<p>Hello.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>When filling out the Common App and all the neccessary essays and supplements, where exactly do I tell them what is my desired area of study? </p></li>
<li><p>For international students - what are the things that are absolutely required (even for an international) in the Secondary School Report besides grades of course? </p></li>
<li><p>Do I have to include the 9th grade in the Secondary School Report even if the High school here only starts from the 10th grade?</p></li>
<li><p>Can you add the Officially translated report to the Common App?</p></li>
<li><p>They are asking what films I enjoyed most in the past year. Do they mean films released recently, as in Cinema?</p></li>
<li><p>I was a professional cellist up until recently when I had to quit, so I couldn’t possibly have had any EC activities apart from the Orchestra and Chamber.</p></li>
<li><p>Do I have to list all the music competitions BEFORE High school ? </p></li>
<li><p>Does going to Chess Cafes every once in a while count as an EC activity? Is it worth listing or do they expect something more substantial?</p></li>
<li><p>Do they have a real way of telling if all the activities and leaderships listed are true ? Especially for internationals?</p></li>
<li><p>On their website they ask the international applicants to let them know immediately if they will require a financial aid. I assume this is different than the normal financial aid application (March Deadline)</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>Ask Columbia. </p>
<p>You can find the email on the website.</p>
<p>I’m particularly interested in questions 7, 8, 9, 10.</p>
<p>Can anyone please enlighten me on these ?</p>
<ol>
<li><p>My US high school also began from 10th grade, but they included my 9th grade information on their transcript, so I’m not sure about your school.</p></li>
<li><p>Unless they are significant musical accomplishments, I wouldn’t bother listing them as they want recent information about your musical abilities.</p></li>
<li><p>Yes, if you can expound enough on it to make it very interesting.</p></li>
<li><p>Schools sometimes attempt to verify information, but it is rare they do. I’ve only heard of one incident at UC Berkeley where an applicant was rejected because he was caught lying. But there is nothing stopping you from outright fibbing about your qualifications (many students do)</p></li>
<li><p>I believe the CSS Profile now accomodates international students, so you may be filling out the same financial aid forms, and then some. It’ll just be more paperwork than for citizens/permanent residents</p></li>
</ol>
<p>The reason they ask you to tell them immediately about your financial aid situation is because if you are applying as an international with financial aid they WILL factor that in to your application (meaning its harder to get in if you do apply), whereas for domestic students it’s need-blind.</p>
<ol>
<li>Ask common app</li>
</ol>
<p>2-3. ask the schools you apply to</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Ask common app</p></li>
<li><p>Yes, they ask for what movies you watched & enjoyed. In my year, they also asked for the books, performances, events, and some other stuff – I believe this is still the case. </p></li>
<li><p>Try not to leave too many extracurricular slots blank. Anything that regularly takes up time counts! So think outside of the box.</p></li>
<li><p>Typically you don’t list things prior to high school unless it’s extremely impressive</p></li>
<li><p>Define “every once in awhile.” If you didn’t make a significant contribution, don’t exaggerate your participation a ton. You’re hurting the people who poured their time and effort into that activity – besides, you wouldn’t want someone else doing the same to an activity you spent a lot of time on.</p></li>
<li><p>To my knowledge, only the UC system audits (I heard it’s about 1/4 of their admits). But with any school you have to worry about others informing on you. Just don’t do stupid things like brag about it within earshot of your teachers.</p></li>
<li><p>If the website says so, then those are the rules. If you find conflicting requirements on the website (ahem Caltech), email the admissions office!</p></li>
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