<p>why is this becoming such a big discussion?</p>
<p>this person came here for honest advice and Columbia2002 and i gave it to the best of our knowledge. If we always said, things like "oh 1060, dont worry about it, u'll be fine, u have a good chance at columbia" then what is the point of saying anything. I'm hoping people on this board post questions looking for honest answers and not lies or justifications. Also being waitlisted means nothing...especially if you are a minority....all it means is that if they dont fill the quota (i guess u can say if the class isnt "diverse" enough) they want to have backup diversity on the waitlist...simple as that.</p>
<p>3.85 GPA unweighted
1 Honors class, 7 AP classes
2090/2400 SATs (720 V 650 M 720 W)
No SAT 2s yet
No AP scores yet
National Merit Scholarship Candidate (no "semifinalist" results yet)</p>
<p>3 years HS soccer (1 year JV captain)
11 years club/rec soccer
Youth Group Peer leader
California Scholastic Federation, Vice President 1 year (possible President 1 year)
member, Interact, 2 years
Moderator, youthnoise.com, 1 year
Youth Advisory Board Member, 1 year
spent 2 summers on Community service retreats in Mexico
2 years soccer coach
4 years Mock Trial
Volunteer, John Kerry for President campaign
School ACLU member
other stuff that I can't remember at the moment</p>
<p>about the OP, of course its hard to give a prediction on a process that can seem so random, but with 75% of students getting at least 660's in math and 670's in verbal, you can at least say the sat scores will be hard to overcome. this doesn't mean impossible, but very difficult. from the collegeboard website:</p>
<p>Very important admission factors:</p>
<pre><code>* Character/Personal Qualities
* Class Rank
* Application Essay
* Recommendations
* Rigor of secondary school record
* Standardized Test Scores
</code></pre>
<pre><code>* Alumni Relation
* Geographical Residence
* Interview
* Racial/Ethnic Status
* Volunteer Work
</code></pre>
<p>so, what can you do to improve your chances (besides doing better on the sat's)? write some pullitzer-worthy essays and get teachers that wish you were their child as your recs. nothings absolute, so if columbias your dream, by all means, go for it, but realize what you have going against you.</p>
<p>I dont think its totally BS...true those are all factors that are considered, i just think your order is completely off...first of all i would put rigor of school record first and grades (which doesnt even make ur list apparently) right after followed by SAT. Also i would bump alum relations and race to important.</p>
<p>um, guys maybe u should read a bit more carefully. i didnt make it up, its from the collegeboard website. also, i dont think the order within each sub-section matters (like that list doesnt mean character is more important than stanardized test scores)</p>
<p>about the whole below 600 sat thing, i think they have a point.. when i visited columbia, the admissions officer said that "sats are the most important and the least important" aspect of the application. that means that they use it to filter out people with relatively low scores. then, once they have all those, they consider the rest of the application, and sat scores are hardly looked at.</p>
<p>An Article that mentions offhand just how much weight being a minority can hold:
"The Secret World of College Admissions"
The Record
By Patricia Alex, Sunday January 30, 2005</p>
<p>"And, even as the nation's highest courts have ruled against racial and ethnic quotas, a de facto system remains in place as admissions officers strive for "balance" and the inclusion of so-called "underrepresented" populations, like blacks and Latinos.</p>
<p>"If you give me a Hispanic kid with a 1,350 (SATs), I can get that kid into every Ivy League college, or an African-American kid with 1,380 to 1,400,'' Shaw said. "But give me an upper-middle-class Caucasian or Asian with a 1,600, and I can't guarantee anything." "</p>
<p>
[quote]
um, guys maybe u should read a bit more carefully. i didnt make it up, its from the collegeboard website.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>YOU should read a bit more carefully. Nobody said you made it up. It said that the list is "totally BS vis-a-vis Columbia."</p>
<p>
[quote]
I dont think its totally BS...true those are all factors that are considered, i just think your order is completely off
[/quote]
</p>
<p>The reason why it is totally BS is because the order is completely off, as far as Columbia is concerned. Listing the factors that go into an admissions decision isn't hard to do.</p>
<p>well i wasn't talking to you, since we're being rude, i was taking to the person who stated "your order" implying that i made it up. i have no idea of the accuracy, but im guessing the collegeboard didn't just make it up. furthermore, its obvious that to get into a school like columbia, almost everything counts. notice how almost everything that is controllable is in the very important section? i was only showing some resources i had found. please forgive me, almighty knowledgable columbia2002.</p>