I’m female 
you all sound like such cool people!! I really hope we’ll all get in so we can meet each other irl 
@ThePedestrian What on earth? What kind of hellhole do you live in?
@alaqsasaya3ud Very interesting! I like learning about international relationships over the years as well so I’m sure some of it overlaps! I just think learning about our past and the past of everyone is very important and interesting in bringing everyone together. Good luck!
@ThePedestrian That is so saddening people do stuff like that! I can’t say I’m surprised considering the prestige of going to a place like Columbia. Luckily, my town is not known for being uber-competitive.
@ThePedestrian Are you serious?? Oh my goodness
@alaqsasaya3ud I didn’t know there was a lot of criticism about it!
As an Asian-American (Taiwanese and Chinese, but really just Taiwanese) it’s really disheartening that there’s so little media presence of Asians. (This probably also factored into how much I used to like KPop.) It’s about four Chinese-Americans and their mothers. My parents don’t talk about family history at all because a lot of the records and such became unavailable when they fled to Taiwan, and I’ve never heard of any WW2, Cultural Revolution-era stories beyond very factual, textbook-like accounts. It was really just an eye-opener. Also, the struggles that the Asian-American daughters went through in trying to reconcile their environment with their heritage really resonated with me. One of the mother says that she tries to give her daughter a Chinese upbringing but with American opportunities, and these aspects of the daughter’s life continually clash. This confusion and struggle is something that I really identified with at a time when I didn’t understand what it meant to be Chinese American.
(I’ll answer your questions about The Stranger in another comment!)
edit: also, one of the moms was so similar to my own, I just had to keep reading to see how it wouwld play out. If you ever read it, my mom is like Waverly’s. Waverly had her chess, and I had my piano. We both quit because our mothers put too much pressure to continue being successful and it’s really sad to think back on what could have been. 
@alaqsasaya3ud @soph1112 @aniiii I’m for real. some parents would make up stories or students tell on each other if they find out you’re applying to the same schools it’s ridiculous I agree but it’s super competitive here wouldn’t you be scared tbh
and the thing is you would just be rejected and you’d never figure out if someone did it or who did it
@ThePedestrian that sounds absolutely horrifying
@dr0wning that’s crazy! The required reading at my school is huuuuge - at least 4-5 a trimester, plus something like Anna Karenina over the summer. And then my English teacher, brilliant as he is, goes and complains that we’re still so poorly read. Which… is kind of true, considering the fact that I’ve never actually read Romeo and Juliet. Ah, well.
@columbhiroller I’m a girl. I actually don’t know any boys who are applying to Columbia at all :o though my interviewer was male, so I suppose they do exist…
@alaqsasaya3ud Kazuo Ishiguro is a contemporary British writer. He writes historical novels with a sort of dreamlike tone - it’s beautiful. Never Let Me Go is actually set in an alternate present and has a touch of sci-fi, but it reads almost like magical realism. Stanley Kubrick was a director - and a temperamentally artistic one, at that. He directed films like 2001: A Space Odyssey (which is very hard to watch, so I wouldn’t recommend it if you’re trying to get into him) and Doctor Strangelove as well as the film adaptations of A Clockwork Orange and Lolita. Some of it’s pretty jarring and tough to watch, but under all that shock and awe, there’s a wealth of intellectualism - and I can’t help but mention the fact that it’s visually gorgeous, to boot.
Seriously, A Clockwork Orange was one of very few book-to-movie adaptations I’ve actually enjoyed. That said, it probably helped that I’d just seen The Imitation Game and had various forms of “alternative punishment” on the brain… eugh.
@ThePedestrian that’s disgusting. They’re acting like children.
@greysanatomy3113 I’m glad you did what’s best for you!
@wherevioletsgrow Never let me go is such a good book! The movie is just as depressing but that’s what made it beautiful
@ThePedestrian How can the offers be rescinded if the tips are anonymous or false? Is it just like better safe than sorry? That’s horrible…
edit: oh god I just thought of “keep your friends close and your enemies closer” what if your close friend did it that’s so horrible
@dr0wning I think some false allegations or accusations will be dismissed without any evidence. But I know some kid who actually cheated and did really bad things and a parent sent in an anonymous letter with detailed info on his suspension and a newspaper clipping. Isn’t this just INSANE?
@soph1112 Totally up for that once results get posted! Are you planning to post your results on the ED results thread? Good luck to you on Thursday!!!
@ThePedestrian I didn’t even know there was a movie! I guess I’m adding it to my to-watch list. Which has become… exorbitantly long in the past few months. Oh well.
The issue with applying to these super competitive colleges nowadays is that these schools have so many qualified applicants lined up. They may not want to take the risk with someone who may be “cheating,” and can easy swap him/her out with someone just as stellar.
@wherevioletsgrow I remember thinking that R&J was funny. I guess because it seemed so dramatic and nonsensical, and we all made fun of their pronunciation (“you are bani-shed!”)
I’ve heard of A Clockwork Orange before and put it on my reading list! Now I really want to read and watch it!
@dr0wning Wait, so your parents fled to Taiwan during/after the GPRC? And what do you mean you quit?
@ThePedestrian That sounds like a total hellhole. Just what kind of human being would do that to another?
@wherevioletsgrow yeah the movie stars andrew garfield and keira knightly and carey mulligan