Chance me! Columbia School of Professional Studies

Colleges and Universities A-Z Columbia University
1

I just submitted my online application for the MS in Sustainability Management. Here’s my profile

B.Eng. in Environmental Engineering with 2.59/4.00 (I know it’s bad) recently graduated
from the top uni in my country (SouthEastAsia)
Academic : a scholarship to present my capstone project at an international symposium in South Korea,
1 published paper about an environmental impact of an industrial estate.
EC : Went to rural schools to organized camps and activities for students (since 2012)
Volunteer at a school for the blind. Teach classes on weekends (since 2014)
Trained for the military for three years then enlisted in the army after graduation
Play basketball all 4 years of uni and coach men’s and women’s freshman team
LoR : One from a prof. (Would say it’s pretty good given her English) and one from the president of the company I interned (This would be at least above average)

PS. I did explained my grades by citing sports and volunteer works
Another ps. A friend from the same country already got accepted. Although, he went to school in the UK will this hurt my chance?

Any answer would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

2

SPS MS programs are practically open enrollment. Here’s an article explaining the faculty’s issues with the proliferation of programs and degrees offered by the SPS.

https://www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2019/05/06/senate-questions-reputation-academic-quality-of-school-of-professional-studies-at-last-plenary-of-year/

3

That was certainly an interesting read to say the least. I have heard of this issue before and I thought it did not apply to the program I am applying to. Is it safe to assume that I got a chance of getting accepted? I’m not familiar with the admission process in the US but I though each degree have separate adcom so maybe my program and the few mentioned in the article have different standards.

Thanks for replying.