Can I get into Columbia? What more can I do?

Colleges & Universities Columbia University
1

<p>I’m a junior and my high school is in the best high school district in cali
Fresh: all as no ap/hon
Soph: AP European history, PE, algebra 2 trig/ precalc honors, English 2, chemistry, journalism, Spanish 3. Ap euro and that math are considered to be the two hardest classes at my school. The journalism is my high school news paper which is one of the best in the country. I took the only ap/ honors my school had for sophomores and arguably the hardest schedule possible. Got all as but 1 b each semester, so I had like a 4.2
Summer between I took political science and physics at UCLA with the college students and got As in both
Junior year: Spanish 4 honors, drama, English honors, AP chemistry, Ap calculus, journalism, AP us. School only has 4 honors classes. Projected gpa 4.57
Other: job paid writer for local newspaper, not much volunteering (work instead bc poor) head amnesty international club, in model UN, will head school paper next year, 2 awards, 3 yrs jv waterpolo 3 jv swim</p>

<p>I am a syrian american, 1st generation citizen, mom is single mom with full time elementary teaching job that doesnt pay great, older brother with autism that i take care of, im in environmental club, was in one school play junior year, take hardest schedule in my school basically junior year, school is CRAZY competitive, project a 2100-2300 on SAT, my newspaper is seriously good and requires like 10-30 outside of school hours a week depending on what week, this summer ill probably save all my job $ to go to summer school at columbia, nyu, or georgetown
My mom makes like 40,000 a year but I have an aunt who is paying for college. I plan on applying early decision.
Please tell me what more I should do to improve my chances and what you think they are!</p>

2

<p>You appear to be a very strong candidate, for what my opinion is worth (I’m an alumnus interviewer).</p>

<p>Don’t worry about paying for school if you get in; you’ll get effectively a full ride. Don’t tell any financial aid ppl about your generous aunt!</p>

<p>Again in my opinion, the best thing you could do to improve your chances is to get on the varsity swim team, then contact the Columbia swim coaches in hopes of being a recruit.
Columbia has a water polo team but it appears to be a club & as such probably has no admissions slots for recruits.</p>

<p>Also, if Columbia is really your 1st choice, go ED. It significantly increases chance of admission.</p>

3

<p>I won’t comment on your chances, but as Morningsider said, you’ll get free tuition if you are accepted.</p>

4

<p>Yes.</p>

<p>Focus. Do you like to write? Make something of it. Not knowing you, I cannot say much else, but the crux of the matter is to be Interesting. Publishing a book is more “interesting” than writing for a newspaper (I am not telling you to quit your newspaper and to send manuscripts to publishers); winning an international competition in science is more “interesting” than reading about science on the Internet; heading a business that serves tens of thousands of people is more “interesting” than dreaming about it.</p>

<p>Also, read a lot. I think that listing forty or fifty texts for the question on the Columbia supplement about what I had read for pleasure in the year before, many of which are on the Lit Hum, CC, and Global Core syllabi, helped me.</p>