This that accurate numbers ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
4 more days LEFT!!!
Hi all - I applied for early decision (March 1 deadline) fall transfer and was invited to interview with the Senior Admissions Manager during the second week of May. Trying to determine whether this is a hopeful sign or just standard protocol? Has anyone else on this thread been invited to interview?
@Mraener Its usually a good sign so early congrats lol. Do you mind sharing your stats for the rest of the cc’ers?
I applied on March 1 for the early decision. On 4/18th, an admissions officer emailed me wanting to see my transcripts from my university that I attend for my second bachelor degrees. She told me to take my time and that there is no rush. I have not gotten any notification about my acceptance or rejection yet, but was her reaching out a good sign? I am an international student btw.
That’s good to hear… Thank you!
Sure:
-25 y/o female
-White/Native American
-Currently a grant writer for a local animal welfare organization. Pretty competitive nonprofit resume.
-High school GPA: 4.05
-College GPA: 2.5
-Standardized scores were old/subpar so I took the GSAE
-Letters of recommendation from the Executive Director of my organization and the former Assistant Dean at St. John’s College.
Brief background info (which I included in my essay) - childhood/adolescence was rocky as my home life was unstable (drugs, abuse, etc), and my family was very low income. I was offered full scholarship to a private high school, was homeless during my senior year, declared financial independence in early 2012, and attended St. John’s College in Santa Fe for 2.5 years.
I used my essay primarily as a space to flesh out my history and the roadblocks I’ve overcome, with a tie-in to my professional trajectory. Definitely had a lot of explaining to do given my performance in college the first time around.
To be honest, I’m shocked to even be invited to interview - I’m sure my GSAE score is nightmarishly bad, because I didn’t realize that the essay portion was timed and got maybe 100 of the required 600 words written before it autosubmitted.
@Mraener I did the same with the GSAE ? It was ludicrous. I really hope the decision doesn’t come down to my performance on the GSAE.
@Mraener an interview is great news!! There are previous threads you can take a look at regarding GS interviews. If you prepare yourself for the interview you will be fine ?? Good luck ?
@Mraener Me too!! I had no idea it was timed and I wrote a garbage essay on the GSAE.
I’m still in disbelief of my performance on that exam lol
Really wish they would have let us know about the time limit in advance! Though my prompt was super weak and I’m not sure I could have spun it into a compelling essay anyway.
@Punisher1 thank you for the good vibes~!
hopefully some of us here today, some people on the 2018 thread heard on Friday, I really hope we do, it doesn’t look good if they don’t tell us before the first I hope I don’t get rejected for the third time, but only time will tell!
What do you think is the reason for any rejection in this application? People say they look for unique personal stories, but that’s kind of subjective in my opinion. If I demonstrate that I am doing well in the current uni(4.0GPA) and capable of following Columbia curricula, do I still have a chance without any unique personal stories?
Honestly, I am not the best person to ask, I have been rejected twice and its looking like a third time. GPA matters but if you’re above a 3.7 it should be fine. As far as a personal story, that is usually pretty important to GS too from what I understand.
anyone hear anything?
@Mraener I applied for the earliest deadline. However, I received an email on I think February 27th for an interview the next morning, so I had my interview on the last day of February. I had to wait about 2.5 weeks past my anticipated March 1st admissions decision release for my own acceptance. During my interview, I was told they really liked my essay, but there was one area where they wished I could have talked about more, so they asked me further questions and follow up questions based on a couple sentences I had in my essay. From what I’ve read and from my own experiences, the interview basically allows the admissions committee a feel of how you are as a person other than from your essay. It will show them if you are truly a fit for the university, and a chance to explain some more about things you wrote about in your essay and even things that you haven’t mentioned but they want to know about.
@SMSNYAL I fall in the other side of the boat haha I had an ok JuCo GPA, a bad GPA from Cornell for my first bachelors. However, I wrote about the things I did outside of class and what I experienced/did in my life that led to what I’m planning to study at Columbia. Like others have mentioned, GS is a place for nontraditional students, so they want to know not necessarily unique, but stories that make you stand out. I was told in my interview that they really liked my essay. One of my letters of recommendation came from a Columbia alumna who did her Masters and PhD at Columbia and even taught some literature classes for GS back in the day. My other letter of recommendation came from one of my professors at Cornell whose research lab I worked in. She came from Stanford and started a research lab and taught in the same subject area of my intended studies at Columbia. I wrote about all of these–wrote about how my experiences, especially life events that happened to me, and my activities and extracurriculars affected what I want to study at Columbia. I also made sure to show and explain explicitly why Columbia is the only place that I can achieve what I want to, and why it would be a perfect fit for me and why I would be a perfect fit for GS and Columbia.
@gsgsgs Your persistence is truly inspirational! I’ll be praying for you to get in!
@SMSNYAL The thing with Ivy League is that they can find a 4.0 student out of high school who did AP classes anywhere. It’s not exactly students with good grades who change the world. They want leaders and people with drive. For example my essay was on my experience with drug abuse in the military and doing something about it. They offered me admission in the hope that I will change the world, or be an innovator in PTSD research or write a bestseller and their name and education will be attached. And I and so many others can do that with a 3.8, 3.6, hell even a 3.4 student can innovate and make a difference in the world. That’s why it’s holistic. Who is this person and what can they accomplish with a degree from GS is the question they are trying to answer.
@SMSNYAL I would agree with the comment above mine. At the end of the day, the school is making an investment in you. You need to ensure that you show the most promise as a future alumni, not just a future student.
If you don’t have experiences, present yourself as what you could be. Talk about your goals and what you’ve done to work towards them. If you plan to apply next year, that gives you time to go get involved with something. Volunteer at a homeless shelter, or just do anything which represents your character and drive.
Ivy Leagues receive thousands of applications with good grades. You definitely want to have something more than that on your profile.
Ah, I probably need to work on my essay more. I really appreciate your advice! I have a clearer picture now