Fall 2011?

<p>Certain positions value a BS over a BA. I have heard, first hand, from management that if a candidate has all the same qualifications and one has a BA and the other a BS than they would prefer the one with the BS. However, that is not true with Economics, especially if one is taking a rigorous curriculum that prepares one best to face the challenges of contemporary society, so you can just scratch my comment.</p>

<p>juniper you went to grinnel? i remember when i was in high school wanting to go there or another small liberal arts college like it.</p>

<p>Liz, I did go to Grinnell College for a couple of years. It was intense, to say the least. The town was so small (only 9,000 people, an hour away from any sort of city at all), there really was no way to get away from the academics of the institution. It is a fantastic school, but when I had some personal family troubles at the beginning of my sophomore year I was never really able to feel happy there again. There is not a lot of breathing room. I left after that year and slowly made my way back to Washington University (I’m from St. Louis) and here I am now. Trying to for school #3. I look back at my materials from Grinnell and I feel confident I can handle the academics from Columbia and disappointed in the rigor of WashU’s program that I am in now.</p>

<p>Greetings,</p>

<p>I have considered applying to Columbia GS, but would like to ask other prospective and recently admitted students to chance me.</p>

<p>Raw Stats:</p>

<p>High School GPA: 3.5
Emmanuel College GPA: 3.5
North Georgia College GPA: 3.85
SAT: 1850</p>

<p>I am a 23 year old, nontraditional student. After graduating from high school, I enrolled into a private, Christian college. Unfortunately, Emmanuel seemed to be more interested with denominational indoctrination than education. I was very dissatisfied, but decided to finish the semester.</p>

<p>I spent the next 7 months being a caretaker for my ailing grandparents. During this period, I began to soul search and decided to enroll in a nearby state university. North Georgia College served my needs, in terms of costs and location, but did not provide the rigorous environment that I desired. Frustrated, I began to explore other opportunities, alternatives to higher education, that could offer me the intellectual stimulation that I craved. In 2009, I landed an internship with the International Centre for Reconstruction & Development. This was the opportunity that I had sought.</p>

<p>I have spent the last two years promoting the liberalization of Nigeria. In collaboration with the Save Nigeria Group and Green Invasion Campaign, the ICRD has focused on the critical issues like infrastructure development, sufficient energy supply, and lowering the infant mortality rate. Although I mainly worked from the Atlanta office, in April of 2010, I had the opportunity to work in Nigeria and took it. I labored overseas for six months and loved it. Upon my return, I needed a job with better pay and signed on at Northeast Georgia Health Systems, Inc. as a medical observer. </p>

<p>During free time, I am still actively working with contacts in Nigeria for the 2011 election, because my mentor and former employer is a candidate for the Vice Presidency. </p>

<p>In short, I am wanting to finish my undergraduate education and would like to study in a rigorous environment with extraordinary people. Columbia seems to be such a place. I would apply for RD fall '11. What chance do I stand?</p>

<p>With your grades and story I think you have a pretty good shot</p>

<p>Sounds like a great story! That’s going to be crucial for you. Your numbers are on the far low end for Columbia, unfortunately.</p>

<p>You’re going to have to dedicate part of your application to mitigating that. In the meantime, it’s good to think about how you expect to perform when dropped into a peer group with an average SAT that’s at least four hundred points higher and, pretty consistently, a near perfect GPA. GS has a pretty high dropout rate and it’s a good idea to do some realistic soul-searching ahead of time. </p>

<p>Do you want intellectual rigor - which you can find at any school? Or, do you want to push all of your faculties and abilities into the red for a few years and pay tens of thousands of dollars for it?</p>

<p>Corrections:</p>

<p>North Georgia College GPA: 3.9
Overall GPA: 3.85</p>

<p>I realize that my stats are a bit low and have considered retaking the SAT. I didn’t use wisdom when I last took it, walked in after working a hellish, 12-hour shift in ICU. </p>

<p>And the issue of costs doesn’t concern me as much as the quality of education. While in college, most of the texts I read were written by Columbia professors like Joseph Stiglitz or Jeffrey Sachs. The questions they raised and theories they proposed have been critical in the work I’ve done in Nigeria. Also, Columbia has unparalleled opportunities, like the Earth Institute, to gain more knowledge and experience to help with Third World development.</p>

<p>No need to retake the SAT, I’m sure. You’ll probably get in.</p>

<p>I’d caution against chasing celebrated, marquis-name professors. People like Sachs lecture to big rooms and only rarely show up to campus to do so. Yeah, he may listed on the syllabus as the instructor, but it’ll be grad students doing all the work. </p>

<p>That said, they’re incredible. I’ve been terribly impressed by a few famous professors but most of my good CULPA reviews, and maybe my own surprise is a big part of this, go to hardworking TAs and graduate instructors.</p>

<p>Again, coming here is about your peer group and the wider CU community. More often than not, the superstar profs are just part of the organizing principle.</p>