UNDERGRADUATE ADMISSIONS GUIDE
Start by choosing between College and Engineering. Then explore how the curriculum, the community, and New York connect with your interests. We’ll help you turn that research into an application that feels like you.
Fall 2027 entry
CHOOSE THE EDUCATION, NOT JUST THE NAME
You apply to one of the two schools. Look at the courses surrounding your intended major, as well as the major itself.
COLUMBIA COLLEGE · BACHELOR OF ARTS
The Core brings students into shared conversations about literature, society, science, and the arts, alongside their own fields of study. You normally declare your major in sophomore spring.
COLUMBIA ENGINEERING · BACHELOR OF SCIENCE
Engineering combines mathematics, science, and computing with design work and selected humanities and social-science courses. You normally declare your major in sophomore fall.
Interested in computer science? Both schools offer it. Compare the full College Core with Engineering’s technical foundations before choosing. The right question is which surrounding education you want, not which school sounds more impressive.
In Columbia College: The B.A. takes at least 124 points (credits), including the full Core.
Read, discuss, and question. Literature Humanities and Contemporary Civilization build discussion around demanding texts and ideas. You take Literature Humanities in your first year, in a group of about 22 students, and Contemporary Civilization in your second.
Learn across disciplines. Writing, science, art, music, language, and Global Core requirements extend beyond your major. They include University Writing and Frontiers of Science in your first year, Art and Music Humanities, two more science courses, two Global Core courses, and a language through the intermediate level.
Develop your main field. Explore possible majors while taking the courses needed to enter them. The fourth term is the decision point, not the first time to think about prerequisites.
In Columbia Engineering: The B.S. takes 128 points.
Start with technical foundations. Your early studies prepare you for the requirements of an engineering major. In your first year, you take calculus, physics, and chemistry.
Try engineering in practice. The first-year Art of Engineering course includes hands-on project work.
Keep people and ideas in view. A 27-point nontechnical requirement includes writing, humanities, economics, and electives, not the full College Core.
Plan ahead for your major. The third semester is the decision point, with advising and preparation before it.
If you change your mind: Once enrolled, you can apply to switch between College and Engineering by March 1, but Columbia doesn’t promise a place.
UNDERSTAND WHAT COLUMBIA CONSIDERS
Columbia names academic preparation, curiosity, engagement with others, individual voice, and knowledge of its education. It considers these in the context of your opportunities. There’s no formula, and no cut-off GPA or test score.
ACADEMIC PREPARATION
Columbia looks at your academic work within your school’s curriculum. Engineering applicants are expected to have studied physics and calculus.
Letrado’s adviceCheck the preparation expected for your chosen school early. If your school could not offer a course, explain that context clearly with your counselor.
CURIOSITY & INDIVIDUAL VOICE
Your intellectual interests and individual voice help the reader understand what draws you into learning beyond a grade or requirement.
Letrado’s adviceChoose a question you kept following. A book you argued with, a design you tested, or an observation that changed your mind can show how you think.
ENGAGEMENT WITH OTHERS
Columbia considers how you engage with others, including commitments shaped by your family, school, and wider community.
Letrado’s adviceDescribe what you actually did and who relied on you. A steady job or family responsibility can reveal more than a title with little substance.
A COLLEGE EXAMPLE · THE CORE
Small seminars make discussion part of the learning. In Art Humanities, visual analysis also extends into visits to New York’s museums, buildings, and monuments.
COLUMBIA’S STATEMENT
Columbia answers questions about AI with a broader rule: whatever tools or support you use, it expects your application materials to be “your own original work” that reflects “your authentic voice.”
You also confirm Columbia’s Accuracy and Authenticity statement when you apply. Inaccurate or inauthentic materials can cost you your admission, or later your degree.
PLAN YOUR APPLICATION
Early Decision is binding. If you need to compare colleges and financial-aid offers before deciding, Regular Decision may suit you better.
Early Decision
Nov 1, 2026Regular Decision
Jan 1, 2027Under Early Decision, you commit to enroll if admitted under the agreement, so discuss affordability with your family before applying. In Regular Decision, you can compare your offers and financial-aid packages before choosing where to enroll.
Use the Common Application or Coalition Application on Scoir, with your personal essay and Columbia responses. The fee is $85; hardship waivers are available.
Arrange your transcript, counselor recommendation, school profile, and midyear report. Columbia asks for the midyear report by February 1. For Early Decision, it should arrive as soon as your first-quarter or first-trimester grades are ready.
Choose teachers who know your learning well. For Engineering, one recommendation must come from a mathematics or science teacher who taught you.
You may apply without them for this cycle. Columbia has announced required testing from Fall 2028 entry, with an access-related waiver process, so do not carry this year’s policy into a later application.
Sign it in the Common App, or in your applicant portal after submitting a Coalition or QuestBridge application. Columbia releases you only for financial reasons, after your family talks with its aid office.
Interviews aren’t part of Columbia’s process, so your application carries your voice.
If you apply Early Decision: Columbia doesn’t prohibit nonbinding Early Action applications elsewhere, but if it admits you, you enroll. Deferred applicants hear by April 1 and aren’t bound; denied applicants can’t apply again that year.
If you choose to send scores: You answer yes or no to sending scores when you apply. A yes can’t be withdrawn, but a no can change to yes once: by the fourth Wednesday in November for Early Decision, or January 15 for Regular Decision. February test-takers email Columbia their scores once results arrive. Applicants without scores aren’t disadvantaged.
English proficiency: English-language proficiency is a separate requirement, with its own exemptions and accepted tests. International applicants should check it even when not submitting SAT or ACT scores. You meet it if English is your home language, if you’ve been taught mainly in English throughout secondary school, or with at least 700 in SAT Reading and Writing or 29 in ACT English or Reading.
If you’re applying from outside the U.S.: Columbia accepts every school curriculum. Send official English translations with other-language documents, plus results from any exams your school requires for graduation, such as A Levels or IB exams. International aid applicants may be deferred from Early Decision so Columbia can review the whole global pool.
QuestBridge: Columbia also accepts applications through QuestBridge from finalists. Its National College Match is binding, with the application and aid deadlines both on November 1. If you rank Columbia and don’t match, you move to Regular Decision automatically.
Optional materials: Arts and research supplements are optional, not a requirement to create an extra project. If you couldn’t take physics, calculus, pre-calculus, or statistics at school or through affordable dual enrollment, Columbia accepts a Schoolhouse.world certification in its place. You need a score of 90% or above on the course challenge.
WRITE WITH PURPOSE
150 words maximumFor each short answer, with 100 words maximum for the intellectual-influences list.
The list shows what you spend time with. Your answers show how you think, respond, and take part. Leave room for different sides of yourself.
Letrado’s adviceRead each answer aloud before you submit it. If a sentence doesn’t sound like you, say it more plainly. The notes on each question are our advice.
Choose books, publications, podcasts, exhibitions, or other material you explore outside class. Use the requested list format, without mini-reviews or explanations. A genuine mix says more than a list chosen to sound impressive.
Choose a meaningful part of your life, then show how it shapes the way you listen, ask questions, or contribute. Give the reader a real situation, rather than only a label for your background.
Explain what the disagreement was, how you engaged with the other person, and what you took away. You do not need to claim a complete change of mind. Listening carefully can change how you understand a problem.
Set up the difficulty briefly, then spend the space on what you did and what changed. Choose an experience you are comfortable sharing. Its value comes from your reflection, not how dramatic it sounds.
Connect a specific feature of College or Engineering with something you genuinely want to learn or contribute. Explain the connection. New York’s location or a professor’s name alone does not tell the reader why this education fits you.
Show how an experience, class, or project led you toward this field. Then explain what you want to understand next within your chosen school. Use this answer for your academic curiosity, rather than repeating your Why Columbia response.
YOUR COMMON APP ESSAY
WHAT THE COMMON APP ASKS
The prompts are the same as last year’s. The last one lets you write about any topic you choose, and it was last year’s most popular choice (28%).
You write the essay once, in the part of the application your colleges share, so write it for every reader rather than one school. Each college’s own questions come separately.
LETRADO’S ADVICE
Write the essay no one else could write. If another applicant could have written a sentence, swap it for something only you would say.
Sound like yourself. Plain sentences and everyday words work better than impressive vocabulary.
Tell it as it happened. Keep to the facts, seen from where you stood. Don’t add drama or invent details.
Skip the big lesson. A small, true observation shows more than a claim about growth.
Any topic can work. An ordinary moment, or a setback, often says more than a trophy.
MAKE AFFORDABILITY PART OF YOUR PLAN
Columbia meets full demonstrated need for admitted students who qualify for aid. Institutional awards are based on financial need, not academic or athletic merit.
U.S. CITIZENS & OTHER ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS
Need-blind review covers U.S. citizens, eligible noncitizens, and undocumented students residing in the U.S.
INTERNATIONAL APPLICANTS
Financial need is considered during admission. If admitted with aid, Columbia meets your demonstrated need; you generally cannot request aid later if you did not apply for it.
FAMILY INCOME BELOW $150,000
For families with typical assets. Below $66,000, parents aren’t expected to contribute to the cost of attendance.
Columbia’s aid comes as grants and student work, not loans.
See how Columbia’s need-based aid works (opens in a new tab)PUBLISHED FIRST-YEAR COST · BEFORE AID
$99,774For an on-campus student, before variable travel and additional health-insurance costs.
2026–27 academic year. The Fall 2027 entry budget will use 2027–28 rates when published. First-year transcript and orientation charges are already included. International students also pay a $175-per-semester services charge. Health insurance is $2,218 for fall plus $3,605 for spring.
View the official first-year budget (opens in a new tab)Letrado’s adviceIf your family lives in the U.S., try Columbia’s net price calculator together before you choose Early Decision.
If your family lives abroad, ask the aid office for guidance. Columbia’s net price calculator is designed for families living in the U.S. and can’t estimate aid accurately for families abroad.
Read the prospective-student aid FAQ (opens in a new tab)ADMITTED TO COLUMBIA · H.J.
H.J. studied at an international school in Seoul and loved literature, translation, and statistics. Her essay became more personal when she focused on a real problem from a stage translation.
The words preserved the meaning on the page, but an actor struggled to say the line naturally.
She had to think about rhythm and the audience, as well as fidelity to the original text.
The essay showed how she weighed a difficult choice, rather than simply announcing her love of literature.
How we helped: reading drafts aloud helped H.J. move away from ornate language and find a more natural voice. We helped her organize the story around her own decisions and compare the education behind her offers.
HER COLUMBIA OUTCOME
Offered a place at Columbia University
HER CHOICE: YALEHarkness Tower, Yale University · Photo: Carol M. Highsmith / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain. Cropped.
She chose Yale for room to pursue literature and statistics before deciding how to combine them. Her family weighed the curriculum and financial package together.
ALSO ADMITTED TO
WHEN YOU’D LIKE A HAND
Bring your questions to a free 45-minute introduction with your proposed mentor. Afterward, we’ll email a personalized plan with recommended next steps.
