hi guys! i’m an international student from Nepal considering to apply to columbia university. the most appealing factor i find about columbia is that it is situated right in New York city and an ivy league university with tons of opportunities and rigorous academics. and in fact, columbia is one of the most diverse colleges in the US with an almost 20% international student body. considering that Columbia is not need-blind to internationals, what does it take to get in as an int student?
my stats are as follows:
SAT I: 2250
SAT II: Biology E/M 780, Math I- 800
School doesn’t rank but prolly 10%-ish
Subjects and predicted results: Cambridge A level- Physics(A), Chemistry(A), Math(A*), Biology(A) and General paper (A)
The minimum credits required to graduate in my school is 7. I hold 9 credits.
prospective major is Biology.
EC activities: executive member of debate club (2yrs), numerous debate and public speaking awards (inter-school and regional), honourable mention award in Nepal’s first and really big International MUN conference, Vice chair of a committee in another big international MUN conference (~500 students), attended other international MUN conferences in India and Nepal (passionate about debating)
Class representative (grade 10), 250+ hours of community service (which includes 80 hours volunteering in a hospital), took the initiative of building a library at a remote village in Nepal, Executive member of school’s Interact club (1year) promoted to Secretary in my senior year, attended several writing and debate workshops, writer at school magazine, tutor 2 8th graders (3hrs/week), member of numerous other clubs (poetry club, math club, theatre club etc) and other small ECs.
teacher recommendations: 9/10, 9/10
counsellor recommendation: 9/10
common app essay: 9/10, something really personal
will be working on columbia supplement soon
also, do they consider the location of the applicant while making admission decision. for instance, a candidate from Nepal might not have stats as stellar as that of an applicant from India or other countries in asia & europe. do they take that into consideration? thanks
Hey, vassan777. I believe I’ve posted on another one of your threads (MIT)? Anyways, you’re right about Columbia being a great school. People feel differently about NYC though (I think it can get tough at times but overall it’s nice).
International admission is very competitive even if you consider the diversity factor. As an international student myself, I can tell you that you need to have a solid application in order to be recognized by the adcom.
Your SAT scores are just competitive for Columbia’s applicant pool, and your subject scores are fine. You may have time to increase your SAT scores, so try to do so – they will boost your chances at other colleges too. A top 10%-ish rank with your score suggests that there will be applicants with better SAT scores and much better grades than you applying to the same colleges as you. This will also be a key factor as Ivy league colleges take only a few (or even none) students from countries with small applicant pools. You also need to consider that there will be prospective applicants from other schools with better stats than you. The fact is, either your school is competitive or you’ve (moderately) exaggerated your stats.
I have witnessed students with lower grades get admitted to Columbia but they had something special in them. Your ECs are good but they seem somewhat generic to me. The community service part is good, but your other activities seem nothing out of the ordinary. I don’t have anything against a biologist who is really good at debating but that doesn’t make you stand out.
However, be careful not to fake your achievements and activities as you will be severely penalized if colleges find out.
Yes, they do want to increase diversity. But competition is tough in any country, big or small. Colleges might look into it, but I don’t think there’s a big difference in the quality of applicants from any country who apply to the Ivy League.
As a Columbia undergrad, I’ll tell you that your chances at Columbia are rather slim. However, maybe with a killer essay your chances might slightly increase. I recommend you change your focus to some other colleges (where you may have good chances): University of Texas - Austin, Stony Brook University, University of Buffalo, Trinity college.
Hope to read more threads of yours! Don’t be disheartened; Columbia can’t take in every prospective applicant. Hope you get into the colleges I mentioned above. Good luck.
