<p>The truth, OP, is that you have a statistically very low chance of admittance. You’re correct that most of the applicants, particularly in the ED round, will have much better SAT scores than yours, which makes you a comparatively less attractive applicant. It doesn’t mean that it’s impossible for you to be admitted. Admissions committees are human; if you have something that really stands out and makes you an extraordinarily compelling applicant, then you could still be admitted. But in all likelihood, you won’t be accepted. And that’s fine. It doesn’t mean that you’re a bad person or a dumb person, and it doesn’t even mean that you did something wrong on your application. It certainly doesn’t mean that you’re not necessarily “Columbia material,” just that you weren’t admitted to the Columbia class of 2015. (But honestly, you’re probably more qualified in many ways than the students who attended Columbia 20 years ago.) It just means that this year, there were applicants who appealed to the admissions committee more, and were therefore selected to fill a tiny number of slots.</p>
<p>Human nature is such that we always want what other people can’t have, because we want something to be unique to us. Even if something has no inherent value, it seems attractive just because not everyone can have it. Possessing something that others don’t have makes us unique in some small way. That’s why rejection always stings, even when the object of our desires isn’t all that great to begin with. Columbia is pretty great, and there are many reasons to love it, but it’s not undeniably perfect. If you’re admitted, there will be times when you’re ecstatic and others when you’re depressed or upset. The same is true if you’re not admitted. Your life will be very different depending on whether or not you attend Columbia, but it won’t be absolutely better or worse.</p>
<p>You say you have a problem, because your SAT scores are lower than you expected and you therefore have a lower chance of admission at Columbia. It does require you to change your expectations, and to accept that you probably won’t be admitted to Columbia. It means that you’ll no longer be able to imagine your college experience as taking the subway uptown and then sitting on the Low steps (though we have an open campus, so you could still sit on the Steps with all the Asian tourists if you’d like). But you’ll find another college, envision yourself there, and then enjoy yourself. Of course, I can tell you hundreds of things that make Columbia amazing, but I’m biased because I’ve never been anywhere else. True, there are some things that are uniquely amazing about Columbia, but that won’t prevent you from having an amazing time at another college, once you learn what makes it unique and interesting and why its students love it.</p>
<p>Don’t interpret this as a disguised statement of no-confidence; you still might be admitted, despite your relatively low SAT score. I’m happy that you love and appreciate Columbia, and that you applied here ED. I did the same thing. But you have to take care not to become so blinded by your love for Columbia and the college experience that you’re unable to imagine yourself being happy anywhere else. Although I applied ED to Columbia, I fully accepted that I probably wouldn’t be admitted (despite a relatively high SAT score), and started to fall in love with other schools. I was fortunate enough to be admitted, and Columbia has fulfilled many (though not all) of my expectations so far. But I know that even had I not been admitted to Columbia, I could still be happy. And I know that so long as you’re open-minded, you’ll have a great college experience wherever you go. Just make sure that you research and fully understand all the other schools you apply to, so that you can fall in love with them the same way you already have with Columbia.</p>
for all of us.
). Are you?</p>