Columbia becoming more selective?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Columbia University
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<p>i don't know if this is just a trend that i'm observing due to anecdotal evidence, but it seems like Columbia is becoming MUCH more selective in recent years. i remember there was a time when it was considered sort of second tier to Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Stanford - definitely a prestigious school, but still a notch below them in the caliber of students accepted.</p>

<p>but this year my school - which historically sends about 1 a year to Stanford (the valedictorian) - got 3 people accepted into Stanford. 3 people got accepted into Caltech (we've had like 2 people accepted into Caltech in 10 years before). and where we usually get like 3-5 people accepted each year into Columbia this year it seems only i got in. now, granted, i think the people who got into Stanford in my grade weren't interested in Columbia and didn't apply, but still ... it's unusual for Columbia to accept so little.</p>

<p>i was also reading this article - <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/04/education/04colleges.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/04/education/04colleges.html&lt;/a> - and came across this: </p>

<p>"Harvard College received applications from 22,955 students, another record, and accepted 2,058 of them, for an acceptance rate of 9 percent. The university called that ?the lowest admit rate in Harvard?s history.?</p>

<p>Applications to Columbia numbered 18,081, and the college accepted 1,618 of them, for what was certainly one of the lowest acceptance rates this spring at an American university: 8.9 percent."</p>

<p>meaning Columbia was more selective than Harvard this year, in terms of pure acceptance percentage. AND i've also heard that the administration in Columbia is going for a serious push upwards in getting it to be THE best college in the country for certain fields, esp. economics.</p>

<p>so i'm just wondering - is this just me trying to boost my ego by telling myself that my early D school is no longer consolation prize for Harvard rejects, or is Columbia really pushing itself into a higher tier of selectivity? have you guys at other schools seen similar things happening in terms of Columbia getting harder and harder?</p>

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<p>Yes yes and yes. We're getting more selective. Actually CC had the 2nd lowest admit rate in Ivy history, just slightly behind Yale's admit rate from last year. I've also never heard about CU being 2nd tier, where did you get this from? There is a thread which discusses whether or not CU will turn the Holy Trinity into the Fantastic Four. Scroll back a few pages and you should find it.</p>

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<p>I thought Columbia is higher tier.</p>

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<p>The boost in applicants could have come from applicants who didn't apply to Harvard though (because they didn't think they'd make it), so even if Columbia is more selective this year it could have been from an overall weaker applicant pool.</p>

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<p>well, a lot of things could've happened, but the odds of that are probably equal to the odds of people not applying to harvard because they preferred columbia. I, for one, wouldn't have gone to harvard for anything (but that's because i'd grown up in that area).</p>

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<p>This entire thread is superfluous.</p>

<p>Columbia accepts fewer and fewer students. By definition they are getting more selective.</p>

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<p>A JohnnyK post that isn't riddled with what I like to believe are lies?
That's new.</p>

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<p>well, they're not accepting any fewer students. they're accepting the same amount of students. they just have more students from which to choose. so that's not a lie, that's just confusion.</p>

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<p>Your definition of "lies" must be "things I don't agree with."</p>

<p>This is a forum for colleges, not leninism...</p>

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<p>^Notice the "what I like to believe" before "lies."</p>

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<p>JohnnyK, honestly I respect all the work you have put into your posts, but I don't understand why a current college student would like to argue with kids from other schools on an internet forum. I would be doing all kinds of things at Penn and just enjoy the college experience. Most kids in this forum are REALLY pro-Columbia, so you're probably not gonna be able to get them to accept your points. Get some drinks, go after girls and just have a fun time at Penn, :D</p>

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<p>If you must know, I'm sitting at work and have nothing else I can really do. I suppose I could branch out into porn but that doesn't do anything for boosting Penn's yield. Boosts something else, though...</p>

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<p>I dunno, I probably wouldn't try that. Don't they check what sites you've been on? At GS in the UK, some analyst intern got fired for surfing too much on facebook during work, lol... Imagine the face of your boss when he/she sees that you've been on ... sites, :D. If it's a guy, he'd probably be like: Wow, can you send me the link? haha</p>

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<p>I don't see a problem as long as you share.</p>

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<p>Of course it's a guy, as if I'd ever let a woman be my boss..they can't even vote, you know.</p>

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<p>Oh JohnnyK, you are quite the instigator aren't you? ;)</p>

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<p>Haha, ^^. n1</p>

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<p>I'm combative by nature. Also, extremely bored at work and looking to make people angry for my own personal amusement.</p>

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<p>Boredom and a malicious character? I guess you really must be a Penn student, :D.</p>

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<p>Boredom and maliciousness could also make me an SS.</p>