STATS & ECS THAT GOT ME INTO COLUMBIA GS & NYU | GPAs + Grades + Awards/Honors + Gen. Advice!

Main ideas / lessons

• The speaker shares detailed “stats” about their path from community college to Columbia University (School of General Studies), framing it as helpful during college application season for both high school seniors and college transfers.
• The video emphasizes that admissions outcomes were supported by:
  • Strong academic performance
    • All A’s in community college
    • High unweighted GPA
  • Relevant coursework aligned with intended interests, including:
    • Mass communication, media writing, digital media/content creation
    • Film/screenwriting
    • Foreign language, and more
  • Sustained leadership and service through multiple organizations
  • Honors/scholarships connected to academics, leadership, and service
  • Organization and documentation of activities/outputs, such as:
    • Portfolios, projects, and written work

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Methodology / instructions (as given in the video)

Stay organized

• Use a simple notes/todo system (the speaker used a phone notes app).
• Maintain a weekly to-do list.
• Break tasks down by day, including both:
  • Assignment due dates
  • Tasks related to leadership roles
• Check off completed items to stay on track.

Track every extracurricular/project you do

• Keep records of:
  • Projects and outputs (especially writing/portfolio pieces)
  • Roles in clubs/leadership positions
  • Work relevant to potential majors (e.g., writing, mass communication, art/film)
• Treat all activities as valuable—none are “small” or less important.

Keep due dates front-of-mind

• Colleges have different application deadlines.
• Pay attention to each school’s specific timeline.

Leverage your documented work later

• The speaker believes certain opportunities (e.g., a work-study position) came because they had a portfolio of their written/creative work.

Preparation timeline mindset

• For juniors (and others preparing early), start earlier than they did.
• Organization habits and planning earlier are key.

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Key details shared (stats & outcomes)

1) Transfer goal / admissions context

• They were transferring from community college to a four-year university.
• They were admitted to Columbia University, School of General Studies, starting that fall.

2) Schools applied to (11 total)

• Columbia University (School of General Studies)
• NYU
• MTSU (Middle Tennessee State University)
• Belmont University (Nashville)
• Vanderbilt
• Loyola Marymount University (Los Angeles)
• Ithaca College (upstate New York)
• Cumberland University (Tennessee)
• Lipscomb University (Tennessee)
• USC
• Stanford University (near Palo Alto)

3) Schools accepted to (8 of 11)

• Columbia University School of General Studies
• NYU
• Loyola Marymount University
• Ithaca College
• MTSU
• Belmont University
• Cumberland University
• Lipscomb University

4) Academic statistics

Community college GPA / ranking system

• Their community college used honors designations: summa magna laude / magna laude / summa laude (no class rank).

• They graduated summa laude (described as “all A’s”).

• Community college GPA: 4.0 out of 4.0 (unweighted)

Prior GPA

• At their prior institution (ASU): 3.1 out of 4.0

Cumulative GPA (combined)

• 3.6 out of 4.0

Holistic transcript review

• Applying schools view transcripts holistically and consider multiple college transcripts.

5) Test scores / reporting strategy

• They applied test-optional to “top tier” colleges including:
  • Vanderbilt
  • USC
• Stanford required a test score.
• They sent an ACT score to Columbia (they mentioned reporting it even though the score “wasn’t great”).
  • The ACT was taken late (last semester), and they didn’t study much due to being busy.
• SAT/ACT limitations
  • They couldn’t reuse an older SAT score for other applications (the ACT was the more specific referenced score).

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Course plan / coursework (community college timeline)

Fall 2024

• Intro to Mass Communication
• English Comp II
• Early US History
• Intro to Sociology Result: all A’s

Spring 2025

• Survey of Astronomy (with lab)
• Media Writing (major requirement; journalism/news packaging, feature writing, newsletters)
• Introduction to Psychology
• Modern US History Result: all A’s

Summer 2025 (study abroad)

• Modern World Literature (taken in Europe: Chamonix, France and Salzburg, Austria) Result: A

Fall 2025

• Intro to Digital Media (content creation; mainly podcasting)
  • Weekly workflow described: record/film an episode, edit, submit by end of week
• Screenwriting
• Fundamentals of Communication (speech class)
• Beginning French I Result: all A’s Note: No honors courses were available nearby because honors were only at a campus ~1.5 hours away.

Spring 2026 (final semester)

• Intro to Biology
• Introduction to Film (fine arts credit)
• Beginning French II
• Early Humanities Result: all A’s (contributing to the 4.0 community college GPA)

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Extracurriculars, leadership, and service (community college)

Major campus leadership / honor societies

Phi Theta Kappa (PTK)

• Became chapter president (after all A’s in Fall 2024; joined PTK Spring 2025)

• Led chapter-level initiatives, including:

  • Honors in Action research + action project

    • Research topic: how musical therapy can aid veterans with PTSD
    • Action: planned an open mic night benefiting Creative Vets (veteran organization in Nashville)
      • Contributions included:
        • concessions (baking brownies)
        • event setup
        • student outreach
    • Fundraising outcomes:
      • $687 raised via concessions
      • Sponsored a wreath through Wreaths Across America
      • Donations to Creative Vets

  • A school supply giveaway / college project after a previous project fell through

    • Joint event with Student Success Center
    • Theme mentioned: “Popular from Wicked”
    • Distributed supplies and promoted campus resources (tutoring, advising, testing)
    • Reached 106 students

  • As president, led a team of 7 chapter members to prepare award submissions.

Other roles and involvement

• Tutor in the tutoring center
  • Helped with:
    • English Comp I and II
    • mass communication courses
    • French courses
• Student government
  • First year: interim secretary and treasurer (executive board), Spring 2025
  • Next year: House of Representatives
• Presidential Leadership Society
  • Self-paced / “do it on your own” program with a passport-style requirement:
    • complete 12 activities across self-management, cultural activities, leadership, and more
    • earn recognition/medallion and mention on transcript
• Sigma Kappa Delta
  • English honor society (two-year colleges)
  • Contribution: 60th-year legacy project
    • Wrote a piece connected to First Lady Lady Bird Johnson
    • Documentary commemorating her visit to the speaker’s former community college in 1966
    • Writing placed on a plaque in the legacy wall

Additional academic enrichment

• TISL (Tennessee Intercollegiate State Legislature) — Fall 2025
  • Attended the Tennessee State Capitol for a 4-day mock legislative session
  • Role: media team
    • Reported from House and Senate chambers
    • Wrote six articles published in all six issues of TSL Times (daily newsletter)

Study abroad (tied to coursework)

• Europe study:
  • Chamonix, France and Salzburg, Austria
• For credit: Modern World Literature

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Writing/author career and publishing

• Started writing under pen name: Ali Lee
• Published 6 books (romance and suspense)
• Started writing about 4 years ago; continued since
• Attended arts/book festivals in Tennessee and expanded to other states:
  • Hosted signings including Hot Springs Book Fest (Hot Springs, Arkansas)
  • Planned participation: TNT Book Festival in New York next September
• Reported sales: at least 224 books sold in person

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Acting career

• Continued routine auditions
• Signed with management and a talent agent
• Appeared in:
  • two Lifetime movies
  • a BET show
  • a TV1 show (and others mentioned broadly)

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Awards / honors mentioned

• Coca-Cola New Century Transfer Scholar

  • Top community college student in Tennessee for a transfer scholarship
  • Recognized through Phi Theta Kappa scholarship consideration

• Catalyst International Convention

  • Attended with chapter advisor and fellow chapter officer (Baltimore)
  • Received recognition (details not fully specified)

• All-USA Academic Team Scholar

  • One of 29 students nationwide for academic excellence, leadership, and service
  • Included medallion + scholarship
  • Led to being automatically All-Tennessee Academic Team Scholar (state recognition)

• Third place in a regional creative essay competition

  • Published in a regional literary anthology

• PTK chapter awards

  • First place for Honors in Action theme: healing and resilience through art and healing
  • Chapter of Light award (chapter recognition based on activities)

• National distinction nomination

  • Chapter advisor nominated them for a national distinguished officer award
  • They note they didn’t win, but the nomination occurred

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Essays (explicitly not covered)

• They say they won’t discuss essays in this video.
• Brief notes on what essays were required:
  • NYU: personal statement, creative statement, and what influenced their writing (for Tisch program context)
  • Columbia: a 1,500-word essay covering many required topics

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Closing / next steps

• Mentioned moving soon and attending a Columbia jumpstart program (dates referenced around the 24th to the 27th).
• Suggested the next content may be an NYC vlog.
• Thanked viewers and included a general channel call-to-action (likes/subscription).

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Speakers / sources featured

• Speaker: The YouTube creator (unnamed in the subtitles) transferring to Columbia University School of General Studies.
• Referenced organizations/causes (not speaking):
  • Phi Theta Kappa (PTK)
  • Creative Vets
  • Wreaths Across America
  • Student Success Center
  • Presidential Leadership Society
  • Sigma Kappa Delta
  • TISL Times / Tennessee Intercollegiate State Legislature
  • Catalyst International Convention
  • Coca-Cola New Century Transfer Scholar program
  • All-USA Academic Team
  • Lifetime, BET, TV1 (acting platforms mentioned)
  • Vanessa Lane (USA Today best-selling author; hosted a signing mentioned)
  • Hot Springs Book Fest; TNT Book Festival (book events mentioned)
  • Pen name identity: Ali Lee