<p>Here are my stats; please chance me and be honest!</p>
<p>Columbia CC ED</p>
<p>Stats:</p>
<pre><code>* SAT: 800 CR, 730 W, 660 M (2190)
* SAT IIs: 760 Lit, 730 US, 660 Chem
* GPA: 3.14 UW, take many APs as well as some of the hardest classes my school offers
* Rank: Unclear, school doesn't tell us where we rank
* ECs: Amazing. Student Body President (had previously served in student government since freshman year), edited political journal as a junior (it garned various accolades from press associations and I was the first junior editor ever), officer in the MUN club (have won best delegate at the Harvard/Penn conferences)
</code></pre>
<p>Subjective:</p>
<pre><code>* Essays: I plan on writing about the link between WWII and 9/11 vis a vis oral tradition. I am a very good writers
* Teacher Recs: I have two alumni writing for me and I am sure their recs will be excellent. I also may have certain people write me supplemental recs.
* Counselor Rec: Outstanding, I have known him since I was a freshman and we have worked together on various projects.
* Hook (if any): Male humanities student, with an interest in politics.
</code></pre>
<p>Location/Person:</p>
<pre><code>* State or Country: NY
* School Type: Very Rigorous Prep School
* Ethnicity: White
* Gender: Male
</code></pre>
<p>Misc: I have legacy at Columbia and some of my relatives are very active in the university.</p>
<p>Tough call. I’m not sure if being a male humanities student is a hook. Regardless, everything else but your 3.14 is great. That said however, your high SAT’s and the fact that you’re at a tough prep school could mean that a 3.14 at your school is actually very respectable. If you had to estimate, where do you think you’d be ranked? Does your school send a high percentage of graduates to top schools? Do your grades show an upward tend?</p>
<p>I suppose the fact that your teachers and family are [active] alumni could help you a lot…</p>
<p>“I plan on writing about the link between WWII and 9/11 vis a vis oral tradition”</p>
<p>what does this have to do with you (or yous)? ;)</p>
<p>In all honesty though i’d say it’s a likely rejection, you have a UW of 3.14, that’s an average of Bs/B+s. SATs are fine but they don’t make up for the bad GPA. ECs are where they should be, nothing spectacular for the applicant pool, but good depth nevertheless. And knowing people doesn’t make you a better applicant, also sending too many recs could annoy them, the few recs that you send must add value to your application.</p>
<p>"* Hook (if any): Male humanities student, with an interest in politics. "</p>
<p>that’s as far from a hook as i have seen in a while, columbia gets tons of engineering applicants who are into the humanities and politics, so there’d be thousands that apply to CC. </p>
<p>the only reason i can see you getting accepted is because you come from a rigorous prep school and if they find out that you’re “relatives very active” at columbia. What does that entail btw?</p>
<p>If you go to a really rigorous prep school, that should have shown in your SATs. aka, you have a 3.1 GPA at one of the best schools in the nation but a 2400 SAT… otherwise, Columbia will not draw that conclusion; that is exactly the reason why standardized test exists.</p>
<p>That 3.14 Unweighted GPA looks bad on paper. However, that GPA doesn’t mean anything without a class rank. For all we know, 3.14 at ur school might actually be pretty good. Since there is no class rank, the admissions officers are forced to look at your SAT scores in order to evaluate how you compare against other applicants. Your SAT scores are pretty decent, but not outstanding when compared to many of the high scoring applicants to Columbia.
All in all, I think you stand a respectable shot at being accepted because you are a legacy. I wouldn’t be surprised if you got in, but I wouldn’t be surprised if you didn’t. Good luck.</p>
<p>" For all we know, 3.14 at ur school might actually be pretty good."</p>
<p>i highly doubt this is the case, a 3.14 unweighted would be around average at best, i imagine the op’s uw gpa is possibly below average at his school, he can let me know if i’m wrong. and if it is around average, columbia is very unlikely. Denzera, if i remember right from a previous post, went to a tough school, did a TON of ECs both breadth and depth, had stellar scores, interesting experiences, but had an uw of 3.3 and got rejected EVERYWHERE (like all 8-10 of the top 20 that he applied to). This was, i guage, 7 years ago, when is was easier to get into columbia, he also applied to seas, which was much easier back then (going by acceptance rates). i only remember his story because it really stuck. He took a gap year and got in a year later, but that’s another story.</p>
<p>3.14 is not good even at top prep schools - i know, having went to one and having friends at others. I had a 3.5 at a top school with all ap classes and columbia was still a reach even for me. 3.14 is highly unlikely no matter what school you go to; it certainly would not be any better than mine where a 3.7 was necessary to be considered a strong candidate for top10.</p>
<p>depending on the influence of your relatives, though, they could push you into competitive range depending on what exactly it is that they do.</p>
<p>That’s pretty understandable. A college would like to know whether you would be able to thrive in their academic structure. Once you (rather your GPA) demonstrate that you have the ability to do well in the particular school, ECs and recommendations begin to matter. I don’t suppose Columbia would be interested in an applicant who has swum to Asia and back using only one limb if he/she wouldn’t be able to survive the Core.</p>
<p>hm. your ECs are not “amazing” but they’re certainly good enough, granted you have the SAT scores and the GPA. however your GPA is pretty low, being a 3.14. do you have any idea how you rank? top 10? top 10%? anyways your SATs are average/a little above average at best for columbia applicants. and lol, the “i am a very good writers” made me LOL. but typos are okay i forgive u =) and don’t send them too many supplemental recs, but perhaps you can do something to emphasize the fact that you have many active relatives that donate or something to the school?</p>
<p>[edit] maybe they’ll accept you because your UW GPA is approximately PI!!</p>
<p>wmmk: I very high percentage of students at my school attend elite colleges. We sent 12 kids to Columbia last year. My grades are in the middle of the pack, but that is only because I am not a particularly strong math or science student. I get straight As in the humanities and my grades do have an upward trend. I probably am in the middle of my high school class, although it is clear that I have academic potential and my counselor plans to articulate that in his letter.</p>
<p>confidentialcoll: Ok I get it, I made a typo and should therefore be humiliated, as if I do not know the difference between singular and plural construction.</p>
<p>My essay relate to my experience following 9/11 and my grandparents status as refuges during WWII.</p>
<p>The SATs are good for the applicant pool I agree, but I have the best ECs in my graduating high school class. </p>
<p>My hook is good because my application shows a clear academic concentration that correlates with my ECs.</p>
<p>sprtn117 Thanks for the encouraging words</p>
<p>lvilleslacker My gpa is fine and is probably in the middle 50%. Students from my school have gotten into better schools with worse grades.</p>
<p>My class is around 160 students. While my gpa is low, do you not think that colleges will employ a holistic approach to admissions? I have great ECs, could excel as a humanities major at the school, and my board scores are well within range. This has got to amount to something more than numbers, don’t you think?</p>
<p>sorry, but your ECs are that great. they certainly are good but there are wayy too many ppl with such ECs PLUS a 3.9. but you certainly have a chance, if you’re such a good writer than an impressive essay could help you.</p>
<p>it’s important to realize that a holistic outlook to evaluation does not lower standards, columbia will look at a lot of things, but you still have to out-do 9 others and have them be rejected for columbia to take you, sethlogan, you’re a great candidate, but the gpa is a serious short-coming in the app, especially since it will always be the most important factor. they have people like you with 3.9s, all the time, i’m not saying you can’t get in, but realistically chances are slim indeed.</p>
<p>Given what you say about your school and your relationship with your counselor, I suggest you ask him/her for an assessment of your chances. In schools like yours–with 12 students admitted to Columbia–the counselor knows, and knows a lot. Furthermore, if you’re at Horace Mann or a similar school, your chances depend on who else is applying and where you stack up institutionally (and politically). No one on this board can provide that kind of insight</p>
<p>Just to make your feel better (and because it’s true), your GPA isn’t the end of the world. I’m sitting pretty much where you are, and I’ve just learned to stop worrying and chill until April. I screwed up during high school, but I’m not going to die over it. For every “shoo-in” that gets rejected, a reacher gets in. Admittedly it’s rare, but there’s always hope. </p>
<p>And CC has some narrow-minded people, so take everything with a grain of salt (is what I like to think, anyway :]). If not Columbia, you’ll get into a good school somewhere.</p>