How to Write the Columbia University Admissions Essays

 By Sarah O'Neill, Coatesville, Supreme Editing

Columbia Excerpt
According to COLUMBIA admissions (via the website):
Columbia is quite direct about what kind of candidates they are looking for that they want to join in their scholarly explorations. Even more particularly, what kind of essays should be written that move them? Columbia’s undergraduate admissions officers have offered keen insight into what they look for, as it is synopsized on their website.
Do you know what kind of student Columbia wants? This kind:
“If you're interested in being cloistered away someplace where you can isolate yourself in a study carrel and focus only on academics for several years, Columbia is a real good choice for you. Columbia is a place where students get involved -- in campus affairs, in politics, in service projects, in research activities, in the arts, in clubs and organizations, in athletics and in the life of the city.” From an alumnus
This means showing what it takes to be strongly intellectually focused and doing so at a level that will become a concrete success for the university itself, which likes to turn out people with provable achievements, accolades, and publications.
Personal essay:
These questions provide insight into your intellectual curiosity, habits of mind, love of learning, and sense of self. They also allow the Admissions Committee to learn more about you in your current community and why you feel Columbia’s distinctive experiences in and out of the classroom would be a good fit for your undergraduate education. Our admissions officer will consider your responses carefully, looking for the intellect, curiosity, and dynamism that are the hallmarks of the Columbia student body and seeking the resilience and diversity of voice and background.
In history, with Columbia candidates, the types of students admitted consisted of those who value scholarship above all else. In the supp essays, candidates show real deep diversity of thought, how they synthesize and direct correlations between their very elite courses and your ability to thrive in them. First and foremost, what successful representation through the essays and beyond looks like involves scholarly attitude, special abilities, maturity, high motivation to synthesize, and, of course, diversity of cultural experiences, openness to the world, and high curiosity as it leaks into all you do - in the classroom and otherwise.
The successful essay below showcases their dedication to using art and scholarship as tools for social change and community empowerment. The mention of Columbia's core curriculum and emphasis on civic engagement demonstrates thoughtful consideration of how the university aligns with their goals. It's a compelling statement that effectively conveys their unique perspective and potential contributions.
Supplemental Essay Example:
Prompt: Why are you interested in attending Columbia University? We encourage you to consider the aspect(s) that you find unique and compelling about Columbia.
As a Chinese comedienne, thespian, and scholar-activist, I've worked to expand access to opportunities for marginalized groups via documentary filmmaking, participatory theater, and community-engaged research. Columbia’s core curriculum and creative environment that foregrounds civic engagement would allow me to continue fusing scholarship, arts, and service.
As the first in my family to attend college, I’m thrilled about Columbia’s core curriculum in its breadth that would allow me to perceive the world with encompassing humanistic lenses and bond intellectually with peers across disciplines in small discussion-based classes. Triangulating Heyman Center’s support for student research with insights from my funeral wailer study, and Professor Abreu’s knowledge of performativity in rites of passages, I aim to make original discovery at the intersection of Religious and Performance Studies. Columbia’s unique Theater program transcends craft as a prism to understand society and an avenue for social interventions. Teaching in the Morningside Heights through Artistic Reaching Out program and collaborating with Harlem’s public schools via Columbia Youth Adventures, I’ll bolster what I learned from hosting theater workshops for autistic children and kids in rural areas and expand my Youth Theatre project to the New York City.
Columbia—where I’ll be illuminated, and where I’ll empower others.

Sarah O'Neill, Coatesville, Supreme Editing



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