Chance me for Columbia HEOP (RD)

TheWapTrap
Tue, 06 Feb 2018 03:58:35 +0000

I’ve heard that people with similar stats have gotten into Columbia College under the HEOP program. With that being said I was curious if someone could chance me.

Income: about $10,000/yr (primarily reliant on social security) there are 4 people living in my house
Ethnicity: Latino

Overall Unweighted GPA: 3.0 (huge upward trend)
Unweighted GPA (By Year):
Freshman: 77.44
Sophomore: 80.81
Junior: 84.50
Senior: 96.30

Graduated a Semester early with a NYS Regents Diploma (1/28)

AP/IB:

My school does not offer AP/IB/Honors courses

ACT:

25©22®27(S)24(M)25(E) with a 9 on the essay

RANK:

31/43 ( I haven’t checked this in awhile though… I am willing to bet I am closer to 27/43, maybe better )

ANTICIPATED MAJOR:

Economics-Philosophy

EXTRACURRICULARS:

Rotary Club (Treasurer) 12
Community Service 10
Civil Air Patrol 6,7
Economic Research at a nearby Liberal Arts college 12
Asst. Coach to modified girls volleyball 12
Cornell Upward Bound 11,12
All County Choir 10,11,12
Tutor in Business Law and History 12
Literary Club 12

LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION:

1. Economcis Teacher (7/10) I was her best student, but she’s only 5 years older than me and can’t write for her life

2. Cornell Upward Bound asst. Director (10/10) Knows me very well and im sure wrote stellar recommendations

3. Government Teacher (8/10) One of his best students, didn’t read but I am sure it was very good

4. Business Law Teacher (9.5/10) One of his best students, I read the letter and it was glowing

5. Guidance Counselor (6/10) Knew me well but his letter was very generic. Not bad, but not great.

AWARDS:

Student of distinction, High-Honors, Honors.

INTERVIEW:

I did an interview with a current student through ARC and it went extrordinarily well. We come from towns near one another, he was accepted through a similar program, we have similar interests, etc. I’d give the interview a 9.5/10 I think I got a good recommendation.

COMMONAPP ESSAYS:

The CommonApp essay was written about growing up in poverty but experiencing even worse poverty in rural Puerto Rico and how it inspired me to pursue Economics and Law to help combat such dibilitating poverty. (9.5/10)

The Columbia Supplemental essays were also very good, here are a couple of them.

ONE: What books have you read for pleasure in the last year?

Existentialism is a Humanism - Jean-Paul Sartre
The Stranger - Albert Camus
Twelfth Night - William Shakespere
The Myth of Sisyphus - Albert Camus
Search for a Method - Jean-Paul Sartre
The Will to Power - Friedrich Nietzsche
Sickness Unto Death - Soren Kierkegaard
The Wealth of Nations - Adam Smith
Capital - Karl Marx
The Big Short - Micheal Lewis
Introduction to Marxian Economics - Ernest Mandel
The Antichrist - Friedrich Nietzsche
The State and Revolution - Vladimir Lenin
Walden - Henry David Thoreau
Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy - Bertrand Russell
Being and Nothingness - Jean-Paul Sartre
Tractatus-Logico-Philosophicus - Ludwig Wittgensetin
Introduction to Logic - Imanuel Kant
The Sociological Imagination - C. Wright Mills
The Prophet - Khalil Gibran
The Trial - Franz Khafka
Limitless - Alan Glynn
Thus Spoke Zarathustra - Friedrich Nietzsche
Republic - Plato
Nausea - Jean-Paul Sartre
We Are Anonymous - Parmy Olson

Among others.

TWO: What do you value most about Columbia?

Columbia has a long and proud tradition of shaping some of the most influential minds in business, politics, science, and the arts. Having the lofty goals I do, a good education is of paramount importance.

When Hunter S. Thompson audited courses in journalism, he did not expect somewhere down the line to inspire some kid from a poor rural farming hamlet to pursue a future in academia. Nor did Barack Obama when he was finishing his studies in political science, nor did Warren Buffet when he received his masters in economics. Columbia has incidentally inspired me to pursue what I want and that inspiration alone is more than what most universities have to offer.

Maybe more beautiful than the inspiration is the community, being in the middle of the most culturally and intellectually diverse city in the world allows for the immersion of different outlooks on life, which I believe to be a valuable virtue.

The research and internship opportunities are also very enticing. Being in the center of world politics and economic growth, someone who has aspirations for research and academia can ask for no better school in which to pursue his studies.

Lastly, coming from a very poor and underprivileged background, both academically and financially, the potential to be considered for HEOP and for a generous financial aid package are also considerable factors. As much as I hate to admit it. While I know that cost shouldn’t be such a large factor in choosing a school, coming from my background, I can’t afford to not consider cost and academic assistance.

THREE: What attracts you to your intended fields of study?

My primary fields of academic interest are Philosophy and Economics. Polar opposites, one testing the limits of quantitative analysis. The other testing the limits of human reason. Both, however, in my eyes hold the key to truth and a path to freedom.

Since I was very young, I remember asking myself questions that were unusual for someone my age; What makes something right? Do we exist? Does God exist? Why do we yearn for meaning? Why do people commit suicide? Does life have meaning? What would a utopia look like? What makes a good leader? All of these are questions that will follow me throughout my life and who danced around in the heads of great thinkers long before my time, but whom have symbolically delegated me to carry on their work. To do so, I must develop my skills in logic, analysis, and reason.

Economics has been a field that has always interested me, particularly economic theory. While most people have aspirations of using an economics education to get rich or start a business. Not me. I am drawn to economics as it is a field that describes the nature of humans in a more modern and universal language. I have indulged myself with the works of some of the most influential economic theorists including Marx, Smith, Ricardo, Friedman, and Keynes. I intend to pursue graduate study in this field, possibly a P.h.D

Both of these fields will prepare me for the logically rigorous curriculum of Law School which I intend to attend to concentrate in Financial and Securities law, and to further advance my credentials for a career in politics.

Thanks for reading/chancing!

Best of luck to everyone else applying!