There are a lot of reasons to love Columbia University. It is a leader in research. It’s an Ivy League School. It is in New York City. It is also hard to get in. Last year, they had a 3.9% acceptance rate, making it one of the nation's most difficult schools to get into.
You might be asking, “Can I even get into Columbia?” It’s not a bad question to ask yourself. With a sub-4% acceptance rate, no one is guaranteed a spot. Maybe if you have won a Nobel Peace Prize or have the last name Obama, but even then… If you’re applying to Columbia, all you can do is ensure that you are the best candidate you can be. And we want to help by breaking down what Columbia is looking for in a candidate and de-mystifying their holistic review process.
What is Columbia looking for?
Columbia assesses candidates based on many different factors; however, they don’t weigh all of them equally. They publish a list of factors and their relative weights as part of a document called the Common Data Set. You want to shine in all of the categories below, especially those marked “very important” and “important.”
One quick note. Most colleges publish one Common Data Set document. Columbia publishes two. They have one for the arts and sciences and engineering colleges and another for the General Studies School. We are going to be talking about the first one in this blog. But if you are interested in the General Studies School, you can find it here.
All about Academics
They say it themselves: “Academic preparation is the primary factor in Columbia’s holistic review.” This means your transcript has to hit different. To apply, Columbia requires 20 units and recommends 24. It behooves you to follow their rec and get the 24.
But that's not all. You should try to take as many of these courses as you can at a high level. This speaks to the rigor of your academic record and is the first thing Columbia looks at. Try to take accelerated, honors, IB, AP, and/or dual enrollment courses whenever possible. Stacking your transcript with hard classes will help you.
Columbia also looks at class rank and GPA. Not all high schools rank their students. If yours doesn’t, don’t worry. Only 26% of admitted students submitted class rank. But for those who did, 95% were in the top 10% of the class.
To not mince words, Columbia is looking for students who are at the top of their class. Even if your school doesn’t rank, you want to be the kind of student who seems like the creme-dela-creme. It is similar for GPA. Columbia doesn’t track accepted GPAs, but the higher your GPA is, the better. Go for a 4.0 or higher. Unless you come from a very difficult school that, for some reason, doesn’t do weighted GPAs or something, having over a 4.0 is common amongst Columbia applicants.
Have the “Right” Extracurriculars
Extracurriculars aren’t just vital because they are listed as “very important.” They are also how you show off your talent/abilities. They set you apart from a sea of impressive academic transcripts.
There is no ONE perfect resume, but great Columbia resumes have a couple of things in common. We have a more detailed blog on this, but ideally, you have pursued your academic passions through your extracurriculars. This might be through classes outside of school, research, internships, summer programs, etc. But it's not only academic passions. Columbia should be able to tell what you are passionate about just by looking at activities. It doesn’t matter what these passions are: theater, sports, dead languages, trivia, working with kids. You can be interested in anything and get into Columbia. They just care that you see these interests through to the highest possible level. They want to see commitment, leadership, and drive to pursue these passions as far as you can.
Application Essays
This is going to give you Beyonce’s Deja Vu, but essays are “very important” and also speak to your personal qualities/characteristics. This makes them essential. We have a ton of blogs about writing Common App but if you don’t know where to start, we recommend this one.
But the TLDR is that to stand out you want to deliver a well-written and creative essay that not only tells a good story but showcases a couple of positive personal qualities. This is a lot for 650 words… but if you are stressed about it, reach out. It’s like literally what we do.
Columbia also has a pretty long supplement. We go in-depth on it in (you guessed it) this blog. Columbia has more than enough qualified applicants. Having a long supplement might seem annoying, but it can really help you. They want to give you multiple opportunities to stand out and honestly, to charm them up if you will.
All your writing should be 10/10 for Columbia because it may help you as a great candidate get a competitive edge.
One note on test scores
Columbia is test optional so you might be wondering if you should submit scores. The easy answer is “yes, if they are good.” Last year, the middle 50% of enrolling students who chose to submit scores was 1510–1560 on the SAT and 34–35 on the ACT. However, only 69% actually submitted test scores.
Our rule of thumb is good and great scores will help you here, but if yours aren’t in the above range or ideally higher, skip the test scores.
Consider applying early decision
If you are serious about going to Columbia, applying early may help your chances of getting in. The overall acceptance rate was around 4%, but that number comes from two rates. The ED acceptance rate was around 12.4% and the Regular Decision acceptance rate was more like 2.7%. You still need to be a great candidate, but applying ED can give you a boost.
It’s hard to get into Columbia. This blog is just a primer. You need to make sure you are the full package if you are hoping to go to Columbia. They want to see amazing talent, dedication, passion, and academics. It’s a tall order, but we can help if you don’t know where to start.
Need help with college applications… reach out! We can help.