<p>thanks, lynda</p>
<p>i look forward to seeing you too</p>
<p>Hello everyone. I've been reading the Columbia forum since about a week before the decisions came out, but I've yet to actually register and post anything until now.</p>
<p>Decision: Accepted (SEAS)</p>
<p>Stats:</p>
<p>SAT: 800M 790W 690CR (The CR section is not a friend of mine)
SAT II: 800 Math IIc, 790 Chemistry
AP: 5 on Chem, 4 on Music Theory. Taking Psychology, BC Calc, and Physics C this year.
GPA: 3.6 ~ 3.7...I'm not sure of the exact figure. This is probably a bit low for ivy league schools (at least I thought it was), but I go to a notoriously brutal public high school in Palo Alto, California. I think it has something to do with being literally across the street from Stanford. I can honestly say that I don't know a single person with a 4.0 unweighted GPA here...mine is about 4.1 weighted, because of my very heavy AP and honors load.
Rank: My school doesn't rank.
Other stats: Accomplished musician. I double on the tenor and soprano saxophones (I play alot of jazz), and also play bassoon (even my sax teacher has been telling me for two years that bassoon is a ticket into college). I sent in a CD supplement with my app. Founder and president of Jazz Improvisation Club. Avid golfer - I have a handicap of 3, for anyone that knows what a handicap is, but I've never played on the school team. I'm not a big fan of playing competitively, although I have done it and won a few minor tournaments. I volunteer at the Boys and Girls Club in East Palo Alto, and also as a free tutor for peers at Paly. I also intern in the Mechanical Engineering Department at Stanford. I filled the spaces with other more minor things as well, but those are the activities I take seriously.</p>
<p>Subjective:</p>
<p>Essay: I talked about a few things, but my biggest focus was my very interesting background - my family is primarily Lebanese, but is also German, Irish, and Cherokee. Odd, I know. My parents came from blue-collar families in Louisville, Kentucky, and were married at the ages of 16 and 18. My father has had a very successful career and is now a software executive here in the Silicon Valley. I have also lived and travelled extensively throughout the world, and told a story about how I related to a man I met in Xian, China, who had worked for the Chinese government his entire life (That probably sounds strange, but it worked in the context of my essay).
Teacher Recs: I had the head of the science department write my first rec. Her rec was very solid - she said that I was one of the top science students at the school (Sorry. I can't think how to phrase that without sounding arrogant). My other teacher rec came from my junior year math teacher. She didn't let me read her rec, but I'm sure it was equally solid.
Counselor Rec: My counselor didn't know me at all. I'm sure she saw that I had an unusually demanding course load and had done well in it, and testified to that, but she didn't know me personally and probably had no anecdotes or personal stories whatsoever. I'll assume that that averages out to be mediocre.
Hook: Music and my internship at Stanford. I'd actually be really curious to know what the music department at Columbia thought of my CD, but I think it was pretty decent even compared to people applying as music majors. I work with a team of postdocs and professors at Stanford applying nanotechnology to fuel cell design. I figure these helped alot.
Interview: I was very pleased with my interview. I'm not sure what I said exactly, but I somehow impressed my interviewer. When I emailed her to tell her that I was accepted she told me that she gave me, "very high reccomendations".</p>
<p>Location/Person:</p>
<p>State or Country: California
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: I say Caucasian, because as far as looks go the German and Irish genes won out in me. But as I mentioned above, my ethnicity is debatable. My little sister looks far more Lebanese than I do.
Gender: Male</p>
<p>If any other accepted students would like to talk, my AIM screen name is dmurphyiv. I'll be going literally across the country next fall, so I'd like to at least meet a few people beforehand. Good luck to those who were deferred and applied RD, and I look forward to meeting everyone in the fall.</p>
<p>I guess I have gone through the most depressing moments so here to put my stats. And guys, please help me see if there are anything I can do to improve my chance of getting in CC in the RD round. I am a international student from mainland China (I know that is bad enough :P ), so I am really not having much confidence in myself </p>
<p>Decision: Deferred</p>
<p>Stats:
SAT: 2040 M800/W630/CR610 (I know its really low for CC, but my mother language is not Eng
)
SAT IIs: Math2 800, Physics 770, US History 640(learned it by myself in 2 months)
GPA: UW3.93
Rank: 3/480</p>
<p>Subjective:
Essays: all of my foreign teachers and friends said its brilliant
Teacher Recs: nice but a little too general about me
Counselor Rec: great cuz hes been my great friend for four years.
Hook (if any): exchange student to USA for one semester; Best Style Delegate in the National Model United Nations Conference
Weakness: Guess I asked for too much money
I know CC is not need-blind for international students, esp those from China
however its really kinda impossible for me to afford it without much fa </p>
<p>Location/Person: China
School Type: Public HS, I would say among the best three in our province
Ethnicity: Chinese
Gender: Female</p>
<p>Other Factors: didnt get any interview
(thats what I am really good at)
General Comments:
to those who were accepted: Millions of congrats:)
and to all the other deferrals: we still get chances
to those who get rejected: I know you are really feeling bad now, but I believe all of you will go to somewhere you belong. Life is life...</p>
<p>Congrats to the accepted, and good luck for the deferred and rejected applicants. Remember, there really is no one right school for anyone, and if you even put out a credible application to an ivy league school, you'll be accepted to other schools that you may eventually love even more -- from the Dartmouth board (yeah, I'm sure someone's said it before, but I'm not leafing through all 14 pages of your thread -- we only have 5!)</p>
<p>Deferred</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SAT: 2210 (V 770, M 760, W 680)
[</em>] SAT IIs: Math 2c 800, Physics 790, US history 790, Chemistry 780
[<em>] GPA: 3.8(rising trend)
[</em>] Rank: N/A
[<em>] Other stats: Some awards in math, USNCO qualifier
[/ul]Subjective:[list]
[</em>] Essays: All my teachers and everyone who read it thought it was creative and good but oh well
[<em>] Teacher Recs: idk
[</em>] Counselor Rec: my current counselor said my former counselor's rec was great
[li] Hook (if any): Came to the US last year from Korea</p>[/li]
<p>Location/Person:</p>
<p>[<em>] State or Country: Virginia
[</em>] School Type: Public
[<em>] Ethnicity: Korean
[</em>] Gender: Male</p>
<p>Other Factors:
General Comments: I don't want to go to Columbia anymore.</p>
<p>ACCEPTED!!!!! I can't believe it...
Columbia was my dream school since freshman year:D
I was worried about my low test scores, but I guess they seriously considered my art portfolio and my numerous awards.
I hope that my acceptance will provide hope to low scorerers that have different talents.
If any one wants my detailed stats, please PM me!</p>
<p>wow... rhom i can't believe you just did that</p>
<p>are you saying that us asians being competitive is a bad thing? i'm sure imiracle doesnt appreciate your comment btw. think about what youre saying before you post.</p>
<p>good god i hope you were not accepted rhom.</p>
<p>who the hell signs up an account just to start a fight?!</p>
<p>... seriously. you're doing it on the penn forum too.</p>
<p>Rhom apparently works construction and has been shot at. I know this because he's been berating me on aim to "go back to Lebanon" for the past ten minutes. I've actually never been there, but I'd like to go some day. Some people...</p>
<p>Are you even aware how ironic what you just said is?</p>
<p>And by the way, this is why the rest of the world hates America. Thanks for screwing it up for all of us, *******.</p>
<p>That's right, I'm a Lebanese/Cherokee white supremacist. Feel free to ignore the fact that my closest friends are Israeli, Asian, and Indian (to name a few), and that I consider myself very lucky to have had the opportunity to travel around the world and be exposed to different cultures. I'm glad that you unmasked me so that I didn't have to admit to it myself.</p>
<p>Can I go do my calculus homework now? You amused me for a little while, but now it's starting to get kind of old. Do you want something?</p>
<p>I live thirty minutes from San Francisco, so gay references aren't particularly insulting. I have gay friends, too. Thanks for reminding me. </p>
<p>Now I'm going to resort to the same tactics I used with my little sisters when they were two. If everyone ignores you, you'll get bored and shut up eventually.</p>
<p>Bye.</p>
<p>dear rhom,</p>
<p>i like dmurphyiv.</p>
<p>=D</p>
<p>can mods please just split &lock or delete the last part of this thread? stop trying to get the ED decision thread locked!</p>
<p>...bonzai? </p>
<p>miniature tree?</p>
<p>no, he meant bonzai as a derogatory asian remark.</p>