Low Test Scores, Any Chance?

Colleges & Universities Columbia University
1

<p>Male/Chinese/ 6’2 220 running back [ =] ]
General;</p>

<p>GPA- 3.9/4.0
Public School
Gifted Since 1st grade
Honors/Gifted/ 5 out of 7 AP class ( Can really only take 5)
21/490 Class rank.
Wanting to major in Business</p>

<p>Scores;</p>

<p>ACT- 29 (ugh, I know) Will Retake… but just say its a 29</p>

<p>EC’s;</p>

<p>NHS
DECA- Second at State
100-150 HRS Community Service at Boys and Girls Club
martial arts- Two gold medals at national events
Basketball-Freshman year
Student Coach- Every morning at 7 for Chinese
LEAD Business program (Hopefully)
NYLC</p>

<p>Awards;</p>

<p>The general honor stuff.
Should def have AP scholor.</p>

<p>Strong essays, and great recs</p>

<p>What would my chances look like?</p>

<p>Also Applying to; </p>

<p>Duke
Rice
Wake Forest
UCB
UVA
Penn- haha.
KU- Full Ride
Chicago
Gergetown
University of Michigan</p>

<p>Any Chance with a low test score?</p>

2

<p>i think “gifted since 1st grade” is your shoe-in.</p>

<p>(aka you’re fine. just retake the act, bring it up a few points)</p>

3

<p>i find it surprising that this kid doesn’t even know there’s no business major at columbia.</p>

4

<p>Sorry, are you a junior or senior? I’m going to assumer junior, because it would be too late for seniors. All you can do is raise that ACT score and take some SAT IIs.</p>

<p>Also, only ONE Ivy has a business major and that’s UPenn…</p>

5

<p>^. O… -_-. </p>

<p>Sorry about that.</p>

<p>And yes i am a junior. I thought SAT II’s were not required for columbia?</p>

6

<p>Business- More Spec. Economics.</p>

<p>I mean, ive been hearing all over how great Columbia is for Economics. I plan on visiting in April…</p>

7

<p>two SAT II tests are required</p>

8

<p>PM me, DNIGAO. You have some interesting hooks I’d like to discuss.</p>

9

<p>^, I do?</p>

<p>10 char.</p>

10

<p>I think he’s referring to the fact that play football and you are asian?</p>

11

<p>What’s so “hookish” about that?</p>

<p>What I find utterly hilarious is the “gifted” label.
I mean, I’ve been formally told that I’ve got “intellectual promise,” but “gifted?” Hmm…</p>

<p>It’s far worse than Mr. Rogers (God bless his soul) telling an entire generation of brats that each and every one of them is special in their own way.</p>

<p>Anyway, you look good.
You should use your essays to bring out the significance of your ECs and animate your character.</p>

12

<p>Thanks for the second part of your input Kwu, but the first was not needed.</p>

<p>I was merely stating a fact, that, in some opinions, looks good on a application. Being gifted simply means i was tested into the education system in 1st grade as a “gifted student.” I took gifted classes all throughout schooling and these are not avalible to those who are not accepted into the program.</p>

13

<p>bleh the whole “gifted” label always irked me. i’ve grown up with a similar system but trust me, i’ve seen some real dumbassses come out of such programs… by the time you get to high school where there is no distinguished separation between “normal” and “gifted” kids, it really doesn’t matter since hard work/diligence really starts to gain as much importance as intelligence. (just my experience and observations)</p>

<p>imo, i wouldn’t stick that on your college app, unless that program is particularly distinguished (or if you really feel the need to put it in, word it better than “gifted since 1st grade”) :P</p>

14

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</p>

<p>These gifted classes have clearly done wonders for your grammar.</p>

15

<p>no need to be so harsh on the dude. </p>

<p>anyway, to the original poster, i think you’ll do fine. just write some strong essays, get some strong recs, and… be strong. haha</p>

16

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</p>

<p>yeah guys, what the ■■■, the kid isn’t saying that he’s innately gifted, he’s saying he was put in the honors/gifted/accelerated program, which is fact, stop seizing any chance to pss all over an applicant.</p>

<p>to the op you aren’t a phenomenal applicant but you aren’t stereotypical in any way, and that works to your favor. If you are good enough to play on any columbia teams then your chances will be helped substantially. I think you like most everyone else will likely be rejected, but don’t be too surprised if you get in, if not columbia you’ll very likely get into one of those top schools on the list (duke, rice, penn, chicago, georgetown)</p>

17

<p>I apologize for stirring up this ****storm.</p>

<p>I intended to call attention to the ridiculousness of ambiguous, pretentious labels, not to the applicant himself.</p>

<p>Come off it, everyone.</p>

18

<p>I wouldn’t worry about it too much; one somewhat under-par element to your application isn’t going to take you out of the running anywhere. besides, a 29 isn’t that horrible anyway</p>

<p>for reference, a friend of mine with a 28 just got a likely letter [from CC], while I, with a 35, have not.</p>

19

<p>I think you have a good chance, bc everything else is fine, standardized tests aren’t everything, good luck!</p>

<p>But I do have to agree that the “gifted” label really isn’t a plus. In my school a few of the PTO(parent teacher organization aka soccer mom) kids got put in gifted along w/ other students they thought were smart. Many of us turned out to be in the top of our hs class, did lots of ec, etc. but I’d say a good 2/3 did not live up to their labels (bad grades, low achievement, drugs, etc). Thats why colleges really dont look at your achievements before hs. But this label along with your personal achievements shows that it wasn’t necessarily a misnomer for you!</p>

20

<p>Thanks for the responses guys. </p>

<p>Oh and thanks for the commments about my grammar, my goal in life is to have perfect grammar while typing on CC. </p>

<p>I greatly appreciate all the responses.</p>