<p>I'm going to be a sophomore in High School. As a freshman I had a 3.95 gpa weighted but not that much weight..3.875 unweighted. Honestly, it was not my best effort, even my sisters say that I was slacking off and didn't use all my potential. As a kid I remember going to Columbia for the first time and when my sisters went to take the Columbia shp test. Damn... the first time I saw it, I was amazed. I immediately declared it as the number one college that I wanted to attend. I entered freshman year joining a lot of clubs and with a motivated mindset, but sadly as the year elapsed I soon found myself dozing off and I ended up only staying with one club(which I got a board position on). Research of Columbia's admissions and observing first hand seniors who I thought had great chances getting rejected were the main factors in the mitigation of my focus and motivation. I guess I finally got that pinch on the arm I needed and woke up into reality and began to understand how difficult it really is to get into college. In a matter of encounters and experiences, Columbia went from being an anxious dream to an impossible achievement. Also, I did a little research on this website and countless times I saw people posting threads about their chances, they then would follow by listing their accolades that would include things like 2370s on the sats, 5 on 10 AP's, 700 volunteering hours, and like a whole 8x11 page worth of extra curriculars. It was things like this that made me realize that I had no chance of getting into Columbia. Why does it seem so easy? Is it really? Are all of these things really essential? I know what my potential is, I know that I can break 2250 on the sats, I know that I can have a constant 3.8 uw gpa even when the going gets tough, but what I don't know is if that is all enough. Now that freshman year has passed, I'm beginning to contemplate what i could have done to make it better and how I basically wasted it. The only thing that I got out of it was decent grades that only meet the average of columbia students. Is it too late to remain motivated for Columbia? Did my freshman year ruin my chances? If not, what do I have to do to increase my chances of being accepted? And if you got accepted to columbia, can you please tell me what you did and your accolades? Finally, my sister is applying to columbia and I have a lot of faith in her. If it is the case that she is accepted, will that increase my chances of being accepted?</p>
<p>Freshman year is just the beginning and no one thing can kill your chances, unless it is huge. Ivy leagues read your application holistically. They want to see that you are a hard worker who challenges yourself in many areas. You still do have a chance, talk to your school’s guidance counselor if you have one; it is their job to guide students, they know a lot about the college journey, have tips on improving your chances, and have to write a recommendation for you so actually seeing them can make it better</p>
<p>Now onto my personal advice. Volunteer. A lot. Columbia values people who are good citizens and are “good Global citizens.” One of their admission officers told this to the kids at the Engineering Invitational last week, so make sure you volunteer your time to something you are passionate about. </p>
<p>Be a leader, there are many followers but few leaders and they want the leaders.</p>
<p>Figure out what you like to do and join a few clubs or teams and spend a lot of time with them. Depth is infinitely times better than 100 clubs you see once in a while.</p>
<p>Practice your SAT and writing essays. They are very important to get in.</p>
<p>And most of all relax. Columbia isn’t everything, don’t forget you are just a sophomore and you have 3 full years of high school. You shouldn’t waste them locking your self away obsessing, find some time for yourself. Make friends, paint, climb trees, just don’t waste high school worrying about college. 
Sources: Columbia staff, my school’s Guidance counselor, and my school’s careers counselor.</p>
<p>You do not have to do like 10000 EC’s, do those you are passionate about and dedicated to. (: You still have like 2-3 years to improve.</p>
<p>Thanks guys for the insight and so far I kind of planned the things I want to do for sophomore year.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Science research (enrolled since freshman year): Hopefully I can get some awards this year</p></li>
<li><p>MSA (muslim club) I currently have a board position</p></li>
<li><p>National History Day: Aiming to place</p></li>
<li><p>A volunterring club in my school such as Key club</p></li>
<li><p>School Newspaper: Aiming to gain position on board</p></li>
<li><p>Math Olympiads: Aiming to win something</p></li>
<li><p>Taking physics and chem honors in one year ( hard rigor course)</p></li>
<li><p>After caculations of 3 hours a week, I’m aiming to get 130 hours of volunteer hours for next year alone</p></li>
<li><p>Maintaining a GPA 3.85 or higher unweighted</p></li>
<li><p>Getting above 220 on the PSATS as a Sophomore </p></li>
</ol>
<p>And various essay competitions!!</p>
<p>Is this enough? Do you thing I should improve on any other aspects? I’m only taking one AP because that’s the maximum my school will allow me as a sophomore? Will Columbia like something like this? or even other schools like Duke or UPENN? Oh yeah, and I took my first math section ever for the sats and got a 700 on my first try. Is this good? Would you say that a typical Columbia student is like this or do they get like 750+ on their first try?</p>
<p>Columbia looks at your school and what they offer to you. As long as you are challenging yourself they will be pleased. The middle 50% of Columbia undergrads have 690 - 780CR 700 - 790M and 690 - 780W. That means 25% of students score lower and 25% scored higher, keeping that in mind that would be their best scores. If you can get a 700 that puts you right in the middle 50% of Columbia students. Taking it again will most likely improve your scores but you shouldn’t take it 5 times to gain a few points.</p>