<p>wow I think the SEAS is more like MIT now. I wonder if it'll be worth applying their ED in two years...........</p>
<p>Decision: Deferred CC
Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 2310 (CR: 800) (M: 720) (W: 790)
[</em>] ACT:
[<em>] SAT II: (Literature: 710) (U.S. History: 730) (World History: 740)
[</em>] Unweighted GPA: 94.8
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 38/578
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): World History, Psychology, Spanish Language, Human Geography, English Language (5); U.S. History (4)
[<em>] IB (place score in parenthesis):
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: AP Microeconomics, AP U.S. Government, AP Calculus AB, Electronic Media, AP European History, AP English IV, Debate IV
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): NCTE National Achievement Award in Writing, National Merit Semifinalist/Finalist
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Debate (Captain), Literary Magazine (Literary Board), Mu Alpha Theta Math Honors Society, National Honors Society
[<em>] Job/Work Experience:
[</em>] Volunteer/Community service: I started a debate program at my former middle school three years ago and have coached it weekly ever since. I have coached middle school students to competition against high school students – and my students have made it to elimination rounds against these much older students.
[<em>] Summer Activities: Counselor in Training at a Leadership/Outdoors Camp (Camp Champions), Victory Briefs Debate Institute at UCLA
[</em>] Essays: Pretty good… wrote about my general outlook on education and understanding the world, drawing parallels with the ways that I approach my regular life. It began with a discussion of a childhood game I would play with my dad and branched out. It wasn’t particularly unique, but I think it was very well written.
[<em>] Teacher Recommendation: Both of these teachers absolutely adored me and are very smart people. My English teacher nominated me as her best student writer to participate in national competition and has asked me to compete in writing for UIL. My History teacher gave me his Academic Achievement Award – each teacher is allowed to give this to two students.
[</em>] Counselor Rec: I think this recommendation was very good – I am very close with my counselor, and constantly keep up to date with her.
[<em>] Additional Rec: Doesn’t Columbia hate additional recommendations?
[</em>] Interview: Thought it went well… focused on my massive commitment to debate and also on the significance of books I had read.
[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): Texas
[</em>] Country (if international applicant):
[<em>] School Type: Public
[</em>] Ethnicity: White, Jewish (worst combo for Columbia)
[<em>] Gender: Male
[</em>] Income Bracket: High? 200K+
[<em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Unsure
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[</em>] Strengths: SAT Score, Extracurriculars, Recommendations, Classes/APs
[<em>] Weaknesses: Essay (perhaps the lack of uniqueness), GPA (mediocre), SAT IIs
[</em>] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Cause Columbia is a poohead? Unclear.
[/ul]General Comments: Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!</p>
<p>I don't even know how to describe my emotions. There's no chance I'll get in, though I am absolutely planning to send a torrent of additional information now. My grades this semester are weak (a couple of Bs, low As) because I've been traveling intensely for debate and because my family has been going through a terrible affair/divorce that has really thrown me off of my game on many levels. I've had literal dreams of Columbia for a year. I've been to New York three times this year and am going back up in a few weeks for vacation. Last time I went to the city, I met my friend from Morningside Heights on the Columbia Campus to hang out (after sitting in on a fantastic Lit Hum class), and just sat and took it all in, imagining the amazing potential of enrolling someday.</p>
<p>Oh well.</p>
<p>i got in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!</p>
<p>Decision: Accepted (ED)</p>
<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 2100
[</em>] ACT: 32
[<em>] SAT II: 650 M2, 600 L
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.5
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 5%
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis):n/a
[<em>] IB (place score in parenthesis):n/a
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: IB
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Merit Scholar
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Lots of in school EC's and officer positions.
[<em>] Job/Work Experience: 3 years of it.
[</em>] Volunteer/Community service: 150 hours.
[<em>] Summer Activities: none.
[</em>] Essays: Quite good.
[<em>] Teacher Recommendation: Very good.
[</em>] Counselor Rec: None.
[<em>] Additional Rec:
[</em>] Interview: None.
[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): Texas.
[</em>] Country (if international applicant):
[<em>] School Type: Public
[</em>] Ethnicity: Black
[<em>] Gender: Male
[</em>] Income Bracket: Low income.
[<em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM. Low Income. First gen.
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[</em>] Strengths: My essay, rec's, my act.
[<em>] Weaknesses: my sat II, my uw gpa.
[</em>] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Because columbia is awesome.
[/ul]General Comments: Excited beyond belief!</p>
<p>Decision: Deferred CC</p>
<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>]SAT:2280 (760 per section)
[</em>] SAT IIs: 760 Math II, 720 US History :/
[<em>] GPA: weighted, after 1st marking period of senior year, 4.0017 :/ I don't want to know what it is unweighted...
[</em>] Rank: my school doesn't officially rank but I'd assume top 15% if not top 10%? I was top 5% before senior year happened lol.
[li] AP Scores:[/li]Calc AB - 4
Stats - 5
Calc BC - 4, AB Subscore 5
Enviro Sci - 5
US History - 4 :/
APs currently taking: Latin Language, Gov, Econ (micro+macro), will take English Lit AP but not taking the class (long story lol)</p>
<p>[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Essays: I really liked it and 2 of my friends who are crazy good at English liked it (and helped me edit it), so I think it's pretty good...I wrote about feminism and libertarianism =D
[</em>] Teacher Recs: I think both were awesome, I signed the waiver so that I can't see them, but the one from my Latin teacher (whom I've had for 4 years and is teaching me AP Latin right now; I want to major in Classics) was apparently so amazing that my counselor almost cried when she was describing how amazing it was to me, and my AP US teacher (also my Mock Trial coach of 4 years, so she obviously knows me very well) is reputed to write amazing recs.
[<em>] Counselor Rec: Again, I haven't seen it, but I think it's very good, because she knows me pretty well and loves me and she apparently writes amazing recs, especially for people she knows.
[</em>] Extracurriculars:
Mock Trial (4 years, a ridiculous amount of time per year)
Model UN (3 years, very little time per year lol)
Tennis (JV #1 Freshman year, Varsity 1st Doubles Sophomore year, out Junior year because of an injury D:, 1/2 as much time as Mock Trial)
Math League (Freshman year, back when I didn't suck at math lol)
Volunteer hours: composite of over 300 hours at 2 places (local hospital+museum)</p>
<p>[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>]Location/Person:
[</em>] School Type: Charter, ranked pretty high by USNAWR (Omg, will they start ranking middle schools next? Elementary schools? Daycares?), AP program
[<em>] Ethnicity: Asian
[</em>] Gender: Female</p>
<p>[/ul]Reflection[list]
[<em>] Strengths: nothing specific
[</em>] Weaknesses: no leadership, grades could be better, courseload could be tougher
[li] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: see above</p>[/li]
<p>[ /list][ b]General Comments: There goes my only real chance at Columbia [ /b]</p>
<p>Decision: Accepted SEAS (ED)</p>
<p>Objective:
• SAT I (breakdown): 720V/770M/760W (2250)
• ACT: nope
• SAT II: 770/750/750 (Chemistry, Math II, Biology)
• Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
• Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 1%
• AP (place score in parenthesis): Calculus BC (5), Chemistry (5), Biology (5), English Lang. (4), English Lit (4), U.S. History (4)
• Senior Year Course Load: AP Physics B, AP European History, AP Statistics, AP Spanish Language, AP Psychology, AP Economics
• Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Nope
Subjective:
• Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Math club, Chess Club, Ping-pong club
• Job/Work Experience: Nope
• Volunteer/Community service: youth summer camp counselor and library assistant
• Summer Activities: basketball
• Essays: Pretty Good
• Teacher Recommendation: Pretty good
• Counselor Rec: Excellent
• Interview: meh, so-so
Other
• State (if domestic applicant): CT
• School Type: Public
• Ethnicity: Asian
• Gender: Male
• Income Bracket: middle
• Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Nah
[ b]Reflection**
• Strengths: GPA, test scores, recommendations, tough course load (12 APs total)
• Weaknesses: community service
General Comments: Awesome!!!</p>
<p>Decision: ACCEPTED (SEAS)</p>
<p>Objective:</p>
<pre><code>* SAT I (breakdown): CR 760 M 780 W 650 (2190)
* SAT II: Math II 800 Physics 800 Chem 800
* Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): I'm an international student (Singapore)
* Rank or percentile: NA
* AP/IB Scores: NA
</code></pre>
<p>Subjective:</p>
<pre><code>* Major Awards: Nothing spectacular.. almost no national/international academic awards
* Extracurriculars: Track(Hurdler) for 6 years [team champion for 5years], Soccer, and student faculty committee
* Job/Work Experience: Nothing relevant
* Volunteer/Community service: National Interschool Flag Relay for YOG2010, Overseas CIP, a few of local projects too.
* Summer Activities: overseas student exchanges.. work attachments.. but nv been to US though.
* Essays: hahaha.. obviously good? I don't know. I liked it. =p
* Teacher Recommendation: i saw the one from my language teacher.. it was great. I think.
* Counselor Rec: she kinda hated me.. =p but in a good way. haha.. so i don't know.
* Additional Rec: None
* Interview: No interviews!
</code></pre>
<p>Other</p>
<pre><code>* Location: Singapore
* School Type: Independent/Private
* Ethnicity: Asian(Singaporean)
* Gender: Male
* Income Bracket: middle? who cares...
* Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): immigrant.. tracker/hurdler for 6 years.. quit it to join a soccer team(always been my childhood dream =p)
</code></pre>
<p>Reflection</p>
<pre><code>* Strengths: Subject test scores, sports ecs(?), extensive community work, cool essay? =p
* Weaknesses: only decent SAT I (2190), no spectacular awards(nv spent much time on academics), no APs, no legacy whatsoever.
* Why you think you were accepted: cuz I'm totally AWESOME! =D hahahah.. I don't know.. I talked alot abt how I loved the unique interdisciplinary nature of the engineering program at Columbia so much that I can't stand anywhere else. Seriously.. reading the humanities WHILE studying engineering? omg.. I'm so excited. hahaha.
</code></pre>
<p>General Comments:
Anything can happen! just work on your weaknesses and be honest with yourself. I am a Singaporean who was born in China and languages have never been one of my strengths but so what? I have improved by leaps and bounds and now I am into Columbia! woohoo~ Thank God!</p>
<p>Decision: Deferred SEAS
Objective:
* ACT: 33
* SAT II: Math II 800, Physics 800, Chemistry 800
* Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.95
* Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 3%
* AP (place score in parenthesis): Chemistry 5, Macro Eco 5, Eng Language 3
* IB (place score in parenthesis):
* Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc BC, AP Eng Lit, AP Stat, AP Bio, AP Physics C
* Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
AMC 12 Achievements Award
DECA State Winner, Internationals Competency
Ultimate Frisbee State Tournament 5th Place
UIL Violin Solo and Ensemble 1st Division
State Honors Full Orchestra 2nd Place
Region Orchestra 1st Violin
English Speech Contest 3rd Place
* Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Ultimate Frisbee 12 Grade (Captain, President), Basketball 9th Grade(Captain), Table Tennis (Vice President), Peers Assistant Leadership Service (Campus Coordinator), Orchestra 10, 11, 12, National Honor Society, Outreach.
* Job/Work Experience:Hollister Model, Target Cashier, Hardcourt Textbook Model
* Volunteer/Community service: Local Hospistal 353 Hours, CAMP Camp for children with disabilities, Buddhist Temple Camp Counselor(I'm Agnostic btw), Tutoring
* Summer Activities: Took Speech&Government at a community college, volunteer, work, helped in a medical lab
* Essays: College Advisor said it was great
* Teacher Recommendation: One was awesome, one sucked balls cuz i kept on skipping his class this semester lol
* Counselor Rec: Should me average cuz she has to write hundreds of them
* Additional Rec: none
* Interview: didn't get one</p>
<ul>
<li>State (if domestic applicant): Texas</li>
<li>School Type: Public, top 100 in the nation, very competitive</li>
<li>Ethnicity: Asian</li>
<li>Gender: M</li>
<li><p>Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Just moved here from Taiwan two years ago, English is my second language. I was accepted to the best high school in Taiwan by scoring top 1% in the nation on the High School Entrance Exam.</p></li>
<li><p>Strengths: SAT II scores (3 perfect scores)</p></li>
<li><p>Weaknesses: Essay too long, math teacher wrote a terrible rec, didn't do research
*Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Essay too long, math teacher wrote a terrible rec, didn't do research or science fair</p></li>
<li><p>General Comments:CONGRATS TO EVERYONE THAT MADE IT :) Compare me with the guy above me lol</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Decision: Accepted (ED)</p>
<p>Objective:</p>
<pre><code>* SAT I (breakdown): 2200
* ACT: N/A
* SAT II: 800 Math 2, 790 Chemistry
* Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.65
* Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 10%
* AP (place score in parenthesis):Computer Science AB(5), Chemistry(5), US History (5)
* IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
* Senior Year Course Load: 4 APs (Englisth Language, Spanish, Physics C, Calculus BC), Orchestra, Government
* Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None
</code></pre>
<p>Subjective:</p>
<pre><code>* Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Model UN, Orchestra, Jaz Band
* Job/Work Experience: Soccer Referee (1 year)
* Volunteer/Community service: none
* Summer Activities: Skidmore Jazz Institute, Hartwick Summer Music Institute (Counselor)
* Essays: Decent.
* Teacher Recommendation: Ok
* Counselor Rec: Decent
* Additional Rec: Bass teacher
* Interview: None.
</code></pre>
<p>Other</p>
<pre><code>* State (if domestic applicant): New York
* Country (if international applicant):
* School Type: Public
* Ethnicity: White
* Gender: Male
* Income Bracket: Middle?
* Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):
</code></pre>
<p>Reflection</p>
<pre><code>* Strengths: My essay, music supplement
* Weaknesses: gpa.
* Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: No idea
</code></pre>
<p>*Decision: Accepted ED Columbia College *</p>
<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): cr 780 m 660 w 750 (2190)
[</em>] SAT II: spanish 720, eng lit 740
[<em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.6
[</em>] Rank or percentile: top 2%
[li] AP/IB Scores: Ap psych 5, ap eng lit 4</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Major Awards:national merit
[</em>] Extracurriculars: newspaper EIC, SADD prez, NHS vp, peer connector, track, cross country, soccer, spanish honor society, SGA exec. secretary and fresh. class prez
[<em>] Job/Work Experience:soccer referee
[</em>] Volunteer/Community service: hospital, bead for life
[<em>] Summer Activities: national speech competition, vacation bible school counselor
[</em>] Essays: goodish?
[<em>] Teacher Recommendation:didnt see em
[</em>] Counselor Rec:didnt see it
[li] Interview: good</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul][ b]Other*[ul]
[<em>] Location: Florida
[</em>] School Type:Public IB
[<em>] Ethnicity:white
[</em>] Gender: male
[li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): not that i can think of</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths: balanced?
[</em>] Weaknesses: math sat score, math grades
[li] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: that's a good question</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul][ b]General Comments:* soooooooooo excited</p>
<p>accepted to seas!
ugggh do i have to fill out the whole thing?
SAT: 770M/690V/750W
SAT2: 770M1/770M2/790Chem
GPA: 93...not so good, but its cuz i did bad freshman year...last year i got a 96.2
APs: Jr - Chem, English, Spanish ; Sr - Physics C, Calc BC, Spanish Lit, English, Organic Chem (not "AP" but college level OC taught by a graduate of columbia actually!! hehe)
Extras: Intel Science Research Project, Internship in Chem Lab over the summer, volunteer at engineering place for 3 years, volunteer at tutoring center for 3 years
i think thats about it.
ahhh im so excited!!!</p>
<p>CC-Deferred</p>
<p>I thought I was going to get rejected O_O so this was a bittersweet surprise.</p>
<p>Decision: Accepted (ED/RD)</p>
<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 750 CR 780 Math 670 Writing
[</em>] ACT:
[<em>] SAT II: 800 Math2 800 Physics
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.5
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 60th percentile (maybe?)
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): AB (5), BC (5), Physics B (5), Physics C e/m (5), mechanics (5), Chem (5)
[<em>] IB (place score in parenthesis):
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: 5 aps
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): cello, science olympiad
[<em>] Job/Work Experience: slave labor in corn fields
[</em>] Volunteer/Community service: habitat for humanity
[<em>] Summer Activities: sleeping
[</em>] Essays: kinda shabby and last minute
[<em>] Teacher Recommendation: good, maybe (how are we supposed to know?)
[</em>] Counselor Rec: might be good
[<em>] Additional Rec:
[</em>] Interview: ok
[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): DE
[</em>] Country (if international applicant):
[<em>] School Type: public
[</em>] Ethnicity: white
[<em>] Gender: male
[</em>] Income Bracket: 100k
[<em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): no
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[</em>] Strengths: test scores
[<em>] Weaknesses: grades
[</em>] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: my name is awesome
[/ul]</p>
<p>I've been looking at HelpfulCEO's old posts, and something isn't adding up. He wrote this in the Rutger's forum:
"yep
1970
2.87gpa
but i got into newark campus.
i heard its lot harder for newbrunswick..</p>
<p>Topick19, you got rejected at New Brunswick?"</p>
<p>And in the Fordham forum, he remarked that his SATs were "the average" for Fordham. That would place him much lower than his stats indicate. </p>
<p>HelpfulCEO, are you real?</p>
<p>Decision: Accepted CC</p>
<p>Objective:
SAT I (2100) (breakdown): 780 CR 650 Math 670 Writing
ACT: N/A
SAT II: 800 Lit 530 Spanish w/listening
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.45
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 63 out of 612
AP (place score in parenthesis): English (5), US History (2)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: 4 AP, 1 internship, 2 media academy
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Achievement, National Merit Commended, Journalism and Media awards
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Muslim Student Association (VP) Varsity Soccer (cap), Newspaper (editor)
Job/Work Experience: Houston Chronicle teen journalist/photo assistant, Houston Zoo video Intern, SchoolTube vid intern, Sports' photographer
Volunteer/Community service: Muslim youth group stuff
Summer Activities: journalism stuff/ working<br>
Essays: kinda bad but creative
Teacher Recommendation: I thought it was good...
Counselor Rec: boooring
Additional Rec: from a journalism workshop coordinator
Interview: none
Other
State (if domestic applicant): TX
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: public
Ethnicity: black
Gender: F
Income Bracket: iono... not rich, not dirt poor
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM
Reflection
Strengths: work
Weaknesses: everything but work
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I've been living without my parents since freshman year? My book list was eccentric?</p>
<p>Ugh okay so here it goes...</p>
<p>DEFERRED (CC)
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 750 CR 660 Math 650 Writing
ACT: 30
SAT II: 660 Math1 640 Lit
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.82
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 10%
AP (place score in parenthesis): Comp Gov (5), environmental (4), Gov (3)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: 4 aps + physics honors
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Competed/ placed in National Horseshows
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): NHS (Pres) French NHS (Pres) all other Honor societies, Fashion, Equestrian
Job/Work Experience: held a job since the age of 13
Volunteer/Community service: relay for life, fundraisers for hurricane relief
Summer Activities: riding/ intensive fashion program in san fran
Essays: I guess not good enough (everyone else thought they were amazing)
Teacher Recommendation: amazing
Counselor Rec: stellar
Additional Rec: Yes, from alum, even more amazing
Interview: good
Other
State (if domestic applicant): FL
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: College Prep
Ethnicity: white
Gender: female
Income Bracket: over 10 mill.
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): first generation, talked to riding coach, didn't apply for financial aid
Reflection
Strengths: showed alot of interest in school
Weaknesses: test scores
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: no clue</p>
<p>Decision: Accepted CC</p>
<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 730 CR 780 M 770 W
ACT: N/A
SAT II: 700 Lit, 780 US
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.86
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 5%
AP (place score in parenthesis): Took more Honors - I don't like the AP franchise... Lit (5) US (5) Chem (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: Western Civ (H), AP Bio, AP Language, Cicero (H), Spanish (H), Art (H)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): a lot of national writing contests? NMS?
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS, im crazy
Job/Work Experience: i have 3 jobs
Volunteer/Community service: again, A TON
Summer Activities: columbia summer program, full time job, took classes at local college, volunteer work
Essays: i liked them but i didn't think they were all that fabulous
Teacher Recommendation: excellent
Counselor Rec: excellent
Additional Rec: 2 important extra recs
Interview: ehh, i am always hard on myself with interviews but i apparently do well
Other
State: CT
Country (if international applicant): US
School Type: public
Ethnicity: white
Gender: female
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none
Reflection
Strengths: extracurriculars, passion shown on paper
Weaknesses: sometimes i come off a little "scattered"
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: DON'T ASK ME, DUDE</p>
<p>Decision: Rejected (CC)</p>
<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] ACT: 32 Composite, 32 English, 31 Reading, 33 Math, 32 Science
[</em>] SAT II: Math IIC 740, Spanish 620
[<em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.67
[</em>] Rank or percentile: Top 10%
[li] AP/IB Scores: Will take AP Calculus AB, Biology, Spanish</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Major Awards: Massachusetts All-State Chorus Recommendation, Community Chorus Scholarship, Achievement in Dance Scholarship, Gold Award at State IAJE Jazz Festival, Junior Mister Dance of New England, Spanish II Award
[</em>] Extracurriculars: Dance (12 years), Piano Lessons at the New England Conservatory (12 years), Private Voice Lessons (2 years), Center State Theater Club - including plays and musicals - VP(2 years), Tri-M Music Honor Society, National Honor Society - Treasurer, Yearbook - Business Editor, Student Council - Regional Representative, Class of 2009 Leadership Team, Peer Leaders, Concert Choir - President
[<em>] Job/Work Experience:
[</em>] Volunteer/Community service: Leaf Raking for elderly, Food Shelter, River Clean Up, Benefit Musical Performance, Walk to Cure Juvenile Diabetes, Fun Run, CIT Program
[<em>] Summer Activities: Immersion Abroad Program in Salamanca, Spain - Earned Certificate for successful completion of 2 week course
[</em>] Essays: About how I began playing piano by ear, have been composing for about 10 years
[<em>] Teacher Recommendation: Very, very good I was told.
[</em>] Counselor Rec: Very, very good.
[<em>] Additional Rec: Got a supplemental music rec, guessing it was good.
[</em>] Interview: Went very well. After thanking her, she said she thought I'd make a great addition to Columbia... Guess not :-/</p>
<p>[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] Location: MA
[</em>] School Type: Public
[<em>] Ethnicity: White, Jewish
[</em>] Gender: Male
[<em>] Income Bracket:
[</em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): male dancer, composer</p>
<p>[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths: Extracurriculars, unique and passionate interests in performing arts
[</em>] Weaknesses: GPA, Test Scores
[li] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: My academic performance</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]General Comments: I dunno, it's just disappointing. Was hoping it would work out, but Columbia's obviously not the college for me. I will find it.</p>
<p>Decision: Accepted (CC)</p>
<p>YEAH!! SF South Bay! =]</p>
<p>Pick one:
Decision: Accepted (ED)</p>
<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I: CR-780 M-670 W-800 (2250)
[</em>] SAT II: Lit-790 Bio-740 US Hist-800
[<em>] Unweighted GPA: ~3.6 (academic courses only); 3.97W
[</em>] Rank: 8/97
[<em>] AP: Lit and Comp-5 (self-study) Lang and Comp-5 Bio-5 USHist-5
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: AP English IV, AP Government/Economics, AP Physics, AP Calculus BC, AP Spanish Lang, Speech (semester course), Health (semester course), Theater (semester course), Multimedia (semester course)
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars:
Theater: Three shows a year throughout high school, with a variety of large supporting roles. One performance as a featured actor and singer alongside professionals in one of my city's largest theaters. Also currently an officer in my school's theater troupe, and co-writer and co-director of the our student-led revue show.
Band (concert band and pep band),
Future Problem Solving,
International Thespian Society (state and national competition every year since 10th, just state 9th. Multiple/Frequent superior ratings for theater performance)
Singing: I've taken some voice lessons, and worked a lot on my own, and recently got to sing in front of about 2000 people at a school-wide worship service.
[<em>] Job/Work Experience: Worked for my father writing small marketing materials since 9th grade.
[</em>] Volunteer/Community service: Nothing significant beyond school requirements.
[<em>] Summer Activities: Internship with dad/weekly summer job in a leadership position in my church's TV Dept. Also, I've competed in a national theater competition in Nebraska every year since 10th.
[</em>] Essays: I wrote about my love for poetry and how I first discovered how awesome poems can be when reading "The Computation" by John Donne in English class. I'm a fairly experienced writer, so I believe that the essay was very strong.
[<em>] Teacher Recommendation: One from my calculus teacher (math has been my weakest subject), one from my 10th and 11th English teacher (my strongest subject). Both said that they wrote excellent recs.
[</em>] Counselor Rec: Also very, very good.
[<em>] Additional Rec: One additional teacher rec from my Bio teacher. I also submitted a ten (I think) page packet of my writing including a few poems and some of my marketing work.
[</em>] Interview: Went very well; I had a wonderful conversation with the guy and talked about Shakespeare, Harold Bloom, and Pride and Prejudice.
[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): Texas
[</em>] School Type: Small Parochial k-12 (approximately 1500 students total, ~450 in the high school)
[<em>] Ethnicity: African-American
[</em>] Gender: Male
[<em>] Income Bracket: Mom-under $70,000, Dad-$100,000 to $200,000 (I live with both.)
[</em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM: African American Male
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths:Everything but my transcript. That's an exaggeration, but I've achieved at a high level in theater and writing, so my extracurriculars are solid, I'm confident about my essay, my teachers really seem to respect me as a student, and at a small school like mine, you get close to teachers pretty quickly, especially after having them in class multiple years. My testing, while not great, was excellent in the subject areas that I've consistently done well in.
[</em>] Weaknesses: My horrid transcript! It's not actually that horrid, but it's bad enough to make me surprised that I got in. I've got one C+ in Alg. 2, no As in math, a few in the sciences, but consistent As in the humanities
[li] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Well, I have to confess that one part of it is probably that I'm black and male, and sadly, we seem to be in moderately short supply at top colleges. And I know Columbia puts a lot of emphasis on diversity. But besides that, I think that although my academic performance is at times uneven, my app told a good, consistent story. Everything from transcript to essay to additional writing, emphasized how much I love writing and theater and how much of a humanities person I am. I think that passion really had a positive effect. [/li][/ul]**General Comments: Well, if nothing else, I prove that there's more than one way to get into a top college. While I have good grades, I'm nowhere near the best student at my school academically. And because of that, I honestly expected to be rejected. But somehow, be it divine grace or a generous adcom, something put me over the top. I think the strongest things about my app (besides URM) were good communication and passionate pursuit of significant extracurricular goals which I will continue to pursue at Columbia. So, by way of advice, if you fall in love with something in high school that isn't Calculus or European History or Physics or whatever academic subject, and you genuinely believe you could spend your life doing it, pursue it. Not only will you be more fulfilled, but good colleges notice and reward that pursuit as well. (Of course, you could be a better student than me and become amazing at whatever you do outside school AND maintain a 4.0, but I digress). Oh! And don't be afraid of supplements, as long as they REALLY add something to your application. I don't know if they helped (although I bet they did), but they certainly didn't hurt, in this case.</p>
<p>Also, since I've ranted on about myself for this entire post, congrats to everybody who got in, and to everyone who got deferred, best of luck and hope to see you at Columbia, and to those of you who were rejected, don't worry--it's not a statement on your value or who you are; it's just about what Columbia wanted at this specific time, and it certainly doesn't mean that plenty of other schools who want and need what you offer as a student; here's hoping you meet up soon and fall in love with the perfect school.**</p>