Should I apply to Columbia ED with a 1420 or go test-optional?Answered
I got into CE2 with a 1390 (760 math, 630 ebrw), 5 on APUSH exam, 4 on Lang, and 3 on Stats. I’m applying to SEAS and now have a 1420 with a 760 math in Columbia’s middle 50% and a 660 ebrw below the 25th percentile. 1420 is above avg in the two high schools I attended (avgs were 1100-1200, I recently moved), but I don’t know how relevant that is. Should I submit the 1420 and my 5 on the APUSH exam? I’m confident with the rest of my application (4.3 gpa, APs, decent ECs) but don’t know if test-optional is ideal for me since CV chancing says to submit my test scores but most people say not to.
Earn karma by helping others:
1 answer
Thanks for answering my question.
YES, you definitely should apply ED with your 1420 because you check all 3 boxes 1.) LatinA, 2.)Low-Income 3. First Gen.
Columbia is very aware that applicants in your demographic score lower on the SAT.
Only 2% of LatinAs score between a 700-800 on the Math Section of the SAT versus 35% for Asians and 9% for Caucasians. This puts you in a very unique situation since you are within the top 1% for Math scores within your demographic.
And scoring 660 EBRW still puts you in the 95% percentile according to CollegeBoard for your race.
My info is backed up by the Brookings Institute research project.
CollegeBoard test percentiles by race.
https://satsuite.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/sat-percentile-ranks-gender-race-ethnicity.pdf
As long as your grades, ECs, recommendations, and essays are great, your 1420 will definitely not prevent you from getting admitted to Columbia ED.
USE THESE NEXT 2 WEEKS TO REALLY MAKE SURE YOUR ESSAYS AND SUPPLEMENT QUESTIONS TO COLUMBIA ARE PERFECT.
The supplementals to Columbia are not questions you should answer in 5 minutes. They require a lot of thought and they are extremely important okay!!!! Do you research and make sure you give them the most compelling reasons in your answers to accept you.
Also thoroughly research your intended major. In some cases, you can apply to either school for a similar major. For instance, you can major in CS either in the SEAS or Columbia College. In some cases like this, it might be easier to get into CC than SEAS for CS because that is the most popular major.
Some quick questions before I answer.
1. What's your demographic? Are you LatinA? Low income? First Generation?
2. What's CE2 stand for? What is that?
Your chance of acceptance
Your chancing factors
Community Guidelines
To keep this community safe and supportive:
- Be kind and respectful!
- Keep posts relevant to college admissions and high school.
- Don’t ask “chance-me” questions. Use CollegeVine’s chancing instead!
1. Black & Latino, low-income, first-gen. 2. CE2 = Columbia Engineering Experience, which is a “highly selective” two-day virtual experience ran by Columbia to gain applicants interested in engineering.