You betta Belize it!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Columbia University
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<p>Yes, another chances thread. :&lt;/p>

<p>I'm currently a junior from a competitive public in the northeast.</p>

<p>Academics:
GPA: 3.9
WGPA: 4.6
SAT I: 2190 (800 M), retaking for 2250+
SAT II: Bio - 800, Math 2 - 800, taking Chem this spring
AP: Comp Sci A - 5, Bio - 5 (self studied), Enviro - 4 (self studied)
Courseload: most rigorous possible in all areas; skipped one year of math, science, and comp sci; finishing all bio and chem courses this year, so I'll either do independent study or take bio and chem courses at Princeton next year, or a combination of both</p>

<p>EC's/leadership as of junior year:
Environmental Club - President, founder
Debate League - President, Vice President, Varsity team
Tutoring Society - VP, tutor
Amnesty International - Publicity Officer
Model United Nations</p>

<p>Awards/honors:
A plaque for NJ Science League, regional finalist for an oratorical contest, AP Scholar, Varsity debate team, 12th place in National French Examination, some other debate/MUN stuff, nominated by my school for NJ Governor's School on the Environment (1 male nominee per school) as well as NJ Scholars Program (three nominees per school). This year I'm doing a lot more stuff - like USABO (prepping like mad), USNCO, USACO, AMC 12, NJ Envirothon, National Ocean Sciences Bowl, my local ISEF-qualifying science fair, more debate competitions, and hopefully Columbia Science Honors Program for the fall/winter of senior year.</p>

<p>I'm expecting an amazing rec from my guidance counselor and good to excellent teacher recs.</p>

<p>My two main passions are environmental science and public issues, and I want to pursue environmental studies in college, so I'm applying to CC.</p>

<p>Oh, and if it makes a difference, so far I can check off 10 out of 15 items in the "How has your interest in Columbia developed?" question, and I'll have 3 more when I apply.</p>

<p>So... what do you guys think?</p>

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<p>when are you applying?</p>

3

<p>Next year. I'm a junior right now.</p>

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<p>good enough. 70%</p>

<p>all presentation.</p>

<p>start essays early. say, march?</p>

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<p>yeah 70 sounds about right and frankly that's pretty high when you're dealing with a school like columbia. Every applicant is down at least 20 percent because no one ever knows what these schools will do. Harvard being a extreme.</p>

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<p>Hmm 70% sounds nice hehe.</p>

<p>Anybody else?</p>

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<p>uhhh 70%? I would say that is too extreme for the college (unless you're talking SEAS, which you're not.)
I think at <em>this point</em> for early decision you have a 50% chance, and for regular decision 35% chance. (at best)
To raise your chances, my advice would be to 1)do actually raise your verbal/writing scores so that overall everything is past the 2250 level as you wanted it to be, and 2)continue to have a high GPA, and if school is ranked, focus even more on this (very important) and 2)really branch out and do as many interesting, strong, unusual things with that environmental science interest as possible... do well on all the competitions in which you are participating, and continue to push your environmental club over the school, but also try to do something that the adcoms haven't seen before.... volunteering, founding an initiative in your county to stop some wrongdoing, etc. You are a pretty strong candidate for admission, but this is Columbia-- you need to make yourself stand out more</p>

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<p>Thanks for the advice, suburbamania. I have some great ideas for the club this year, including community service, academic competitions, and general publicity like getting a speaker from the state environmental department to give a presentation to my school. We'll see what I can make happen.</p>

<p>Any other fine words?</p>

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<p>Not really. I read sub's post and agree with it. I gave you a 70 and stick with that 70 though. You're a strong competitor.</p>

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<p>Hehe thanks yapsuper. Do you go to Columbia, or are you an applicant?</p>

<p>suburbamania - you mentioned SEAS in your post. Is it considerably easier to get into Columbia SEAS than CC? I was looking into EEE (Earth & Environmental Engineering), but I'm not completely sure I'd want to go to SEAS, since it offers much less mobility than CC.</p>

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<p>I was accepted ED, class of 2010. </p>

<p>Its been debated about SEAS vs. CC accpetance rates. SEAS takes a higher percentage, but the average GPA and SAT of SEAS is much higher than CC. So my opinion is that more qualified students apply to SEAS.</p>

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<p>I see. Do you think I'd have a better chance at SEAS (assuming I break 2250 on the SAT)?</p>

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<p>First, about the SAT SEAS stats that everyone seems to be quoting:
College: 1320-1520
SEAS: 1380-1540</p>

<p>College: 19% URM (black, hispanic, indian); 60% white/asian
SEAS: 8% URM; 70% white/asian</p>

<p>College: 50% men, 50% women
SEAS: 71% men, 29% women</p>

<p>Given the disproportionate percentage of white/asian and male acceptees, it's no surprise that SEAS does slightly edge the SAT margin.
In my opinion though, CC and SEAS have different sorts of students, but in the end, when everything balances out, they are generally <em>equally</em> smart and capable.</p>

<p>newb, I personally think that CC is more of an admissions crapshoot. For that reason I think it is "safer" to apply to SEAS. <em>However,</em> you should apply where you want to apply, because you have a decent shot at both schools, and more important, because you are hesitating- you definitely need the choice if you're not positive you want to go into engineering.</p>

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<p>Yeah I know. I'm not really serious about it at this point just because I EE would be hardcore science whereas a major like Environmental Studies (or, in Columbia's case, Environmental Biology [!:)!]) incorporates public policy and social issues as well, and I'd definitely prefer the latter. I was just thinking that if you thought I'd be a shoo-in for SEAS I'd give it more consideration. ;) Haha but really, I'm not that interested. Plus, the representative leading my info session said that students who are thinking about applying to one school because it's easier to get into and then switching to the other shouldn't bank on it because it's very hard to switch.</p>