Columbia is my top. Chances? Thanks in advance

Colleges & Universities A-Z Columbia University
1

<p>Senior Asian Male from CA
Attend highly ranked public school
History Major</p>

<p>Top 10% of Class
UW GPA: 3.6
W GPA: 4.2
SAT I: 2180 (CR770, W740, M670)
SAT IIs: Lit740, USHist740, WorldHistory740, MathIIC620
AP Scores: Euro<a href="4">sophomore year</a>, US (5), Eng. Lang (5), Psych (5)
Taking this year: Gov, Econ (micro and macro), Lit, APES</p>

<p>Taken pretty much the most rigorous courseload available at school
Basic trend of transcript was:
9th grade - so, so (As and Bs)
10th - poorly, this ruined my transcript, mostly B's, few As, a C (my only) in Honors Chem
11th - well, straight A's with exception of B in Pre-Calc
12th - taking most rigorous offered, and straight A's a guarantee</p>

<p>My screwup in 10th grade can be explained with my parents going through a divorce - lot of financial, emotional, and personal problems/ went through some depression, managed to get back on my feet w/o therapy (thus my comeback 11th grade). I mentioned this on my application, but couldn't really explain it as much as I wanted, so I'm hoping to explain this in my interviews.</p>

<p>Basic pattern of transcript, strong in humanities, weak in Math; demonstrated by straight B's in all my math classes (honors and regular classes), and low SAT scores (I and II). </p>

<p>To remedy this, I'm taking an advanced college-level Calculus class from BYU (doing an online independent study, and I made sure to make sure this class was legit and not the typical BS-automatic-A class - all the colleges I applied to will give 4 credits upon completion). I'm hoping to get an A, at least a B. Also taking first semester of Chemistry over again to fix that C, and I already completed a college level Philosophy Class with a grade of B. </p>

<p>My letters of recommendation are from my AP English Teacher and AP US/Euro teacher; one should be great, the other good to great. </p>

<p>In my humble opinion (as well as others), my essays were all good to great. </p>

<p>Extracurriculars:</p>

<p>Music related things:
Musicians Union Founder, Marching Band Section Leader, Concert Band Principal Clarinetist, involved in school Musical Pits, competed in a few competitions with minor awards won, did outside audition-based orchestras as well. The bulk of my extracurriculars and range all four years of HS. Considering a music minor, and one of my essays was about music.</p>

<p>Other things, grouped under Community Service:
Boy Scout: Heart Rank, Troop Scribe, Assistant Section Leader, Youth Organizer
Green Club Executive Officer</p>

<p>Internships/ Work Experience:
Interned at local Newspaper as Chief Intern
Business Institute (intern)
Architecture Institute (intern)
Was assistant at CPA firm (pay)
Tutored (pay)</p>

<p>My top school is Columbia. I know it's a reach - just curious on how much of a reach, and what chances I stand. I don't think there's anything more I can do at this point, but if anyone thinks there is something, that would be nice to know. </p>

<p>Thanks so much for reading this post and taking the time to go over my chances.
Any post/opinion/comment/suggestion is extremely appreciated. Will return the favor if anyone wishes (just leave link).</p>

<p>Thanks again.</p>

2

<p>i could say that your stats look good and that you have a great shot…yet the reality is that the odds are against everyone. just wait it out and see on april 1st and good luck</p>

3

<p>Yah you look good, but your college credit at BYU wont transfer to Columbia. On their website it says they like it when you have college classes, but when you attend as a freshmen your slate gets wiped clean. Still I think you can test out of certain subjects.</p>

4

<p>wow you’re kind of like me :)</p>

<p>really. i’m asian, my test scores are very similar to yours, and columbia’s my top choice too. honestly, it’s a pretty big reach for us both, considering the fact that we’re asian and we don’t have really high test scores. i’m also taking courses online through a university. </p>

<p>i guess we’ll just hope they look at other parts of our application more seriously, like our essays and recommendations.</p>

5

<p>I think that you definitely have a good shot, well… better than most people at least. And your lower math scores shouldn’t hurt you too much if you’re applying to CC and not SEAS. But then again, I’m no admissions officer so its just my opinion. :)</p>

6

<p>By “heart rank”, you meant Life, right? Did you put “Life” on your application?</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>