How to make myself dazzle.

xxxmkay
Sat, 19 Mar 2011 21:44:47 +0000

As a female nerd, when you hear about a movie involving MATH, MIT, AND JIM STURGESS, you get excited. This led me to watching 21 on TV this weekend. And well, its left me quite inspired. An interviewer asks what makes you dazzle when the main character, Ben, during an interview regarding a prestigious scholarship.
This leaves me wondering, WHAT MAKES ME DAZZLE?
Columbia’s my dream school. And well, my counselor’s been slightly useless since my school doesn’t exactly produce Ivy Candiates.
I’d love to study economics at Columbia. On my first trip to New York, I went to NYSE.
I had that moment of sheer astonishment. Since then, I’ve been really into finance and economics. My Dad helped me pick out a few stocks for him, and well now I know I can afford tuition at Columbia for my Freshman year.
As of now, I need some advice on how to make myself more competitive.

My freshman year GPA was an unweighted 4.0
I got rather unlucky in my english class as a sophomore and ended up with an unweighted 3.8. But I am taking WHAP, so I have a weighted 4.0.
I think each year, I’ll have at least a weighted 4.0
As a junior, I’ll only be taking AP CALC AND APCS due to the limited course catalog.
My freshman year, I participated in Varsity Golf and well due to some negative comments, I chose not to try out this year. Due to the vast time commitment involved in golf, I had really no extra curriculars beside it as a freshman.
As a sophomore, I really tried to participate in more extracurricular activites so I participated in Robotics, Speech, Debate, AMSA, and Math Club. Outside of school, I helped launch a program that helps kids with disabilities become better prepared for the future by teaching them basic social skills.
I’ll pursue all these activites in the fall too.
I walked into my sophomore PSAT, literally unprepared, (i didn’t know there was a reading writing and math section) and scored a 190. I think if I prepare, I can really bring it up.

NOW…COLUMBIA?
How do you guys think they’ll see this? Any tips on helping me become a more DAZZLING applicant?
Now, how would Columbia see this?