<p>Aneece, take Stanford and run with it! I wish the financial situation with GS wasn't the way it was, but you've got to take that into consideration (as I am sure you have). I took a full ride to UNC-CH over my acceptance to Columbia... and you're talking about Stanford! I know what a difficult choice it can be, but seriously, once you stop worrying about the money and start getting excited about the next few years of your education, you'll see which was the better choice. Congrats on such a difficult/wonderful decision!</p>
<p>I would agree with the masses. While, personally, the opportunity to live in NYC would be worth a premium, I do not think that premium is $100k. You will get a first-class education at both places; I would take the place with better financial aid.</p>
<p>Does anyone know what day the adcom for GS meets to review apps?
I sent an email 2 and a half weeks ago and they said I should hear in 2-3 weeks. I called today to see what the status was and I was told I would hear after the committee reviews my application this week. Apparently it has had the "under review" status for almost 2 weeks.<br>
It has been over 9 weeks since my application has been submitted. </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>CT715> Chill out man. I don't think it's a good idea to keep on pressing the admissions committee like that, since they are a relatively small office, and you may never know if the "phone operator" happens to be your reviewer! I have no idea why your wait is so long - in my case, they said they'd notify me within a week, and that's exactly what they did!</p>
<p>Trust me there is nothing better that I would like to do then relax about this. However, I submitted my application over a month before the deadline because of the many decisions that go along with the acceptance. I would have to resign from my job and create a search committee for a replacement, start the loan process, etc. When they first tell you that your decision will come in 4-6 weeks, you expect the decision to come during that time. However, it has been almost 10 weeks! All I did was send them an email 3 weeks ago and called 3 weeks later because I still hadn't heard. I don't really consider that "pressing the admissions committee". I was previously told to be more proactive with contacting the office to make sure my application is moving along. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, I don't want to rub the GS office the wrong way and will refrain from contacting them again just in case I'm wrong. Thanks for your input!</p>
<p>doubtfool:
Looks like you were right. I received a phone call from the GS office to setup an interview with the dean of admission. Hope this is a good sign. If anyone has any helpful tips I be most appreciative.</p>
<p>I'm currently begging for more money, but I don't have a lot of hope. Alpha... in answer to your question, I'd rather live in New York City than Palo Alto. I've lived in the bay area for most of my life, and the adventure of a new city on a new coast beckons. But more generally, I've built up this Columbia fantasy life over the last two months. Sipping coffee and tucking my chin under a wool scarf, in the blustery autumn, discussing Plato and German Idealism and muon decay and the Velvet Underground, sitting in the stone quad under the long shadows of doric columns. Now I'm attempting to reconcile myself to shorts and tivas with white socks.</p>
<p>Just kidding. No attacks from Stanford partisans, please.</p>
<p>Anyway, I fell in love with everything about Columbia, excluding the bureaucracy and the money. I wanted the Core so bad I can still taste it. In place of those dreams sits Stanford, which I never, in a million years, believed I might get accepted to. Thus I wasted no energy fantasizing about it. It's the richness of make believe Columbia versus the blank page of Stanford that's making me so sad. In a few weeks, when I've done my research and my wife cheers up a bit, I will feel my good fortune. I promise.</p>
<p>Oh, and California is on fire. When I drove down to Stanford yesterday there was a blaze just hanging out on the ridge above 101. The whole bay, and the valley beyond, hold more smoke than air. Crazy.</p>
<p>Aneece,</p>
<p>You only live once; go to Columbia. I feel exactly as you do, but I do not have such a tough decision as I only applied to Columbia. I will treat you to a cup of coffee and a conversation on Plato if we both end up there in the fall.</p>
<p>S4</p>
<p>Yeah, you should definitely think about the area where you will be living. But I feel like you will also fall in love with Stanford in terms of the academic scene. Besides, you could move to NYC after graduation if you really wanted to live in the city! Once you have completed your research and are still partial to Columbia, then you know what to do. I mean, it can't be that difficult to make student loan repayments when you get a job, right? :) Or am I being too optimistic? I don't know. Hopefully, GS will consider your situation and give more money. </p>
<p>So what will happen after submitting the deposit? Are we getting another overnight Fedex?</p>
<p>I got my Scholarship information today, it is as low as most people had suggested. Does anyone happen to know if this figure is at all negotiable?</p>
<p>omg..columbia is my dreams, i want to move to n.y., i visited stanford, it's really beautiful, but the people turn me off..they're so posh</p>
<p>ha ha have you ever visited nyc before?
if you find people in stanford so posh, i have no idea how you will manage to live in nyc. or did you mean stanford students as opposed to columbians? that is interesting.</p>
<p>Well I have been reading this post, so I thought it was only right to reply. I was accepted. It took about 3 weeks, got a call then a fedex package. I have not yet decided mainly because of $, the gs name issue and I think college is a waste of time(for many, including myself). ask q's u have...</p>
<p>I think the biggest "issue" about gs is the name gs. I was accepted several months back and, although I really want to go, will probably decline the offer. It is hard for me to justify paying full tuition and attending the same rigorous classes as cc and seas kids and recieve a degree that is looked down on by everyone other than gs students. I don't think it's fair to work so hard for a degree unless the degree is as prestigious as the one cc students earn.</p>
<p>I think the education is more important than the prestige.</p>
<p>sure it is. Which is why people go to ivy league schools when they can recieve a better education at a dozen other universities across the country. Come on! Education is definitely important, but the degree and the name at the top of the degree is the driving force behind the application process. Besides, you sidestepped the issue: why do GS students get the outlet mall diploma for the same price and same requirements as the retail version? The stigma of GS students will never go away until they are given the same amount of respect for the same level of work the cc and seas students get. Clearly, cc and seas are exponentially more difficult to gain admittance into, but is the degree a reflection of the application process or the columbia education?</p>
<p>Well, I have decided to defer my admission until next fall. My financial aid offer scared the pants off of me. </p>
<p>Looks like I will be stuck in SoCal one more year. Good luck to all of you who are attending this year; I envy you all!</p>
<p>s4</p>
<p>It scares me too, but I am taking it. I am going to have nearly the same bill every year at USC or Columbia, so I think Columbia is the better college. I can't say that anyone is behind me on this one in my family, but there is no way to know what happens if one doesn't try.</p>
<p>Robby2002,</p>
<p>If you're implying that the GS degree is somehow inferior to a CC or SEAS degree, you're apparently unaware of the fact that GS students regularly go on to elite medical, law, and graduate schools, or find jobs with top investment banks, as well as in Silicon Valley and other highly competitive industries.</p>
<p>Remember, most of the people posting on this website are not HR professionals or grad-school admissions representatives; they have no idea how a GS degree will be viewed.</p>
<p>I AM implying that the GS degree is inferior to the cc or seas degrees. And yet I am completely aware that GS students regularly go on to elite medical, etc. schools and find amazing jobs. But I bet that, if given the opportunity, every single GS student would prefer to get the same diploma as the other Columbia students. Why? Because the GS degree IS inferior, and it's hardly fair that GS students put in the same amount of work and more money than cc and seas students for a degree that is perceivably less prestigious. The degree requirements are the same. The education is equally rigorous. The diploma should be the same too.</p>