<p>Hi, Columbia is my first choice school, but I just don't know if I have a shot at getting in. I would love to be in the biomedical engineering major, but as it is in SEAS, I don't think I have any chance at all due to my math scores, and would have much better shot at the college. True? I do plan to go to graduate school, possibly med school, and eventually want to end up in the medical field doing research. I'm not sure what I would major in if I choose to give up on BME.</p>
<p>Male, Caucasian
Parents - one bachelors from UCF, one high school graduate</p>
<p>SAT I - CR 800, Math 620, Writing 690
SAT II - US History: 570, Math Lvl 2: 580, Physics: 700 (est.), Literature: 750 (est.)
ACT - 31</p>
<p>High School - Private christian in central Florida, not known for anything really
GPA - 4.4
hardest curriculum possible taken, no AP offered at HS
class rank - 3/35</p>
<p>College Classes taken at community college - Intro to Chem, Chem I, College Trig, College Composition</p>
<p>EC's and other---</p>
<p>1 year JV Football
2 year Varsity Football
1 year varsity weightlifting
3 years student govt
2 years NHS (VP, organized a blood drive)
1 year Journalism (newspaper editor)
volunteer work at doctors office/hospital
4 years straight part-time job</p>
<p>does that mean estimated?? on what basis are you guessing that you're gonna beat your highest SAT II score by 120 points? </p>
<p>your math scores are really bad....no chance SEAS will look past those....you need to retake the SAT II math and the SAT I and take it seriously...if you can't pull those SAT scores up you basically don't have a shot at either SEAS or CC.</p>
<p>do you have any leadership positions or hooks that Columbia could possibly look past your SAT math for? You should retake it though, or try the ACT. You CR score is good and you have a 1420/1600 which is in their range.</p>
<p>Yeah those are estimated. I put them higher optimistically so you would have something to work with rather than just say there's no chance at all if those scores were to be low as well. I do think I will do better at both those tests than the ones I've taken. I really shouldn't have taken the History one when I did. I've already taken the SAT three times, and I'm using the Dec. 6 test day for subject tests. The ACT I've taken twice, 22 on math first time and 26 second time. The highest composite is a 31. Leadership positions would just be within student govt...</p>
<p>Also, bring out how you've made an impact in your EC's since you don't have many leadership positions. </p>
<p>Those SAT scores are a reason for the adcom to reject you unless you're a star athlete or something. Don't let them do that. If you've taken the SAT 3 times already, I'd suggest reconsidering applying to columbia. I'm sorry, i don't mean to be harsh but if you can't pull up those scores and don't have a real hook applying would be a waste of time.</p>
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I'm sorry, i don't mean to be harsh but if you can't pull up those scores and don't have a real hook applying would be a waste of time.
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<p>i would never discourage anyone from applying and you shouldn't either! its not your place to say whether or not someone should apply</p>
<p>Your SAT I scores aren't terrible and seeing as you've taken it 3 times already you should definitely not take it again. You will need to take the math SAT II again especially if you want to go to SEAS and you'll need to score at least >700 ...if you are interested in SEAS forget about taking the literature SAT II and retake math and take physics. </p>
<p>Ok let's say I scrap SEAS...I just don't have the math scores, and apply pre-med to the CAS, and I take say a literature and physics subject test and get decent scores. I know they will get every score on my record, but will they put the most weight on the highest two scores? Will I have any kind of shot at the CAS? Also, I was planning to apply to boston university and georgia tech, both as a biomedical engineering major. Do I have a shot at BME at either of those schools with my math scores?</p>
<p>i think you have to make up for your low SAT I math score whether you are going for CC (no such thing as CAS at columbia) or SEAS by retaking the SAT II math! it doesn't matter what they say they'll "look" at ...they'll see everything and i'm guessing your first two tries at the SAT I math were even worse than 620 so you really need to show them you can do basic math. </p>
<p>i dont know what these other schools' standards are but in general engineering schools look for strong math and science grades and scores and if you aren't comfortable with math enough to do well on basic SAT math then i think you should rethink engineering because you will struggle from day 1</p>
<p>Ok thank you. I really am considering not applying to engineering anymore because I don't really want to be an engineer per-say -- not a single engineering major except biomedical interests me -- I just want to be in research medicine.</p>
<p>"if you can't pull those SAT scores up you basically don't have a shot at either SEAS or CC."</p>
<p>@Shraf: Just wondering, what is the minimum SAT score for CR, M, and W for you to say the applicant has a shot? In the 25th-75th percentile range? </p>
<p>@cerberus08: they see all the scores, but they only care about the highest ones. the score choosing policy comes out next year.</p>
<p>for the columbia application you self-report your highest score on each section and the date you got that. I think you have to send in the SAT report anyway though.</p>
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@Shraf: Just wondering, what is the minimum SAT score for CR, M, and W for you to say the applicant has a shot? In the 25th-75th percentile range?
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<p>there is no minimum, its really a combination of all your scores in my view....i think the 620 in math SAT I would've been ok had OP scored > 700 in the math SAT II for instance. But with two sections < 700 in the SAT I and both SAT IIs < 600 OP has a very slim chance in my view (the only reason OP has a "good" overall SAT I score is because of the 800 in CR but the details are the problem)</p>