im a"typical" asian? CHANCE

Colleges and Universities A-Z Columbia University
1

<p>Objective:</p>

<pre><code>*** SAT I (breakdown): 800M 720R 730W- 2250
*** SAT II: 780 Math II, 800 Physics, (sent those 2 in for SEAS) also - 740 Lit 680 Bio
*** Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):** 3.9 weighted..my GPA dropped 2nd sem soph b/c i was sick and missed many classes. guidance cousl. wrote a supplement about this.
*** Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):** top 15%. read above
*** AP (place score in parenthesis):** Eng Language(5) Calc BC(5) Stats(5)
</code></pre>

<p>** * Senior Year Course Load:** English Lit AP, AP gov, AP physics, AP bio, and taking Calculus III at community college, US hist 2 , Spanish H
*** Major Awards : Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society Award, National Merit Program commended student, AMC 12, a few school awards
**
Subjective:</p>

<p>** * Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Basketball (4 yr, CAPT), Chamber Music Club (4 yrs, VP), Objectivism United (3 yrs, VP), Band H(4 yrs, Asst. Conductor), Math Club (3 yrs,Tres),
<em> Job/Work Experience:** local pizza place during summer and school year (both for 2 years)
</em> Volunteer/Community service: i have about >100 hours for teaching 3rd grader immigrants how to write/speak english
** * Summer Activities(2 yrs):** Soph-Jr: Program at Columbia, job at pizza place, band (plays at weddings-also won an award by lincoln center), had a Carnegie hall recital, tutored.
.Jr-Sr: internship at NASA, job at pizza place, band (weddings and such),tutor
** * Essays: very good
** * Teacher Recommendation: science teacher and math teacher both LOVED me =)
*** Counselor Rec: **incredible, i think he checked off "One of the top few ever encountered".and he chose me as 1 of the 5 students in school to attend leadership and ethics conferences</p>

<p>Other</p>

<pre><code>* State (if domestic applicant): NJ
* Country (if international applicant):
* School Type: Public
* Ethnicity: asian
* Gender: M
* Income Bracket: 60-70
*** Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):** did a summer program at Columbia, doing science honors program at columbia, and checked off 11/15 boxes in "How has your interest in Columbia developed?"(yes, i did stay overnight LOL). also my EC's might have helped
</code></pre>

<p>Reflection</p>

<pre><code>*** Strengths: **Summer program, SHP, NASA, recommendations, ECs, and super interest in columbia
</code></pre>

<p>** * Weaknesses:** GPA, Rank, (but i was sick! lol) </p>

<p>What are my chancesss!</p>

2

<p>ugh, you're just like me except a guy and a little bit better at everything.. damn. i have the same strengths minus the nasa and the summer program btu the same weaknesses except the soph year grades were due to moving and not to sickness i think sickness wins
btw i got deferred ed if you have a super interest why didn't you apply ed jw</p>

3

<p>let me state the obvious: You have a good chance.</p>

<p>really, there's nothing else anyone can say in the end except that.</p>

4

<p>hey, you are very qualified and have great scores (might want to downplay the Bio SAT II if possible)... admissions is a luck of the draw at these schools and just about noone's assured of getting in (except the IMO kids)... no doubt you definitely are on or above par in terms of academic ability though... wherever you land it's going to be a good, challenging place</p>

5

<p>Class rank hurts, but basketball could lift you over that bump. Two questions:</p>

<p>1) Is Columbia your first choice?
2) Are there other Asian students in your class that will be applying to your target schools?</p>

<p>New Jersey HS environment is very competitive among Asian applicants. I've seen kids with your profile "slip" to Johns Hopkins or NYU if they get lost in the shuffle of suburban AA applicants. Remember that these admissions directors think that we "all look alike".</p>

<p>I just worked with a student in Northern NJ with 5 Asian students at the top of his HS class (90% White, 10% Asian). Here are the EA results:</p>

<ol>
<li>MIT - Rejected </li>
<li>Penn (Wharton) - Deferred</li>
<li>Yale - Deferred</li>
<li>Stanford - Rejected</li>
<li>Stanford - Accepted *</li>
</ol>

<p>I worked with number 5, and he had a profile similar to yours, but with higher GPA but weaker EA (sports). I'm a college counselor, by the way. Not the type for rich kids, though.</p>

<p>The difference? The essays. Stanford's application required 5 of them. You can really shine with a good set of essays.</p>

<p>Good luck to you in your college applications process!</p>

6

<p>Yeah.. It's my 1st choice and there's like 5 other kids also applying. Do you think it would make a difference if I applied early? Btw, this is for seas not Columbia college.</p>

7

<p>Yes, early decision (ED) gives the applicant a decisive edge in the admissions process. If you are ABSOLUTELY sure, then apply early decision. Schools love ED because it increases their yield (percentage of students accepted who actually attend). ED applicants also tend to be wealthier, since they theoretically don't need to look at financial aid packages before making their college choice.</p>

<p>Some stats:</p>

<ul>
<li>42% of the Columbia Engineering class was admitted through Early Decision. </li>
<li>Overall admit rate for Columbia Engineering was 17.6%</li>
<li>ED rate for SEAS is 142/419 or 34%</li>
<li>regular rate for SEAS is 367/3026 or 15%</li>
</ul>

<p>While I understand that SEAS admissions criteria is not as high as Columbia College, it is still is very hard to get into as the stats show--even harder than Penn or Cornell, IMO. I am now based on the West Coast, and I hear of Columbia Engineering mentioned in the same breath as Stanford and UC Berkeley, the two strongest engineering programs in the West.</p>

<p>Also, have you considered the Combined Plan (aka "3-2")? I highly recommend it for all engineering students. While all of the top engineering schools grind out excellent engineers, they all tend to graduate engineers who can't read or write well (I know this as an engineering graduate of Cornell and UC Berkeley). You will be better prepared for life with a degree from both colleges. I wish I had done this myself.</p>

<p>Lastly, Columbia will likely not accept more than 2 applicants from your school, unless it's a magnet school like Bronx HS of Science or Bergen County Academy. This is especially true if all of the applicants are Asian. A sad, but true fact. But from the SEAS perspective, they would like to have as many high schools represented in their entering class as possible. Ideally, they would love to have only one student from as many high schools as possible, except from the elite public and private high schools.</p>

<p>Feel free to ask any more questions.</p>

<p>All the best to you during your remaining HS years!</p>

8

<p>youre not a typical asian. youre one in a million. I think I see even you here <a href="http://www.chinesesession.com/assets/photos/others/swim01.jpg%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.chinesesession.com/assets/photos/others/swim01.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>ha goodluck</p>

9

<p>You look solid, but you're not a URM, for the record.</p>

<p>It just depends on how they're feeling that day, to be honest; you're doubtless qualified for Columbia.</p>

10

<p>Thanks james. I'm really nervous for the response. Honestly, idk if my school is a magnet school, 10 kids got accepted last year (ed and rd). So I guess it's okay</p>

11

<p>It certainly sounds like your HS is a magnet school/elite HS. My understanding is that there are 10-15 such schools in NJ. When you go to Columbia (it now seems more likely, given your HS's placement record), be prepared to meet a lot of kids from places like Hunter College HS, Stuyvesant, and the like. I did not have the chance to attend a top HS, and I've always wished that I had the opportunity. That, and the double major that I keep telling college-bound students to consider...</p>