<p>GS is just another school at Columbia. As I'm sure you guys know, it provides the same degree you get at Columbia College. No one outside of Columbia ever knows the difference. You're only excluded from the "Columbia community" in the sense that you don't live on campus. When you're married and 29 years old, I don't think you're looking for this anyway. At 20,I can definitely understand this being more of an issue. What it should come down to is whether you think the Columbia education/New York experience is worth whatever extra costs you may have to incur. No one can really answer that except yourself. Most other concerns regarding GS are petty, in my opinion.</p>
<p>Thanks, collegegrad1. That's what I was hoping to hear. I guess it's time for me to quit agonizing, throw the dice, and live with the consequences.</p>
<p>I think that the small percentage of students and others with negative views of GS are just a very minor issue. The bigger problem for me was the lack of financial aid. I'm still waiting on my scholarship, but even if I get the GS max, it will be more than 25 thousand a year I have to take in loans. I just feel like CU should be doing more to show GS students that they are a valued part of the university as a whole.</p>
<p>In fact, I see that Yale recently started awarding financial aid for its Eli Whitney (nontraditional) program, CU should really think about making the same change.</p>
<p>I pretty much agree with everything written here. I think the general consensus is cost VS benefits. For me personally, as much as I love NYC and Columbia, if I am paying $20,000 more a year than at another college, I am going to want to know that if I do equally as well as CC students, I will be considered in the same light for grad school. I don't see why I wouldn't, but it is a concern. Beyond that, I do not really care if CC students or a handful of employers judge me differently. </p>
<p>And GS_Banding, I agree that "pre-planning" is a little rediculous, but USC wants some money pretty quickly. I have a good FA package and a possible scholarship offer with USC, but IF I did get GS, the shorter time it would take to make a desicion would equal the less out of pocket money I would be out with USC if I chose GS. </p>
<p>gscanadian, I can see where you're coming from with being 20 and worried about the college atmosphere. However, I am not sure if some of you noticed this, and perhaps GS_Banding has some input on the subject, but what I have noticed is the CC students seem to complain about "older" GS students. I wouldn't see why you couldn't have a very normal social experience minus the dorm life. Then again, I am not there, so I could be wrong.</p>
<p>yep, that's a good point. but i'm really just down to the financial aspect. if I could afford it, I would go to GS regardless of any of the other concerns. unfortunately, the sense I got from the administration was that the policy wasn't changing any time soon.</p>
<p>GS_Banding,
You mentioned that:
"The other ivy non-trad programs I know of are Penn, Harvard, Brown, Yale. I'd rate them in this order: Yale > Brown > CU >= Penn > Harvard. (I don't know if Cornell has one). If you were accepted at the first two, I don't know why you'd be considering GS."</p>
<p>While The Harvard Extension School doesn't integrate their students will the regular undergrad daytime student population, it's in no way inferior to Yale, Brown, Columbia, or Penn's non-traditional student programs. In fact, only advantage that the school has is the Open Door policy, which allows a person to enroll in a class that holds his interest. If he does well in the first few classes, that includes a writing composition class, then he could apply to the ALB degree program. This is an option that neither Yale, Brown, Columbia, nor Penn has or allows a potential applicant to attempt. Unlike HES, the other Ivy League non-traditional programs only allows a person to register for classes after he is admitted into the BA degree program. So for those who don't have straight "A" averages, and only has around a 3.5 GPA, they're out of luck, like I was. So for people, like myself, the Harvard Extension School is the best option out there. It's not Harvard College. A HES student can't take classes at Harvard College unless he applies for Special Student Status, which is very difficult to obtain. And if selected, you're only able to take up to 2 classes per semester for one academic school year with the option to renewal for an additional year. In contrast, the non-traditional Ivies don't have that option. That might be The Harvard Extension School's biggest drawback. But the program wasn't created to be a backdoor to Harvard College. Far from it. It might also be the reason why so many people have a negative perception on the school. </p>
<p>But look at it this way: The Harvard Extension School is not competing with Columbia GS, Brown RUE, Yale Special Student Program, Penn CGS. It's in a category in itself. No one has bothered the Harvard Extension School throughout the years when it was conceived. I don't know how competitive their ALB program is. But for the moment, it doesn't concern me. The academics is my top priority. Hope this clears things up about HES.</p>
<p>I'm quite sure that the people that would apply to GS are different from the people that apply to HES. I don't want to insult you, but I see know reason to apply to HES. Its not Harvard College, like GS IS Columbia. Its only draw is it is part of an Ivy university. I can't see how its better than any state school.</p>
<p>I think that the concern for most people in this discussion is that they get a great ivy league (or equivalent!) degree with support for their other life experiences. </p>
<p>Right now I see that Yale has really stepped up and welcomed their Eli Whitney scholars into the university in every way except undergrad housing. I haven't looked at Brown yet. Penn seems to only have programing at night and not all degree options are available.</p>
<p>At Columbia GS all degree options are available. This is why its a relevant program. Harvard and Penn I don't think are relevant because the degrees are different. The IVY nametag isn't that important to me. </p>
<p>Anyway, I just think that Columbia needs to integrate GS more financially. Harvard HES doesn't even apply to this discussion because you're not integrated at all. It might as well be called Boston Community College ALB degree granting program........</p>
<p>Titanboxer,
I would strongly recommend that you read up on the infomation on Harvard Extension School's website. You'll be quite suprised how a lot of people underestimate the school til they enroll in their classes. They even have the distance learning classes that are recorded Harvard College class lectures. And they have a lot of class offerings that are not offered anywhere else. </p>
<p>Don't be too quick to brush off HES until you've read about the school. I had the same doubts about the school as you have til I started reading the website and what they had to offer. And I only did that because I didn't get into either Columbia GS or Penn CGS. The HES has a lot of options that most places can't match. You're right that the degree programs are different. But for those who know what to look for, they could certainly maximized the options that HES provides that would more than prepare a student for any oportunity as Columbia GS or Yale Eli Whitney program. But the large majority of students who go to HES don't follow that route. Only a selected few.</p>
<p>I'm not trying to discredit your education. However, academics are only a third of the battle. The other parts were financial aid and job placement. I need to go to a university that will place me into a top job after I graduate. I don't think HES can do that. While I think GS could, their financial aid isn't up to par.</p>
<p>I decided to go to another Ivy in a traditional program. I will suffer because I am a little more mature than most of the students but the education is obviously great, along with the financial aid and job placement.</p>
<p>Im listening to what you guys are saying...... I posted on the previous page discussing the cost benefits of attending a top public university for virtually nothing......go to the state school!!!! GS is not worth it if graduate school (Ivy league or not) is your thing.</p>
<p>If getting a great job is.......I wouldnt even recommend it. Performance is what counts. With performance you will get a great job! My bro makes 110,000 a year and just worked his way up. No college degree. He hires people with college degrees. He just turned 30 in December.</p>
<p>If you have the money...now thats another thing. If you want to go to New York and love the idea of studying under IVY Professors, and are going neck to neck with brilliant students from all across the nation, go to GS! </p>
<p>IM GOING TO UT. GOING TO STUDY MY ASS OFF AND IF I GET ACCEPTED TO HARVARD LAW ILL FRAME THE ACCEPTANCE LETTER AND GO TO UT LAW, CAUSE ITS FREE. <em>Im a veteran from the Navy...its called the Hazelwood Act</em></p>
<p>f*** this elitest crap. </p>
<p>Peace.</p>
<p>Salary is not and effective scale to measure the quality of an education. I made $100,000+ at age nineteen with a high school diploma. Had I not returned to college, I would have likely made $100,000 this year, $150k the following, and $200k following that.</p>
<p>Just got my GS scholarship offer.....
not good :(</p>
<p>To those who have been disappointed about the GS scholarships, how much are you expecting? I was told the average is ~$8,000 in aid... Are people getting less than that?</p>
<p>I got less and I have an EFC of zero. I know it's "merit based" but there's no way I could afford it.</p>
<p>i got roughly 7000 and i have an efc of less than 150. My financial aid package included work study and still had 12000 in loans, then still had over 30000 that was i would have had to use loans for as well.</p>
<p>so minus their scholarship, i would be looking at 36000 a year in loans and needing to work during the year</p>
<p>cant afford that</p>
<p>Damn... This is all certainly discouraging.</p>
<p>So I sent in my application for GS roughly 3 weeks ago. The tracking website says that they will sent out confirmation via USPS when the application is complete. I called the school to make sure that they got my recommendations because they were not showing up and they confirmed receiving them. So far they have still not even sent me an E-mail. Has anyone else had this problem? I just want to know when they will start to go over my application so i have a rough timeline of when i will hear from them. Any input is appreciated</p>
<p>They said: "Decisions will be made on a weekly basis throughout the month of June and into early July." </p>
<p>Their website says: "Admission decisions are made on a rolling basis. Typically, it takes four to six weeks from the time an application is complete to make an admission decision."</p>
<p>can i apply to both columbia college first and if i don't get in, apply to gs?</p>
<p>As far as I know, you cannot simultaneously apply to GS and to any other undergraduate division of Columbia. (CC or SEAS)</p>
<p>Also, you may not apply to GS if in the past 3 years you applied to any of these divisions and were not accepted.</p>