<p>My advice. If you feel like 1) you don't want to go straight to college or 2) your grades arent quite up to Columbia standards but you have a high SAT score....join the military. Spend a couple of years gaining real world experience, and the fortitude and discipline that comes with it...then come back and go to GS. I have many friends who did this. One is currently at Harvard Law, another at Stanford Med, and a third is now an officer commanding a special forces team. Like was said before, GS caters to the non-traditional students. Many come out of the services. The experience is invaluable.</p>
<p>Hi, Its me again. Still freaking out about my application to GS. </p>
<p>Could somebody tell me, how much weight letters of reccomendation weighs on the application process?</p>
<p>doesn't make much of a difference unless it's famous ppl</p>
<p>My dad stopped college in France, went to the Army special forces (Airborne ranger) and was accepted to GS after that. After a few years of experience, he attended MIT Sloan. Noone ever asked him if he attended GS or CC during his work interviews...</p>
<p>Great answer, thank you for your honesty.</p>
<p>HOOAH Army SF</p>
<p>Does anyone know how long it takes GS to send out their decision notifications? Sorry if I seem impatient but I've been waiting for weeks and the anxiety is really starting to bother me..</p>
<p>It took about 6 weeks to get my acceptance package. They sent it out through FED-EX last week. Once your application is complete, GS told me that it takes about 4-6 weeks to get a decision back. Unlike the college, decisions are done on a rolling basis, so they do not send out all of the notices at one time. Good luck!</p>
<p>Has anyone here graduated with a joint degree from List College (the undergraduate school of the Jewish Theological Seminary) and the College of General Studiesl? I wasn't aware that all students are older. I wonder how this would be for a freshman right out of high school who wants to meet students more his age. Does he have classes with only these older people or would he be likely to have classes with typical freshman entering Columbia College? Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!</p>
<p>GS students take classes with CC students..</p>
<p>Hey guys, </p>
<p>Have any of you that applied in mid-march for this fall semester gotten letters of acceptance/rejection yet? The viewbook does say it takes around 6 weeks to get your notification but I was just nervously wondering if that information was really accurate. </p>
<p>Also,does the GS acceptance package come through the USPS or through a courier service like FedEx or UPS? Thanks for your response.</p>
<p>mine came in through fedex overnight</p>
<p>An important question I've been meaning to ask is; how are most of you guys paying for Columbia? I have applied but have no idea how I would pay if I am accepted.</p>
<p>U.S. Military for the tuition. Side job and scholarships for the room and board.
Other ways that my friends have paid for Columbia include pell grants, loans, and scholarships. Check out one of the scholarship guide books you can get from barnes and noble, apply for a bunch and you are likely to get a few.</p>
<p>How long after you had applied did you get your FedEX package?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>What about the job opportunities for GS students? Do they receive discrimination from potential recruiters just because they are the students of "lowere" hierarchy in comparison to CC students?</p>
<p>Or recruiters dont care at all about the perceived difference between GS and CC students since the GS students take the same classes with the CC students in the same environment?</p>
<p>Columbia is columbia is columbia. Trust me. They want Columbia students. If your diploma says Columbia University on it, you are golden.</p>
<p>Ok, a question for the one last freaking time. I dont want to waste anyone's valuable time in repeating some of the points already made in this thread or other threads, but I am in a very delicate situation of advisng my student who just received admission from Columbia GS program.</p>
<p>Is there any discrimination against the GS students in the form of superiority complex by the CC students?</p>
<p>In other words, would the demeanor of CC students change instaneously upon hearing from other GS student "confessing" that he/she is a GS student? Would CC students make GS students "outcast" in any kind of way?</p>
<p>I am very curious about the perception by the current CC students. Some of us are older enough to simply disregard such idea as a non-sense since we are dealing with the name tag of Columbia, but some of the young people, especially the freshmen who have not experienced what we have experienced, would feel a little differently, I would venture to guess.</p>
<p>What do you think?</p>
<p>
[quote]
Is there any discrimination against the GS students in the form of superiority complex by the CC students?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>My daughter is finishing up her second year at Columbia College and has never mentioned anything that would lead me to believe that she looks down on or even cares who is from GS. During the course of the past two years numerous Columbia students have spent time at my home and I have never heard anything disparaging said about classmates from the other undergraduate programs. </p>
<p>It is the incoming first year's who seem to get the most worked up about what program a student is from. Once they get on campus and start classes I suspect that it isn't much of a factor.</p>
<p>Hi! This is Sambouc' dad. I went to GS. Classes are indeed the same and there were no instances in my experience where CC students looked down upon GS students when I went there. It depends more on how you do in class than where you are registered. If you have spent time out of school, you must register at GS.
I went to the army (French Marine Paratroop) and took about 1 1/2 years out of college.
I came from France after one year of "classes preparatoires", which is one year of study after the French Baccalaureat (12th grade). I took placement tests at Columbia and received 2 years (maximum credit) of credit at Columbia. I started as a junior. I did not have to do one single math course at Columbia. This raises interesting questions about international education in general and the level of maths at colleges in the US. (check TIMSS study on Math and Science achievements in secondary schools, internationally).
As far as the name GS is concerned, it does not raise questions where it really matters (employers, grad schools, etc). The term GS has a somewhat negative connotation but, unlike at other colleges, courses at Columbia are the same and I think the university should look into that.
I went on to pursue an SM at the Sloan School (MIT) and did not have problems with the name GS. I enjoyed a long career in several Wall Street global banks and the distinction between GS and CC never came up during interviews.</p>