<p>Anyone out there a successful community college student who has transfered to Columbia? Or do you know of anyone who has transfered to Columbia from a community college?
I'm thinking it's near impossible. Basically, what would it take?</p>
<p>If you’re a non-traditional student, many School of General Studies students are transfers from community colleges.</p>
<p>What exactly is a non-traditional student?
I’m simply a high school graduate who is attending Community College, LOL.
No kids, not in the military, ect.</p>
<p>It all depends on your high school record. Ivy league colleges take transfers from a wide variety of colleges (they actually tend not to take transfers from other ivies, since that makes for a “homogenous” group or whatever lol, at least that’s what I read), and many of these colleges are obscure colleges. My friend’s father use to be an admission officer for Dartmouth, and he says each year they accept a few from community college transfers.</p>
<p>That being said, it is all up to your high school record and how well you’ve performed in your prospective college. I know of a few top notch high school students (ranekd top 10%, SAT over 2200, etc.) who went to community colleges for a year because of financial issues, and performed extremely well their first or second year at the community college. These students are usually the ones colleges like Columbia take for transfers. I suggest taking a good look back on your high school record; if you think they’re a match for schools like Columbia, then definitely go for the transfer application.</p>
<p>Regarding the high school record, mine isn’t so great.
If I’m applying as a Junior transfer, will my high school record effect me greatly?</p>
<p>Sry, i like to rephrase just a bit my last message, it technically doesnt depend <em>ALL</em> on your high school record, but from what I understand, a great deal of emphasis is still placed on it. Your performance in college of course is also a big factor. If you really like Columbia though, I would just say go for it and apply even if you don’t think you have a great shot at getting in, you never know what could happen</p>
<p>I definitely agree with you. If someone likes a school or really wants to attend, others tend to encourage them to apply. However, if you know your chances are indefinitely slim to nothing, why waste time and money? It’s simply a matter of luck in my eyes. Obviously I know Columbia is a reach school, as it is for most people. I haven’t actually heard of a lot of community college students getting accepted into prestigious schools.</p>
<p>in my opinion, you’d have to have done very very well at your community college. i’m talking a very high GPA and a lot of impressive extracurriculars.</p>
<p>You can try Columbia Schools of General Studies (GS). Many students at GS are transfer students from Community College. Other similar school are Harvard Extension School ot UPenn Liberal Studies program. </p>
<p>Columbia GS and Harvard Extension degrees are differnt from Columbia College or Harvard College (e.g. the diploma and transcript says you are GS or Extension school graduate). However, Upenn Liberal Studies degree is the same as College of Arts and Sciences with the SAME DIPLOMA.</p>
<p>I don’t quality as a general studies student at Columbia. I graduated from high school, and right after high school I’m attending college. So I guess I’m not considered a non-traditional student.</p>
<p>Harvard Extension School and Columbia School of General Studies are NOT the same thing. Harvard Extension School, while offering a wonderful education, is OPEN ENROLLMENT. The school offers AA degrees (like community colleges) and Bachelor or Liberal Arts degrees (ALB). </p>
<p>To qualify for the ALB program at Harvard Extension School, one must take three courses at Harvard Extension School and get at least a “B” in all three classes. After doing this, ANYONE can qualify for an ALB.</p>
<p>Many people who have gone this route have received great educations and have gone on to Harvard Law School, Harvard Business School, and all other top Ivy League graduate programs. For some, this is a great option.</p>
<p>Columbia School of General Studies is one of the three undergraduate colleges at Columbia University. It is the college for “nontraditional” students. Columbia GS is NOT open enrollment, and does not allow conditional admissions (conditional admissions is what Harvard Extension School offers, as the only admissions standard is getting three “B’s”). Columbia GS is a selective undergraduate college that requires one to submit (much like any other traditional applicant): high school transcripts, all prior college transcripts, SAT or ACT or GSAE scores (the GSAE is administered by Columbia and the College Board and is identical to the SAT without the math section), 1500-2000 word personal statement, an optional 500 word essay, and a personal interview if the school requests it. </p>
<p>Needless to say, Columbia GS is highly selective of who they admit. The admit rate for last fall 2010 was 23%, which is significantly lower than UCLA (33%), one percent higher than UC Berkeley (22%), lower than NYU (38%), and equal to Northwestern University (23%).</p>
<p>Columbia GS admit rate 23%: [College</a> Search - Columbia University: School of General Studies - GS - Admission](<a href=“College Search - BigFuture | College Board”>College Search - BigFuture | College Board)</p>
<p>UCLA admit rate 33%: [College</a> Search - University of California: Los Angeles - UCLA - Admission](<a href=“College Search - BigFuture | College Board”>College Search - BigFuture | College Board)</p>
<p>NYU admit rate 38%: [College</a> Search - New York University - NYU - Admission](<a href=“College Search - BigFuture | College Board”>College Search - BigFuture | College Board)</p>
<p>Northwestern University admit rate 23%: [College</a> Search - Northwestern University - NU - Admission](<a href=“College Search - BigFuture | College Board”>College Search - BigFuture | College Board)</p>
<p>Since they are different colleges under the same University, Columbia GS students get a different diploma than Columbia College students. Just as Columbia Engineering students get a different diploma from the Columbia College students. All three colleges serve different needs to the University at large. </p>
<p>Columbia College is the traditional liberal arts college, and confers a Latin (AB).</p>
<p>Columbia GS is the college for non-traditional students, and confers an English (BA or BS).</p>
<p>Columbia Engineering is the College for Engineering and Applied Sciences and confers an English (BS).</p>
<p>All three diplomas are different, but they are all from, and conferred by, the trustees of Columbia University.</p>
<p>Harvard Extension School can be a wonderful experience and can provide a great education, but its lack of selectivity (from open enrollment to conditional acceptance: getting three B’s and thus guaranteed acceptance) lowers its prestige. It’s sad, but selectivity is a factor when looking at a school’s prestige. Columbia GS, on the other hand, is highly selective and thus is more prestigious. Along these lines, Columbia College is more selective than Columbia GS and Columbia Engineering, and thus, Columbia College is more prestigious. Of coarse it’s not that simple to merely equate admit rate selectivity with prestige, but admit rate plays a big role.</p>
<p>Having said all that: Harvard College, Harvard Extension School, Columbia College, Columbia GS, and Columbia Engineering, all send their respective graduates to TOP graduate programs. </p>
<p>UPenn LPS is another school that is analogous to Columbia GS, but most students take night classes (although students can choose to take days classes as well). Since UPenn LPS is under the School of Arts and Sciences with the traditional UPenn College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) students, they both receive the same diploma. Although on their transcripts, a UPenn LPS student will be identified as such. </p>
<p>So unless you carry your diploma around to job interviews, perspective employers will know that you went to UPenn LPS by looking at your transcripts.</p>
<p>An employer will know whether you went to Columbia College or Columbia GS as well. </p>
<p>But seeing that Columbia College and Columbia GS students get, ostensibly, the EXACT same education, an employer should not be too concerned. Columbia GS’s lower admit rate will help in assuaging any concerns a prospective employer might have as well. </p>
<p>From the Columbia GS website:
“Columbia University School of General Studies is the undergraduate college created specifically for students like you – those with nontraditional backgrounds seeking a rigorous, traditional, Ivy League education. Most students at GS have, for personal or professional reasons, interrupted their education, never attended college, or are only able to attend part time.
Whether you’ve taken time off for personal reasons, parenthood, travel, or your career, the School of General Studies (GS) – Columbia University’s college for returning and nontraditional students – makes it possible for you to complete your degree at one of the finest institutions in the country. In fact, Columbia is the only Ivy League university with a freestanding college in which nontraditional undergraduates are fully integrated into the undergraduate curriculum.”</p>
<p>And this is from Wikipedia:</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.”</p>
<p>All the information I have provided is supplemented with evidence and any refutation will be a rebuttal against the words and statistics provide by the schools themselves and statistics furnished by the College Board.</p>
<p>Ignore puma. He’s just an anti-GS ■■■■■.</p>
<p>As for the OP, it’s certainly possible, but obviously very difficult. Just make sure you do perfectly at community college. As long as you excel in community college, you’ll have a shot, even if your high school record isn’t stellar.</p>
<p>Just a note, traditional students in community college can NOT transfer to GS, only the college. You can only transfer to GS if you’ve had an interruption of your education for 2+ years or if you already have a bachelors degree. So you can go to community college, get a bachelors, and then go to GS. But you can’t transfer from community college to GS, only the College (or SEAS)!</p>
<p>Maybe it’s been a while since I applied for a job that I didn’t already have prior to the interview, or maybe it’s because of my age (30), but I honestly can’t recall a time when a potential employer ever asked to see my college transcript.</p>
<p>I could ever so slightly envision it for a 22 year old student coming straight out of college, but for anyone else, if there is a question, isn’t that what the background checks are for?</p>
<p>Additionally, I’ve looked at a few resumes in my time and I’ve yet to see the undergraduate college within the university listed, unless it was some distinct undergraduate program/college like Wharton.</p>
<p>My point is if you’re a non-traditional student expecting to graduate from Columbia CGS or Penn LPS in your late 20s/early 30s I’d strongly suspect that for the rest of your life you will be listing your undergraduate degree very similar as below and 99% of employers will accept that you received an rigorous Ivy League education:</p>
<p>University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA) 2012
Bachelors of Arts - Major</p>
<p>-or-</p>
<p>Columbia University (New York City, NY) 2012
Bachelor of Arts - Major</p>