Slim Chances? ;[

Colleges & Universities A-Z Columbia University
1

<p>I go to a public school designed for minorities in the Boston area. I am not a minority myself, I'm Asian-American. My class consists of 50 students. The school runs from 8am to 5pm. And then from 5pm to 7pm are extracurriculars which are only avaliable on Thursdays. I'm part of Yearbook every thursday for 2 hours.</p>

<p>I'm currently a junior with a relatively low GPA of 3.3, and I'm assuming that it'll go down to 3.1 UW by June. 2/50 students have a GPA higher than 3.6 UW at my school. We do not rank.</p>

<p>I haven't taken the SAT, but my math is really strong. I have gotten:
630 CR, 770 M, 700 W on practice exams. If all goes well, I'll be the first in my school's history to have gotten higher than 700 on math & writing (but it's insignificant).</p>

<p>My SATII's are:
800 MathII, 650 Chem</p>

<p>My school only has a few AP courses, no honors.
They consist of:
APUSH, AP Calculus, AP Physics and AP Literature.</p>

<p>My courses as a junior consists of:
APUSH, American Literature, AP Calculus BC, Chemistry, Spanish</p>

<p>I'm the first in my school's history to be a junior in an AP Calculus course. (BC, and BC isn't even taught at my school) The rest is what every junior in my school has for courses.</p>

<p>My courses as a senior will consist of:
Boston University course (TBA what the course is), Multivariable Calculus @ BU, AP Literature, AP Physics C (B is the one that is taught, but I'll be taking the C course alone), Spanish.</p>

<p>My senior year courses will be the most rigorous in my school's history!
I'll be apart of the Spanish Honors Society (there are no other organizations in my school)</p>

<p>Outside of school I...
Swim twice a week for 1.5 hours.
Badminton twice a week for 1.5 hours.
Learn Mandarin Chinese on my own & am currently very fluent, but still learning more!</p>

<p>I'm 100% sure that Columbia is for me from recent tours. Therefore, I'm applying SEAS early decision. What do you think having my school's background information in mind?
PS. Students in my school have gone to Dartmouth, few went to Brown, Duke and Amherst in recent years. All under RD. All around the same GPA, extracurriculars, but not as high as my SAT score (assuming that the above is what I'll get), especially my math.</p>

<p>Hook: First generation</p>

2

<p>I’ll be honest here, your academic credentials are not as strong as one would like to see (SEAS ED is getting more and more competitive over the last few years) I would say Columbia SEAS is still a reach.
academic rigor is only one factor, admission officers want to see both rigor AND result. While challenging yourself is good, pushing yourself too hard and sacrificing you grade will not gain you points. Also, realize that majority of people that SEAS accept are top 10% of their class.. 2/50 is 4% already. It also appears that math is you only academic strength, the chemistry SAT II score is not very impressive, have you considered taking the physics one if you are self-learning physics C?
Academic is only one factor, important one , but not the whole application. play a nice spin on your year book role or Mandarin learning, since those seem to be your major EC (sorry to be cynical, from what you provided, I didn’t see anything resembling interest/passion on either of those activities)
It’s not impossible for you, but you’ll need to craft your application well. play on the fact that you are taking the MOST rigorous course load in your school’s history (don’t go overboard since you don’t want to draw too much attention to your GPA). My advise is, use the application questions well to tell your story. let the admission officer know where you are coming from but don’t make it sound like you are looking for excuses.</p>

3

<p>^Thanks a lot for your advice and honesty. I’ll keep what you said in mind!</p>

<p>I just wanted to add in that I’d like to look into majoring in Computer Engineering and minoring in East Asian Language and Culture. :)</p>

<p>Out of all my activities, I’m really devoted to learning Mandarin. I think I’ll express my enthusiasm (although it does not show in the forums) for that activity in my short answer(s).</p>

4

<p>I just wanted to ask (without making another topic) what the Early Decision admissions letter or package looks like? Is it just a letter? 'Cause I’d like to know initially if I got in or not just from the mail they send me.</p>

5

<p>You check your decision online.</p>

6

<p>Uh, that GPA is fishy, unless your school is really anti-grade inflation. Don’t worry about top 10% though, since there’s no ranking. I think you’ll be leaning heavily on your recommendations, from counselor and teachers, but they’ll likely deliver.</p>

<p>Your extra-curriculars are kind of weak. You do some sports, but are you seriously involved in nothing else? Even if your school is tiny, you could go outside it, or start your own club. If you have a job, or if you’re good at the sports you play, that will go a ways towards making up for that. Still, you seem kind of like you’ve got nothing but academics (and in-school academics at that), without even taking into account the school you’re in.</p>

<p>I wish you the best of luck. Be aware, however, that your performance is only exceptional in contrast to your background. There will be hundreds applying to SEAS better absolute stats, GPAs, and even courseloads.</p>

7

<p>^Thank you very much.
In regard to the extracurriculars, I do swim and badminton, but my school has no team & I don’t know any teams out there that I could play for, and I don’t think I’ll do too well.
I have given jobs a thought, but I don’t think it will work out since my school ends at 5pm, I’d have to work after that and then I’d have to work late nights on countless homework assignments. I would definitely do it during the summer, but I don’t think that would really count on the application.</p>

<p>However, I have been employed to tutor middle school students during the summer on their statewide exam. Would that count on a college application? Even though I’m being paid? I’ve been thinking about not getting any payments and just volunteer.</p>

<p>And yeah, that’s my GPA. My school only goes by your raw grade in every course.</p>