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Each year, there are many more qualified applicants than there are places in our class. With such an appealing pool of applicants, it is the job of the admissions committee to get to know all students and select those that we believe will take greatest advantage of the unique Columbia experience and will offer something meaningful in return to the community.
A profile of the current first-year class is available on the Admissions Statistics webpage. Columbia follows a committee-based approach; no candidate is admitted to Columbia College or Engineering without discussion and examination of the application by multiple officers. We take a holistic approach when evaluating applicants for admission. Any of those runners could conceivably win, but those with a mixture of both experience and theoretical knowledge will have an advantage.
Essentially, don't be afraid that poor grades in your sophomore year have ruined your chances forever. If you can prove that Columbia is truly the school for you, you still have a chance The average SAT score for Columbia students is between and , making the college extremely competitive.
Remember, this is an average—it's not the only score you can have, as students who score about that will have a little extra boost, and students who score below that will have to demonstrate how well they'll succeed elsewhere in the application. This is why it's important to get started on SAT prep early.
If your first score misses the mark, you can always try again. Spending some time prepping for the SAT will help you get closer to your score goal, and therefore closer to holding that coveted acceptance letter in your hand. If you want good scores, you'll have to study hard. Columbia is similarly selective with ACT scores. Columbia reports their scores as between 34 and 35, so while you might have a little bit of wiggle room, a higher score is always better.
As with SAT scores, it's important to get started on preparing early. Don't wait until junior or senior year to start thinking about your scores if you plan to attend Columbia —you're up against some of the brightest minds in the world, so you need to lock in a good score through lots of studying and practice. Your best bet is to study like a perfect score is the only one that'll get you in, but know that your test scores aren't the only factor in your acceptance.
Columbia's average GPA is a whopping 4. What this means is that you'll need to be taking heavier weighted courses, typically AP or honors courses, to be competitive with other prospective Columbia students. Again, it's not impossible to get in if you don't have a GPA above 4.
Study hard in your first couple years of high school to ensure that you're prepared for the advanced courses you'll need to push your GPA to a Columbia-approved level. Remember, your school may weight AP courses more, so a B in an AP course might mean more than an A in a standard course. Don't despair if your grades aren't perfect in AP courses, but do always strive for the best, and set yourself up for success. You simply can't earn a 4.
Don't take that to mean that being in the top 10 percent is enough—remember, 95 percent of the students you're competing with are also in that same demographic.
You need to excel and stand out. Because Columbia is holistic, everything counts. But one Ivy League college admissions officer has revealed a little secret— everything counts, but the most important thing to not do poorly on is your GPA. This is general advice for Ivy Leagues, not specifically Columbia, but don't discount your GPA as a vital factor in getting accepted to Columbia. Having a distinct skill—like doing VR while riding a bike—sets you apart from other applicants.
Your competition is not necessarily every single student who applies to Columbia. Your competition is every student like you—students who have your GPA, your SAT score, your diversity of extracurriculars.
So find a way to stand out from the pack; what areas do you excel in? And if you don't excel now, what can you do to target your application to be less of a Renaissance applicant and more of a specialist? Consider the "spike" approach to applying to college. A variety of skills is great, but most applicants will also have good grades, test scores, and multiple extracurriculars. To stand out, you want something memorable—a spike in your well-roundedness. If you have an interest spike, an area where you particularly excel or that emphasizes your dedication to a certain field, you can tie much of your application to that spike and make your application more memorable.
If your school offers these classes, you can take them to demonstrate that you can handle college-level coursework. However, Columbia will not grant you transfer credit for any college courses that you took while you were still in high school. Columbia does not accept credit for college courses that students take while they are still in high school. However, the school does grant advanced standing or credit for AP exams and IB exams in some cases. Beyond the potential ability to earn credit for your AP or IB exams, taking AP courses and exams and scoring well on them can help to strengthen your application.
To be granted credit, you will likely need to score a minimum of a four on your AP exams. A five will be much likelier to result in credit being granted by Columbia for your exams. SAT subject tests are optional for applicants to Columbia. If you take SAT subject tests, you can still report them to Columbia on your application. Applicants who choose not to take the SAT subject tests will not be penalized. If you take SAT subject tests, the tests can help you to showcase your academic abilities in your areas of interest, however.
When subject test scores are submitted, they will be reviewed together with all of the other application materials that you submit. If you scored a 34 on the science reasoning section of the ACT on one testing date and a 30 on a different testing date, Columbia will review your application using the 34 that you scored. As a first-year applicant, you will need to respond to Columbia-specific questions when you fill out your application. You will need to read each question carefully before you write your answer.
Five list-type questions must be answered in words or less. You will also be asked to write two short essay answers of words or less. You will need to respond to the provided prompts. The short answer questions and essays give you an opportunity to stand out from other applicants. You should be careful when you write them. These essays are designed to allow you to tell the story of how you became who you are today and to provide more information about you to the admissions officials.
Columbia receives many thousands of applications each year for relatively few spots for the upcoming entering class.
You should write your answers in a manner that allows you to come alive on paper. You should not simply list your past achievements. Think about what you value and write about it. You should never write the same essay to submit to many schools. Every essay should be written specifically for each school.
While most students do not want to write their essays for their applications to Columbia, the essays and short answer questions are critical. You should be willing to put in the work to write compelling essays and short answers. Make certain that you start early enough on your application so that you will have plenty of time to write your responses. Once you have written the first draft of your short answers and essays, you should ask someone you trust to look them over. Do not solely rely on what your parents think.
Ask your English teacher or a guidance counselor to review your essays critically. Be prepared to rewrite your responses several times until they are as good as they can get.
Your essays should be compelling and well-written. Finally, never ask someone else to write your essays for you. If you do this, the admissions officials will likely be able to tell. Asking someone else to write your essays is dishonest and can risk your application. Columbia is very selective. For the class of , the school received 42, applications and accepted 2, for an acceptance rate of 5.
According to the U. To put the admit rate for the class of in perspective, just five people out of every who applied were accepted.
Gaining admission to Columbia will require a lot of preparation. You should begin to prepare as soon as possible. You should work to excel while you are in high school to improve your chances of getting accepted by Columbia.
If you are not accepted, your strong preparation will surely help you to gain admission into one of your second-choice schools. Many high school students have the idea that they have to participate in as many extracurricular activities as possible to stand out on their college applications. When you are applying to an elite institution like Columbia, however, this approach is not effective. Columbia is more interested in the quality of your participation in your extracurricular activities rather than in how many you have participated in.
Instead of overloading yourself with a large number of extracurricular activities, choose a select few that are in your interest area. Stay with your extracurricular activities throughout high school, and try to secure leadership positions in them.
Columbia will not expect you to have joined every club that your school offers and will be more interested in seeing what you have accomplished through your extracurricular activities. High school sports are great because they can allow you to make friends as you form relationships with your teammates. Unless you are one of the top athletes in your sport in your state or the country, participating in sports will be unlikely to secure you a spot at Columbia.
If you are a top athlete who is recruited, you will still need to have excellent grades and top test scores. Make sure that you work just as hard in the classroom as you do in your sport. Activities that you participate in outside of high school are also important. If you regularly volunteer or have engaged in other similar activities, talk about your experiences.
These types of things can help the admissions officials to understand the things that you value and the contributions that you have made to your community. Columbia offers multiple enrichment opportunities for exceptional high school students. If you live close by, you might be able to participate in the Saturday immersion program. This program allows high school students to spend five Saturdays during the academic year at Columbia taking rigorous classes.
Another option that students who live within commuting distance to Columbia is the college edge program. This program allows exceptional high school students to take the same college courses as other students at Columbia while they are still in high school, and they can earn full college credit for the classes that they take.
If you live further away but can travel to New York during the summer months, there are a few options available for enrichment at Columbia. You can apply to the college edge summer sessions , which allow you to take the same classes at Columbia and to earn credit that regular Columbia students do. The school also offers a one-week summer immersion program and a three-week summer immersion program.
If you are a student journalist, the Columbia Scholastic Press Association offers an educational conference each year. Participating in the enrichment opportunities at Columbia is not automatic. You must go through a competitive application process and be accepted into the program that you want. If you are accepted to one of these enrichment programs, it might help your chances of being admitted when you apply to Columbia. Other enrichment opportunities might also help you.
For example, if you are not able to attend one of the enrichment programs that Columbia offers, check your local universities to learn about any enrichment opportunities that they might offer. You can also participate in academic competitions in your interest area.
If you place highly at the state or national level, it can help your chances of being admitted to Columbia. One thing that some high school students do is to participate in expensive trips to other countries during the summer months to try to improve their chances of getting admitted to Columbia. These types of activities will not help your chances of admission.
Columbia asks for applicants to have two teachers write letters of recommendation for them. The teachers should be familiar with your academic strengths and should know you personally.
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