High School Student Aiming for Columbia [TN resident, 4.0 GPA (4.74 for UTK), 33 ACT, political science and statistics, <$15k (Columbia NPC $10k)]

Chance Me / Match Me
, , ,
21

I thought it would still be more useful and more challenging than a dual enrollment algebra or trig as those were pretty much my other options

1 Like
22

Absolutely will! Thank you guys so much, every video essay I’ve ever listen to has talked about the toxicity of places like this but you guys have been nothing but helpful

1 Like
23

Rigor - stars isn’t considered rigorous. But you’ve loaded on APs so you have rigor. Latin, too, is unique. But the pre calc and stop on math stood out. A 4.0 or one B - not a difference maker. You don’t know tank - with all those APs I’m not sure how you could be outside the top 15% at a public - and I know the school you’re at - I’m guessing you are higher.

But apply and see. But I’d add a few more schools as noted. You’ve got great background someone is getting into high reaches why not you? But because of your budget issues, if you don’t want UTK - you need to add more meets need schools that hit Note if the school is need aware - that could hurt you. Lehigh is a good one for you to look at. Because you’re in state, Sewanee too.

Good luck.

1 Like
24

Only for STEM majors.
Non-STEM majors ( as per the 2025 catalog above) need to take 2 science courses of their choice from the list. Review the link in case I missed something but even Honors College non stem students don’t have to do the 2/linked sequence thing as far as I can tell.
I think the APES exam would grant you one course equivalent of you score a 3, and 1course+lab/field if you score a 4 or 5. That leaves one other class of your choice - they have honors classes for non STEM majors and honors classes for STEM majors, don’t mix them up :grin::joy:
Thinking ahead wrt Law School, you should try and take another class in the department of Environmental science, environmental studies&policy, or Geography (physical or urban
) etc, regardless of AP credit.

25

More precisely, they know they’re very likely backups and want to know whether the student is seriously considering them in the likelihood they won’t get into G’Town, or if they’re wasting their time reviewing the student’s application and offering a good financial package (keeping in mind they don’t meet need for all or even most but can if they have evidence it’s worth it for them).

1 Like
26

Math majors tend to do well on the LSAT, because upper level math courses (with proofs) give practice in logical thinking. Philosophy majors also tend to do well on the LSAT for similar reasons.

In high school, you may have encountered some very basic logic lessons in high school geometry.

27

Calculus will be a prerequisite for any statistics course more advanced than the AP statistics level (= introductory statistics for non-majors in college). If you intend to major in statistics or data science, or just want to get a stronger background in statistics for social sciences, you will need to take calculus to prepare for more advanced statistics courses.

1 Like
28

Do you know what kind of stats is locked by calc? Columbia considers it a suggested sequence for political science-statistics without it being required and currently I’m conducting a thesis using MANOVA testing and haven’t needed it so far

1 Like
29

Statistics < Columbia College | Columbia University says that the foundation courses for the statistics major are calculus based.

1 Like
30

You need it to understand the math behind statistics. However, you can complete the “methods” requirement for the major with non calculus based courses like https://polisci.columbia.edu/content/research-design-data-analysis

2 Likes
31

New ACT Score
English 35
Math 35
Reading 33
Science 36

So if the college recalcs it and includes science its a 35 and if not a 34

1 Like
32

Wow, that’s amazingly good :raising_hands:

33

Yes, but Columbia doesn’t consider them to be an important admissions factor.

34

Congrats to you. Best of luck. Let us know how you fare - but make sure you have the affordable backup.

35

I am familiar with your high school and your stats are especially impressive coming from this school where the standards are incredibly high. I would consider adding Princeton to your list. Both Princeton and Yale really like students from your school in recent years.

3 Likes
36

Out of curiosity, why Rhodes College is not on your list? They can even give you full ride,since you are from TN and potentially first generation. Rhodes is amazing for pre-law, has very strong Mock Trial teams.

5 Likes