The Humble Columbia ED Applicant

Colleges & Universities A-Z Columbia University
1

<p>Gender: Male
Nationality: Singaporean
Race: South Asian (Indian)
School: Top 3 in Singapore</p>

<p>Academics</p>

<p>Unweighted Grades</p>

<p>Grade 9 – GPA: 3.10
Grade 10 – GPA: 3.20
Grade 11 – GPA: 4.00
Grade 12 – GPA: 4.00</p>

<p>Top 5% in class</p>

<p>Standardized Testing</p>

<p>SAT (I)
Mathematics: 790
Critical Reading: 780
Writing: 800</p>

<p>SAT (II)</p>

<p>World History: 790
English Literature: 800
Mathematics II: 800</p>

<p>International Baccalaureate</p>

<p>History HL – 7 points
Physics HL – 6 points
Mathematics HL – 7 points
Economics SL – 7 points
English SL – 7 points
Tamil SL – 7 points</p>

<p>Bonus 3 points</p>

<p>Predicted IB Score – 44 points</p>

<p>Diplôme d'études en langue française</p>

<p>Pass</p>

<p>No Financial Aid Required</p>

<p>Extra-Curricular Activities</p>

<p>Singapore Youth Flying Club – 4 years</p>

<p>Senior Cadet Aeromodeller
Squad Leader
Junior Aviators Course
Basic Aeromodelling Course
Assistant Instructors Course
Basic Flying Course
Private Pilot’s License
Alumni Pilots Executive Committee Member </p>

<p>Young Diplomats Society – 3 years</p>

<p>Secretary General
Honorable Mention for Best Delegate – Raffles Model United Nations
Secretary – Singapore Model United Nations (SIMUN)
Best Delegate – Nanyang Technological University Model United Nations
Best Resolution – Singapore Model United Nations (SIMUN)
Young Diplomats Forum Attendee
Best Delegate – Singapore Model United Nations (SMUN)
Conceptualized, Headed and Planned the International Model United Nations at AC – iMUN@AC, handling 3000 students
Harvard Model United Nations – Best Delegate
The Hague International Model United Nations – Best Delegate
Best Delegate – Nanyang Technological University Model United Nations
Best Resolution – Singapore Model United Nations (SIMUN)
Best Delegate – Singapore Model United Nations (SMUN)
United Nations Association of Singapore Young Diplomats Gold Award
Global Young Leaders Congress – Attendee</p>

<p>Peer Support Leader – 1 year</p>

<p>Served as a guide and mentor to freshmen in the high school</p>

<p>World Scholar’s Cup – 1 year</p>

<p>National Champions in Singapore
Top 5 in International Round in South Korea</p>

<p>Harvard Summer School Program – 2 weeks</p>

<p>Top 5 candidates
Top 1% transcript marks</p>

<p>Young People’s Action Party – 3 years</p>

<p>Active Youth Member
Participated and Volunteered in many programs to educate the underprivileged in politics, policies of the ruling party and voting</p>

<p>School Newsletter Team – 2 years</p>

<p>Senior Member of Executive Committee
President of Design and Layout Branch</p>

<p>Science Research Club – 2 years</p>

<p>Singapore Science and Engineering Fair – Finalist
National Mathematics Olympiad – Bronze Award
Singapore Youth Science Fair – Finalist and Best Oral Presentation Award
CB Paul Memorial Science Quiz – 5th best team
Victoria Junior College Science Quiz – 2nd best team
Raffles Junior College Science Quiz – 4th best team
Tan Kah Kee Young Inventors Award – Certificate of Commendation </p>

<p>Indian Cultural Society – 4 years</p>

<p>Organized Arts Fest – Overall in-charge of Information Technology
Raffles Information Technology Competition – Top 5
Victoria School Information Technology Competition – First Place
Organized Arts Fest – Executive Committee
Organized Arts Fest – Executive Committee</p>

<p>Temple of Fine Arts Music School – 2 years</p>

<p>Mridangam (Indian Percussion Instrument) player</p>

<p>Industrial and Business Attachment – 4 years</p>

<p>National University of Singapore’s Singapore Synchrotron Light Source – Assistant to Research Professor
Singapore Science Centre- Research Scientist
Republic of Singapore Air Force – Pilot Trainee
Academy of Science Technology and Research - Researcher
National University of Singapore School of Computing – Computer Mentorship Program – Certificate of Distinction
United Nations Association of Singapore – Student Intern </p>

<p>Volunteering – 4 years</p>

<p>Tutoring Grade 5 and Grade 6 underprivileged children
Working with a youth branch of the leading political party to inform underprivileged citizens about policies and voting
Research Assistant at the Singapore Science Centre
Window of the World program to Cambodia to help build toilets for the sick and needy</p>

<p>A lot of people tell me I have absoulutely ZERO CHANCE of any ivy league school or top US college because of my freshman and sophomore year scores. Is this true? Btw, Columbia is my first choice - Dream school since young :)</p>

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<p>I think you are fine. It will all just depend on how good the OTHER internationals are.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the encouragement rszanto! I really do hope to get in :)</p>

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<p>What is your weighted GPA?</p>

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<p>Humble? <em>chuckles</em></p>

<p>I’ve already told you your chances :)</p>

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<p><em>The</em> Humble applicant? That definite article, to speak nothing of the capitalization, reeks of arrogance. I’ll have no truck with folks like you.</p>

7

<p>zero trucks for Musil.</p>

<p>anyway, your profile speaks of someone who has had a lot of privilege in their life. if that’s accurate, can you spend a minute talking about the 2 or 3 top passions you have worked for over the past few years? Academic or extracurricular, either way. convince us (and by extension, the AdCom) that you feel a genuine passion for a single subject, or small handful of subjects.</p>

<p>go on, have a go.</p>

8

<p>no way this is humble. i thought you were being arrogant and sarcastic once i read your sat scores. i guess applying international is more competitive, but you definitely have a GREAT chance of getting into columbia/any other ivies with your scores/academics (IB)/awards.</p>

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<p>

</p>

<p>Very astute, and I completely agree with the advice. Listen to this guy :D</p>

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<p>Godfatherbob- sorry i dont really know. my school does not calculate GPA. just got those GPAs above from my american friend who calculated them for me. </p>

<p>Musil- I am honestly an humble applicant. There are thousands of applicants just like me and amongst them I am humble. Besides did u see my freshman and sophomore year scores :wink: ?</p>

<p>Denzera- Thank you! That’s excellent advise and Ill keep that in mind.</p>

<p>tongchen- thanks a lot for the encouragement :)</p>

<p>godfatherbob- yup i will</p>

<hr>

<p>My greatest achievement, in my opinion, would be my obtainment of the Private Pilot’s License (PPL) which only 5% of about 600 applicants manage to get. When I was young, my uncle who was and is a transport pilot in the Indian Air Force, took me on a joyride over the Himalayas. Ever since then, my 3 year old brain had made up its mind that it wanted to learn how to fly. My school starts everyday at 8am and ends at 5pm and with that schedule, taking into consideration other clubs and activities, I had to fit in time to fly 4 times a week. But nevertheless with hardwork, passion and a sprinkle of luck, I managed to pull it off. </p>

<p>Secondly, my passion also lies in politics, which by the way happens to be what I would love to major if I am given an oppurtunity to pursue my academics in Columbia. In Grade 10, me and my friend, after attending a Model United Nations conference, decided to set up a club of like-minded individuals who share our passion for politics. Soon the club strength grew to about 70 members. This was indeed a moment of triumph for us and the school funded us to participate in many competitions worldwide and local. I also conceptualized a MUN conference to be held at our own school and eventually we managed to make that dream a reality as well, hosting around 3000 students for a full 3 day conference. I guess many would see this as a little overwhelming for a high school student. Well, it does’t really feel that way when you do what you like ;)</p>

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<p>^ i sincerely hope your essay doesn’t sound like that, if that’s your essay it needs revision, pm me if you want.</p>

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<p>That’s not his essay… he was answering a question from an earlier poster asking him to describe two or three of his passions. I’m sure his Columbia ED essays are not thrown together that way (and don’t end with smiley faces).</p>

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<p>lol of course it’s not my essay. i wrote that in 45 seconds :)</p>

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<p>Is this what you call humble ? It’s quite impressive ! ^^</p>

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<p>lol i said humble because of the bolded text. read that and to be honest, im really really really scared of my grade 9 and 10 marks and the chances of it affecting my applications.</p>

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<p>any more comments/replies?</p>

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<p>

humble has a lot more to do with not believing you’re better than anyone else, than it has anything to do with not being an impressive person. Many professional athletes are very humble people, but just knowing their careers and salaries you would assume otherwise.</p>

<p>hraghuvir, if you focus on politics and flying as your academic and extracurricular passions, you will present a very “congruent” application to the admissions committee - i.e., they’ll buy what you’re selling, because every signal they’re getting from all the different pieces of information fits into one consistent picture of yourself. And buying what you’re selling, unless it just plain isn’t up to snuff, generally means an admit.</p>

<p>your profile speaks to someone who has grown up during the course of high school and I don’t think your 9th grade GPA will be that much of a problem. sophomore year, maybe - but the rest of your profile is strong enough. overall i’d say you have a good chance, as long as you write a little better than that blurb up there. but generally speaking, i think you’re looking good.</p>

<p>please bump this thread in mid-december and let us know how it went =)</p>

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<p>Thanks for the encouragement Denzera! Flying and Politics are indeed my passions and I really do hope that I stand out amongst the competition as a legitimate and honest candidate - ofcourse thats what all applicants hope for as well and im also in the same boat. ill definitely let you guys know of the final decision.</p>

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<p>coincidentally, I wrote my columbia essay - the one that got me admitted - on the value of honesty and why I cared so much about it, and how that had expressed itself in my life. i’m sure you feel similarly.</p>

<p>best,
D</p>

20

<p>Absolutely! So how do you find Columbia?</p>