<p>Scores
-GPA 4.0/4.0
-SAT: 2340 (CR 740, M 800, W 800)
-5 in APs chemistry, physics B, calculus BC, statistics, european history
-Currently in 5 APs</p>
<p>Extracurriculars
-Science research over the summer at Columbia
-On track team for 2 years
-Mathletes
-Chess team
-Peer Tutoring
-NHS/Community Service probably 20 hours (not really heavy on service)</p>
<p>I’m currently in 11th grade and I’m wondering what I should do in order to improve my chances this year. Are there any good programs/competitions I should get?</p>
<p>Wow you certainly seem like a strong candidate already! Make sure you maintain the GPA this year; that’s the most important thing to do. Also, try and rack up some awards or positions in your extracurriculars. Don’t do this to the extent where it jeopardizes your grades tho. Lastly try to make good use of your summer. Get a job, take courses at the local community college that relate to an intended major, try and do some community service either at home or, if available, internationally, etc. But you should enjoy it! You at least have the stress of SAT testing out of the way, so try to have fun with the time in high school left</p>
<p>Those are great statistics but you need to try and differentiate yourself from the crowd. To be quite honest, this sounds exactly like my resume from junior year and I had even been the president/captain of many organizations in my high school.</p>
<p>Find something that you have passion in and just absolutely crush it. Your resume, while strong, will quickly get lost in a pile along with all the other scientifically minded people in Jersey who have 2 years researching at Rutgers, varsity track/tennis for 3 years, and SHP at Columbia. I’m sure you have a good chance at getting in to Columbia but finding that one thing that sets you apart in a good way will require less work than excelling in an area where there is already so much competition.</p>
<p>For example, what I should have done was pursue my interest in Economics and researched at an Economics department or at the Federal Reserve in my area. Indeed, I should have gone back to NASA to research. However, I chose to do biology research for an entire year at the National Cancer Institute.</p>
<p>It was a poor decision because it was what the applicant pool did, i.e. my research my sophomore year was more impressive and differentiating than researching at NCI. I did a bunch of other activities and my biology research was one facet that actually made me blend into the applicant pool.</p>
<p>Indeed, my economics related and leadership activities in school were my unique traits. I essentially introduced the AMC and the Biology Olympiad to my school.</p>
<p>It seems beard tax believes he got into Columbia <em>despite</em> doing cancer research (which a lot of other applicants did), not because of it. If he really thinks that, it makes perfect sense he’d advise the OP to try something more “off the beaten path.”</p>