Tips for going to Columbia

Colleges & Universities A-Z Columbia University
1

<p>Hello, I just finished my grade 11 year and will be grade 12 in September,</p>

<p>meaning that I should be preparing for universities now...</p>

<p>I've always wanted to go to Columbia and finally, I'm trying to get closer.</p>

<p>I live in BC, Canada, and English is my second language.</p>

<p>My first language is Korean, and my third language is Japanese.</p>

<p>That is probably my strongest point - I can speak 3 different languages.</p>

<p>I lived in Japan for a year as an exchange student and successfully</p>

<p>became the foreign student with the highest achievements in the history.</p>

<p>I have not taken any SAT exams yet... I'm planning to take them in</p>

<p>September. (I know it's a bit late... It took me a while to get used to</p>

<p>Canada's school again once I came back from Japan.)</p>

<p>I'm planning to take math and Japanese for SAT2 courses.. (or are there</p>

<p>any other recommendations?)</p>

<p>I'm not sure of my GPA because Canada's grades are a bit different from</p>

<p>the USA's... My school's grade structures are like as follows:</p>

<p>A = 100 - 86 %
B = 85 - 73 %
C+ = 72 - 66 %
C = 65 - 60 %
C- = 59 - 50%
F = 49 and below</p>

<p>For my past years in high school, I've been getting mostly A's.(All above 90%)</p>

<p>Except, I got a high B in English 10 (85%).</p>

<p>I'm still waiting for my final report card for my grade 11 (it will come out on the 26th)</p>

<p>It depends on how well I do on my final exams, which are next week.</p>

<p>For my grade 12 courses, I will take AP English, AP European History,</p>

<p>AP psychology, AP Calculus, Math 12, Physics 12, Chemistry 12, iWrite(Its a</p>

<p>writing course that a college teacher is teaching but it depends on how many</p>

<p>students enroll... there needs to be at least 10 but only 3 enrolled so far :s)</p>

<p>Those AP courses are the only AP courses at my school...</p>

<p>I plan to voluteer during summer and I do have previous volunteer experiences</p>

<p>I've been playing the piano for 14 years and received many awards.</p>

<p>I know I still need so much more but I would appreciate it if there are any</p>

<p>advices that you guys can give me or suggestions so that I can work my</p>

<p>hardest to achieve my dream. I have a really big passion and dream about</p>

<p>going to Columbia. Thank you very much.</p>

2

<p>your essay is important. you say you have a “really big passion and dream about going to Columbia” but the admissions office will want to know why you want Columbia, and what you will bring to the university. </p>

<p>how would you answer them?</p>

3

<p>If I was asked the question “why do you want Columbia, and what will you bring to the university?”, I would probably answer it like this:</p>

<p>Columbia always has been my dream university. Through Columbia, I want to become the woman who made a big change to the world. I want to be an inspiration to all the people who were in the minorities just like me and show them that dreams can come true no matter what background you’re from. I’m from a very small town and my race has been an obstacle in my life since I came to Canada. If I get into Columbia and become successful in the future (I still haven’t decided yet what to become when I grow up :s), I believe that I can help the world become more globalized and friendly…</p>

<p>This is actually my first time being asked that question… so I dont think my answer is the best, but I tried. Are there any suggestions or advices on how I should answer them?</p>

4

<p>No, it definitely isn’t the best. You must remember that the same question is being asked to thousands of other applicants, and I suspect that most of their replies fall along the lines of:</p>

<p>I think that going to Columbia will allow me to make a big difference in the world. I have had to overcome obstacle a,b,c to get to where I am today and if I get into Columbia, this will make the world a better place.</p>

<p>You need to write something different, something more specific, something more honest.</p>

<p>What are your dreams? Why do you think you would be successful at Columbia? What skills, talents and abilities are unique to you? There are many people who can speak three languages and more at Columbia. I don’t think that your linguistic palette is going to help you in terms of admissions.</p>

<p>Be specific. From the answer you just gave, the reader still doesn’t have a clue why you choose Columbia. Why is it that you can only be successful at Columbia? There are plenty of successful people in this world who didn’t go to Columbia. </p>

<p>You could speak about race relations but this topic is extremely overused and in general, should be avoided. You mention that you haven’t decided what you want to do with your life. Okay, nothing wrong with that but you also say that your dream is to go to Columbia. I don’t think the admissions committee wants to hear that Columbia is the end of the road for you. There needs to be something more.</p>

5

<p>Thank you for your reply, karot! I was just wondering… can it be something personal? I actually do have a reason why I want to go to Columbia… and it’s kinda private :s</p>

6

<p>I’d say give the most personal answer you can without sounding like you think you “deserve” to get in just because you’ve overcome some personal adversity. Be original and pointed–like, Columbia’s got it’s Core, a great creative writing program, etc. Make sure your reason for going isn’t just something as generic as “It’s the only Ivy in NYC.”</p>

7

<p>Of course it can be something personal! Personal implies honesty, both to yourself and to your reader. And there’s nothing wrong with keeping your intimate thoughts from CCers so long as you open up when you get cracking on the writing process.</p>

<p>And usually your admissions essay isn’t going to be about Columbia. Rather, a strong essay should be more intensely focused on yourself. The admissions committee wants to know more about you, not Columbia. They know all about the core, they know all about the fantastic location and they probably even know about the Barnard jokes. There are places on the application for you to tell them why Columbia is good for you. The personal essay not one of the places.</p>

<p>Rather, they want to know why you are good for Columbia and they answer that question by finding more about you. It sounds like you could have a great essay on your hands. Now all you need to do is figure out how to say it.</p>

<p>I do suggest that you get some people to read it over. Give it to people you trust (but not your parents!). Your college admissions counselor can be a good start if he/she isnt too swamped. They’ll have more experience with reading application essays and will know what makes a compelling and attractive piece.</p>

8

<p>I’ve decided what to write and thank you so much for the great advices!! I actually (clearly) had no idea how to write the essay for admissions office but now I get the idea and I think I’ll work on it throughout the summer… However, I still have a question about SAT… How are the marks for most of the people who are admitted? 2200+? I still haven’t taken the test yet and I don’t even know if I’ll do well on it…</p>

9

<p>Yeah, 2200 is competitive. 2100 is pretty common but you don’t want to be uncertain on something like the SATs when you have bigger things to worry about.</p>

10

<p>bigger things to worry about?
are there any other big things to worry about other than the essays and SAT? What else??</p>

11

<p>well, you know, having a personality, and passions both academic and extracurricular, is generally a big help.</p>

12

<p>Yeah, as Denz says, they’re probably going to be the most significant part of your application. Your grades will be something that keeps you from getting weeded out early in the process but who you are as a person is the factor that actually gets you in.</p>

13

<p>hey Kerorii,
I think we have a lot in common :slight_smile:
I live in Vancouver,BC and I’m graduating next year as well!!!
Most importantly, Columbia Univ is my passion too!!!
What school do you go to??? What are you doing this summer???</p>