I am an Asian student applying to Columbia RD Program.
Ranking: Non-Ranked
GPA: Not used in my school
Curriculum: IGCSE + IB
IGCSE: I got a E in English duirng Y9 (my counselor will explain it in the letter), got Cs for Science during Y9-Y10, others are fine.
IBDP: 32/45
English is not my native language
TOEFL: 108
SAT1: 1530
SAT2: Physics: 800, Math2: 800
Will I get cut-off after the first round?
Columbia does not have “rounds” in their application process - they evaluate applicants holistically. As such, you would need to provide more information about yourself such as extra-curriculars to make a more reasoned judgement, if one is possible at all.
Write a great essay. Be sure it is in your voice. Use descriptive language to show your story, don’t just “tell” it. What are your ECs? Remember that Columbia admissions process in holistic - you have to “reveal” your whole self. Best of luck. Your standardized tests are good, but there are many other factors.
Your scores are competitive. There are a lot of students like you at Columbia. Your scores in Math indicate you have the ability to understand what single-digit acceptance rates mean. There are lots of students like you, or even with better scores/grades, who get rejected each year. Grades and scores are not everything.
If you can write a compelling essay, and have interesting EC’s showing you work hard and also know how to play, you will get serious consideration.
Best of luck. I am confident that you will do well wherever you end up, and if you apply to multiple top schools, you will have a nice choice among acceptance letters.