Incoming Junior. Advice??

Colleges and Universities A-Z Columbia University
1

Hi everyone! I’m an incoming junior and I’m planning on doing EA to Columbia. My freshman year was very weak, as I had no motivation and didn’t realized I was (gasp) growing up. My sophomore year was much better, but I’m hoping the numerous EC’s I’m doing now along with the AP’s will help give me (some) chance of Columbia.

Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.8 // Weighted: 3.88, 4.3 by senior year.
SAT: 1220 (sophomore year, never studied), but I’m retaking the PSAT this year and I’m already studying
Rank: Unsure, but my school is top in the state and theres no chance I’ll have an impressive rank, even with impressive grades. It actually drives me nuts, I hope rank isn’t as important has people say.
AP: Comparative Government, Physics, U.S. History, English, Senior: All AP’s

Extracurriculars: Middle School/Freshman Year: Community Theater for 5 years, LIT/Volunteer counselor for Boys and Girls Club 2 Years,

This Summer: Intern for the Campaign Manager of a major political campaign in AZ (Save Our Schools, to be specific), Field Intern for my counties democratic party, selective educational program by my states ACLU focused on campaigns, activism, grassroots organizing, and data analysis, research analysis for the Secular Coalition (a non profit of lawyers who keep state and church separated). A total of 200 hours this summer.

Upcoming Year: Model U.N., DECA (going to be president senior year), Speech and Debate, starting an Activism Club. Various involvement in upcoming campaigns.

Essays: I’m a good writer they’ll turn out well
Teacher Recommendation: unsure which ones
Counselor Rec: I have a good relationship with her, but I’m going to try and get my principal to write me one.

Applying for Financial Aid?: yes
State (if domestic applicant): AZ
Country (if international applicant): US
School Type: Public (medium, ~1k high school students)
Ethnicity: white (middle eastern, but that isn’t an option on most forms)
Gender: male
Income Bracket: $125k

Most of my grades when I graduate are speculative, but I have no doubt I can get straight A’s the next to years. The only thing I am unsure of is Leadership Positions. For many of my internships I have been a leader, organizing volunteers and events, but no title. If anyone has advice it would be appreciated.

I want to study political science, so I hope the activism I have done/ will do in the upcoming years will make me stand out.

2

I dont think Columbia has early action. They only have early decision.

If that is true, my honest advice to you is to not waste an early decision application on Columbia with your current SAT. You have a year plus to improve it. Your SAT is a massive issue and to be brutally honest, your ECs are nothing exceptional in the context of top schools like Columbia. Your GPA is not the main problem with Columbia.

If you’re applying ED to Columbia because you absolutely positively cannot pass up a chance at the school, improve your SAT not your PSAT and then do ED.

If you’re applying ED because a part of you wants to get the college application process over with early, I highly recommend applying to a lower ranked school.

3

Hey there,

You’re only an incoming junior, so I’d say things look quite promising, especially your extracurricular side!

Really make sure to get that 4.0 from now on. It’s easy to say, but it’s harder to execute. If certain study habits/not asking teachers for help/taking classes of little interest to you – whatever it is – caused those couple B’s, make sure to set a plan on how to fix that before the school year starts. If you can get straight A’s your junior and senior years with a significantly tougher course-load, those few imperfect grades during your freshman and sophomore years will matter much less.

Like Syrxis said, direct your studying more towards the SAT, rather than the PSAT. I understand that the PSAT is valuable for scholarships, like NMS, but the SAT is what really matters for college admissions. If you go through a book and study lots, or take a class/Khan Academy, bumping up your score is totally doable! That being said, if you can’t bring up your score close to a 1500 or above, you will be at slight disadvantage with the SAT’s. You’ll need to make that up through other aspects of your application, like SAT subject tests. Some students do a lot better on subject tests than the regular SAT because it’s more knowledge-based and less critical thinking-based. Whipping up close-to or perfect scores on those can also make up for any imperfect grades.

Now, onto your extracurriculars. What I like about them is they really show your passion for our political state and the betterment of our communities, which you can really draw from in your essays. In terms of leadership, you don’t need a position title to show that you’re a leader. In fact, inventing your own leadership position that has promising influence on your community can be better and really show your ambition. My advice would be to expand on this activism club that you plan to start. Don’t restrict it to just your school if you believe in the cause – feel free to expand! Additionally, racking up some state/national titles in Model UN, DECA and Speech and Debate your junior and senior years will certainly help lots.

If you have more questions, feel free to DM me. I was admitted into Columbia’s Class of 2021 (chose Harvard), and had similar extracurriculars to you. Also, don’t feel discouraged if people put you down. You’re still young, and even if your grades and SAT score didn’t line up the way you wanted them to, you have 2 years to change that.

Hope I helped.

4

My SAT score was actually the PSAT I took sophomore year, so I am certainly going to be studying a lot for the actually SAT this coming spring. As for ED, I am super passionate about getting into Columbia.