<p>there isn't much time left!
asian female (orm)</p>
<p>freshman year: highest honors track for every class
sophmore year: highest honors track for every class and AP world history (4 on the exam)
junior year: highest honors track for every class and AP US History, AP Macroeconomics, AP Microeconomics, and AP Language (waiting for exam results..pretty sure mostly 5's, maybe one 4)
senior year: AP calc bc, AP literature, AP government, AP psychology, AP biology
**senior year i am dual enrolled in a creative writing class at harper college</p>
<p>SCORES:
ACT: 31 (i dont think im sending this in)
SAT: 2250
SAT IIS: 720 US history, 780 Lit (I think im retaking lit and trying for an 800 because i didnt prep at all for these)</p>
<p>EC's:
Class president soph and junior year, couldn't be senior year because of scheduling...(didn't have room for classboard in my schedule...i'm an honorary member now aka I do everything besides go to the lunch meetings)
NHS vice president
freshman advisory leader (had to give up my lunch period to do this)
varsity golf 4 years and co-captain senior year (some awards, but probably not important)
guest columnist for the school newspaper (this is technically not allowed because I don't have room for journalism in my schedule, but i did a try out column and they asked me to write for them anyway..a sort of self-study)
tutor at local elementary school four hours a week
80 hours volunteer at the library
published in TeenInk magazine, won the readers' choice award for january 2009
Model Congress
Student council honorary member
piano for 10 years+...won a bunch of statewide awwards, state certified by illinois music teachers association, completion of Level 1, 2, and 3....(much of this was done before high school, though, because I stopped competing when I developed arthiritis in my fingers)</p>
<p>teacher recs:
English teacher will write an outstanding letter
My counselor adores me and writes superb letters
i haven't decided who else yet</p>
<p>Essays are my strong suit, and i obviously have to wait for columbia supplement to come out but I am sure the essay will be the strongest part of my application.</p>
<p>Please help me!! thanks!</p>
<p>oops…i forgot to say that on a 5.0 scale, i have a gpa of 5.58 and i am top 1% of my class (545 students)</p>
<p>Just so you know, Columbia doesn’t use the common app. The electronic application will be available in the fall but if you want a head start, the paper version of this past year’s application can be found here (<a href=“http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/admissions/sites/admissions/files/webfm/firstyearapp.pdf[/url]”>http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/admissions/sites/admissions/files/webfm/firstyearapp.pdf</a>). The application doesn’t change a whole lot from year to year.</p>
<p>So…the truth is, no one can really accurately chance you for top schools like Columbia. In the Columbia pool, a student who is at the top of her class becomes average or maybe slightly above average. Considering your stats – a 2250 and 31 ACT is just in the middle of Columbia’s admit pool; your GPA is very high but Columbia turns down perfect 4.0 out of 4.0 all the time; most Columbia students are honors students and have taken the most rigorous courses their schools can offer; your SAT II scores are impressive but many Columbia applicants’ are.</p>
<p>You extra-curriculars may be what sets you apart – I’m jaded from having read lists of CC student’s extra-curriculars but yours for some reason piqued my interest a little more. I think the TeenInk magazine publication did it because I used to read that when I was a teenager, and then I realized that a lot of your ECs are connected and make sense – writing and leadership, but you do have some variety (piano). This (plus your note that you gave up your lunch period to coordinate the freshman advisory team and are volunteering for your class board regardless of not having an official position) gave me the sense that you are doing these things because you love them and not just to get into college, and that when you do get to Columbia or wherever you go, that you’ll be just as involved.</p>
<p>So I’m going to say – you look like the average Columbia applicant. So it’s not like it’s a long shot; you fall right in the middle of the pool stats-wise, and it will be your ECs and your essays and letters that set you apart. Good luck.</p>
<p>Where do you live? that counts a lot for Asian (ORM).</p>
<p>if its in the south, or far away from the northeast, you’d bring geographic diversity.</p>
<p>not really, I’m from a suburb near Chicago.</p>
<p>Question, on the application form it says that the ethnic information is optional? So am I allowed to not tell them I’m Asian?</p>
<p>It scarcely matters if your surname is distinctly Asian.</p>
<p>I don’t know that my last name is distincty Asian. My father changed his surname years and years before I was born, and though it is a variation of a distinctly asian name, the way it is now doesn’t sound Asian. I know it’s somewhat a desperate act, but I’m exploring every possibility of bettering my chances in this crapshoot. Would it be weird if I didn’t disclose my ethnicity?</p>
<p>Thanks Juillet for your input, that’s kind of the response I was expecting. I’m nervous because I feel like I’m a mediocre applicant…especially as an Asian. I plan on getting my standardized test scores up (which I think I can do this summer, considering I didn’t prep for any of them the first time). I also have entered in several prestigious writing competitions (9-10) and am waiting the results sometime in the fall before ED deadline.</p>
<p>Do you think this will increase my chances at all?</p>
<p>I think that you’ll find that being Asian isn’t really that big of a deal. I didn’t feel overly disadvantaged in the admissions process despite checking off the Asian/Pacific Islander box for ethnicity. Nevertheless, it’s perfectly acceptable to refrain from identifying your ethnicity if it makes you feel more comfortable.</p>
<p>"I also have entered in several prestigious writing competitions (9-10) and am waiting the results sometime in the fall before ED deadline.</p>
<p>Do you think this will increase my chances at all?"</p>
<p>Sure, as long as they are prestigious as you say. Generally, competitions at or above the state level gets notice.</p>
<p>I think they are prestigious…
they are at the national level, considering they are for literary magazines like New Millennium Writings, The Narrative Magazine, The Literal Latte, etc…they’re not student contests. I’ve also entered the race for the Bridport Prize which I think is a pretty big deal…I don’t think I’ll win but I’m hoping to be at least a semi-finalist. I’ve entered national student contests as well, including an essay contest for The Nation, but I’ve been focusing more on recognition from the literary world. Do you think I’m on the right track, provided I do end up placing or even winning any of these?</p>
<p>“Do you think I’m on the right track”</p>
<p>There is no formula for gaining admissions to a place like Columbia. Say you win all those contests, I wouldn’t be surprised either way if you got in or were denied.</p>
<p>On the more positive side, these national contests (if you win them) would better your chances. Unless, your ECs and your awards paint a very diffuse picture of you. They want a focused individual who knows what he is interested in.</p>
<p>Thanks, I’m working towards that “focused individual who knows what she is interested in”. I really don’t like padding my application with a bunch of insignificant stuff that doesn’t mean much to me. I really do participate in all my ECs because I love them, and not just for college.</p>
<p>I don’t notice a foreign language in your list of classes. Did you take one? Very important for the college.</p>
<p>yeah sorry…
yeah i took up to spanish 4.</p>