(upbeat music)
-: Hi there.
My name is Rachel Taylor,
and I'm one of the admissions officers
at Columbia University
and today I'm going to tell you
a little bit about the admissions process
and how we go about evaluating an application.
The first thing that I should mention,
is that when you apply to Columbia, you are applying
to either Columbia College or Columbia Engineering,
which are two of the undergraduate colleges
that comprise the many institutions
that Columbia is made up of.
When you apply, you don't have to apply
to a specific program or major.
You do have time to change your mind, but you are applying
to one of those two undergraduate schools.
Both schools will have their applications reviewed
by full-time admission staff like myself,
and they are reviewed in very much the same manner.
I encourage you to check out our website
to learn a little bit more about the different philosophies
and ethos of the two schools, so that you can determine
which one may be the best fit for you.
I'm going to cover today a little bit
about our admissions philosophy,
the components that make up an application to Columbia,
and end by telling you a little bit about
the different decision options you can make
when you are applying.
(soft music)
In terms of the way that we review applications,
we are trying to build
a diverse class of Columbians every year.
Students who have achieved well
but who have achieved differently from one another.
Every application we evaluate,
we utilize something called holistic admissions review.
What this means is that when we look at your application
there are no test score cutoffs or GPA cutoffs.
We are really going to consider you as a whole person.
We're going to ask ourselves the question,
how is this individual going to benefit from
and contribute to the Columbia community?
How are they going to be in our classrooms,
in our residence halls,
in our extracurricular organizations?
When we're looking at your application
we're also going to utilize contextual admissions review.
And what I mean by this is that we're not going
to directly compare your application and your circumstances
to anyone else in our applicant pool.
We know that every individual is coming from
a different high school, a different family situation
and we want to see how you've achieved
within those unique circumstances and not directly compare
your level of achievement to others.
We know that you can only grow where you are planted.
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There are three different ways to apply to Columbia:
either through the Coalition Application,
the Common Application or the QuestBridge application
if you are a finalist.
All three of these applications are going to ask you
for some background information,
to list some extracurriculars, a personal essay,
and some Columbia supplement questions.
We also require your high school transcript,
and a secondary school report,
which is a document provided by your counselor,
a counselor recommendation, two teacher recommendations,
testing, either the SAT or the ACT,
and we have some optional components
you may wish to include, such as a creative portfolio,
a research abstract or an interview
with a Columbia affiliate if one is available in your area.
Next, we are going to evaluate standardized testing.
You can check our website
for the most up-to-date standardized testing requirements.
But please keep in mind that tests
are just one component of the application.
They are no more or less important than anything else
I'm mentioning today.
A strong admissions essay accomplishes two main goals.
First of all, it demonstrates writing competence.
And second of all, it teaches the admissions committee
a little bit about you.
To accomplish these goals, I have a few recommendations.
First of all, select a prompt that really speaks to you
and make sure your essay really addresses that prompt.
Second of all, try writing multiple drafts
in order to come at the prompt in different ways.
Third of all, proofread.
And finally, make sure you have your essay reviewed
by multiple people in your life.
Not only your parents, but also teachers
and possibly friends.
We really want to get a sense of your true voice.
Maybe you're really funny.
Maybe you're a little more serious.
Whoever you are, we want that to shine
through in your essay.
Many students can feel burdened by the pressure
to make their essay something really dramatic,
or grand, or about some monumental moment in their lives.
I want to lift that pressure from you.
Every year we read many beautiful and poignant essays
about rather ordinary and mundane things.
Whatever speaks to you, whatever teaches us a little bit
about who you are, feel free to write your essay about that.
Beyond the application,
we are also going to look at your transcript.
We want to see not only that
you've been achieving good grades, but also that you've been
in a relatively challenging curriculum in your school.
When we look at your transcript, we will evaluate it
alongside your secondary school report
and your counselor's letter of recommendation.
These documents will help us get to know a little bit
about your school and how you have achieved
within those particular circumstances.
We are going to ask you
for two teacher letters of recommendation.
We encourage you to pick teachers
from a little bit later in your high school career
so that we can get a sense of who you may be
in the Columbia classrooms once you arrive on our campus.
And now, I want to tell you a little bit about
one of our favorite parts of the application,
which is the Columbia writing supplement.
The writing supplement is comprised of questions created
by our admission staff
and it's really designed to get at
what Columbia most values.
The questions reference community, Columbia
and ask for a list of media that you consume
such as books, television shows and other entertainments.
The reason that we ask these questions is because
it reflects who we are.
We ask about books because books
are a big part of our curriculum.
We ask about the news because our student body
is incredibly politically engaged.
We ask about entertainments and the arts
because of our location in New York City.
And we ask about community because we're excited
at the prospect of you joining
our incredibly diverse student community.
When answering these questions,
I encourage you to do some research about Columbia
and also some introspection
about how you see yourself fitting in on our campus.
Those two things will combine
to create a strong Columbia writing supplement.
When answering the questions,
we will ask both list questions and short form essays.
When listing, feel free to just use commas.
There's no need for additional commentary
on each thing on the list.
When writing the short form essay,
you can be a little bit more explanatory.
Interviews are another part of your Columbia application.
Interviews may be conducted
by members of our Columbia Alumni Representative Committee
and a select number of student volunteers.
Interviews take place all over the world
from October through March.
If you are offered an interview it is an amazing way
to connect with a Columbia student or Columbia alum
to learn a little bit more about their experience.
Additionally, if an interview is completed,
a write-up will be added to your application
to be reviewed by the admissions committee.
However, please know that we have
a finite number of volunteers
and so if an interview is not offered to you,
it does not mean that your application
will be affected in any negative way.
(soft music)
When applying to Columbia,
you may apply either Early Decision or Regular Decision
if you are applying as a first-year applicant.
Early Decision deadline is November 1st.
It is a binding contract and this may be a great option
for you if you know right now
that were you admitted to Columbia
you would definitely enroll.
If you're not so sure,
then Regular Decision may be a better choice for you.
That deadline is January 1st.
If you're currently a college student,
I encourage you to check out more information
for our non first-year programs on our website.
I want to thank you so much for your attention
and we look forward to reviewing your application
to Columbia in the future.