<p>SAT I: 2190 (Math 800, CR 720, W 670)
SAT II: 790 Math IIC, 710 Chemistry, 710 Biology
AP: AP US HIST 5</p>
<p>Workload in Senior yr: AP Calc BC, AP CHEM, AP GOV"T, and english (all AP's or honors)
GPA: 3.82 (unweighted)
Rank: school's not ranked
Rigor of Schedule: 4 on a scale from 1-5 (every course is AP except Eng, but Eng is AP Lvl, school does not offer official AP Eng. No language class b/c the schedule won't fit due to Jazz Band commitments)</p>
<p>Talent: Jazz Band, Concert Band,(all four years, huge commitment) Berklee Jazz Festival, 2nd place. arranged pieces for concerts. Band president. </p>
<p>EC:
Science related: series of scientific work outside the school
BUMS BioCity Lab summer lab participant and full year
scholar
Internship at local institute, worked on experimenting with
different modulators in immune response (results
being written for publication)
sports camps for freshman yr summer</p>
<p>Clubs/Teams:
Mock Trial, Speech and Debate (Vice President)
Rotary Interact Club (President)
JV Tennis (Varsity Letter)
Intrumural basketball and soccer</p>
<p>Community Service:
Internship at State House for a state level senator
Tutoring kids in math at local elementary school
Taught computer in weekend programs
Assissting handicapped kids in sports acitivities
Helping organizing and donating backpack and school supplies to Katrina kids</p>
<p>first generation college bound student, but of asian ethnicity. moved to america 6 years ago. </p>
<p>Why do you need "ASAP advice"? What'll happen if someone gives you advice in, like, a week? I'd say you're competitive and within the range of what Columbia is looking for. Nevertheless, nobody's chances are that great simply because it's so hard for anyone to get in. Your essays, etc. will probably make the difference. Make sure you don't do annoying/obnoxious crap like that on your application or during your interview.</p>
<p>When posters indicate that they have mentored students, helped handicapped kids, ect, it is unclear what that commitment is. Admission officers see a difference between those who have doen some community service here and there who have a clear passion for it. It is unclear in your list of activities what that involvement is. In addition, where one is part of a school band and is 2nd place in a jazz festival, there is a difference between being a second place soloist in that festival, and taking 2nd place as part of a school band. It is not that being 2nd place in a school band is not a great accomplishment. However thousands of applicants will have participated in school activities where they went with their singing group or band and performed at the local, state, regional or National leve.
What is important for the applicant to an extremely competitive school like Columbia is to realize that they need to stand out from the thousands of applicants who also have high test scores and high grades and high rigor of curriculum. One does not have to be a soloist, and participating in a school band can show admission officers that an applicant is well rounded, but the applicant still needs to find a way to stand apart from the other applicants. There are those applicant who will get accepted on intellect alone. That will be their hook. Those are the applicants who are their class valivictorians and have perfect or near perfect SAT scores AND have done some extremely high achieveing academic things like winning Intel or publishing a scientific theory in a high regarded scientific journal. However the other applicants who have competitive SAT scores and high grades have to have done some pretty amazing things to stand out from the thousads who apply.</p>
<p>
[quote]
However the other applicants who have competitive SAT scores and high grades have to have done some pretty amazing things to stand out from the thousads who apply.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>thats just not true and just serves to scare people</p>
<p>What I was trying to say is that applicants who have SAT scores that are in the competitive range for the school but not spectacular, and have more typical extra curriculars (typical in the sense that a lot of applicants may have them), uduslly dont stand out in the applicant pool. That should not scare people. That is just a reality when there are 20,000 applicants. This is not to say that those applicants wont get in. They could stand out in other ways which they could convey in their personal statement, teacher recs. ect.</p>
<p>ok, that explanation is a more in line with reality, but the way u stated it before made it sound like if you havent cured cancer or at the very least been published in a "high[ly] regarded scientific journal" then you shouldnt even bother applying to columbia....which is of course very far from the truth.</p>
<p>yea, thanks guys, that helps a lot...i was just trying to get an idea see what people thought of me applying for Columbia, and the discussion that sparked off from it is awesome and very helpful. </p>
<p>sorry abou tthe "asap advice" thingy</p>
<p>but thanks for the help so far.</p>
<p>how is the life there? can anyone help out w/ that?</p>
<p>gotcollege - there was a "Columbia vs Princeton ED" thread a week or two back that has a lot of info on life at the schools. browse some threads first, come back with more specific questions, and we'll be happy to answer.</p>