This increases the university's yield rate and ensures that the freshman class will be full. Let Columbia know what resources you will take advantage of that others might not think of or know about. Hayley Milliman. List items that build on each other. Describe how your experiences, columbia college essay personal and academic, have shaped your decision to pursue the Dual BA Program, columbia college essay. Spend some quality time with the Columbia website or, if you can, on a campus tour.
The 411 on the "Why Columbia" Essay Prompt
Columbia is an Ivy League school in NYC with a 6. Cornell requires four short-answer list questions, and two short essays. Engineering applicants and Columbia College applicants have an additional essay, and Dual BA applicants also have another essay. These supplemental prompts offer you a chance to both showcase your unique personality, demonstrate your goals, columbia college essay, and underscore your interest in the university. Many applicants to selective colleges like Columbia have stellar grades and test scores, so the essays can help you stand out columbia college essay other candidates with the same stats.
This particular prompt is designed to gauge your interest in your prospective major, columbia college essay to a lesser extent, why Columbia is a great school to support your academic goals. Admissions officers are looking to see what drew you to your major, and are searching for a genuine propensity to the subject and authentic love of learning. Reflect on the experiences that led you to choose your major, and maybe even include an anecdote or two in your essay. Did you decide to study Creative Writing because of your love for memoir writing, columbia college essay, and its ability to connect people?
You might share the story of the first time you were published, and how many people reached out to you to say they resonated with your writing, columbia college essay. Or, maybe you want to major in Mathematics and Statistics because you see data as a powerful tool for storytelling. You could describe columbia college essay time you used data to reveal educational disparities in your school district, which informed future policy to rectify these disparities. For example, future job salaries or family expectations might be valid reasons for pursuing your major, but it is best to omit these types of statements and focus more on what personally draws you to the subject.
Do you want to become a data scientist in an NGO? Columbia college essay you want to become a writer? For instance, maybe there are internships or courses that speak specifically to the skills you want to develop. The flickering LED lights began to form into a face of a man when I focused my eyes, columbia college essay. The man spoke a ruthless serial killer of the decade who had been arrested inand my parents shivered at his reaccounting of the case. I curiously tuned in, columbia college essay, wondering who he was to speak of such crimes with concrete composure and knowledge. Later, he introduced himself as a profiler named Pyo Chang Won, and I watched the rest of the program by myself without realizing that my parents had left the couch. I stayed up all-night searching the meaning; my eyes sparkled with the dim light of the monitor as I read the tales of Pyo Chang Won and his Sherlock-like stories.
From predicting the future of criminals and knowing the precise vicinity of a killer on the loose, he had saved countless lives; living in communities riddled with crimes in my youth then and even now, I dreamed of working against crimes. However, the traditional path of a lawyer or a police officer only reinforced the three-step cycle of arrest, trial, and jail which continued with no fundamental changes for years; I wanted to work with the psyche of criminals beyond courts and wondered about the inner workings of the mind. Such admiration and interest led me to invest my time in psychology. Columbia college essay with working with the likes of the Victim Witness Agency, I decided to pursue psychology as my major for my undergraduate education, columbia college essay.
This essay starts off in medias reswith an anecdote that explains how the student got into this subject. The imagery of the flickering LED and the details about the specific show are prime examples of how to include descriptive content into your essay. Including these types of details will make your story more immersive and interesting columbia college essay readers. This also establishes a small scene that shows, rather than tells, how the author became interested in criminology; this approach will be more memorable to admissions officers than a columbia college essay answer.
Instead of making a general statement about psychology, columbia college essay, they columbia college essay statements like:. This gives admissions officers a very clear idea of what they hope to gain from a major in psychology at Columbia. Like this applicant, you should consider which specific parts of your prospective major that appeal to you when choosing an essay topic. Do you like the cyclical yet analytical nature of writing proofs and checking them? Does math within nature, such as the golden ratio in different types of plants, captivate you?
Whatever your interest is, dig deeper until you find a niche that really speaks to you. Conveying your passion for this rather than the subject as a columbia college essay will be much more columbia college essay and help you avoid making overly general statements. With these lines, the author describes the specific aspects of criminology that appeal to them, and also establishes a personal connection about living in a crime-heavy community. This statement gives admissions officers a clearer picture of why their past experiences have led them to pursue this particular major. For example, the author says:. The author relays specific steps they took to pursue this academic subject, and describes their research in a story-like manner.
Additionally, the author mentions Pyo Chang Won as their original inspiration for this career path. If someone inspired you to choose a certain major or career path, this might be worth mentioning briefly. In this essay, the author mentions Pyo Chang Won but is careful to phrase their sentences in a way where they remain an active participant in their learning process, columbia college essay. In addition, you could also consider the career implications of your major to round out your reasoning.
There are a myriad of majors and career paths that stem from a major, so think hard about a potential journey that appeals to you and makes sense given your interests and values. In this essay example, the student explains:. Columbia college essay explanation lends further credibility to their desire to explore the criminal psyche. Incorporating these thoughts in your response columbia college essay admissions officers insight into your thought process, and demonstrates that you have put time and effort into thinking about your prospective major. One way this particular student might want to strengthen their essay is by mentioning any Columbia-specific opportunities relevant to the subject. Adding a forward-focused statement towards the end of your essay can illustrate your interest in the school itself while also reiterating why your chosen subject is important to you.
Want help with your college essays to improve your admissions chances? Sign up for. your free CollegeVine columbia college essay and get access to our essay guides and courses, columbia college essay. You can. Columbia University Essay Prompt. Columbia University Sample Essay. Sign up for your free CollegeVine account and get access to our essay guides and courses.
transitions for essays
Putting two items together into an outfit can bring out interesting elements and commonalities in both. The same goes for the books or movies in a list. Each should be interesting on its own, but contribute to the overall picture of your intellectual style. A great list includes items that illuminate each other and communicate together — like matching a hat with your socks. Some more style tips:. List items that build on each other. Key word: synergy. In the same way that wearing two matching items together can say a lot about your fashion tastes, including two similar items in your list can communicate a sustained interest in a topic.
Show dimension. You can demonstrate sustained interest in a topic without indicating growth. Instead, balance your hefty items with some more easygoing ones. A pinch of fluff can add a little flavor and dimension to your lists. However, you should make a point not to include items that are too juvenile, and not to overload on items of questionable intellectual merit. Recognizable brands can be effective. And, psychologically speaking , similarities on paper can often go a long way in non-personal interactions. Something about which you and your potential interviewer could have an intellectual debate. Dress for the job you want. Certain shoes can be impressive, but bad for dancing. You have to find the happy medium between intellectual and casual, specialized and well-rounded, fiction and nonfiction, differing types of media, and so on.
Also… be honest? This question is pretty straightforward, as should be your answer. Just think back to all the English classes you have taken and choose some of the titles that you genuinely enjoyed working through. If you are an international student, feel free to include titles that are not commonly found in an American high school curriculum. This may include readings that are in another language, but as long as you give the translated title, it will still be a good choice. We recommend a minimum of three books and a maximum of around ten. This list will be a bit broader as you can showcase the kinds of books that you read outside of an academic setting. That means including titles in both the fiction and non-fiction categories.
Additionally, try to stick with things you have read in the past year as it will reflect your most updated level of reading. Like the previous part, including anywhere between three to ten books is a good amount. Note on formatting: If you read these titles in a language other than English, feel free to make a small note in parentheses after each title noting this, for example, Les Misérables read in French. What sort of content do you regularly engage with? You might also include things like a film blog or a podcast dedicated to embarrassing stories.
This category can also include forms of media that you spend your time on that are not reading related. Feel free to include whatever you are currently following, and aside from the entertainment options listed in the prompt, you can also consider including video games. A prominent example of a site like this which has recently come under fire is InfoWars by Alex Jones. If that is an outlet that you really do follow regularly, then it is up to your discretion as to whether or not you should include it. That being said, as a controversial site, you may want to elaborate with a sentence or two your reasoning for following the site. As an example, you may say that it is a source you read often so that you can see how much of an influence popular media sites can have on the everyday viewer.
Our chancing engine factors in extracurricular activities, demographics, and other holistic details. Our chancing engine factors in extracurricular activities, demographic, and other holistic details. Columbia not only wants students who will contribute to campus diversity, because of their unique backgrounds, but also students who will be inclusive and benefit from surrounding themselves with diverse people and perspectives. Your essay needs to convey how you will contribute to diversity and benefit from it. The first step is to figure out what makes you a diverse applicant. You could talk about more classic examples like your race, ethnicity, sexuality, gender, or country of origin.
However, diversity comes in all shapes and sizes, so you can also demonstrate a unique background like your hometown, socioeconomic status, an illness, and even an interest or hobby. In order to establish the emotional connection that will strengthen your essay, you need to show admissions officers how you have been impacted by the community or background that makes you diverse. Maybe you were a really shy kid until you started participating in community theater where you learned to come out of your shell and let your voice be heard.
At Columbia, you will not only encourage others to join theater so they can gain confidence, but you will use your newfound confidence in public speaking to rally fellow students on issues you are passionate about like raising the minimum wage. Here, you need to explain how the background or community that has shaped you will make you an addition to diversity on campus. This is where you convince admissions officers that they want you to enrich their campus. You might talk about how you wish to start your own on-campus publication that is exclusively in Spanish, so students like you can read the news in their native language. Or maybe as a first-gen student, you know the value of your education and you will work diligently to succeed in college and encourage your classmates to form study groups to help each other.
Providing concrete examples of how you will contribute to campus will really show admissions officers how you will fit into the campus community. The last thing you should address is what you will personally gain from being part of a diverse community. You should also steer clear of including a laundry list of things that make you unique. A focused essay will allow you to go into more depth and be far stronger! This is a common question asked by a lot of schools. List some resources and outlets that you enjoy, including but not limited to websites, publications, journals, podcasts, social media accounts, lectures, museums, movies, music, or other content with which you regularly engage.
A hallmark of the Columbia experience is being able to learn and live in a community with a wide range of perspectives. How do you or would you learn from and contribute to diverse, collaborative communities? Why are you interested in attending Columbia University? We encourage you to consider the aspect s that you find unique and compelling about Columbia. Please tell us what from your current and past experiences either academic or personal attracts you specifically to the areas of study that you noted in the application. That application is no joke. These next three prompts are pretty straightforward. Your response should be a list of items separated by commas or semicolons.
Items do not have to be numbered or in any specific order. It is not necessary to italicize or underline titles of books or other publications. No author names, subtitles or explanatory remarks are needed. To further clarify their guidance around no need for explanatory remarks or author names, school officials knocked the first list answers down from words to 75, leaving a bit more room words for the list of your favorite resources, media outlets, and entertainment choices. Columbia really wants to know what you read, for school and for pleasure, and what movies you love and which newspapers and podcasts you follow.
So heed the bulleted advice, make your lists, and save your brain power for the short-answer prompts. One more tip: Try to show some variety in your answers, but be honest about it. The Art of Political Manipulation, William H. The Future of American Economy, Nicholas Bloom. Politics from an Ethical Perspective, Rob Reich. Mechanics of Genomic Sequencing, Mike Snyder. Machinery of Freedom, David Friedman. Engineering your Luck, Tiffany Zhong. Fighting for Minority Rights, Congressman Ted Lieu. The Satire Paradox, Malcolm Gladwell. Smithsonian Renwick Gallery: WONDER. The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Design for Eternity--Architectural Models from the Ancient Americas.
Cantor Arts Center: She Who Tells a Story--Women Photographers from Iran and the Arab World. Keep in mind that communities can be defined by Action: Groups of people who create change in the world by building, doing, or solving something together Examples: Black Lives Matter, Girls Who Code, March for Our Lives. Interest: Groups of people coming together based on a shared interest, experience, or expertise. Step 2: Use the BEABIES Exercise to generate your essay content. That exercise asks:. What did you actually do? What kinds of problems did you solve personally, locally, or globally? Step 3: Pick a structure.
The Narrative Structure works well for students who have faced a challenge in or with this community. Otherwise, the Montage Structure works well. Consider answering these three questions in your essay if you choose the Narrative Structure:. Note that this example is words, so yours will need to be a bit shorter. As I developed more in this role, I began teaching waiters how to properly attend groups of unsatisfied customers and the fundamentals of customer service. Consequently, I acquired organizational habits and dialogued more fluently to resolve problems. I developed better strategies to speed up home-delivery and in restaurant service. It implanted a strong work ethic in me that reminds me of the hardworking farmers of my past generations.
I believe that to achieve efficiency and productivity in the working environment between employees and the manager, it requires the firmness and attention of a boss and the empathy and vision of a leader. Working through the many facets of a small business has taught me the key role of small groups in a system, and I applied this beyond the walls of the restaurant. As a result of my years laboring for my family restaurant, you might think that I would like to become an entrepreneur. But in actuality, I picture myself as an engineer, as I believe both require the adaptability, perseverance, dedication, and strategy to succeed in this field. Answer the question. This student effectively uses a Montage Structure to answer the question in as many ways as he can. A Chinese restaurant in Hermosillo?
Definitely diverse. Hopping between the cash register, the dish pit, the kitchen, and the dining room? All kinds of collaborative. He addresses the second part of the question by implication. Show your values. There are multiple ways you can do this research:. Every college campus has its own vibe, and visiting is the best way to get a sense of how Columbia might work with your personality as a student. From your research, you should have come up with specific reasons why Columbia is a great school for you. The more specific you can be when answering this prompt, the better. Don't say Columbia has great academics, caring professors, and an interesting student body.
The vast majority of schools have that! Instead, try to mention opportunities only Columbia can provide, such as specific professors, courses, extracurricular activities, or research opportunities. The things you discuss should be things your other top schools don't offer—things that really make Columbia stand out. Columbia wants students who care a lot about their studies and their school, so be sure this comes across in your response. A bland statement such as "I am impressed by Columbia's strong engineering program" doesn't tell the school anything about you or help you stand apart from other applicants. Show your passion by naming specific professors or features of the program.
You've done your research to mention certain qualities Columbia has that have enticed you, and now it's time to discuss specific qualities about yourself, too. Why does the engineering program make you so excited? What do you want to get out of it? Be detailed, specific, and honest. Your Columbia essay should be the strongest possible example of your writing skills. Before you turn in your application, take time to edit and proofread your essays. Your work should be free of spelling and grammar errors. Make sure to run your essays through a spelling and grammar check before you submit. It's a good idea to have someone else read your "Why Columbia" essay, too. You can seek a second opinion on your work from a parent, teacher, or friend. Ask them whether your work represents you as a student and person.
Have them check and make sure that you haven't missed any small writing errors. Having a second opinion will help your work be the best it can be. If you're stuck on what to write for your own essay, looking at "Why Columbia" essays that actually worked can be helpful. Below, we examine one "Why Columbia" essay that got a student accepted to Columbia and talk about what specifically made this piece of writing so strong. The following essay comes to us from an accepted Columbia student via AP Study Notes :. At a college visit this year, I met a Columbia alumnus named Ayushi, whose stories helped me develop a thorough understanding of Columbia. Ayushi told me that Columbia funded both her summer trip to Syria to interview refugees and her seed money for a start-up she launched.
As an aspiring entrepreneur, I'm impressed by a university that encourages students to pursue their own independent creations instead of simply offering the option to work on faculty projects. Columbia's four entrepreneurship organizations, among them the Columbia Organization of Rising Entrepreneurs, provide a dynamic start-up community for me to launch my own business. In addition, when I explored Columbia online, the emphasis put on interdisciplinary studies particularly excited me. The Columbia Engineering website is rich with stories of engineering students who are also involved in Shakespeare troupes, service projects, and multicultural groups.
In my opinion, diverse experiences are the foundation of creative thinking. At Columbia, I will continue to diversify my experience by not just joining the Parliamentary Debate Team, but also by making new friends on the intramural soccer field and starting a cultural club for Italian heritage students who wish to learn more about Italian history, language, food, and current events. Columbia Engineering stands uniquely apart from other programs by incorporating several in-depth humanities and writing classes into the graduation requirements. I believe that looking at critical issues with an open mind and sophisticated grasp of the humanities is extremely important to being an engineer.
For example, I could not imagine exploring the future of quantum cryptography without considering the political ripple effects of Edward Snowden, the moral ramifications of the quantum encryption revolution, and the relationship between technology and income inequality. I am confident that I will thrive in the Columbia culture of passionate engagement and vibrant, energetic conversation. This essay gives examples of personal experience with the school and proves that the applicant did their research: they present clear evidence as to how engineering students are involved on campus and talk about specific academic courses. There are many impressive details in this essay, and the section that addresses extracurriculars is cleverly written to showcase the applicant's diverse interests.
This student's mention of certain extracurriculars they want to do indicates that they looked at many facets of Columbia University, not just the engineering department. It's clear from this essay just how the author views their fit at Columbia. They've talked about specific organizations they would like to be a part of, such as the Columbia Organization of Rising Entrepreneurs, while also showing why they want to join that organization. Additionally, the applicant mentions a Columbia University student they spoke with, which means they took getting to know the student body seriously and really wanted to find out what Columbia students were like to see whether they, too, would fit in.
The conversation with the Columbia alum also emphasizes the applicant's initiative: they're willing to go above and beyond to learn about the school. The purpose of the "Why Columbia" essay is for you to prove to the admissions committee that Columbia is the best school for you. In your essay, you could write about multiple topics that are specific to Columbia, such as academics, the student body, extracurriculars, and research opportunities. When writing your "Why Columbia" essay, make sure to research the school extensively and be specific about activities and opportunities that really make you want to attend.
If you're stuck on how to proceed, analyzing a successful "Why Columbia" essay example might help you get inspiration for what to write. How tough is it to get into Columbia? For answers, read our expert guide on how to get into Columbia and the Ivy League , written by a Harvard alum!
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