Columbia College vs. School of General Studies

Colleges and Universities A-Z Columbia School of General Studies
1181

<p>Hi all-
I thought i would chime in this enormous thread.
what are some the GS applicants career goals?
I am several years out of college and have been professional actor on regional theatres with the idea or returning to college soon but kept landing great roles so I thought I would do this for a while.
I want to go back to school for pre-med. 4.0 HS gpa, 32ACT.
My original plan was to apply as a freshman to a public University as a regular freshman, but given that I have been 3 years out of school is proving near impossible. so I was drawn to the GS program but given that medical school is so competitive and figure that I will be competing with all all CC pre-meds in classes. Are there documented accounts of GS students matriculating into medical school? Has any one attempted to go through this process? </p>

<p>any advise would be welcome. thanks.</p>

1182

<p>I went to GS, and the education was absolutely 100% a Columbia undergraduate degree; however, a few caveats.</p>

<p>If youā€™re young enough to recoup the premium that you will pay in not getting as good financial aid as others, and you have your sights on a career, then by all means do it. If you ā€œjust want to finish your BAā€ - donā€™t. </p>

<p>You will not be part of the ā€œColumbia Communityā€ as an alumni. You will be cordoned off into alumni networks that will only connect you back to other GSā€™ers. As CC, Law, Business etc. are very conscious of their branding, you will be seen as someone who dilutes their brands. The career office is of little help packaging non-traditional students; that youā€™ll have to hustle for yourself.</p>

1183

<p>Is it really the case that Columbia GS alums are treated separate from CC/SEAS alums? Arenā€™t graduates of all Columbia schools members of CAA?</p>

1184

<p>I find that absolutely absurd to imagine since there are quite a few GS grads that have moved on graduate school every year (70%), not to mention even accepted to Columbia LAW, Medicine, and Columbia Business. Further, if you do well in Columbia, obtain internships, High GMAT, LSAT , or MCAT score, and develop a pristine brand image through extracurricular activities etc etc, then I dont see why you cant get into any institution that you please. </p>

<p>As for me, I already have networked with my friends parents, uncles and aunts who graduated from places like Columbia,that hold coveted titles such as Vice President of a New York Financial services boutique. I have friends from Berkeley that are working in SalesForce, and a buddy programming at Google. Case in point, if your a go getter and willing to do whatever it takes, people will see that and you wont need the Columbia community. An Ivy Education can only take someone so far. At the end of the day, long after you graduate college, employers are not going to care about your alma mater, they are only going to care about what you have done for them lately.</p>

1185

<p>Iā€™m trying to figure out whether it is better to apply to Columbia GS Early Action for fall term, Regular decision for fall term, or Early Action for spring term.</p>

<p>Are applicants more likely to be accepted when they apply Early Action to Columbia GS?</p>

<p>Do more students apply for the Fall or Spring semester? If more students apply for fall semester, would it increase my chances for acceptance to apply in the spring?</p>

<p>Attending Columbia has always been my dreamā€¦is there anything I can do to better my application, any kind of activity or strength I should highlight, that will help me get in? I was never in the military and I am not an olympic athlete, though I am a non-traditional student. Iā€™ve dealt with death, homelessness, domestic abuse and have managed to pay for my own education since my senior year of highschool-- in fact i am completely financially independent. I started my own business this year at age 19 and founded a non-profit organization dedicated to helping children who have dealt with the loss of a parent. </p>

<p>I have a 3.4 GPA from Lehigh University, have taken only 200 and 300 level classes-- decently advanced classes. I completed my freshman year there, but left for personal/ financial reasons. Will have great recommendations, good essay, but I do not have great SAT/ACT scores- I have a 27 ACT. How much does that matter since Iā€™ve already completed a year of college? What are my chances of getting in? </p>

<p>AND</p>

<p>What can I do to increase my chances for acceptance? Should I apply Early Decision Fall, Regular decision fall, early decision spring? </p>

<p>Any advice is welcomeā€¦thank you.</p>

1186

<p>I dont know how old you are, or how many credits you have, but I would seriously consider retaking some of the courses to get as close to a 3.7 as you can while bolstering your extracurricular activities ( SGA, Starting your own club etc). This means summer classes, and an extra semester in school. If I were you, I would retake the SAT until you get a high score also. While you are doing all that, you should be polishing your essays to perfection.</p>

1187

<p>Hola se</p>

1188

<p>Hello all - </p>

<p>I read on an earlier post that the alumni network seperates GS students from normal CC and SEAS students. Is this correct?</p>

<p>By seprate, do you mean that the alumni website and or login (if one exists) is not the same for GS students?</p>

<p>You also mentioned the career office. Do GS students not get the same recruitment opportunities through the career office/job posting/internship website or forum? Iā€™m currently at NYU SCPS (their GS equivilant) and I have full access to the NYU Career center website (where all the internships/job openings are posted). This website was how I met with my current internship provider, and several large banks. Iā€™m waiting on my Columbia Application now, but if Iā€™m unable to use their career center then this may be a serious problem for me.</p>

<p>Iā€™d like to note that I was just admitted into UPENN LPS, and I do have access to their online career center website (which is identical to NYUā€™s).</p>

1189

<p>Hello All!
I am new to this site :slight_smile: . I have read some really good college info on some of the forums. I am still learning about this website.
Anyone here applied for -CU- GS Admissions for the fall 2011?<br>
The general info states that responses are sent by May 1st, but based on the info from various forums, it seems that Early Action responses go out much sooner. I have been overly anxious over the past 3 weeks wondering, hoping, and praying for an acceptance letter. Anyone else on going through this too?</p>

1190

<p>@phillyman123
NYU SCPS is equivalent to Columbia GS?!?!?!?!?!?
you must misunderstand.
NYU SCPS is equivalent to Columbia Continuing Education.
Columbia GS is a college. Itā€™s not in continuing education division.
As an international student, I got accepted to both NYU Stern and Columbia GS.
If GS was equivalent to SCPS, i would have chosen Stern.
Columbia Continuing Education and NYU SCPS students canā€™t attend the same classes with other college students.
We take the same classes with CC and SEAS students and are graded on the same basis.
And we have the same access to recruitment opportunities.</p>

1191

<p>hello </p>

<p>Iā€™m a transfer applicant to columbia
I just forwarded my columbia college app to columbia gs.
(They thought it was more appropriate)</p>

<p>I just wanted to know if anyone had have the same experience,
is there extra requirement after forwarding the app?
I know GS requires an autobiographical essayā€¦unlike CC
but I really dont want to write itā€¦</p>

1192

<p>Dosin42: I will be entering the program this upcoming Fall. I am informed that students of the School of Continuing Education (SCE) take classes with Columbia University Students. I am not sure if the SCPS is an open acceptance program, though at Columbia SCE, The Dean of SCE had informed me that the admit rate at SCE is between 40 - 50 %.</p>

1193

<p>I know the General Studies program may be confusing to some. I would also like to note that there are many misleading and incorrect pieces of information on this thread.</p>

<p>However, the Columbia GS Wikipedia page is, I feel, perfectly correct and clear in almost every regard:</p>

<p>The School of General Studies, commonly known as General Studies or simply GS, is one of Columbia Universityā€™s three official undergraduate colleges for non-traditional students. GS students take the same courses with the same faculty, are held to the same high standards, and earn the same degree as all other Columbia undergraduates.</p>

<p>Academics:</p>

<p>A Columbia undergraduate class could include students from any of the following schools: GS, Columbia College, the School of Engineering and Applied Science, or Barnard College. GS students, who comprise of approximately 25% of all Columbia undergraduates, have the highest average GPA of all the undergraduate schools at Columbia. GS is unique among colleges of its type, because its students are fully integrated into the Columbia undergraduate curriculum: GS Students take the same classes with the same students and professors and are granted the same degrees as students at Columbia College or SEAS. The school awards both the Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees.</p>

<p>Admission:</p>

<p>Applicants to the School of General Studies must have a break of one academic year or have compelling personal or professional reasons for part-time attendance to be eligible to apply for admission. GS students have the option to attend part- or full-time unlike Columbia College students, who are required to attend full-time. Also, scholarships at Columbia GS are merit based rather than income based like that of Columbia College or SEAS. In the 2006 class, the average age was 27 for incoming students, and the majority attend full-time.</p>

<p>Admissions officers examine high school records, test scores, extra-curricular activities, resumes and essays. They conduct interviews in person and on the phone. They also consider college-level work and real-life experience.</p>

<p>According to the College Board, GS accepts 23% of all applicants. For transfer students, most successful applicants attain GPAs of at least 3.8 according to the GS admissions office. GS also requires standardized test scores for entry. The school will use scores from the SAT, ACT, or the schoolā€™s own General Studies Admissions Exam. A list of admissions requirements and procedures is available from the General Studies website and statistics on application, admission, and matriculation are available at the website of Columbiaā€™s Office of Planning and Institutional Research.[1] GS admissions statistics are not reported in conjunction with CC/SEAS statistics. This is related both to GSā€™s different admission deadlines and the fact that CC/SEAS and GS have different applicant pools.</p>

<p>Nontraditional students:</p>

<p>GS enrolls world-class dancers, Olympic athletes, and musicians; investment bankers and small business owners; published authors and military veterans; and people who come from as far away as China, Israel, and Germany. Many students work full-time while pursuing a degree, and many have family responsibilities; others attend classes full-time and experience Columbiaā€™s more traditional college life.</p>

<p>Many have enjoyed successful careers in fields such as investment banking and information technology and quite a few are nontraditional due to previous conscription or community service requirements in their home countries. A substantial portion of the population enter as transfer students; the previous schools of these students range from community colleges to Columbiaā€™s peer institutions.</p>

<p>Science Po Columbia University Dual BA Program:</p>

<p>The Dual BA Program is an intensive, transatlantic course of study for which undergraduate students earn a Bachelor of Arts from Sciences Po and Columbia University. Students will spend two years at one of three Sciences Po campuses, each of which is devoted to a particular region of the world and offers a heavy linguistic and cultural focus. After two years, students will matriculate at Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City to complete the interdisciplinary social sciences curriculum. Admission to the program is most competitive. High school students may apply.</p>

<p>The schoolā€™s name refers to its diverse student body by alluding to medieval universities, which were also known as studia generalia. Studia generalia were degree-granting institutions that served a much broader, often international group of students and scholars.[2][3]</p>

<p>SOME NOTABLE FACTS:</p>

<p>GS is NOT a night school:</p>

<p>GS students attend the same classes as students in other colleges at the university. Columbia offers some classes at night, but they are available to all students.</p>

<p>GS is NOT an extension program (it should never be compared with Harvard Extension School, Columbia School of Continuing Education, NYU SCPS, or any other extension or continuing education program):</p>

<p>GS is a degree-granting college. GS students take the same courses with the same faculty, are held to the same high standards, and earn the same degree as all other Columbia undergraduates. Students are expected to pursue a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree. The separate Columbia School of Continuing Education offers individual courses on a non-degree basis. (Brown University and Yale University nontraditional student programs do not have full-fledged undergraduate colleges devoted to nontraditional students, though Brownā€™s RUE Program and Yaleā€™s Eli Whitney Students Program are considered among the most integrated nontraditional student programs in the Ivy League. The College of Liberal and Professional Studies at the University of Pennsylvania also serves nontraditional students and offers heavily discounted night classes taught by a faculty that includes tenured professors, adjunct professors, and advanced graduate students (though LPS students also have the option to take day classes).[6])</p>

<p>[Columbia</a> University School of General Studies - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=ā€œhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_University_School_of_General_Studies]Columbiaā€>Columbia University School of General Studies - Wikipedia)</p>

1194

<p>To clarify about alumni networks: GS students, like students from all of Columbiaā€™s other undergraduate and graduate schools, have access to the Columbia alumni network. See [the</a> Columbia Alumni Association website](<a href=ā€œhttp://alumni.columbia.edu/]theā€>http://alumni.columbia.edu/) for more information. </p>

<p>There are at times school-specific events (e.g., a career dinner solely for GS alumni and GS students, or a cocktail reception for donors to GS), but most events (e.g., recent alumni parties at the USS Intrepid, rooftop happy hours, reunion weekends, etc.) are open to students from all undergraduate schools (the graduate schools typically do their own thing, with respect to events).</p>

1195

<p>Actually, the absolute truth (I attended info sessions) is that the GS department of Columbia does include of course people in the workforce, the military AND ALSO AS A SEPARATE PROGRAM the dual BA programs with such entities as Sciences Pos for students straight out of high school. Still in its infancy, but extremely competitive.</p>

1196

<p>Yeah. Spending two years in France would be awesome too, you have to admit. Itā€™s mainly for people who are serious about the social sciences in particular though right? I could be wrong.</p>

1197

<p>

</p>

<p>Please donā€™t forget that Continuing Education and GS students take the same courss with the same faculty.</p>

1198

<p>ā€œPlease donā€™t forget that Continuing Education and GS students take the same courss with the same faculty.ā€</p>

<p>There is a single unified faculty pool for ALL the undergraduate courses of Columbia University, comprising all three of its official undergraduate colleges. CC, SEAS, and GS. There is a single unified curriculum for all courses of the same title, regardless of whether itā€™s F or C section. And most classes donā€™t even have any C or F section, instead having a V or W section that is open to all undergraduate students as well. And then there are also very many C section classes that are open to all undergraduate students despite being C section, such as courses that are for your major. Continuing Education is not an undergraduate college and is not a degree-earning program. Continuing Education students are free to enroll in any course that is open to all the undergraduate colleges.</p>

1199

<p>Please donā€™t forget that Continuing Education and CC and SEAS students take the same courses with the same faculty.</p>

<p>Itā€™s just as true, pumagirl. GS students take the exact same courses with the exact same faculty as CC, SEAS, and Barnard students. Continuing Education students can take the same courses, but only a few at a time. GS students, like CC and SEAS students, do a full-time program of study that includes Core classes, major classes, and electives.</p>

1200

<p>

Continuing Education students can take as many as they want ! including core classes. GS students are not allowed to take Core courses with CC/SEAS students.</p>