What math is best for college admission?

Not going beyond Algebra 2 (or its equivalent) when applying to a school like Columbia (as well as many not really close to like Columbia) as a STEM major will be quite challenging, IMHO. I checked the Plan of Study for Biology at a few schools and they all start with Calc 1/Calc 2 freshman year.

If you don’t take it, you’ll likely need to take it over the summer or play catch-up your first several semesters.