<p>@good4college</p>
<p>yes i’m a URM, i was born in dominican republic and immigrated here. i’ve spent more or less half of my life in dominican republic at this point. i hope that’s a strong enough “hook” for me, lol</p>
<p>@bioblade: That makes sense. But the college office said they have quotas because they like diversity. And at the end they take ~7 from my school.</p>
<p>SAT’s aren’t just one saturday… it’s a test of all the knowledge you should have from your high school experience, so it’s like a quick test of your gpa. besides, you can prepare and take the test many times. anyways, i still think that gpa and sat’s are still below ethnicity… which is sad really…</p>
<p>^^^Not true. My school does not teach grammar whatsoever. And that’s what the writing section is mainly about. As for math, it’s algebra…must people taking the SAT are in Cal and may have forgotten some algebra stuff. </p>
<p>Reading could fall under what you said though…</p>
<p>@thetwinsnacks the SAT is not a test of the knowledge you should have gathered in high school. if that were the case then there would be precalc and trig on the test as well. and it would not be timed.</p>
<p>the SAT, and this has been said many times by the collegeboard, princeton review, etc, is a test that evaluates your ability to play the numbers right. if you’ve ever looked at an SAT study book, you should notice that the majority of that book isn’t focusing on the concepts that you need to know for the SAT, but on strategies for how to exploit the scoring system and get yourself the most points in the least amount of time. that’s what the SAT is about, it’s about your ability to quickly answer pointless questions in a 20 to 25 minute span by doing the least amount of work.</p>
<p>the PSSA is a test of what you’ve learned in high school. graduation tests are about what you’ve learned in high school. the SAT is just another way to categorize students into smart, kinda smart, not too smart, and brilliant, and therefore simplify the admissions process for colleges. even if it doesn’t make the process all that simpler, obviously it must help somewhat if we’re still using such a skewed and obsolete testing system.</p>
<p>“it’s about your ability to quickly answer pointless questions in a 20 to 25 minute span by doing the least amount of work.”</p>
<p>Precisely. It’s an IQ test in disguise - you’d find most of Americans would get rather angry if they started using IQ tests in admissions though, so they try to get around that with the SAT.</p>
<p>Agree, SAT is kind of IQ test, at least partially true. But besides your IQ or talent, you have to learn these basic skills and knowledge throughout your K-12 career. SAT is used to explain GPA, and support GPA. Without SAT, 4.0 and 5.0 GPAs mean far less than their significance.</p>
<p>The SAT has good intentions – but I agree it’s mostly a game. A game that’s often won based on the amount of disposable income you can to devote to playing it.</p>
<p>The SAT is certainly not an IQ test. All you have to do in order to be successful is practice and become well-acquainted with the types of questions on the test. For a few people, of course, acing the SAT will come naturally. For a much larger group, it’s possible to ace the SAT after a few months of painstaking (I shouldn’t say that; I actually find SATs that don’t count pretty fun) practice and preparation.</p>
<p>It is a “Reasoning Test”…so I think that IQ test would fit it nicely.</p>
<p>if your GPA and SATs are well out of range, these become the most important factors, and will likely get you rejected.</p>
<p>If your GPA and SATs are in range, they matter less and other factors come into play.</p>
<p>very important factors:</p>
<p>national/international recognition for a skill / activity (examples: patents in your name, tae kwon do junior olympics medalist, national achievements in sports, music album getting sold etc.)</p>
<p>a truly outstanding or awful interview, like if you are the single best person your interviewer interviewed that year or if you were one of the worst students your interviewer interviewed that year.</p>
<p>severe disability (like blindness) while still having a good all round record.</p>
<p>bad teacher or counselor recommendation</p>
<p>disciplinary action like being expelled from a school or suspended for academic dishonesty.</p>
<p>being a recruited athlete who is going to make a significant difference to a Columbia team</p>
<p>important:</p>
<p>great recommendations
great / awful essays
extra-curricular leadership
significant community service
significant research
working a full or nearly full time job
tough courseload</p>
<p>not so important, but still considered</p>
<p>SAT 2 scores
GPA and SAT scores if they are within range: like having a 2350 vs. a 2200 or a 4.0 UW in stead of a 3.85 UW
being a member of school activities without demonstrated dedication or leadership
average interview, which tells columbia more about you
good but not great teacher recs
average essay that reveals interesting qualities about you
small, part time jobs you have held
art supplements which do not blow them away
books you read, films you watched etc.
legacy / race</p>
<p>not considered
body type
picture you send them (unless it’s profane)
whether or not you received an interview
most personal interests (like cycling, playing cards, watching movies etc) if they find out more about you through a rec or interview report</p>
<p>What would you consider out of range for Columbia SAT-wise? (1890?)</p>
<p>1890 is well out of range, if your GPA is amazing, this will help compensate, but it’s already an uphill batter. People do get in with 1800s, but they tend to be exemplary otherwise, with a couple of factors compelling Columbia to take them and be confident in their success.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info confidentialcoll.</p>
<p>Thanks for the great summary of the relative importance of different holistic factors, conncoll! It makes me wonder how I got in, though! ;)</p>
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<p>no worries, this is just what I have gathered from talking to admissions reps and looking at my ex-classmates both in college and HS.</p>
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<p>the vast majority of acceptees, will not have those very important factors, but will have scores and grades in range and hit on a few of those important factors and a few of those considered factors.</p>
<p>My SAT is just off the range, but i am a URM, and i did make school history in one of my sports. Hope that works.</p>
<p>confidentialcoll:
Wonderful summary. But it is better to ignore “patent” and “…working a full or nearly full time job”. How many HS students have this fancy achievement–patent? How many of patents are useful? A full or nearly full time job is not a typical case in application.</p>
<p>New discovery on GPA and Test (SAT/ACT etc):</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/columbia-university/1041125-gpa-sat-numeric-weight-assigned-ucsd.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/columbia-university/1041125-gpa-sat-numeric-weight-assigned-ucsd.html</a>
or
<a href=“http://www.ucsd.edu/prospective-students/freshmen/eval-process.html[/url]”>http://www.ucsd.edu/prospective-students/freshmen/eval-process.html</a></p>
<p>^^I’m under the impression that by “very important factors” he meant those that are out of the ordinary that could help to ASSURE a spot. Not things that are very important to the average persons admission. Ex: “blindness” - obviously not a common thing, but a blind national athlete/scholar can pretty much assure one a spot.</p>