<p>GPA: 3.81 UW, 4.5 W(not reported though)
Rank: 45/350 –> this is unweighted, no weight AT ALL to APs and Honors classes, I’ve took the hardest course load and all that. My school is competitive, 15-25 students to Ivies/T-20 schools each year out of ~350 students
SAT: 2290 (780M, 760CR, 750W)
SAT II: 800 Math 2 and Physics</p>
<p>Alright, with ECs I won’t go into much detail, but basically I’m interest in robotics. I’ve spent the last two years at a university lab doing research related to robotics/CS(bulk of my time outside of school, lol). I’ve been published, how much does that help? Some ECs as well, such sports, clubs, but robotics has been the main focus.</p>
<p>I feel like my app is strong with exception of my rank. They’re have been kids with my GPA from my school who have got into Columbia, but their ranks were different and each class varies in how competitive it is. Considering the holistic approach, is there hope (a little…)?</p>
<p>Columbia SEAS is definitely easier to get in than Columbia college (but not significantly). I don’t know much about your ECs but your objectives are good except GPA. Top IVY universities love to advertise how many of their school students were from top 10% in high school. I recall Princeton was 97%? Above 90% of students for sure. Considering you have to compete for the minor GPA or rank group (less than 10%!) , your rank can significantly pull you back. But apart from that, I think you have a decent shot. Your rank made ur chance from good to decent shot :)</p>
<p>If you are serious about engineering, you can do a lot better than Columbia SEAS. In fact, you are a solid candidate at merit aid engineering schools like Cooper Union or Olin College of Engineering. If you like NYC, why not give Cooper Union a shot? It provides 4 year full merit aid scholarships to everyone admitted.</p>
<p>There are plenty of negatives about Columbia SEAS like large basic science classes, night classes in upper division engineering courses, and 3-2 engineering with over 100 colleges.</p>
<p>I think it is very harmful for you to say that it would be better for someone interested in Engineering to go to Cooper Union or Olin College of Engineering over Columbia Engineering. If you had recommended MIT, Stanford, CalTech, UC Berkeley, or Cornell, I would have agreed that the OP should consider them.</p>
<p>But let’s be real, the opportunities that you would get from graduating out of Cooper Union or Olin College pales in comparison to Columbia Engineering.</p>