A note for you
Nesa, this whole page was made for you, because we believe in you. You took a road most people never take, you are doing real work at Intel, and now you are reaching for Columbia. That is not too big a dream. It is exactly your size.
Everything you need is here, in one place, broken into small pieces so none of it feels heavy. Start with the Checklist. Do one thing at a time. We are right beside you.
نسا جان، این صفحه برای تو ساخته شده، چون به تو باور داریم. تو راهی را رفتی که بیشتر مردم هرگز نمی‌روند، حالا در اینتل کارِ واقعی می‌کنی و دستت را به سوی کلمبیا دراز کرده‌ای. این آرزو زیادی بزرگ نیست؛ درست به اندازهٔ توست. هر چیزی که لازم داری همین‌جاست، تکه‌تکه، تا هیچ‌کدامش سنگینی نکند. از فهرست کارها شروع کن. یکی‌یکی. ما درست کنار توییم.
With all our love, your brother and your family.
The goal
Columbia University
School of General Studies · premed track
General Studies is Columbia's college for brilliant people who took a different path to get here. Working, starting over, crossing the world. That is you. Same Columbia degree, same classrooms, written for a story like yours.
A reason we believe in you
You have already done harder things than this application.
Tip: this page remembers what you check off and where you left your recommenders, right here in your browser. It is private to you.
Columbia, General Studiesکلمبیا، مطالعات عمومی
The school you are reaching for, and why it was built for someone exactly like you.
The school
Columbia University
School of General Studies · New York City
What GS is
General Studies is a full college of Columbia University. The same faculty, the same classrooms, the same degree as any Columbia undergraduate. What is different is who it is for: people who stepped away from school and came back, who worked first, who crossed the world to get here.
Why it fits you
You did not take the straight road. You lived a harder story, and you are building a real career at Intel. GS does not hold that against you. It reads it as the reason to say yes. Your path is the kind of path they look for.
What they ask for
- Their own online application, to GS only
- One autobiographical essay, about 1,500 to 2,000 words, written by you
- Your high school and college records
- Two letters of recommendation
- An English test, if English was not the language of your schooling
- A standardized test, only if you choose to send one
The Checklist tab turns each of these into a step you can tick off.
Premed at Columbia
Columbia has a deep premed tradition and strong advising. You study a subject you love, and alongside it the science courses medical schools require. The Road tab lays out the whole journey from there.
The Checklistفهرست کارها
Everything the Columbia GS application asks for. Check each one off as you finish it. Always confirm the live details on the official page before you submit.
1 The GS application
2 The autobiographical statement
نکتهٔ مهم: کلمبیا می‌گوید این انشا باید کارِ خودت باشد، بدون هیچ ابزارِ هوش مصنوعی در نوشتن یا ویرایش. پس این یکی را خودت می‌نویسی. ما در فکرکردن، نقشه‌کشیدن و تمرینِ انگلیسی کمکت می‌کنیم؛ اما کلماتِ انشا مالِ خودت می‌ماند. این کار از تو محافظت می‌کند.
3 Your academic records
4 Two letters of recommendation
5 English proficiency
6 Standardized test optional
7 Money and aid
Deadlines, fall entry
GS reads applications on a rolling basis. Earlier is stronger, and if you will need an F-1 student visa, apply by Early Action.
| Stage | Date |
|---|---|
| Application opens | December 1 |
| Priority Early Action | January 15 |
| Early Action | March 1 |
| Regular Decision | May 15 |
Spring entry runs on its own earlier calendar. Confirm your exact dates on the GS site.
Your Resumeخلاصهٔ سوابق
GS does not require a resume, but a clean one helps your recommenders, any interview, and your own thinking. Below is the shape of a strong one. The gray italic lines are examples. We replace them with your real story.
Nesa Sadeqi
Manufacturing Professional at Intel · Future Physician
New York area · email and phone go here · links to anything you have built
Summary
exampleA short, three line opening that says who you are, what you have done, and where you are going. We write this together once your details are in.
Experience
- exampleA line about what you actually do, with a real number in it if you can.
- exampleA line about a skill or a result you are proud of.
- exampleAnything that shows how you carry weight: caring for family, a job back home, leading something.
Education
exampleYour schools and any college credits so far, newest first.
Languages & skills
exampleThe languages you speak, and any technical or lab skills from Intel.
Service & leadership
exampleVolunteering, community work, anything where you helped or led.
To make this real, send me:
Your exact Intel title and start date, what you do there day to day, your schools and any college credits, the languages you speak, awards, and any volunteering or leadership. I will turn it into a finished resume and a PDF you can download and send.
Your Essayانشای تو
The autobiographical statement is the one part only you can write, and that is its power. Columbia GS does not allow AI to write or edit it. So here is everything to help you write it yourself, well.
What it must cover
One essay, about 1,500 to 2,000 words, double spaced. GS asks you to speak to all of this:
- Your educational history, including the turns and interruptions
- Your work experience, including Intel
- Where you are in life right now
- Your plans for the future, and why medicine
- Why your path has been nontraditional
- Why Columbia General Studies, specifically
A shape you can follow
- Open on one true moment. Not your whole life. One scene that shows who you are. A night, a decision, a room.
- The road behind you. Your education and the hard turns, told plainly. What they cost, what they taught.
- The work, and who you became. Intel, and what carrying real responsibility has made of you.
- Why medicine. The honest reason. Tie it to something real you have seen or felt.
- Why Columbia GS. Why this college, for a story like yours. Be specific about Columbia.
- Close on where you are going. Short. Certain. Looking forward.
Questions to find your story
Answer these out loud or on paper first, in any language. The essay grows from your answers.
When you have a draft, I can read it and talk with you about structure, clarity, and your English, without writing or rewriting it for you. That keeps it within the rules and keeps it yours.
Englishانگلیسی
Two things live here: the official English test the application may need, and the daily practice to make your English strong and sure.
The proficiency test
GS requires an English test if English was not your main language and not the language of your secondary school. The score must be from the last two years. You choose one of three:
Duolingo English Test
At home, on a laptop, lowest cost, fastest result. A common target is around 120.
IELTS
At a test center, widely trusted. A common target is around 7.0.
TOEFL
At a test center or at home. TOEFL changed its scoring recently, so confirm the exact number GS wants.
Always confirm the current accepted scores on the official GS page before you book. If English was the language of your schooling, you may be exempt.
Your weekly practice
- Read one short article a day, out loud, then say what it meant in your own words.
- Listen to one lesson or talk, and write down three new phrases.
- Speak for five minutes a day, recorded, about anything. Listen back once.
- Write a few sentences every day. Small and steady beats long and rare.
- Once a week, take one timed practice section of your chosen test.
Listen every day
Listening is the fastest way to make English feel natural. A few minutes a day, every day.
- Pick one short clip, three to ten minutes, and listen once just for the idea.
- Listen again, and write down three phrases you did not know.
- Play one sentence, pause, and say it back in the same rhythm. This is called shadowing. It trains your ear and your mouth together.
- Finish by saying out loud, in one or two sentences, what you heard.
English videos & classes
A starting shelf. We will add the ones we pick for you into the empty cards.
Recommendersمعرفی‌کنندگان
GS asks for two letters, from academic or professional people who truly know your work. Tap a status to move it along. This stays private to you.
A good first choice: a lead or manager at Intel who can speak to how you work and grow. Write their name and plan here in your own notes.
A good second choice: a teacher, professor, or mentor who has seen your mind at work.
How to ask, warmly
- Ask in person or in a kind message, at least a month before the deadline.
- Ask if they can write a strong letter. The word strong gives them an honest way to say yes fully.
- Make it easy. Send them your resume, your deadline, and two or three things you hope they might mention.
- Thank them, and tell them the outcome later. People love to know.
A message you can adapt
The Road to Medicineراه به سوی طبابت
Columbia is the first gate. Here is the whole road past it, so you always see where it leads. No one walks it all at once.
The premed years
Any major you love, plus the required sciences: biology, chemistry, organic chemistry, biochemistry, physics. Keep your grades high. Get real hours near patients, and start a logbook of everything.
The MCAT
The national entrance exam for medical school. Scores run 472 to 528. Give yourself months, not weeks.
Applying to medical school
Apply early in the cycle. Essays, interviews, then your choice of school.
Medical school
Two years of the science of the body, two years in the hospital, with national Step exams along the way.
Residency, and you are a doctor
You train in your chosen field, become fully licensed, and arrive.
Every doctor you have ever met walked this exact road, one stage at a time, starting from where you stand today. So will you.
هر داکتری که تا حال دیده‌ای همین راه را رفته است، مرحله به مرحله، از همان‌جایی که امروز ایستاده‌ای. تو هم می‌روی.