<p>Hey, I am a kid living in Oregon and I am dying to get into Columbia.
To all those kids who are in Columbia or who got accepted ( congrats!), please let me know what you think they want to see in their future pupils. Leadership, EC, community service, job opportunity, IB full diploma? Just a quick thing about me too, I am a latino student and I can speak three languages fluently. Does that help my chances? PLEASE LET ME KNOW!</p>
<p>Hey,
I don't go to Columbia and I haven't even applied yet, but I've spent enough time around the fora here to have an idea of what kinds of replies from actual alumni/current students/prospective acceptees.</p>
<p>The parts of the app that get most people serious consideration are the rigor of their curriculum and their grades and boards. Most people recommend taking the hardest classes available in one's school, earning an unweighted GPA of about 3.8 or higher, and scoring either a 2200 on the SAT or an equivalent 33. In reality, though, a lot of people score below this and still get into Columbia.</p>
<p>To set yourself apart, you really just have to show passion in your extracurriculars. Don't do activities because they will help you get into good colleges. Do them because you really want to. Your genuinity will come through on your application. </p>
<p>And the fact that you're Latino helps a lot. It's not an automatic in, but it certainly will be advantageous.</p>
<p>alright thanks. do they want originality in your extra curiculums too? i mean for example they want a kid who plays petanque rather than basketball. a different aproach? oh and i'm not mexican or anything like that either, i'm argentine. not too many of those in the us.
but any other help is much appreciated thanks!</p>
<p>I have read that columbia students are "high strung, ruthless, overachievers". I am aware that columbia has a very good academic record and is very selective but what exactly the atmosphere at columbia? Are the classes interesting and is managebale? What does one need to be considered in the application process?</p>
<p>Asterix_07, you need to take a look at this thread...</p>
<p>@jhouck11
I'm argentine, too, and also fluent in three languages. I'm so glad you posted because I'm planning on applying to Columbia as a latino, too, but some idiots think that argentinians aren't latino.</p>
<p>jhouck, originality is always a great thing. If you were being recruited for a sport, I'd say basketball would be more of a draw, but petanque sounds awesome (can't say I've ever played, but it sounds a bit like bocce, which I really love)! Anyhow, that sort of thing can add flair to an app, but having some EC's that are less of hobbies (things like political work, club presidencies, musical ensembles, journalism, etc.) could help.</p>
<p>What year are you in school right now?</p>
<p>la monera: yeah i hate when people say, but ur not brown... or you don't look mexican? f*uck you.</p>
<p>wmmk: alright, petanque is this really random sport from france. my french teacher thought it might look good so i'll see. but i'm a sophmore. </p>
<p>any of you gys think i gotta chance?</p>
<p>Jhouck, as I said, the fact that that you're Latino helps a lot, but it's hard to tell you what your chances are or how to improve your admissions profile without knowing your GPA, courseload, PSAT or PLAN (or even SAT or ACT, if you've taken either) scores, and extracurriculars.</p>
<p>alright so i'll start naming some stuff.
I am in an International High School Program in Oregon.
I am Spanish Immersion therefore I take half of my college level classes ( all my classes are college level classes) in spanish.
I take AP French classes. I completeed the French program.
I am in the Full IB Diploma Program
I take advanced math and science courses.
I am on Varsity Tennis.
Varsity Soccer.
Varsity Petanque ( god I love saying that)
Soon to be National Honor Society, possibly on the board next year.
+100 hours of community service ( so far!)
Soon to be Eagle Boy Scout
In a Band.
Spanish Club
French Club
Soon to be spanish and french tutor @ Sylvan Learning Center
Captain of soccer next year?
Captain of tennis next year?
Musical next year?( i have been singing since I was in first grade, like in gruops and choirs)
My GPA is around a 3.75 UW.
any suggestons on things to do?</p>
<p>get a life</p>
<p>so that's good? bahaha</p>
<p>raise your GPA to a 3.8 or 3.85 if you can. And are you from Portland?</p>
<p>alright ill do that. i still have the rest of this year plus junior year. is it better to do early decision? columbia is my #1 choice.
and no, i'm from eugene. it's around two hours from portland.</p>
<p>ED definitely helps, but be sure that you can attend regardless of what financial aid comes out to be if you're going to do ED.</p>
<p>wow, you're only a sophomore? way to go.
I've heard that early decision helps a lot more with columbia than with other schools, because it's not quite as prestigious as, say, harvard, yale, and princeton, so they like to know that you're committed to them rather than just applying to all the ivies.</p>
<p>Harvard, Yale, and Princeton all do not have early decision plans, so...yeah early decision would help more with Columbia...X/</p>
<p>Yeah, I agree that the GPA should be brought up to a ~3.8. Combine that with a 2150+ SAT and you're academically set. Anyhow, the Spanish immersion is cool, but you're not going to be taking any classes at Columbia in Spanish, so I'm not sure how much that helps. As I said Pentaque is also cool, but try to think about doing <em>things you love</em> that could significantly benefit the Columbia community. In other words, more eccentric than NHS, more substantive than pentaque.</p>
<p>alright sounds good. so since i'm a sophmore, and ( i had my counselor calculate this for me) if I have a 4.0 during the rest of this year, i think i'm up to a 3.9 ish, then i have A HUGE courseload next year. i start school at seven and end at four. so that should be good. but yeah i will work on all that stuff. thanks for the advice!
Oh, but i love all the stuff I do. I really like foreign languages, sports, NHS everything. the only thing I don't really like is the sciecne and math, mainly cuz i'm not too good, but should I apply to columbia college or columbia school of engineering? is columbia college like Everything? like business, law, everything? or what. i'm kinda confused and the person at the columbia undergrad question email isn't responding so i htought i'd ask here. thanks again for all the advice!</p>
<p>well, if you don't like science and math SEAS definitely doesn't sound like it's for you.
business and law are usually considered graduate areas of study, but yes, columbia college has pretty much everything other than engineering. check out the areas of study on their website. but you also have a lot of time to find out more!</p>