I personally have been though a lot in my life. I amc currently a sophomore going to be a junior this upcoming year. I went through depression through my 2nd semester of Freshman year to 2nd semester of Sohmore year due to my father die-ing when I was little. I screwed up my grades pretty badly this past semester. I also found out that I am dyslexic at the very end of my sophomore second semester. Currently my GPA is 3.03 in weighted. I will be taking two AP’s this upcoming year, and 2 honors. I calculated that if I do well this upcoming junior year both semesters, that I would receive a 3.4 un weighted GPA by the end of my junior year, if I do well.
I talked to my college counselor at school and she said that there is a possibility that I might have chance into columbia. she said if I kick ass this upcoming Junior Year ( Which I am completely determined to), and explain on my college essays what I have gone through and show my progress that I could have a chance.
Also, I have taken many practice ACT’s and have scored 30-32 on all of them. I have also MANY Extra Curriclars on my hand. With being on the Drama Club and I’m every play my school has put on, having my very own fashion blog that is successful, Speech & Debate, AVID, MUN, French Club Secretary, bring apart of my schools student council, yearbook, dancing after school, and having well over 300 hours of volunteering.
I just would like some feedback from you guys on what my chances are in. It has been my dream school since I was in the 6th grade.
Unfortunately, its extremely unlikely you will get into Columbia as an undergraduate. Its almost a requirement to be in the top 10% of your hs class, and is basically a requirement to be in the top 25%. There is always grad school though!
puzzled123 is overlooking just how holistic a process Columbia employs in its admission of undergraduate students. Although your weighted GPA is a bit under their middle 50, as far as I know, Columbia doesn’t have a cut-off for weighted GPA’s. In addition, your life experiences and awesome extracurriculars will add dimension to your application. Honestly, I say apply.
Unfortunately, I do not think Columbia or Vanderbilt would be realistic options for you. Although you do have a complicated history, they have so many kids applying with perfect grades and test scores, they are going to take them instead of you. I would say if you really love Vanderbilt and Columbia, apply anyway. All they can say is no. If you even want to have a shot at these schools, I would try to up that ACT score. For a 27-31, roughly 19% of applicants got into Columbia while 80% of applicants who scored from a 32-36 got it. On the other hand, I think you have a good chance at Villanova. Best of luck!
Sorry to hear about your father. Unfortunately, your GPA is way too low for Columbia. There is no way you could get accepted there. Villanova is a chance, but you don’t have the grades for Vanderbilt. You need to continue to raise that GPA. Good luck.
@123bcc “On the other hand, I think you have a good Chance at Villanova”
lol. This kid has no idea what he is talking about.
From Villanova for entering class:
The middle 50 percent range of SAT scores was 1300-1440/1600
The middle 50 percent range of the composite ACT score was 30-33
GPA range for admitted students was: 3.80-4.21/4.00 on a weighted scale
@MrInformed it also really depends what she decides to major in. If he is applying to Nursing, Engineering or Business school, then yes the chances are slim, but if is interested in the liberal arts school, it is definitely not as difficult to get in. That GPA statistic is weighted and includes these other schools. The acceptance rate to Villanova’s Business, Engineering, and Nursing schools are significantly lower than that of the liberal arts school. Also, her ACT is going to be with the 50th percentile. Thanks though
@MrInformed Plus she has a lot of extracurriculars. Villanova takes a holistic approach to the application process, so again I think she has a fair shot.
@123bcc I have the strangest feeling that you are a naive high school student. I truly hope you are already in college/post college…
In either case, you are strongly underestimating the quality of entering students into Villanova. I’m not sure about you, but I’m actually a Villanova student in the College of Liberal Arts and Science and I can tell you right off the bat that Villanova places a pretty high emphasis on HS GPA. a 3.0 WEIGHTED high school GPA is far below the average of a 3.8-4.2
Also bear in mind that Villanova has a fairly large athletic program so a sizeable number of these students do enter with grades/gpa that are below the school average (I should preface by saying there are many athletes that I know who were also did extremely well in high school). So, if you plan on entering Villanova, in order to have a “GOOD” shot at getting in, you really need to have scores that are at or above the average.
Now several other factors could help the OP in admissions. 1. Is she a URM? 2. Her villanova connections. 3. Her family connections. 4. Where she lives.
However, even if she was a URM living in North Dakota, to quickly say that she has a “good” chance at getting into Villanova is flat out misleading…
Also, while the OP has a huge list of EC’s, there appears to be a lack of substantial EC’s besides drama. For example, besides the fact that the OP is part of Model UN or Speech and debate, she does not mention any substantive achievmenets. What national conferences/awards has she won in Model UN? There are several Villanova students that I know who have done extremely well such as winning national conferences in Model UN and becoming state champions for Speech and Debate.
So yes, Villanova likes to see EC’s, but they do need to be substantial.
In the end, the OP is still a rising junior. If we were to solely look at her achievements at the present moment and assume that she was applying to Villanova, I would argue that her chances are unfortunately quite low. It won’t be an easy walk in the park to get into Nova. I do ask for her to come back a year from now and update us on her scores/stats/EC’s. Then we can really give her a solid answer.