Columbia ED- Do I even bother?

<p>I'm planning to apply to Columbia, and it would be awesome if people let me know where I'm at by chancing me and if I have a legitimate chance if I apply ED.</p>

<p>White, Jewish male, planning on majoring in economics.</p>

<p>Legacy:My father attended Columbia for graduate school, my sister is currently in Barnard, my uncle went to Columbia, and my aunt went to Barnard.</p>

<p>GPA:This is where it gets confusing. I go to a Modern Orthodox Jewish High School, so in addition to taking regular classes, I must also take Judaic classes such as Talmud and Bible study, and these grades are averaged into my GPA. With that said, my full GPA with these classes is 91.5 unweighted; however without these classes ie. just math spanish, english, etc, my average is a 93.8.
SAT:2180 M+CR:1520 total CR: 780 M: 740 W: 660
SAT II:World History: 710 Math 1 Bio: 720
Courses: Most rigorous my school has to offer.<br>
AP's:5 in Euro and Polysci. 4 in Bio and English. taking Calc AB, US History, and English Lit this year
EC's:
High School Hockey, JV 2 years, Varsity 2 years
Captain of the Math team
Captain of the Chess team
Model United Nations
College Bowl
Interned at a Hedge Fund in NYC this summer
Helped children who have siblings or parents with medical issues with homework in a program called I-shine
National Honor Society</p>

<p>Thank you for any responses, they will be greatly appreciated!!</p>

<p>Why not ??</p>

<p>bc im not particularly optimistic about my chances and although Columbia is my first choice, I dont want to waste my ED.
ALSO, just know that my high school does not do well with Ivy leagues</p>

<p>Are you interested in continuing Judaic studies in college? Columbia through the undergraduate School of General Studies) has a joint program with List College at the Jewish Theological Seminary. I know a few students doing this and they seem to love it. If you don’t want to abandon your background and go to a completely secular school, I would strongly advise you to consider that joint program, since you’ll probably have a slightly better chance for admission. At the very least, they’ll take into account your grades in Judaic Studies courses. Here’s more info on the program: [JTS</a> Joint Program | General Studies](<a href=“http://www.gs.columbia.edu/jts-joint-program]JTS”>http://www.gs.columbia.edu/jts-joint-program) [The</a> Jewish Theological Seminary - Albert A. List College of Jewish Studies](<a href=“http://www.jtsa.edu/Albert_A_List_College_of_Jewish_Studies.xml]The”>http://www.jtsa.edu/Albert_A_List_College_of_Jewish_Studies.xml)</p>

<p>The middle 50% for SAT is 2100-2330. So you are not out of the range. This might be a very good use of your ED because I think it will increase your chances. It won’t make admission a probability, but it would help.</p>

<p>Your profile is just as good as any other applicant’s, maybe even more rigorous when considering that you have the additional requirements of your religious curriculum. Applying ED will not be a waste if Columbia is your first choice—that is what its intention is. if you are using ED as an edge to admission, then that may come through in your app. Before applying, really think about your motivation, and if Columbia is your absolute dream, then go for it. You definitely look competitive enough.</p>

<p>Thanks soo much for the answers.
Regarding JTS- One of the biggest appeals of Columbia unique to me, is that I want to attend a secular diverse school. My entire life I’ve been going to school with the same 80 middle class white jewish long island kids, and I really want to experience education with people of all religions,ethnicities,and class.
So yes Columbia is my #1 choice without a doubt</p>

<p>how would you be “wasting” your ED if Columbia is your first choice?</p>

<p>Why don’t you just apply ED and see what happens? I doubt you’ll regret it either way…</p>

<p>If you want to experience diversity, why not go to college out of NYC, or heaven forbid, the entire region?</p>

<p>haha, UT84321, I would trust me, I looked into UCLA, but my parents would have none of it! I also looked into U of Chicago, but my parents said that the Jewish Community at the college must be big. So that leaves me with Columbia, NYU, etc</p>

<p>@UT84321: It’s interesting. You could go to Duke and experience a culture you’d probably never find in New York, but that subculture itself is less diverse than what you’d find in New York. You really have to decide what’s more important: getting out of your comfort zone (in a less cosmopolitan and diverse environment) or going to college in the most cosmopolitan and diverse city in the US (even though you’ve already been living there to some extent already.)</p>

<p>OP, I completely respect your decision to attend a secular school. After going to Jewish pre-school (don’t ask), Catholic primary school, and Jesuit (Catholic) high school, I was happy to go to a very secular school. But, as I’m sure you realize, there are TONS of Jews, a good deal of which are from the New York area, at Columbia. If you’re really trying to abandon your roots, Columbia probably isn’t the best place to do that. But if you want to go to a very secular school where the student culture is nonetheless tinged by Jewish culture, and a good chunk (but by no means all) of the students are nominally Jewish, I think you’ll enjoy Columbia.</p>

<p>pwoods, thats exactly how I feel. I feel like Columbia has the best of both worlds for me. Not to mention one of the best universities in the world.</p>

<p>ED was never designed as a way for sub-par applicants to get into elite-universities. You shouldn’t apply ED anywhere unless you’re absolutely, certainly, 100% set on that college as your first choice. </p>

<p>If Columbia is indeed the most appealing college you could ever think of, then by all means apply early. You have a good shot at admission. But don’t ED just because you think it’ll help get you in to some big-name university – it might, but you may not end up happy there.</p>

<p>Photo, I think the OP knows he wants to attend Columbia. He has a sister who currently attends, he lives in New York, and he had family members who previously attended, so I’m sure he realizes what the school is like. His concern is just whether he should apply ED to Columbia because it’s such a reach. If Columbia’s really an unrealistic option, then it doesn’t make sense to apply ED; it would be better to apply ED to your top realistic choice. I understand his logic. However, I think he has a fair shot, so if Columbia is truly a good fit for him (and it sounds as though it may be) I’d encourage him to apple ED.</p>

<p>i will speak from a purely practical point to the OP - applying ED to Columbia may indeed be his best chance for admission to an Ivy and best chance to get into Columbia. your connection to the school, your good test scores and GPA, good involvement for a dual-curric school, you stand a chance early. rock those essays, make sure your recommendations are stellar (and if possible address things columbia cares about like your participation in class) and i’d say go for it. but i’d also recommend to consider schools to apply RD, don’t put all your eggs in one basket.</p>

<p>Just sent in my Ed application! Thanks for all your help! Sadly, my chances aren’t looking great, so I’m really focusing on the rd rou d right now. Nyu stern macauly honors, chicago, ucla, bu honors. Hopefully though I somehow get into Columbia! I would be ecstatic.</p>

<p>^^^You just sent it in and it’s Nov. 5…isn’t that a little bit late for ED?</p>

<p>He must have “just sent” it RD.</p>

<p>He probably sent it in a few days ago and only just revived this old thread because he wanted to thank adgeek for being so helpful.</p>