Columbia ED Senior First Quarter Grades

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

I applied to Columbia ED and I am planning to do architecture. I have a 97 GPA (my school does it this way, not the 4.0 GPA scale) and my SAT super scored is 2240. I have taken all the APs that my school has to offer, and my high school is not as competitive as other surrounding schools. My portfolio is very strong, I have 2 leadership positions in school clubs/honor societies, have over 1,000 hours for community service, went to Cooper Union over the summer for an architecture program that only accepted 15 high schoolers, and I went to the Manhattan School of Music Precollege for four years. As a sort of “wild card,” I sent in a recommendation letter from a Cooper Union professor to Columbia. Also, my uncle is a chemistry professor at Columbia and has been working there for over 16 years, and my school art teacher who wrote one of my recommendation letters is a Columbia alumni.

That is a somewhat vague outline of my application that I sent to Columbia, and I’m still waiting for the results. I know first quarter grades are important, and I’m doing my best as a senior with my 6 AP classes (Studio Art, Lit, AB Calc, Gov, Macroeconomics, Biology) and juggling those with extracurricular activities. First quarter has finished in my school and all of my averages in the classes are mid As to mid Bs, and an awkward, terrible C for Macroeconomics. I don’t really understand economy and it is the only class that I am doing poorly in… Will that C be a huge blow to my chances of getting into Columbia?

2

Wow I have the same problem as you. I’ve never gotten a C in high school except for one C this year, but mine is in an elective. I’ve been told that it shouldn’t be a problem.

3

Oh really? I hope so…but it’s still concerning because it’s a sudden drop compared to my other As and Bs this quarter and it’s an AP class, too…

4

Same!! I applied to Penn ED and I think I overestimated the amount of APs I could withstand. Taking AP Stats, AP Calc BC, AP Lit, AP French, AP Biology, and AP Gov, and my grades are not great. Could be a lot better, in fact, and I really hope it doesn’t affect my chances too much…though they were very very slim to begin with.