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Choose the appropriate program. Do well in your first semester. Take enough appropriate classes. Develop extracurricular interests. Make sure your materials are up to date. Provide two good letters of recommendation. Fill out the application as completely as possible. Provide supplementary materials.
Potential undergraduates at Columbia can apply to either Columbia College or Columbia School of Engineering. If you are unsure about your area of interest, or know that it will not involve engineering or computer science, you will want to apply to Columbia College. Columbia's admissions office will generally be unable to look at grades from the second semester, so grades from the first will weigh heavily on your application. You will need a minimum GPA of 3.5 to be considered, and the school strongly encourages a minimum of 3.5 in science and engineering courses for the School of Engineering. To transfer to Columbia, you must have completed, or be scheduled for, 24 credit points. Make sure you are taking, and have taken, transferrable credits. Columbia does not accept transfer credits from departments such as business, communications, and education, as the school does not have those departments. Colleges may count class credits differently. Review Columbia's requirements to make sure you are on the right track Columbia's admissions committee uses a "holistic" review process, meaning they take into account not only a person's academic marks, but also extracurricular activities. Columbia wants undergraduate students who can make an impact outside the classroom, and contribute to social and cultural life at the school. The Columbia Writing Supplement asks about books, newspapers, and magazines you have read, or films, concerts, exhibitions, and other performances you have seen over the prior year. If you are already attending a college, there will undoubtedly be a variety of opportunities to attend interesting and worthwhile events. If you have previously applied to Columbia, past materials such as test scores and essays will not roll over. Before resubmitting materials, such as your personal essay, try to review review and improve upon them, using on your own personal growth and input from others at your current institution. Columbia requires letters from college instructors. Letters should come from professors who are closely familiar with your work ethic, communication skills, character, and capabilities. If they are willing, take the opportunity to talk with your letter writers about why you wish to attend Columbia, which can help provide a more personalized letter that more strongly emphasizes your strengths as an applicant. Make sure you have all of your materials ready when you submit the Common Application. Review the Columbia-specific questions for the Writing Supplement, and prepare your answers within the guidelines provided. There is space on the Common Application to provide supplementary materials for work in science or the arts. If you have experience in these fields, include materials to help give depth to your application. Make sure to carefully review the correct types of materials, including formatting and file type.