Columbia - Fu Foundation Chances

Colleges and Universities A-Z Columbia University
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<p>Alright, I might as well start off by saying that I am currently a high school junior who has applied to colleges with the Class of 2008. This is due to extraneous circumstances and various summer courses that have made it a chore to find suitable courses at my high school if I choose to stay in high school for another year. With that said, here are my general statistics, etc.</p>

<p>SAT I: 800V/760M/760W - 2320 total
SAT II: 800 Chem, 800 Math II, 780 Physics (Physics was taken afterwards for Harvard's 3 test requirement; not sent to Columbia)
GPA: Ehhh since I'm a junior there's no way to be sure but it's somewhere around a 3.8/4. Of course, I've been taking all honors/AP so the weighted is higher but irrelevant since different schools have all sorts of crazy scales.
Ethnicity: Chinese male :(</p>

<p>I'm currently taking AP Physics, Calculus BC, and US History
Furthermore, I took a hardcore Chemistry course over last summer (8 credits) through Harvard SSP so I guess that's an AP equivalentish.</p>

<p>My major extracurriculars include:
Violin & Music - Playing for about 7 years now; in an New England Conservatory Orchestra, etc. I also take music theory classes and sent in a musical supplement.
Research - Mostly in nanotechnology; I wrote a research paper on the Chemical-Mechanical Polishing of Hard Disks and sent it in -- work ~10-15 hours a week at a local nanotechnology firm
I have other stuff going on but it's mostly irrelevant garbage</p>

<p>I thought that my essay was quite nice. My recommendation letters were indubitably excellent and I had one from my Harvard professor and one from my nanotech employer. My interview wasn't the greatest but I would say that it was above average.</p>

<p>I don't have any legacy, etc. connections with Columbia. I don't play sports well enough for that to be a valuable addition to my application. I'm definitely not going to benefit from AA or such. My high school is a reputable one in a rather affluent Massachusetts suburb.</p>

<p>I was rejected at MIT and waitlisted at both Northwestern and Duke (although Duke has a poor relationship with my school district because of historically pushy parents).</p>

<p>So... I'm really quite interested in Columbia and NYC </p>

<p>And if you didn't read the title, I applied to the Fu Foundation Engineering School</p>

<p>Thanks for your time.</p>

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<p>I think you'll probably (>70%) get in!
Based on their average SAT scores (which is incredibly high), the Fu Foundation School is more of a "grade-based admission" school, well of course they care about EC's too. (my analysis, which may be wrong)
anyways
Good luck! You're amazing :)!</p>

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<p>I consider you a match for Columbia, but I'm sure what's hurting you the most is your high school junior status and the fact that you may not be top 3% in your class. Most of the Ivies may not feel comfortable admitting a 16/17 year old, when there are so many qualified 17/18 year olds applying. </p>

<p>Still, 3.84 or so is Columbia's GPA average--and your outstanding SAT scores and research work should get you in. I hope you didn't apply to too many schools, because if you did that will work against you. These schools want to know that you will enroll if accepted--and the more apps you sent, the less likely you are to be accepted to one particular school from the multitude.</p>

<p>Presuming that you applied to maybe Dartmouth, Columbia, and Harvard--and none of the others, then I'd expect you to be accepted at the first two. Otherwise, you are likely to be rejected by a bunch more Ivies before getting your acceptances from schools like Carnegie Mellon and John Hopkins.</p>

<p>Anyway, hang in there and good luck.</p>

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<p>Which Mass suburb? I went to Lexington.</p>

<p>A big factor in admitting juniors is maturity. Frankly, I had more spectacular ECs than you did (though less good a GPA), and when I applied to MIT as a HS junior (and to a bunch of schools as a senior too) the big factor in my rejection was maturity. And when I took a gap year, worked a real job, and applied again, what got me in then was maturity as well - and a killer recommendation from my boss attesting to that fact.</p>

<p>If your boss in the nanotech firm thinks you're the best thing since sliced bread and wrote you something saying that you're highly professional and mature beyond your years, that might be the key that gets you in the door. If not, they may want you to wait a year.</p>

<p>My two cents.</p>

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<p>I live in Medfield</p>

<p>A big factor in my MIT rejection was a very crummy interview.</p>

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<p>One of my best friends is from Medfield, right on 109. And from what I can tell, the public HS school isn't really regarded in the league of Weston, Newton, Brookline, etc. The Harvard courses and the grades you get there will be consequently influential.</p>

<p>You have good depth in your activities but may come across as one-dimensional. The research bit is very good for you since it's unusual and hotly pursued by you. If you don't get in next week, focus on that for the fall, and make sure a knockout recommendation comes in from your boss. Same goes for taking a few more classes at Harvard Extension (or BU, at which I took a summer class one summer - though it's much easier by comparison).</p>

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<p>to Calcruzer:
How do those schools know that you applied to many schools?</p>

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<p>they don't...</p>

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<p>Oh boy I got the rejection from JOHNS HOPKINS</p>

<p>My Columbia chances are pretty much done</p>

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<p>^that's not very relevant. I like most at columbia was rejected from schools that were much easier to get into.</p>

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<p>Mockmockmockmock</p>

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<p>"I like most at columbia was rejected from schools that were much easier to get into."</p>

<p>Dude, rephrase, that wasn't english :)</p>

<p>Crooked: you've got some solid stats. If you don't get in this year, don't lose heart. Stick it out in HS for another year, do something cool like...I don't know, training monkeys at Harvard for a year if school is as much of a joke as you say it is and re apply. It'll show committment, and significnatly up your chances</p>

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<p>Cerb, this thread is from 6 months ago, there's no way they're still paying attention.</p>

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<p>Hah, I just realized that this had been bumped.</p>

<p>In relevant news, I'm applying to Columbia ED this year. :)</p>

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<p>Denz: apparently they are. </p>

<p>Crooked: good luck! Love the stats.</p>