Columbia University Acceptance Rate, SAT/ACT Scores, GPA

Located in New York City, Columbia University is an Ivy League School with an acceptance rate of 6%. The school is highly selective, and many strong and well-qualified applicants will not get in. Columbia has a holistic admissions process and accepts the Common Application, Coalition Application, and QuestBridge Application. Here are the Columbia University admissions statistics you should know. Why Columbia University? Location: New York, New YorkCampus Features: Columbias location in Upper Manhattan makes it an excellent choice for strong students looking for a truly urban campus. Barnard College adjoins the campus.Student/Faculty Ratio: 6:1Athletics: The Columbia Lions compete at the NCAA Division I level.Highlights: Columbia is a highly selective member of the prestigious Ivy League, and it consistently ranks as one of the top national universities. Academic strengths span the arts, humanities, social sciences, and sciences. Acceptance Rate For students entering Columbia University in the 2017-18 academic year, the acceptance rate was 6%. This means that for every 100 applicants, 6 received acceptance letters while 94 were rejected. Columbia is one of the most selective colleges in the country. Admissions Statistics (2017-18) Number of Applicants 40,572 Percent Admitted 6% Percent Admitted Who Enrolled 62% SAT Scores and Requirements All applicants to Columbia must submit either SAT or ACT scores. For students entering the school in the 2017-18 academic year, 59% chose to submit SAT scores. SAT Score Percentiles Section 25th Percentile 75th Percentile ERW 710 760 Math 740 800 ERW=Evidence-Based Reading and Writing If you compare SAT scores for the Ivy League schools, youll see that all are highly selective and Columbias scores rank in the middle of the group. Successful applicants will need scores that are well above average. We can see from national SAT data that the great majority of students who attend Columbia scored in the top 7% of all test-takers. For the evidence-based reading and writing section, 50% of students scored between a 710 and 760. Scores on the math exam were even higher with the middle 50% of students scoring between a 740 and 800. The most competitive applicants to Columbia have combined SAT scores over 1500. Requirements Columbia University does not require the optional writing section of the SAT. If you take the SAT more than once, Columbia will superscore your exams and consider the highest score you earned for individual sections. The university does not require SAT Subject Tests, but they will consider them if you choose to submit them. ACT Scores and Requirements All applicants to Columbia must submit either SAT or ACT scores, and the two exams are similarly popular. For students entering the university in the 2017-18 academic year, 57% chose to submit ACT scores. ACT Score Percentiles Section 25th Percentile 75th Percentile English 34 36 Math 30 35 Composite 33 35 An average ACT composite score is 21, so average clearly isnt going to be good enough to get into Columbia University. If we look at national ACT data, we find that the great majority of Columbia students ranked in the top 5% of all ACT test-takers. This tells us that 25% got a 33 or lower, and the top 25% earned a 35 or higher. Requirements Columbia does not require the optional essay section of the ACT, nor does the university require students who take the ACT to submit SAT Subject Test scores. As with the SAT, Columbia will superscore your ACT scores if you took the exam more than once. GPA Columbia University does not publish the average GPA of admitted students, but you can be sure that nearly all students had averages in the A range. 90% of all admitted students ranked in the top 10% of their graduating class. Self-Reported GPA/SAT/ACT Graph Graph of Columbia University Applicants Self-Reported GPA/SAT/ACT Data. Graph courtesy of Cappex.com. The GPA and standardized test score data in the graph above is self-reported by applicants to Columbia University. GPAs are unweighted. Find out how you compare to accepted students, see the real-time graph, and calculate your chances of getting in with a free Cappex account. Admissions Chances Realize that a lot of red dots are hidden beneath the blue and green on the graph. Many students with A averages and high test scores were rejected by Columbia. For this reason, even strong students should consider Columbia a reach school. At the same time, keep in mind that Columbia has holistic admissions. The admissions officers are looking for students who will bring more than good grades and standardized test scores to their campus. Meaningful extracurricular activities, strong application essays, and glowing letters of recommendation will all strengthen an application. Students who show some kind of remarkable talent or have a compelling story to tell will get serious consideration even if grades and test scores arent quite up to the ideal. The school emphasizes that all aspects of the application are important. Data Sources: Graph courtesy of Cappex; All other data from the National Center for Education Statistics and the Columbia University admissions website.