Skittled

asian male, extremely cool.

Columbia University SEAS for Chemical E. Not too sure about this yet... would it be possible to transfer to Columbia College after admission? Just wondering.


UW GPA: 3.904/4.0

Current Weighted GPA: 4.15/4.0 (only weight AP and honors junior year and senior year)
After 1st semester senior year, W GPA: 4.2-4.25/4.0

8 AP's, 5 honors.
Public, competitive high school with mostly asians. top 50 public school in America. Out of 500 students, school does not rank.

SAT:
single: 800M/670CR/680W -2150
Superscore: 800M/730CR/680W - 2210

sigh. terrible.

ACT:
Will take in December. Expecting 34+

SAT2: 800Math II, 780 Chemistry

AP Scores:
5 chem / 5 stats / 5 psych. taking chinese, biology, physics B, and Micro this year.


EC:
-Wrestling Varsity Captain
-Compete in Submission Fighting tournaments. This is a martial art, called Jiu- Jitsu. Won gold in various tournaments.
-VP of Martial Arts Club
-Track Varsity
-Church Youth Group Leader
-100+ hours , irrelevant
-Dental Experience w/ my renown family dentist. Interviewed him many times.
-Cultural Trip to China 3 weeks (will mention in essay)

WORK EXPERIENCE- N/A

-Won many grappling tournaments, wrestling tournaments
-Varsity Letters
-AP Scholar. Probably AP scholar w/ distinction or National after this year
-School does not give random awards. Must compete outside, which I didn't do =[

Recs:
1. Guidance Counselor - Amazing. Me and her are tight as hell and sometimes I'd talk to her about something not academic related. Homies. She has "profound respect" for wrestlers.

2. AP Chem Teacher- eh I did ok. Got an A then got a B 2nd semester. He likes me. WE are both athletes. Had 25 ED rec letters but chose to do mine earlier.

3. AP Stats: Bs'd this class and got A's both semesters and a 5 on the test. We are extremely cool and she is really really chill. I'm not too sure about this cause I was an idiot in her class, not being too serious.

-I'm very poor. Single parent, and she is unemployed too. Qualify for all fee waivers. Tell me scholarships I can get!

ESSAYS:
-Fighting / Wrestling / Mixed Martial Arts. i like it.
-Family, being first born son in a very traditional family. still working on it. my grandparents had 4 kids, all had daughters. and then my dad made a son. lot of stress. then my parents are divorced. so i live with my mom. trying to piece it all together.


THANKS!!! YOU GUYS ROCK.

ali001071

Lol? Extremely cool?
I'd say you have a good shot.

nk9230

you have a great shot. And your SATs are not terrible- mine are lower.

Skittled

I want an interview

admissionsgeek

why are you applying to the eng school if you are thinking about transferring? so in a sense - why engineering? (note they ask you this question in the application and it matters.) or maybe i should ask, why do you would you want to transfer? on the one hand it is just an undergraduate major - it does not equal the rest of your life, so when you get to cu, pick a major and don't feel like it boxes you in. on the other, you should at least be semi-expressive and understanding as to what it means to have an engineering education v. a liberal arts based one, and desire engineering properly.

do you want to be a doctor - is that why chemE? adcoms have a knack for smelling folks who are just applying because they did well in high school, or desire to be a doctor, but no interest in the major. make sure you clarify all these facts before you complete your application.

Skittled

I like physicS and chem, i don't want to do too much research. Wouldn't the natural choice be engineering? I like the concept of engineering as well.

admissionsgeek

actually...no.

engineering is not just liking physics and chemistry. so it is not a natural choice. it is certainly one of your many choices. but the application of science is far different than pure science - chemistry does not equal chemical engineering. but where they are similar, to a degree, is that they rely heavily on individual research projects. the content of each project is not the same, but the emphasis on research is valued throughout. i guess also the bigger question is what do you think you would do with the engineering degree or any degree for that matter.

though you did not provide a very substantive response (you mention enjoying the concept of engineering) - i suppose the real question is how are you planning to jump from liking something to majoring in it.

regardless - for all purposes you should consider applying to Fu if you think you'd like to have an engineering degree (suppose transferring was not an option even though it is). but then you are dealt with another question - why are you applying to columbia. and that answer might indeed be the bigger barrier to admittance.

NWdivisionCHAMPS

Are you applying because you think that you "look" like an engineer? (high science/math scores + achievements), but don't really want to be one?

If that's the case - examine yourself, and apply to the college if that's where you truly want to go. Don't apply to the SEAS just because it has a "higher acceptance rate" and you fit into an "engineer mold."

Wildcat343

Question: It is necessary to have taken physics in High school if you wish to apply to Fu?

admissionsgeek

normally yes - there ought to be a reason you didn't take physics. wasn't offered usually being the only one that makes sense.

but considering that nationwide most schools offer physics you would have to explain why you chose to take another science instead of physics (or perhaps why you didn't take at minimum 3 sciences).

jamescchen

Two recommendations:

1) Essay topic - Choose another subject (family). You can thank me later.
2) Consider the 4-1 Combined Program (BS/BA in 5 years) - Best of both worlds. Apply after getting into SEAS (soph. year).

Are you from NoCal or SoCal?

Skraylor

Two very good posts about engineering by admissionsgeek. Bravo.

admissionsgeek

agreed with jameschen - the family essay is messy. it is too complicated to put into 500 or so words without being reductive (imagine condensing 18 years of life, and then extremely complex subjects like traditionalism - what is traditional - into the space allotted). beside the fact that as an asian student, you will not be the only one to write on having a traditional family, or having a broken family, you are not unique in subject.

where you can be unique is in expression, so pick something manageable.

-----

and skraylor, who would have thought i'm not an engineer! (just someone who wishes he could do it again and be one.) thanks for the compliment though, i hope that kids realize that engineering is more complicated than just being a science major, but also they don't see it as a career death sentence (in fact you can have all the tech jobs and apply to non-tech jobs and be different because you have that analytical/logical background).

Skittled

Wow thanks so much for all of these responses. Admission geek, thank you especially for your input. Ill consider another essay topic, and research the combined program. I'm also applying to uc Berkeley for chemical engineering. I realize many engineers end up doing none engineering related work.

I can't say for certain what I want to do, but a chemical engineering degree is versatile and flexibile. I also know a chemistry degree is very flexible as well. I realize that chemistry does not equal chem e. I researched both fields since my sophomore year and I found that chem e interests me a whole lot.

Skraylor

Not really true. With just a B.S. in chemistry you can teach (high school and below), go to grad school (for chemistry), maybe work in someone's lab, or maybe compete for one of the very few jobs that hires chem majors.

Be careful going into college with a closed mind about what you want to major in. I chose chem.e. before getting to school and, in hindsight, there are other options I wish I'd explored. I was lucky since I found a corner of chem.e. that really interests me but some of my friends have not been able to find their own..