Columbia v. Harvard

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I am going to major in biology. Currently my SAT score is a 1900 (690 M, 630 R, 580 W). But based on practice tests I have been taking, my score has moved up to a 2140 (720 M, 680 R, 740 W). I am African American. My GPA is a 3.73 unweighted. </p>

<p>Subject Test
US History: 700
Math I: 690
Math II: 730</p>

<p>for ECs I have about 10..none were leadership and I did each for about 2 years.
Some were tutor for math and reading for underpriveleged kids.Volunteered at hospital. Violinist in school band. And played violin and djembe in my schools world ensemble.</p>

<p>I have a youtube channel (about 4 years) where I make math videos and show people how to use computer applications. </p>

<p>I am part of the NHS and I also have a couple of school awards.</p>

<p>Which one do you think I have a better shot at?</p>

2

<p>You should apply to both schools. Restrictive Early Action to Harvard and RD to Columbia. If you never apply, then you will never know.</p>

<p>You should emphasize the You Tube Channel and how you are helping others. That will be a unique EC and should differentiate yourself from others.</p>

<p>If you don’t get your desired SAT in September, then take the ACT in October so you can still apply by end of October.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

3

<p>You have a better shot at Columbia.</p>

<p>If you retake and score as well as you have been practicing, you would become competitive for admission at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, and secure admission at Columbia, etc.</p>

<p><a href=“http://media.collegeboard.com/digitalServices/pdf/SAT-Percentile-Ranks-by-Gender-Ethnicity-2011.pdf[/url]”>http://media.collegeboard.com/digitalServices/pdf/SAT-Percentile-Ranks-by-Gender-Ethnicity-2011.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Just keep taking and reviewing practice tests, and you should improve with time.</p>

4

<p>Thanks guys. The advice was really good. I will keep trying.</p>

5

<p>spoiled hipster vs spoiled hipster…flip a coin!</p>

6

<p>lol, your race is going to save you from complete rejection; i’m confused as to why you posted your stats because it has nothing to do with the question you’re asking… everyone always has a better shot at Columbia over Harvard unless they’re Harvard legacy or have some other sort of connection to Harvard.</p>

<p>tl;dr: Columbia.</p>

7

<p>Yea. I first wanted to ask which one is better if you want to study biology? However I decided to just ask what are my chances. maybe i should have changed the title…o well.</p>

<p>nd…lol I know…being black does have some advantages.</p>

8

<p>Are you also looking at safety schools? Those stats may make it difficult for you with the ivies. Good luck, though.</p>

9

<p>It’s the difference between an acceptance rate of 7.4% (Columbia), versus an acceptance rate of slightly below 6% (Harvard). Your chances are slim at either school, not necessarily because of your statistics, but because of the small percentages of applicants accepted. </p>

<p>Anyone who tells you that you WILL get into a school is being completely and utterly dishonest with you. Even if you raise your scores you will NOT automatically “secure an admission at Columbia.” That statement was untrue and foolish. What IS true, is that the better your score the more competitive your application will become to both schools.</p>

<p>And your comment “being black does have its advantages” does not, I hope, mean that you think you will secure admissions to these schools BECAUSE you are black. You need to submit the most competitive applications you can, and not assume that race will simply get you in, if your applications are not competitive. I feel comfortable saying this as a person of color myself. Don’t coast on race. Work on being really competitive!</p>

<p>I also hope that you have a list of match schools and safeties, as both Harvard AND Columbia are extremely difficult to get into. Of course apply to both, if you really like these schools. Absolutely apply. But please have an intelligent application strategy that includes reach, match, and safety schools.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

10

<p>lol…i know…but im saying that I have a better chance at getting into these schools because I am an URM and not an ORM</p>

<p>Yea i definetly have a couple of safety school. better to be safe than sorry</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

11

<p>[Top</a> 100 - Lowest Acceptance Rates | Rankings | US News](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/lowest-acceptance-rate]Top”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/lowest-acceptance-rate)</p>

<p><a href=“Office of Institutional Research | Brown University”>Office of Institutional Research | Brown University;

<p><a href=“http://www.provost.harvard.edu/institutional_research/CDS_2011-2012_Final.pdf[/url]”>http://www.provost.harvard.edu/institutional_research/CDS_2011-2012_Final.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Unlike most of its peers, Columbia does not release its Common Data Set for public viewing. However, Brown, a similarly popular and likewise selective school, does, and you can compare for yourself the relative strength of its incoming class, relative to that Harvard’s:</p>

<p>Brown | CR | M | W
700-800 62.00% 67.00% 64.00%
600-699 30.00% 27.00% 30.00%
500-599 8.00% 6.00% 6.00%
400-499 0.00% 0.00% 0.00%</p>

<p>Harvard | CR | M | W</p>

<p>700-800 73.48% 77.09% 74.82%
600-699 22.57% 21.10% 22.24%
500-599 3.82% 1.81% 2.68%
400-499 0.13% 0.27% 0.00%</p>

<p>Schools like Columbia and Brown, although they draw an enormous applicant pool and must reject a substantial number of applicants, simply cannot compare to Harvard with respect to attracting a critical mass of truly exception students, and are willing and must settle for statistically inferior applicants.</p>

<p>The fact that you are an African-American male (?) interested in studying STEM, that you’ve done respectably well academically and will likely score in the 99+ percentile on the SAT I relative to your fellow African-American applicants, make you an extremely desirable candidate.</p>

12

<p>Kwu, you cannot logically or legitimately use Brown’s statistics to make your never-ending case against Columbia. The fact that you think this is even an intellectually respectable argument to make suggests one of two things to me: either you are completely oblivious to your own intellectual dishonesty; or, you think we are all gullible fools.</p>

<p>As an actual Harvard grad, which you are not, I find your snobbery and faux-Ivy superciliousness (expressed on many threads) exhausting.</p>

13

<p>This is intended as a correction of Kwu’s dishonest comparison of Columbia and Harvard, in which he actually used Brown’s test scores to “prove” that Columbia accepts “statistically inferior applicants” than does Harvard. That isn’t even logical.</p>

<p>Here are the middle 50% range of SAT scores of the three schools.</p>

<p>Brown. Reading: 25%, 630; 75%, 740
Math: 25%, 650; 75%, 760
Writing: 25% 640; 75%, 750</p>

<p>Columbia. Reading: 25%, 690; 75%, 780
Math: 25%, 700; 75%, 790
Writing: 25%, 690; 75%, 780</p>

<p>Harvard. Reading: 25%, 690; 75%, 790
Math: 25%, 700; 75%, 800
Writing: 25%, 690; 75%, 790</p>

<p>As this shows, Columbia’s and Harvard’s Sat scores are remarkably similar. Columbia’s stats have no relation whatsoever to those of Brown.</p>

<p>Source, Allen Grove, “SAT Scores for Ivy League Admission, A Side-By-Side Comparison of Ivy League Admission Data.” About.com College Admissions</p>

<p>Let’s provide HONEST data on CC, OK?</p>

<p>Harvard and Columbia are very different schools, each with its own strengths. They are both very hard to get into for anyone, though of course Harvard’s admission percentage is smaller.</p>

14

<p>Correction of my above post. Sentence (lines 2 and 3) should actually read: to “prove” that Columbia “must settle for statistically inferior applicants.”</p>

15

<p>To smear my character is itself disingenuous and, importantly, does not address or refute my arguments.</p>

<p>My main conclusions are the following:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>If OP were to score in the 98th+ percentile on the SAT, given his academic, extracurricular, and ethnic background, he would be likely admitted to Harvard and very likely admitted to Columbia.</p></li>
<li><p>Harvard College is more selective than Columbia College.</p></li>
</ol>

16

<p>African American female actually but I understand your point KWU.</p>

17

<p>I think you have a good shot at both schools, especially since you are a minority. Your scores aren’t bad, but if you could crack 2000+ on your SATs I think you could significantly raise your chances. And of course, if you yourself notice your lack of leadership on ECs, I’d get some fast because, chances are, the admissions officers will notice this too.</p>

<p>However, I would say your chances are better at Columbia simply because Harvard is…well, Harvard.</p>