<p>Hi everyone.
I am thinking about doing Early Decision to Columbia University and I just wanted to ask if 1) I stand a chance and 2) If it's even worth it. I absolutely love the school, I went on a tour, went to an information session, talked to current students/faculty, and did the Columbia University Summer High school Program last summer. I like their core curriculum too. Here is some information about me:</p>
<p>Attend a competitive prep school</p>
<p>Female</p>
<p>Hispanic (born in Puerto Rico)</p>
<p>SAT: 2100 (2140 super score)</p>
<p>GPA: 10.19 (12 point scale, A-)</p>
<p>APs:
US History (4)
Spanish Language (5)
Psychology (5)
Environmental Science (3)
English Language (4)
Spanish Literature (5)</p>
<p>Honors/Awards:
National Honors Society
Spanish National Honors Society
AP Scholar with Distinction
MVP JV Soccer (9th grade)
1st place rowing states (10th grade)</p>
<p>Extra:
Editor in chief of literary magazine
Content editor in school newspaper
Vice president of service club for autism
Teach myself guitar after school
Senior mentor (help freshmen)
Member of Latin American Student Association</p>
<p>Senior Year Classes:
AP English Lit
AP Macro/microeconomics
AP Statistics
Physics
Ceramics Honors
English elective</p>
<p>I want to study English or Creative Writing and Spanish.</p>
<p>I want to hear an outsider's opinions on my chances. Are they slim to none? Should I just RD or ED to another school where I might have more of a chance? I'm considering Barnard because their writing program is amazing, but at this time Columbia is the school that I really like, especially after spending the summer there.</p>
<p>Thoughts?</p>
<p>First, have you run the Net Price Calculator on the school’s web site to see if you can afford to attend? You can assess your chances with some data from here: <a href=“Columbia University, School of General Studies Acceptance Rate | CollegeData”>http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg02_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=1436</a></p>
<p>Its a hard decision. Aside from your financial needs, your scores are on the boarderline or on the low side. If it is absolutely your only choice, go try an ED. But which is your second choice?</p>
<p>I know, my college counselor told me I was borderline (in terms of who from my school has been accepted in the past). What I wonder is does ED help my chances much? Or hurt?</p>
<p>2nd choice is probably Georgetown but I wouldn’t apply REA because I heard it doesn’t affect much.</p>
<p>Since you had a whole summer at CU, did you take any time to check out the Barnard campus? How do you feel about their different core curriculum structures? Would you be as happy/more happy/less happy to graduate from Barnard vs Columbia College?</p>
<p>Personally, I’d advise against applying ED anywhere. EA makes sense, but ED has always struck me as a massive sacrifice of choice and negotiating power for an unequal return of increased admission likelihood. </p>
<p>Spend a dollar, get a quarter. Ugh.</p>
<p>Assuming you’re on board with the ED concept, though, you’re right to have done so much homework about Columbia and I’d advise getting as much similar depth about Barnard as you possibly can. If you’re going to do ED you want to be incredibly sure you have no hesitation about attending that school. Obviously you can’t do a whole summer at Barnard now, but if you can visit and compare it directly to Columbia (or have already done so), it’s worth considering if it appeals to you.</p>
<p>I actually did take a tour of Barnard, go to an information session, and even did an on-campus interview. I really liked the feeling I got from the campus and the nine ways of knowing. Plus two of my favorite authors went to school there (Edwidge Danticat and Jhumpa Lahri). What I’m not sure of is the all-girls part. I know you can take classes at Columbia, but I’ve gone to a co-ed school all my life and most of my friends are guys. Then again I feel like I might get more attention at Barnard… Decisions agh. And I do understand your point of view on ED, I feel like Ive been taught that if you don’t apply ED to a certain school then chances are you wont get in.</p>
<p>A few things to keep in mind:
- Barnard and CU are quite integrated socially, so it’s not like you will rarely see boys
- The faculty of many departments is fully integrated, so you will likely have at least <em>some</em> coed classes even if you were to deliberately try not to
- If you really want the coed living experience, Barnard students are allowed to apply for CU group housing in a group with CU students. Supply is limited, but it can be done. You’d have to make some friends at CU first, though, so you’d be in Barnard dorms for the first year no matter what.
- Many of Columbia’s facilities are shared by Barnard (e.g. libraries, student center).
- You’re in New York…men are everywhere</p>
<p>If you really prefer Barnard, I wouldn’t worry too much about the single-sex status. It’s a very different situation from many of the other Seven Sisters colleges. Urban locale, coed affiliate institution right across the street. You can potentially get the best of both worlds.</p>
<p>Plus, a higher acceptance rate. Food for thought.</p>
<p>Granted, there are a few cons. As far as I know, the two schools still don’t have swipe access to each others’ dorms, which would make visiting guy friends complicated but not impossible. And there is some upturning of noses by some CC/SEAS students over Barnard’s higher acceptance rate. Haters gonna hate.</p>
<p>How crazy! I actually did the summer session as well and I’ll be applying early to Columbia.</p>
<p>Your ECs line up with your intended major which is always a good sign and your SAT scores are on the competitive end. You also have some good hooks (minority and rowing). However, it’s hard for me to determine what your GPA translates to when admissions officers look at it, but when converted to a four-point scale, your GPA is a bit low.</p>
<p>I’d say that your chances are pretty fair, but Columbia is still a reach for all of us.</p>