Should I do ED?

Colleges & Universities A-Z Columbia University
1

<p>Hi, I'm British Columbia, Canada and I'm a incoming senior. I'm considering a few Columbia for engineering for early decisions but I don't want to waste my early decision if I'm not competitive enough</p>

<p>SAT:
1st time: (1890) 640 CR 630 Math 620 Writing
2nd time: (2230) 740 CR 730 Math 720 Writing
Should I retake for a higher SAT?</p>

<p>Math 2: (770)
Physics: (760)
World History: (770) </p>

<p>Income Bracket: ~80K (probably applying for aid)</p>

<p>GPA:
4.0 (freshman) 4.0 (sophomore) 3.7 (junior) =3.870 total (Unweighted)
Rank: Top 10%
Weighted: Not sure how to calculate from IB</p>

<p>IB predicted score is 39/45 </p>

<p>Main Extracurriculars: </p>

<p>Music:
Vancouver Bach Choir (10-12)
Provincial Honour Choir (10-12)
School Senior Band- lead saxophonist (9-12)</p>

<p>Government:
Vancouver Model United Nations (11-12)
British Columbia Youth Parliament (11-12)
Student Council- Minister of Finance (11) </p>

<p>Math/Science + others:
Engineering Club (9-12)
Reach for the Top team (11-12)
Head of Physics Club (10-12) </p>

<p>Volunteering:
~100 Hours at a Senior Home
~200 Hours at a local children hospital</p>

<p>Awards/ Achievements:</p>

<p>Performer's ARCT from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Saxophone
Kiwanis Music Festival - Gold standings
Performed with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
Canadian Music Competition- Provincial Qualifier
Canadian Association of Physicists High School Exam - top 25%
Sir Isaac Newton Physics Open- top 10%
Canadian Physics Olympiad National Qualifier
Physics Regional Olympiad- Silver Medal </p>

<p>Summers:
Research at Biotrek (10-12) - Bioengineering program for selected students in UBC.
Research at the Canada Heart and Stroke Foundation (12) </p>

<p>Hooks:
None really, no legacies because I am a first generation immigrant.</p>

2

<p>bumpity bump</p>

3

<p>Right now, your chances of getting in are somewhat bleek. If you do ED, then it can help your chances (but you better have a good reason for why you choose Columbia).</p>

4

<p>Epaminodas can you offer a reason why my chances are bleak? I had people go to Yale from my school with stats that are less spectacular than mine.</p>

5

<p>First of all, internationals arguably have a harder time getting in and need to stand out even more than domestics. (although this is controversial topic, especially for Canadians, it never hurts to better oneself)</p>

<p>Let’s see, your SATs are good, but not great. Right now you’re in a tough situation, because taking the test three times is a tad much. (I had the same problem, and in the end decided to leave it at 2250 with 2 tries, and I got accepted.)</p>

<p>Your GPA and IB scores are mediocre, so you can’t really count on them to pull you out of the hole. And quite honestly, your ecs and volunteering aren’t spectacular. I could discern music as one of your stronger passions. So maybe you’d want to highlight that with your essays? Then again, you got a good deal of math and science peppered in (like a typical Asian). So it’ll take effort to make yourself stand out amongst the other Vancouverians who apply.</p>

<p>All in all, I had some difficulty to see coherence in your app. And your stats are average (for Ivy applicants anyways). In this climate, you gotta be the best in a group of ten to be accepted. Good luck.</p>

<p>EDIT: The fact that you performed with the VSO could pull some strings for you. But I’m not sure how common that is. I know one violinist from my HS performed in our local orchestra.</p>

6

<p>Why would you assume I was Asian? Just because I’m good at science does not automatically make me Asian… I’m Ukrainian and that would make me European ;D</p>

7

<p>^I never called you an Asian. I said your stats kinda made you look like an Asian.</p>

8

<p>I’d say your chances are quite good, especially ED.</p>

<p>The only issue is whether you are absolutely sure about the choice of schools.</p>

9

<p>Columbia is definitely my first choice, if I’m competitive enough as you say I’ll switch ED from my safety and try my chances are Columbia =D</p>

10

<p>your cumulative sat score is wrong for your second time…</p>

11

<p>That’s really weird that you improved exactly 100 points in each section between takes…but anyway, I would say you have quite a decent chance ED, as long as you can really stress the music passion. Unless you have any music awards that you plan to receive in the first semester, in which case you may want to wait for RD.</p>

12

<p>I was quite surprised too, I was sure that I did better at math and a bit worse in writing but I guess 100 is my lucky number. I’m just thinking about my essays right now which is the hardest part for me.</p>

13

<p>

Well there is your answer. If Columbia is your first choice, then why waste the opportunity?</p>

14

<p>you have a shot, just do ED</p>

15

<p>How can you waste your ED? Either you really are definite on Columbia and should do ED or you are not. You will not be applying to ED anywhere else as far as you say. So really there’s nothing to lose if you want to go.</p>

<p>But think twice if you want to go somewhere else.</p>

16

<p>If you’re debating between using ED on Columbia or on a safety, chose Columbia. If it’s actually a safety, there’s no use wasting ED on it (unless it is by far your 1st choice), since you should be accepted anyway.</p>

17

<p>I think agree with epam about your chances, I’d say even ED it won’t be easy to get in. The first generation definitely helps, but your profile doesn’t tell me that you’re going to grab Columbia by the neck and shake it for all it’s worth. I didn’t notice much leadership or initiative in your ECs. Your academics are below par, 39/45 is not great, top 10% also doesn’t say much because ~95% of seas were in the top 10% and I’d guess 75%-80% were in the top 5% of their high school class. </p>

<p>Also what is your SAT score, the numbers don’t match up.</p>

<p>If you want to apply, you should definitely apply ED, because ED i’d say chances are low (like they are for the average applicant). But RD I’d say chances are really low.</p>

18

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<p>As an IB Student, I have to disagree. 39/45 (predicted) on the IB Diploma is damn good, considering actual results end up being higher. Scroll down in this page, and one can clearly see that Oxford gives offers with scores that range from 38+</p>

<p>[Entrance</a> Requirements - University of Oxford](<a href=“http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate_courses/courses/courses_and_entrance_requirements/index.html]Entrance”>http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate_courses/courses/courses_and_entrance_requirements/index.html)</p>

<p>I think you will have a harder time as an international applicant, but you have good stats IMO. I think you have a shot.</p>

19

<p>^you are do not understand what you are citing and are wrong. Oxford makes conditional offers that force you to achieve a minimum of between 38 and 40 on your IB, meaning if you’re a pro athlete and have moved the earth in high school, but you’re an IB student, they won’t let you in unless you get a 38-39, empirically Oxford, Cambridge and Ivy league take scores which are much higher. usually 42-45/45. I went to an IB school which had great college placement, we had statistics going back many years. Columbia has never taken a single person from my school with below a 38/42 which is approximately equal to 40/45. My school distinctly focused on being all rounded so we weren’t cookie cutter nerds. The trend was exactly the same for all the other Ivies. Cornell, Dart and Brown had never taken someone with less than a 37/42 and HYP 39/42.</p>

20

<p>I think you have as good a chance as most people applying to Columbia. I can only tell so much from your profile… it looks like there’s a lot of focus on music. If your awards there are relatively prestigious and mean a lot to you, I’d say that’s good enough for extracurriculars. And of course, your SAT’s and GPA aren’t top, but they’re well within the range of accepted students…</p>