Should I apply? International student

Colleges and Universities A-Z Columbia University
1

I’m an international student from India applying with hefty financial aid ( ugh ). I intend to pursue a human rights major, and Columbia offers the same.

SAT: 1480 ( 770 Reading/Writing and 710 Math) - terrible I know
Essay: 22/24
Class rank: Top 5-10%
GPA: We don’t get one, I’m doing the A-Levels and my predicted grades are A,A,B.

I focus a lot on my ECs:

-Organized a musical fundraiser to raise money for LGBT women
-President of the school fest, hosting 5 schools and 500 people one year and 10 schools and a 1000 people the next.
-I run a charity to rehabilitate stray dogs in India. Government recognized, affiliated with hospitals.
-Prefect in the student council for 2 years.
-Debate team for 4 years, won inter-school and national debates. Same for MUN, several awards, including 3 Best Delegate.
-Interned at a relief organization for 6 months, and aided them greatly in their relief and organizational work
-Worked with Apne Aap, an organization working towards the rehabilitation of sex workers
-Ensured the employment of female workers at a petrol pump when I interned at a firm that owned it
-Published in 3 short story anthology books. 1 in India and 2 international.
-Several other community service, volunteering and social justice related activities.

My recommendations will be stellar, I’m mostly sure. I write a lot and I feel like my common app essay is strong.

I was too scared to apply to Columbia ED…and I do need a lot of financial aid. It’s always been my #1 dream school but my list is exhaustive right now and I can’t seem to accommodate it…should I? Is it worth it?

2

It would be a huge reach as your SATs are below the 25th percentile for Columbia. https://undergrad.admissions.columbia.edu/classprofile/2020

If you want to apply you should – that way you never have to think about “what if” – just understand that it is a longshot. With an acceptance rate of well under 10% Columbia has to turn down many qualified applicants.

3

It’s a huge reach and your list already has a lot of them. You should, instead, apply to Barnard, from which you could take classes in the Columbia Human Rights concentration.

4

I would have loved to apply to Barnard except…I’m male!!

5

I agree that it’s probably a big reach because of your SAT score, and the fact that you’re an international from India will also probably hamper your chances a little bit.

6

Your ECs are amazing though so go for it