<p>vesalvay, mind sharing your stats? Why do you think you got the global scholars thing? Awesome..</p>
<p>Denzera,
Janitorial duties are not uncommon for elementary, junior high, and high school students in Korea. Pretty much all public schools in Korea expect students to be responsible for cleaning the school. I've never heard of any public school in Korea that actually hires a full time janitor.
Basically Korean students split up cleaning tasks and usually partake in them after school. I remember the good old days of sweeping the classroom, scrubbing toilets, and mopping hallways back in elementary school when I was in Korea. Thank god I'm in North America.
OP don't you have to complete your military service sometime soon?</p>
<p>yaya and rwe112 - thanks for explaining that. Wow, I had no idea. That really is effed up, you're right. Rocks-Paper-Scissors to determine who cleans up everyone else's potty misfortunes? Yikes. I'd have been a total headcase by the time I was 10 years old.</p>
<p>OK, so anyway, to take the original post at face value:</p>
<ul>
<li>Your scores and analytical skillsets are clearly first-rate. It's clear that you are smarter than the test in all of those cases.<br></li>
<li>In those respects you'd make a good applicant to an MIT or Caltech. Why are you posting only on the Columbia board? Not that Columbia would be a bad fit for you necessarily, just that:</li>
<li>While top schools don't necessarily want completely well-rounded kids who are pretty good at everything but excel at nothing, they also don't want completely one-dimensional people either. What can you show to demonstrate that you have deep thinking in other areas besides math and science? For one thing, your verbal skills are clearly pretty good. What I'm saying though, is that the burden of proof is on you to explain why you wouldn't be a total "grind", staying in the library 16 hours a day, once you hit campus.</li>
<li>The community-service and tutoring stuff is a good part of the story, if anything that's your #2 point that jumps out at the reader (after #1, this kid can think analytically).</li>
<li>Your willingness to study on your own for all those tests, independent of school, is a BIG PLUS, not a minus for being an "impulsive risk taker". Those who have the willingness to take risks and the ability to turn them into successes are at a huge premium, especially in america's business world. In fact, if you have other examples of "entrepreneurial" behavior on your part, they might go well into other parts of your application.</li>
<li>Think ahead to your Why-Columbia blurb. Test out some ideas for why you'd like to go to columbia and specifically columbia, we'd welcome anything posted on this board except a fully prepared blurb that you'd submit word-for-word.</li>
</ul>
<p>Oh, and:
[quote]
Last edited by rwe112 : 07-13-2007 at 10:41 AM. Reason: my words for pee and poo were both four letters long and asterisks, so it was hard to tell what i was trying to say
[/quote]
<em>laughs</em> oh, I think we would've gotten the idea :P</p>
<p>Questions the application reader will have will include:</p>
<ul>
<li>Why will this person take better advantage of the resources available here than the next 10 applicants?</li>
<li>Why didn't he take any APs or SAT2s in a history subject, foreign language, literature, music (if he's such a musician), etc?</li>
<li>Is this someone i'd like to meet and have lunch with?</li>
</ul>
<p>Anticipate how they'd perceive your application in those contexts, and consider the best way to present yourself.</p>
<p>Denzera, thanks so much for the in-depth reply! I love you.
I opted for Columbia before any other school mainly because I have a friend who lives in NYC that I can live with, saving myself dorm costs. I also want to attend a school where I will have access to excellent liberal arts courses(I'm planning to attend law school later). And what location in the country would provide a better night life?? Columbia seemed a shoe-in!
My inital strategy was to show the school how dedicated I was to math/science(hence the APs and SATIIs exclusive to them). I didn't think there would be any point in plunking down hundreds of dollars to take tests in subjects that wouldn't apply to me. Taking a SAT test on my first-language(Korean) etc. or Chinese(what i studied in school) seemed irrelevent. Apparently, I thought wrong:(
I was also planning to let my personality show through in my essays and if I had a chance to, an interview or two, but more as an afterthought than anything else. I should really put some more thought into this, I didn't realize it would be that big of a deal.
Any suggestions on what to do during the 3 months of time I have left??</p>
<p>Thank you so much once again! If I make it in, not only will I buy you lunch, I will bestow upon you the privilege of getting drunk with me on the finest in less-than-3-dollars-a-bottle-yet-20-percent-alcohol-Korean liquor.</p>
<p>P.S. Yayatime, I actually had my physical examination for the military today:( I'm planning on serving after finishing my studies in America. I'm running away, pretty much. They're going to send me straight to the barracks as soon as I arrive at the airport on my return haha.</p>
<p>Now I'm getting all nostalgic. It's too bad you missed out on high school in Korea! All the tasty beatings for pretty much no reason at all, the classic 'heads on the floor!' punishment, filling up the bottom lockers with water bottles containing soju to get drunk when the teachers weren't around? Good times, good times.</p>
<p>rwe - a few disconnected thoughts for you.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>It's a waste of about half of the columbia experience NOT to live in the dorms, at least your first year. don't live off-campus just to save a little money. In truth you won't save much if you're splitting rent with him, but the on-campus community is really intense and central. at most rural american universities, it makes sense to live off-campus because you have no RAs or campus police on your ass, but it's not like everyone lives together as it is. Here, the opposite is true - 99% of people live on-campus and if you miss that chance to meet people and make friends, you've missed a big chunk of the value.</p></li>
<li><p>nothing wrong with showcasing math/science skills via tests, and then doing something else when you get in. that's what college is supposed to be for. I happen to be really good at math and science, but don't love either one - so I majored in applied math, and used all my free time to do stuff I found more fun.</p></li>
<li><p>taking an SAT2 in korean or chinese wouldn't be a big difference-maker. having started a book club or talked your way into helping with research at a local university - now that's something that would stand out (well, more the latter than the former)</p></li>
<li><p>to hell with your korean liquor, because johnnie walker black label is working JUST FINE for me right now. In other news, Tool is a band that is awesome to see live.</p></li>
<li><p>letting your personality show through your resume (of sorts) is fine if you have a very diverse background to show. Yours consists of (1) Analytical skills, (2) Hard work at jobs or job-like things, (3) Community service, and (4) skateboarding. I don't dispute that you're probably a more interesting person than that, and point #1 is hard to prove as well as you've proven it... but the burden of proof is still on you a little.</p></li>
<li><p>beatings? Nice. The beatings will continue until morale improves.</p></li>
</ul>
<p><em>sets alarm for 11am</em></p>
<p>Two things stand out in what you want - a great liberal arts education and a great city.</p>
<p>No doubt, Columbia has one of the (if not, THE best) best liberal arts curriculum you'll find.</p>
<p>The city speaks for itself. If you're happy with these two as your major deciding factors, then let them swing towards an ED application because you can't go wrong if that's what you want.</p>
<p>to denzera:</p>
<p>oh me oh my, i never knew about the dorms:( i keep thinking of korea, and our dorms have CURFEWS.</p>
<p>i'm trying to talk my dad into letting me help him work at the research center he works at, but it's hard to get in another word when the answer is '**** off'. i've been thinking of starting some sort of community service campaign over the summer, it isn't too late is it? </p>
<p>also, what would be a good way to show proof? do i have to have some sort of physical evidence??</p>
<p>i love black label as much as anyone else, but the price tag, ooh the price tag. tool, though? no way ugh. don't get started on me now, though, i know how you tool fans are! Please don't kill me and/or refuse to answer my questions:(</p>
<p>to vesalvay:</p>
<p>thanks, i'm pretty sure i've already swung towards columbia. i was thinking columbia or cooper union, but i heard i don't stand much of a chance of getting in to the latter because of my lack of awards in math or science??</p>
<p>yeah, actually, it was my first tool concert, and I was very surprised at the sheer number of rednecks and white trash there. It was like 80% guys, and I didn't see a single minority. Kinda weird. Tool's very much an acquired taste, I happen to think the singer has a phenomenal voice, even if the style of music isn't usually my favorite.</p>
<p>my point with "proof" is that a lot of people try to emphasize or play up their analytical skills on their application, but few of them present a picture of those skills as convincingly as you do (with all those test scores, really). that's all the hard evidence you need. But as for being more than one-dimensional, you may need some other things along those lines.</p>
<p>you've got 3 1/2 months until the ED app is due, 5 1/2 months until the RD app is due. your community service is looking pretty good, but if you feel the need to do more - great. It shows that it's a real instinct for you, not contrived to look good on an application (not uncommon at least in the US).</p>
<p>alright, good luck.</p>