<p>i mean if they sent the decisions out 5/1 then, i’m thinking i should find out this week, right? </p>
<p>jbkcrew, it could be good if they didn’t tell u, i guess ur not waitlisted</p>
<p>this is very surprising though.</p>
<p>i never knew GS waitlisted applicants.</p>
<p>well one of you can have my spot. i’m rejecting the offer. can’t drop $80k on undergraduate degree - especially when grad school will cost another $100k</p>
<p>Sorry to hear that Ben, so where are you going then, UCSB or Davis?</p>
<p>so is the decision coming in regular mail or fedex? and how do u know?</p>
<p>I think Davis. Though I’m struggling with whether or not to appeal Berkeley - I don’t have a any “new significant” information to present them, besides the rest of this years grades (all A’s) and the fact that I really kinda did a crap application back in November to begin with. My GS was way way better… </p>
<p>Just don’t want to wait another 6 weeks for a decision, we’re supposed to be packing and moving now. Off to Thailand in six weeks…</p>
<p>**** I hear ya’ man, I couldn’t be ****ed applying somewhere else or contesting a decision. </p>
<p>Thailand … I could go for some 20 baht dinners again …</p>
<p>If anyone comes through with a better financial offer, my space will be up for grabs.</p>
<p>Jan did you get your FA award letter?</p>
<p>@Ladygirl - If you are admitted, you will get your package overnighted via FEDEX.</p>
<p>About 6 weeks ago I found out about that I was admitted to Columbia GS. I will be turning down the offer. The financial aid package is atrocious, especially for a student with an EFC of 0. I would have to take out $80,000 in loans for two years–and $3,000 dollars of my “aid” would come from work-study.</p>
<p>I’m headed off to CAL this fall (and summer actually). As an instate student, I will only be paying $11-13,000 in loans for two years. I am beginning to think that GS is Columbia’s cash cow.</p>
<p>I have been in GS for a year and it’s not worth the debt, trust me, especially if you’re thinking of graduate school. Once the excitement of being admitted fades the enormous debt becomes a mental monster. If you want to go to graduate school, go to a state university and work really hard. There are a lot of graduate students here in the top departments who went to state schools for their undergrad. There are even graduate students here from Hunter college (a local college here in NY).
There is no community in GS. People try, they really do, and you will make friends, but it won’t be as comfortable as you would like.
If you do come to GS and you plan on majoring in something from the humanities dept, take the core classes (lit-hum and cont-civ), or you will be at a major disadvantage. (This is something I wish I had known before starting) All of the humanities classes in the university build upon these two year long courses because they’re required for the other colleges at CU. The professors refer to the material covered in these courses constantly assuming that everyone has studied it. Sadly, there is only one class available to GS. Only 17 students will have the “privilege” of preparing for their subsequent courses in the manner that the university intended, and your best bet of getting into the class is when you first come because they extend an early registration to new students, I think.
While I love the professors here, there will be many life-changing lectures, and I am doing well academically, the overall experience has disappointed me… I can’t quite put my finger on it.</p>
<p>Wow that’s a bummer. I really want to go to Columbia GS for the economics because of the recruiting at Wall Street. The price is practically the same as USC though. Which is the better option USC or Columbia GS?</p>
<p>Got into Amherst College and Columbia GS as a transfer. </p>
<p>Amherst College gave me a free ride sooo…that’s a big no to GS.</p>
<p>congrats vanderbilt on your UCB acceptance - i was denied admissions - though can’t say i wasn’t expecting it - i too was very excited about GS acceptance - but $80-100k in loans is ■■■■■■■■ - especially since grad school (the entire purpose of returning to school) would be another $100k - i’m off to Davis this summer - where tuition and living is cheap and I can finish the degree in 1.5 years…</p>
<p>go cows! er… Aggies! cows? horses? plows? i dunno. go cheap tuition!!</p>
<p>Thanks, ben, and GO cheap tuition is right!</p>
<p>And thanks for the insight, collegeconfivy! I feel much better about my decision now. :)</p>
<p>Ben,</p>
<p>I didn’t get my award. I have no reason to believe it’ll be better than anyone else’s. My EFC is near 0. There’s just no way I am going to a school that doesn’t offer me financial parity with other undergraduates.</p>
<p>I spoke with the admissions dept. only a couple days ago and could not get conformation on the 50% contribution from Columbia GS - now we got it!</p>
<p>from: [Columbia</a> GS News](<a href=“http://www.gs.columbia.edu/cgi-bin/newspages.dll/pages?sitename=COLAD&record=1044&htmlfile=gsnews2.htm]Columbia”>http://www.gs.columbia.edu/cgi-bin/newspages.dll/pages?sitename=COLAD&record=1044&htmlfile=gsnews2.htm)</p>
<p>School of General Studies News</p>
<p>Columbia University School of General Studies to Participate in Yellow Ribbon Program</p>
<p>May 4, 2009
Beginning Aug. 1, Columbia University School of General Studies, founded in 1947 in response to GIs returning from World War II, will be one of 15 schools at Columbia University slated to participate in the Yellow Ribbon GI Education Enhancement Program, part of the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008. The Yellow Ribbon Program is an initiative in which participating educational institutions will provide eligible student veterans with a tuition waiver or grant that will be matched by the Department of Veteran Affairs. The benefits presented by the Program will make participating private institutions such as Columbia University more accessible to student-veterans and have the potential to be as significant as the original GI Bill.</p>
<p>While the program regulations will not be finalized until May 2009, Columbia University School of General Studies’ initial agreement to participate will provide eligible student-veterans with a 50 percent tuition waiver. After the matching grant is provided by the VA, the entire cost of education for eligible enrolled students is expected to be covered. The scope of benefits provided by the Post 9/11 GI Bill and the Yellow Ribbon Program makes a Columbia education accessible to eligible veterans regardless of socioeconomic status. </p>
<p>According to Curtis Rodgers, dean of enrollment management, in the fall of 2008 the School of General Studies welcomed 19 veterans of the U.S. armed forces who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and has more than 60 veterans enrolled in its undergraduate degree program. Rodgers, noting the School of General Studies’ long tradition of educating veteran students, expects that with the participation in the Yellow Ribbon Program, the University and the School of General Studies should see a significant increase in the number of veterans on campus, which currently boasts more than 100 veterans across all of its schools.</p>
<p>“For a school like Columbia University School of General Studies, which already has a robust and established community of student veterans, the impact this bill will have is enormous. Military veterans bring a wealth of life experience to Columbia’s classrooms, and we are thrilled that the Yellow Ribbon Program will enable more veterans to take advantage of the educational opportunities we have to offer. Because the School of General Studies was designed to meet the needs of veterans, we are particularly poised to serve them,” Rodgers said.</p>
<p>University Director of Financial Aid Laurie Schaffler explained that schools across the University are expecting an increase in the number of students-veterans who will be utilizing the new benefits package. </p>
<p>“Many schools and departments are working diligently to compile the services and expertise necessary to receive the expected increase in veteran enrollment. In fact, members of the U.S. Military Veterans of Columbia University student group have been instrumental in providing information to us so we can provide the best accommodations possible,” Schaffler explained.</p>
<p>Now I just have to get off the waitlist and get accepted lol</p>
<p>^ Man alive…</p>
<p>Collegeconfivy: As I understood from your post GS students cannot take all of core classes that CC students take? From what I was told we take all the same classes except for the Writing class, is this wrong?</p>
<p>I applied to GS and NYU and was debating on which would be the better choice. </p>
<p>I keep hearing such mixed things about GS ranging from “a great opportunity” to people saying it is really not worth it and it is leaving totally stumped on making a choice.</p>
<p>What’s the earliest you can apply for a fall semester at GS? All I’ve found on the website is “rolling admissions.” I can’t seem to decipher that. </p>
<p>yogigyrl- Don’t let someones mediocre experience at a university discourage you from applying there. Everyone will have a different experience. If you keep the same standards on opinions you expect to hear from current students, you will be permanently stumped.</p>