<p>can anyone provide me with any information about the columbia gs entrance exam? This is the exam that you have to take as part of the initial application process</p>
<p>You actually don't have to take the GS entrance exam if you have recent SAT scores. Recent means within the last 8 years, IIRC. If you have recent SAT scores, you can just forward them to Columbia instead of taking the entrance exam.</p>
<p>Thing is, many people applying to GS are more than eight years out of high school. In this case, one must either take the GS entrance exam or retake the SAT.</p>
<p>The only things that matters to grad schools are your gpa, test scores (gmat, lsat, gre, etc.), and relavent work experience. When it comes to applying to grad school, as long as the undergraduate school you got your diploma from is accredited, it's name simply doesn't matter. GS's financial aid is crap. Upenn's LPS College, Yale's Eli Whitney Program, and Brown's RUE Program all offer need-blind FA. Columbia's brand is over-hyped. Their policy towards GS students is prejudiced. Their diploma is tainted. What a load of crap.</p>
<p>Aha, it is now SON of Frankenthread!</p>
<p>Long live Frankenthread.</p>
<p>Sorry:) You're right...this thread really should die. Hopefully, my recesatation attempt will go by unnoticed...</p>
<p>No, it did not go unnoticed. I am trying to decide where to go in the fall and Columbia is on the list. Actually, its top of the list. I am, however, aware of the points you raised and trying to weigh everything appropriatly. MBA is the ultimate point of my return to finish my undergrad, so this discusion is useful.</p>
<p>Perhaps there is prejudice in the peice of paper you get upon graduation, but isn't the caliber of the education plus the proximity in the city still major plusses? </p>
<p>Maybe I'm just feeding the thread.</p>
<p>"GS's financial aid is crap."</p>
<p>GS offers merit scholarships. They can be as much as half tuition, although several thousand dollars per year is typical.</p>
<p>"Columbia's brand is over-hyped."</p>
<p>On what is this opinion based?</p>
<p>"Their policy towards GS students is prejudiced."</p>
<p>In what way? I'm still considering GS. So if the policies are prejudiced against GS students in any way, I need to know about it.</p>
<p>One of the reasons I'm interested in GS is the genuine integration with real Columbia College courses. For example, GS students don't have to, after being admitted to GS, apply again just to take classes for classes not specifically for non-traditional students. They don't have a lower priority for registration compared to traditional students. They don't pay a tuition differential for classes not specifically for non-traditional students. Additionally, they are not blocked from participating in campus activities.</p>
<p>"Their diploma is tainted."</p>
<p>In what way? I realize it doesn't have Latin letters on it. It would be nice if it did, according to Ivy League traditions. But I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.</p>
<p>"What a load of crap."</p>
<p>I wouldn't be considering paying approximately $60,000 for something I felt was a load of crap. If I've missed anything which is specific and supported by facts, please bring it to my attention.</p>
<p>"The School of General Studies provides scholarships to undergraduate degree candidates. Scholarships range from $500 to $18,000 and are awarded to students with demonstrated academic achievement and are influenced by financial need."</p>
<p>Columbia</a> University School of General Studies</p>
<p>Sufficiently specific and supported? </p>
<p>Do remember that students have more financial burden than tuition alone. I'm sure you already know that New York City isn't exactly the cheapest place to live.</p>
<p>As far as the rest of the GS negative sentiment, I believe that to be mostly conjecture.</p>
<p>Most of this thread is conjecture. The are no magical differences between the two. The University is not a factory that spits out two different types of students (GS and CC) and...</p>
<p>...and I just realized that there's no reason in posting this because the debate will never end.</p>
<p>In regards to an earlier post about UPenn's LPS degree:</p>
<p>The tuition is cheaper because the faculty body is made up almost entirely of adjuncts.</p>
<p>es four: Thank you for researching that link. I was aware of that scholarship. But it's good that everyone else is.</p>
<p>NYC indeed isn't the cheapest place to live. But those costs can be managed somewhat by living without a car (it's the best place in the country for doing so), living in relatively cheap neighborhoods, and doing the other things students often do to cut costs. Additionally, you have to live somewhere.</p>
<p>Dude, do you work for GS? I mean, how can you possibly make any case for GSs FA. Everyone knows it sucks. If you need to quantify my previous statement, try reading through the ten thousand pages this thread spans.
Columbias brand is over-hyped. Getting a degree from GS isnt a silver bullet or a genie in a lamp. Your GPA and entrance exam (i.e. GRE, LSAT, GMAT, etc.) are the most important factors in matriculating into a prestigious grad school. The fact that Columbia constantly throws their name at every applicant over and over again should trigger warning signs in those applicants heads. Its like going to Macys and listening to the sales rep. try to unload a $3000 bag on some sucker simply because it says Prada.
Their policies towards GS students are prejudiced. Simply put, they are prejudiced. I dont understand how you can wonder why-unless youre just ****ing with me. I swear theres a group of GS ADCOMs on this thread pulling some bush/cheney politalk crap on this thread.
OMG the REAL Columbia college courses!!!! Penns non-trads are truly fully integrated, as are Yales, Browns, and a handful of other prestigious colleges and universities. Each of those schools offer NEED-BLIND financial aid-not some crappy $6500 or so scholarship. They offer on-campus housing (except Yale) and degrees that dont distinguish how their students were admitted. All those schools offer complete participation in campus activities and even athletic teams. Students in those programs can study abroad or even join the greek system.
If you are considering paying $60k for a GS degree, go for it. Its your money to spend so I dont care. Apparently, youre exactly what GS is looking for
</p>
<p>I don't undedstand all the hostility?</p>
<p>yeah, me either. we have actual GS students on this board, who usually made a principled decision to attend after considering many options, and can relate their experiences and how they measure up to their expectations going in. In fact, they've done so, usually very eloquently.</p>
<p>I'd rather listen to them than to some insulting ranter, but that's just me.</p>
<p>to be honest,i must say after reading through this thread,one is either purely ignorant or in an arrested childhood ivy league fantasy to suggest that columbia takes GS to heart and treats it as one of its colleges.Its already discrimination if you are giving two different kinds of diplomas yet GS and CC students all attend the same classes and pursue the same core...Life in new york i would imagine is obviously expensive and granted,even if u get that 18000 dollar scholarship(which again from what i know now is just some hypothetical number),it would not mean much if you are living a life of hand to mouth,i wonder if anybody here remembers the story of a GS student who due to lack of housing resorted to make butler his home,i dont know if that still happens..
If u dont get housing like everyone else its discrimination,when you dont get the same aid as your classmates as much as you are qualified its discrimination,when u have to sneak into information sessions just because you are a GSer its discrimination,if you dont get access to common college facilities its discrimination,and guess who is propagating all that,no its not the students its the system that is very strongly putting that distinction just to keep columbia college and its donor alumni happy,its all for the egos of a few,to them GS is a backdoor to an ivy league diploma and they want to make sure GS and CC know that,otherwise all this bs would have been over a long time ago...also it would be wise for a potential applicant to look at the times..i figure no one wants to owe people money at this tough economic times,and yes FA will go down,if its that hard for the college to provide it now,i dont see how it will when everyone is broke(i dont know if anyone realised this but here is another stupid bureaucracy GS and CC don't get money from the same coffers,all the money that comes goes to CC first then as a charitable gesture they give a fraction of it to GS..)go for it though if money and all the bureaucracy is no biggie...</p>
<p>oh look, a new poster! who types in the same exact "wall-of-text" way as the old poster, and has a post count of 2!</p>
<p>I wonder who that could be.</p>
<p>For the record, I am not employed by Columbia University. Nor is Columbia University my client.</p>
<p>At Penn LPS, there are courses specifically designated as LPS courses. To take any non-LPS courses, an LPS student has to pay $4,751 per course. See Other</a> Tuitions | College of Liberal and Professional Studies at The University of Pennsylvania Additionally, space has to be available in the course. See General</a> FAQ | College of Liberal and Professional Studies at The University of Pennsylvania Please note that I'm not criticizing Penn LPS in any way. It's just that to primarily attend Penn day classes as an LPS student, one would need astronomical amounts of money and consistent luck in space being available in needed classes.</p>
<p>Yale's Eli Whitney program and Brown's RUE program admit relatively few students per year. As such, they cannot even begin to serve the vast majority of non-traditional students seeking an education.</p>
<p>Regarding non-academic factors, Columbia GS students can also join any campus activity. See Columbia</a> University School of General Studies</p>
<p>Can you provide any specific examples of Columbia classes, facilities, activities, seminars, or other resources which are unavailable to GS students? Other than housing and some SEAS classes, I'm unaware of any.</p>
<p>In my case, I'm seriously considering a second Bachelor's degree. In general, financial aid is unavailable for second Bachelor's candidates, with the possible exception of Stafford loans. The scholarship offered by GS is actually a relative improvement.</p>
<p>On a more general note, I'm partly trying to change careers. But more generally, to make a long story short, my previous education was not what it should have been. Thus, I'm interested in getting an education which is every bit as rigorous and challenging as I'm capable of. Columbia GS is one of the few programs for non-traditional students which is truly aligned with these goals.</p>
<p>""Can you provide any specific examples of Columbia classes, facilities, activities, seminars, or other resources which are unavailable to GS students?""</p>
<p>Many courses are not available to GS students such as::
Contemporary Civilizations :: GS students are not allowed in CC/SEAS section
Literature Hunaminities :: GS not allowed in CC/SEAS section
University Writing :: GS not allowed in CC/SEAS section
.... etc. Many courses are for GS only :: the courses starting with letter F
For Example Biology F2401 is GS section intro biology and C2005 is CC/SEAS intro bio.
GS and CC/SEAS take separate courses</p>
<p>that's not really "unavailable" though. same professors, same syllabus, same credits awarded...</p>
<p>try again.</p>
<p>Do my eyes deceive me, or does that say "Page 35 of 35?"</p>
<p>.... after 35 pages this hasn't been resolved?</p>