on all those scores and grades. They’re great, and I know you must have worked/be working very hard. </p>

<p>While it all looks amazing on paper, the biggest thing you should be worried about is seeming like Just Another Asian. Everything from the violin to the perfect test scores to swimming to medicine screams Asian. I really don’t mean that as an insult, it’s just something that colleges see a lot of.</p>

<p>That being said, I have a good friend (Asian male) who got into Columbia CC ED this year with similar stats (different kinds of extracurriculars, but similar level of commitment). Also have a friend (Asian female) who is a freshman at UChicago with incredibly similar extracurriculars. However, note that they both reportedly had amazing essays and came from a competitive public school - not sure if you mentioned anything on that front? How well do you think you would interview?</p>

<p>Make sure you make the independent studies/dual enrollments happen - both are really important! The most unique thing I see on your list is music therapy - I don’t hear of a lot of people doing that, and if you can do more work in that and/or work it into essays, I think that’s a good idea.</p>

<p>I’d say you’re a match for Duke and safe for NYU. Short reach for Cornell and UPenn. Getting into Columbia is a crapshoot. I’m optimistic, but best of luck!</p>

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<p>Thank you so much for the advice, I thought no one would reply to this. And I was afraid of the “just another Asian” label too, so I was already prepared to hear that from somebody here. I also come from a semi-competitive public school, nothing too fancy but not too preppy either. Thanks again!</p>