Am I Aiming Too High?

Chance Me / Match Me
1

Hi everyone. I am about to go into my Junior year of high school, and I’ve thought about applying for Columbia University in the beginning of my Senior year. However, given how competitive positions in that school are, I thought it wise to ask some of you to tell me if I’m aiming too high. It might be too early to tell, but I figured I’d ask anyway. Thank you for any feedback.

~ Academics ~
I go to a relatively small Catholic school in Maryland.
GPA: 4.0 Weighted/4.5 Unweighted
PSAT: 1500

  • Note: Freshman and Sophomore students cannot take AP classes in my school.
    Freshman Classes:
    • Honors Theology I
    • Honors English I
    • Honors Algebra I
    • Honors Biology
    • Honors World Civilizations
    • Honors French I
    • Choir
    • Health (Required for Freshman)
    Sophomore Classes:
    • Honors English II
    • Honors Geomatry
    • Honors Chemistry
    • Honors US History
    • Honors French II
    • Choir
    • Phys-Ed (Required for Sophomores)
    Junior (Upcoming Year) Classes:
    • Honors Theology III
    • AP American Literature
    • Honors Algebra II
    • AP Biology
    • AP US History
    • Honors French III
    • Creative Writing
    • Intro to Philosophy
    • Choir
  • My school is also offering an online class on Psychology which offers college credits, and I am planning on taking them as well.
  • My school only offers a few AP classes, and I’m planning on taking more senior year.

~ Extra-Curriculars ~
• Member of the Schola Choir (Basically the advanced choir) of my school. I was one of eight freshman to be invited in out of the 50 who are in Choir.
• Creator of my school’s youtube channel
• Creator of the Creative Writing Club
• Soon to be editor of my school newspaper.
• Lead in two high school productions so far, and (I don’t mean to brag) but I believe that next year I’ll have 2 more lead roles.
• I do a lot of creative writing, and I’ve actually been published by a few literary magazines, as well as having one a minor creative writing competition.
• Member of a Young Writers Club at my local library
• I’ve taken a few classes on writing as part of a summer camp program at a community college, and I’ve taken a creative writing class at UMD as part of a summer program.
• Member of the Mock Trial Team since Freshman year (No leadership positions offered)
• Member of the Ethics Bowl Team (debate club essentially)
• Member of a sort of news team for my school, which involves broadcasting in the morning mainly and stating the announcements.

~ Achievements ~
Other than First Honors, National Merit, and the minor writing award, nothing that special.

Please be honest in your replies. I’ve also been thinking about Bard College at Arunndale-on-Hudson, NYU CAS, Northwestern, Emerson, and UC-Berekely. Should I be aiming lower? I think I’m solid academically (I technically have been taking the hardest classes my high school offers), but I don’t know if my ECs are any good.

2

Are you a URM? Any hooks? Are you in CA? You seem like a pretty solid student, but then so are many others. Your chances are probably tiny, given the acceptance rate at Coulmbia and Northwestern. I like that you have Emerson and Bard on your list. Your list seems reasonably balanced, but I think you should find another safety and match school. Your chances of getting into any colleges with an under 30% acceptance rate are unpredictable. Even less so for Columbia and Northwestern. If Columbia is your first choice consider applying ED, which might give you a slight advantage.

3

What can you afford?

4

If being a first-gen college student, first-gen American, and gay count as URM, then I do have that. I’m in MD, not in CA. I don’t know how well represented MD is in all honesty. As far as hooks, I’m honestly not sure what mine would be. I’ve thought about Ithaca College, UMD, and Syracruse if those would be good fits.

5

Have you talked to your parents about what they will contribute and shown them the net price calculator results on the schools you are looking at?

For most students, net price after financial aid and scholarships will be a major constraint on their college choices.

What school do you consider your safety, which you are assured of admission, assured of affordability, and assured that you will be happy to attend?

6

And I have completed some community service hours at my library, a non-profit farm, a tutoring program which involves teaching underprivileged children to read, and a service trip abroad in which I also helped teach children to read (Brazil is where my parents come from, so I did actually care about what I was doing). Then again, I don’t know how much this gives me. @Lindagaf

7

Gay is not a hook. There are zillions of gay students in every college:-) Being first gen to attend college is helpful, but not being Brazilian, unless you are hispanic. Your ECs are standard.

8

What does having “standard” ecs necessarily mean? I’m not getting defensive, I’m genuinely curious to know what you mean.

9

I honestly haven’t thought deeply of affordability, but I do have a relative list of what I’m thinking would be my safeties, reaches, and matches: UMD, Syracruse, Emerson, and Bard would be my matches, Columbia, NYU CAS, UC Berkeley, and Northwestern would be my reaches, and the only safeties I have in mind would be Ithaca and Penn State. Then again, I don’t know if that list is any good in my case at this point…

10

Your ECs are good, but not anything out of the ordinary for a student wih your stats applying to Columbia or Northwestern. That is what I mean by standard. They are the kind of ECs an admissions committee at those colleges would expect to see from their applicants. Probably Michigan, NYU, and UCB also.

You are going to be a strong applicant, if you can keep up your grades and do well on your SAT. Be aware though that those five colleges will reject many more applicants than they can offer places to. They will reject applicants with better stats than yours. There are many many posts from shocked and confused applicants every year, wondering why they didn’t get into one college or another. Northwestern denies 90% of applicants, Columbia denies 93% of applicants. Think of all the students more likely to get in than you: people who apply ED, URMs, legacies (maybe), children of fabulously wealthy donors (think donations in mega-millions), athletes, truly exceptional students who win Intel Science awards, or get published, or who are already famous (Emma Watson, et al), a student from a terrible background who does well regardless, and so on and so on. And maybe you too, if you have great grades, recommendations, test scores, write a fabulous essay, and have luck on your side the day your application is read.

Not trying to knock you, just want you to understand how competitive it is. They simply can’t admit everyone who applies. Keep reading CC and you will see posts by incredible students with awards up the wahzoo who don’t get into anywhere but a safety school. You may find this thread helpful: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1878059-truthful-advice-about-getting-into-top-colleges-for-your-average-excellent-student-p1.html
There are of course great students like you with the standard assortment of ECs who get into tippy top colleges, but most long-time CC posters would probably agree with me if I say that they are the exception rather than the rule.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t bother applying, or think that it is impossible to get in. It means you need a balanced list of safety, match, and reach schools to ensure you get into a college you will be happy to attend. By the way, since I began the thread included here, my D was taken off two waitlists and will in fact be attending one of those colleges. It has an acceptance rate of about 23%. In the case of the college she will be attending, I think what tipped the scale in her favor is that it was clear that she was genuinely interested in the college and was able to show that she would be a good fit.

Seeing that you have added Syracuse, Ithaca, etc…, you should be fine.