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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. Contact the school or program of your choice at Columbia to ask if they have a list of alumni you can speak to about the nature of their academic experience and how they prepared for the program. Columbia offers information sessions and campus tours for prospective students. You should sign up in advance to make sure you get a time that coincides with your ability to be on campus. While on campus, take the opportunity to speak to current students about their experiences and what they did to prepare for Columbia. If you cannot get to New York City, the school offers off-campus information sessions. See if one is close to you. Take the most advanced or accelerated academic courses available to you in your high school, and do well in them. Columbia's admissions office looks for students who challenge themselves academically whenever possible. Over 90% of the class of 2018 graduated in the top 10 percent of their high school class. 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. Use this as an opportunity to expand your own horizons, and take in as many of these extracurricular opportunities as possible. You can apply to Columbia by taking the SAT and two SAT subject tests, or the ACT. If you are applying Early Decision, you can take the tests as late as November, and as late as January for Regular Decision. You may take the tests multiple times, as Columbia will only review the highest score. Be advised, Columbia will only look a scores from a single sitting of the test, so you can't mix and match.  For the SAT, Columbia does not require the Writing Section, only Math and Critical Reading. The middle 50% of admitted students in the class of 2018 scored between 2160 and 2330 on all three sections. For the SAT subject tests, Columbia recommends choosing subjects in your strengths. If you are applying to the School of Engineering, you should take Math and one of Biology, Chemistry, or Physics. Columbia advises that you should not take Foreign Language subject test if you are a native speaker. For the ACT, the writing component will no longer be required for Fall 2017 admissions. If you are applying for Fall 2016, you will still need to take it. If you have a particular subject of interest, you can also take the SAT subject test in that area and submit with the ACT. 79% of the admitted class of 2018 who took the ACT scored between 32 and 36. Make sure to follow the instructions carefully, and pay close attention to the length, topic matter, and format required. Ask others, such as trusted teachers, friends, and relatives, to review your essay before submission to comment on its clarity and effectiveness. Columbia requires letters from your high school guidance counselor and two teachers from academic disciplines. If you are applying to the engineering school, one must be a math or science teacher. These letters should come from teachers 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 really 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.

Summary:
Choose the appropriate program. Speak to past graduates of Columbia University. Visit the campus. Develop your academic strengths. Develop extracurricular interests. Score high on the required standardized tests. Write a strong personal statement. Provide good letters of recommendation. Fill out the application as completely as possible. Provide supplementary materials.