Columbia College vs. School of General Studies

<p>"Application materials from all programs are kept on file for two years, after which they are destroyed."</p>

<p>Does this mean that they hold sacrificial burnings of denied applications? Take that, reject!</p>

<p>Also, I have a friend that took the GS entrance exam. I'm nearly certain that he got every question correct, even if they asked him things like what to do at a stop sign, and how many syllables are in the word Col-um-bi-a.</p>

<p>Hey everyone,
Thanks for all the replies - I just called and they said I have to wait 3 years. </p>

<p>Oh well, doesn't stop me from going to move to New York, I have to there anyways...</p>

<p>"Thanks for all the replies - I just called and they said I have to wait 3 years."</p>

<p>Hrmm... When you get to New York, your first stop should be Chinatown. There are some places on Canal that'll offer you a new social security number as well as all accompanying documentation. Just use that and you should have no problem reapplying now. I do know of some people who subverted the system (not sending SAT scores, but opting to take the GS exam and not submitting all transcripts, etc). It really depends on how much you want to donate $130,000 to the ongoing capital campaign / Manhattanville.</p>

<p>Speaking of going to New York can anyone recommend a good community college with guaranteed transfers any universities (doesn't matter, just good ones). </p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>I think Cornell has transfer agreements with some of the community colleges in NY but I am not sure.</p>

<p>Not a CC, but I have a really good friend at Hunter that got offered GS admission (without applying) after attending for I think a year. His 4.0 and College Senate position didn't hurt.</p>

<p>Thanks Windowshopping and Sweetny007, I was a GT for Cornell right out of high school but didn't accept their offer, due to the fact that the location is too isolated. I'd rather go to CUNY in NYC than Cornell, which I admit is somewhat dumb since Cornell is more prestigious. </p>

<p>I think I might try to apply to NYU or, </p>

<p>WindowShopping or SweetNY - do you know if I apply as a foreign applicant (I'm a US citizen but I've never lived in US besides 1 year of my life ) I can bypass their system? I applied before in HS as a US citizen because I am, legally....just that I live overseas. </p>

<p>I understand what you mean by some people "subverted" the system but I think if I don't send in all the transcripts it would make it extremely difficult to be admitted as well as make a bad name in their records (I mean, how will I get a transfer to them besides making my own? It saids specifically to get it from the original college or HS). </p>

<p>I'm Asian so I feel that no matter anywhere I go, I have to meet the standards of other Asians.... and well you know how Asians are 6.0 GPA and 3000 SAT scores! I'm sure when the Columbia Admissions see me they will just say... ASIAN..................REJECT! =P </p>

<p>Anyways, sorry for the long post, just posting my thoughts out loud.</p>

<p>Automatically meet the standards of 'other Asians'? Please... there are plenty of brilliant non-Asian kids you'll be competing with as well... kids with similarly high GPAs and perfect test scores and stellar recommendations and obscenely prodigious extracurriculars... </p>

<p>From what I've seen, colleges are most influenced by how much an individual has to offer in terms of 1) intelligence and 2) personality. These two things can only be observed by way off indirect metrics, like test scores, quality of teacher recommendations, et cetera.</p>

<p>I say this as an Indian-background kid who was accepted to all colleges I applied to out of high school (yale, uchicago, amherst, dartmouth, harvard, bu, tufts)... well, all except washington univ. of st. louis... why I'm applying to GS at age 22 is a different matter (let's call it a troubled youth).</p>

<p>so don't worry about competing with 'Asians' whatever that means... just rest at ease knowing you would do well at whatever college you apply to and hope that the admissions board can see that reflected in your transcripts, essay, and teacher recs.</p>

<ul>
<li>... by way of (not 'off') indirect metrics...</li>
</ul>

<p>For the record:
being a GS student, I cannot think of ONE course that did not have CC or SEAS students mixed with GS students (other than university writing; I was told that is done to create a bond with other GS students and it's identical to that of CC students.) Granted there may be a slight difference in degree requirements but those are negligible (a course here and there) and they vary depending on the program. </p>

<p>One more thing: this "feeling inferior" and "discrimination" is a bunch of nonsense. I do not feel inferior at all, and at no point has a CC /SEAS student or professor made a comment to that extent. Of course I do NOT send the "I am inferior" vibes either so take them all with a grain of salt. People are there for a reason and only idiots or spoiled brats get caught up in the manufactured CC vs. GS rivalry. It is a meritocracy and if you're good, you will be fine.</p>

<p>Die Frankenthread! Die!</p>

<p>Keep Thread Alive!</p>

<p>Happy New Year!</p>

<p><a href="http://media.www.columbiaspectator.com/media/storage/paper865/news/2007/01/18/Opinion/The-haves.And.The.have.Nots-2652043.shtml?sourcedomain=www.columbiaspectator.com&MIIHost=media.collegepublisher.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://media.www.columbiaspectator.com/media/storage/paper865/news/2007/01/18/Opinion/The-haves.And.The.have.Nots-2652043.shtml?sourcedomain=www.columbiaspectator.com&MIIHost=media.collegepublisher.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>"one may have seen the flier posted a few weeks ago in various student housing promoting a meeting of only CC and SEAS students to come together and protest the School of General Studies as well as brainstorm on how best to get GS disbanded because 'Adults in Columbia classes are ruining our University'." </p>

<p>"I feel that much of this disdainful attitude towards GS students is Columbia's own doing. For instance, it is common practice for most Europeans to take a one-year sabbatical to travel after high school before they enter university, but students who take more than one year off from their studies and want to go to Columbia must then enter a separate college here which labels them as 'alternative'. I was accepted to other top universities and the fact that I was 28 or that I did not pursue university right out of high school did not make a difference in acceptance as a transfer student. The fact of the matter is that all universities have an adult population, but the CU label of 'alternative' promotes an attitude of indifference."</p>

<p>"one may have seen the flier posted a few weeks ago in various student housing promoting a meeting of only CC and SEAS students to come together and protest the School of General Studies as well as brainstorm on how best to get GS disbanded because 'Adults in Columbia classes are ruining our University'."</p>

<p>An hour later, the same newly created organization held a "NO NEGROES ON COLUMBIA'S CAMPUS" rally across college walk. While unavailable for comment, The Office of Lee C. released a statement, reading in part that "while disappointing and discomforting, we must protect academic freedom and uphold the principles of free speech -- the only remedy to the speech in question is better speech."</p>

<p>Wow! As a GS alum from far too many years ago, I am really shocked that the anti-GS feelings at CC and SEAS are so strong with some students. I really didn't feel that tension in the late 70s, perhaps because CC and SEAS were not nearly so competitive then. I guess the young'uns don't like to share their prize with adults.</p>

<p>"'Adults in Columbia classes are ruining our University'." Well yes, it is a University filled with adults taking graduate courses as well as GS students. I don't have the exact numbers, but I think CC and SEAS students are clearly outnumbered by those suspicious adults. GS is celebrating its 60th year. I think it will be around for a few more years. While it hasn't ruined CC and SEAS during those 60 years, students who have the time, energy and bigotry to try to disband GS could ruin the University.</p>

<p>60 years? Why was I under the impression that Langston Hughes had gone to the early editions of GS back in the early part of the 20th century?</p>

<p>Langston Hughes, believe it or not, was in SEAS.</p>

<p>GS was formally founded in 1947. Prior to this, similar programs were known as "Extension Teaching" or "University Teaching", and these belonged to a tradition that stretched back to the first nontraditional curriculum, offered in 1831, although the extension programs only really began to be established in the 1890s.</p>

<p>See the history section of the GS website:
<a href="http://www.gs.columbia.edu/history.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.gs.columbia.edu/history.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>How nice of those students. Let them waste their time with inconsequential matters.</p>

<p>If GS students make absurd and unrelated arguments in classes, why don't CC or SEAS students argue logically and refute them?</p>

<p>If GS students have too much experience and dominate classes, well, aren't CC and SEAS students supposed to be the best and brightest?</p>

<p>If the fact that there may be 3 or 4 'older' students in some of your classes the most important issue in your life, then that is a very sad life.</p>

<p>I could say the same about CC/SEAS students. Some of them are really bright, others are really freaking dumb. You don't see me up in arms about it, I just don't care enough.</p>

<p>Eh, how does one "refute" a boring life story or bragging rights over someone's career experience? The problem in question is that most of these contributions are not, in fact, arguments or valid points relating to the material whatsoever.</p>