JUNIOR needs ADVICE

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>My top choice is columbia university, and I seem to have this blindspot for any other college. it's such a horrible fixation and gives me doses of insomnia...
I'll give my info thus far. tell me about my chances please!</p>

<p>GPA=
unweighted:3.7
weighted: 4.5</p>

<p>APs= Euro history, us gov, us history, human geography, biology, art history...
hopefully, i do very well on them
---then, i am taking calc ab, envi sci, english lit, english lang, latin 4ap, and econ senior year. </p>

<p>PSAT=
98 percentile (i'm taking the sat in june, as far as sat IIs, i'll be taking 3 that pertain to my aps, so i'm not too worried about those scores...)
---I'm thinking for my subj tests, i'll take US, World, and writing OR World, lit, and writing? does that seem un-well-rounded? </p>

<p>ECs=
1. junior statesmen of america-(very high Southern CA leadership positions, president, director of debate)
2. Yale Summer School
3. Mock Trial (2 years +senior)
4. Model United Nations (2 years +senior)
-2 gavels at college conferences
5. Intern for Senator
6. Library Advisory Councel (Executive Director)
7. Suicide Helpline (150+ hours of volunteer)
8. Tutor English (3 hours a week)
9. Latin Club
-National Latin exam (1 silver, 2 golds)
-historian, aedile
-Junior Classical League---(school won 1st place in CA for 12 years now at JCLC)
10. asian swordfighting (4 years)
11. President of Young Democrats
13. 5xs published poet</p>

<p>~+~
1. May win a national essay contest for CA about international politics
2. Trip to Africa to tutor children during the summer
3. May win essay on environmental issues...impending results...</p>

<p>ESSAY=
obviously, i haven't written them yet...but hopefully they are good. by the way, what makes a good essay? many of you advice to make your essay phenomenal...but what is phenomenal?</p>

<p>RECCS=
hopefully, at the status of "if i had a daughter, this would be her" haha</p>

<p>EXTRA=
1. 1st generation asian american
2. uncle teaches at columbia's fu foundation (although, i'm not applying to that school...perhaps this may help?)
3. CA school ranked high in nation
4. probably majoring in international affairs, gov, poly-sci, or russian literature haha...maybe minor in english?</p>

<p>well thanks alot, i'll appreciate all your erudite imputs ;)!</p>

2

<p>You will benifit becasue you are asian and are looking into a non-technical major.
Your SAT scores and your GPA make you acedemicly qualified for Columbia, but that's no guarantee of getting in.
If you spend some time making your list of ECs look better you have a good chance of getting in.</p>

<p>PS: Did you consider any UCs?</p>

3

<p>how do i make it look better? sorry, i dont know these things...</p>

4

<p>I'm just saying wou will need to provide more detail about why you enjoy your EC's on your college applications. Don't worry, almost no on posts this information in their stats posts.</p>

<p>Best Wishes</p>

5

<p>thanks, i figured most of my ec's were focused on an overall love for politics. but, i wish someone can just slap me into reality and tell me my meager changes. maybe i'm masochistic today, but columbia is such a wretchedly hard school to get into...</p>

6

<p>Its not quantity its quality. Keep in mind that on paper many of the applicants to Ivy schools look very similar. Look at the student's stats that have been posted under any of the Ivy schools. You will quickly see that they begin to look repetitive. So, you all have similar stats and ECs. Now you have to decide how you are going to make yourself stand out and look different from all of the rest (and the person with the longest list of ECs definately doesn't win this one). You are going to have to give the college admissions personnel the opportunity to get to know you better as a person.</p>

<p>On your college apps show that you have a few EC within your list about which you are extremely passioniate. If that passion shows through in your apps, then you have great ECs. Now, in order to show that passion, don't just recite all the things you have done for a particular EC. Instead, describe the experience from a very intimate and personal viewpoint in one of your essays. It also helps if the experience is one that readers of your applications will find unique. Most of your ECs while impressive are not necessarily unique when it comes to Ivy applicants. Of course, you may have had a very unique experience with one of them that you can relate and that might make a great essay.</p>

<p>However,if Asian Swordfighting has been important in your life, I would use that for at least one of your application essays. Talk about what is going on in your head before and/or during a match or in a training session so that anyone reading the essay will feel like they've been there. You don't need to fill the essay with all of the typical "cultural" benefit type explanations. The admissions people will get that without it being said because by getting into your head they are going to feel the cultural impact along with your passion. </p>

<p>Other than grammar or spelling, don't over think or over edit your essays, meaning don't try to figure out what the admissions people want to read and how they want you to say it. Speak from your heart so they get to know the real you. I'm sure there is a really interesting person inside of you that they will find fascinating once you let them see inside you through your essays.</p>

7

<p>percentage-wise, what are my chances???</p>

8

<p>Click the link below to get an idea of what your chances are at the Ivies and other highly selective schools.</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?p=1852738#post1852738%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?p=1852738#post1852738&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

9

<p>Dostoevsky, nobody can really accurately gauge your chances. You are evaluated on the basis of your merits, certainly, but only in light of the other applicants. The general trend is more applicants and more selectivity at all top schools, but it can fluctuate wildly between two years. Two years ago Columbia ED was an absolute massacre; this year ED wasn't as bad. An important part of your application is the SAT, which you haven't taken yet. Add in your essay and recs, and there's a lot in your application we can't evaluate! joinville gave excellent advice that you should keep in mind. </p>

<p>There are plenty of good schools out there that would fit you, so there's no need for blinders! I suggest Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, Tufts, Cornell, Northwestern, U Chicago, and U Rochester would be good places to start looking.</p>

10

<p>i think you'll get in. as for ECs, I believe that they are impressive. How many high school kids sacrifice their summer vacation to tutor kids in Africa. Be proud.</p>