A drastically low acceptance rate. Thousands of applicants. Out of these numerous applicants, senior Alice Li was one of the few that were accepted into Columbia University. She will attend school next fall and major in mechanical engineering.
Yet, for Li, after visiting Columbia the summer after her junior year, she fell in love with the school and what they have to offer. Although located in the middle of New York City, Li believes that it still has the ambiance and resources of a traditional campus.
“It really felt like an actual college campus,” Li said. “I really liked their engineering building and that they had all different kinds of machinery… I think it’s a perfect fit be- cause I’ve always wanted to go to a big city for college and just being able to be connected to all kinds of opportunities in New York is what I need in order to pursue the career path that I want.”
However, falling in love with the campus was not enough for Li to get accepted. She still had to go through the long and tedious process of applying to the school.
“I applied early decision,” Li said. “It took a lot of time to have all of that ready before November 1, but I think it paid off in the end.”
After she submitted the application, Li waited for a couple of months until she received a decision. But she could have never imagined the response.
“I was definitely very surprised and shocked,” Li said. “I didn’t think I was going to get in at all. I thought maybe I would get deferred at best. But when I got the accep- tance, when I checked my application portal and it said I got accepted, I was jumping up and down and crying. It was hard to wrap my head around it at first.”
Li also recounts that her family and friends had a similar response to her acceptance into the ivy league university.
“My family was definitely very happy for me and they were there with me when I opened the letter, and they just hugged me after that. They were proud of everything that I did,” Li said. “Obviously my friends were very happy for me too because that’s all I talked about, wanting to get into Columbia.”
Although Li has finished the process, she still has advice for those wanting to attend an ivy league, or perhaps even Columbia.
“I would definitely recommend just trying to do whatever you could and not blocking yourself out of any- thing,” Li said. “Even if you think you don’t like something, definitely try
it because you may end up liking it. Also, try to be more involved in the community and see how you can make an impact… It doesn’t have to be huge, but just putting in that effort shows that you’re willing to take that step.”