<p>The</a> Ivy League Investor | Columbia Spectator</p>
<p>So there's been a lot of press coverage on the financial crisis and possible effects on large endowments of US universities. Bollinger says that CU will not likely have to deal with something extremely severe regarding the endowment due to diversification (good years offset by some bad years overall endowment gains blah blah) but what effects could this year's financial crisis have on admissions for needy students?</p>
<p>For example, the article states that Columbia's endowment actually lost money in the year 2007. Would it be correct to assume that Columbia also reduced admissions to needy students, especially international students for that year.</p>
<p>I'm just worried cause I'm a Canadian student that will need a full ride if admitted (parent's make less than 50k/year). Do you think that the class of 2013 will be composed of less needy students? Are the number of needy students accepted directly proportional to endowment gains or losses?</p>
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Columbia is need-blind for US Citizens & Permanent Residents, citizens of Canada and Mexico and persons granted refugee visas by the US. As a result, the Office of Admissions considers your application without regard to your financial need.
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Columbia</a> University Office of Undergraduate Financial Aid and Educational Financing - Financial Aid at Columbia</p>
<p>Columbia is need-blind for Canadian students, so you will be treated like a US citizen, not an international applicant.</p>
<p>Additionally, CU pledges to meet full need of all admited first-years.</p>
<p>You should be ok: the fact is, <em>everyone</em> will be affected by the downturn: and it's likely that there will be more students in need of FA because of the crisis. </p>
<p>If Columbia chooses to cut costs and not admit those students because of their financial needs, then they may be compromising on the quality of their students, which I doubt is something they're going to do. If they did (and before anyone jumps on me I'm not implying that rich kids are dumber, I'm saying a smaller population of applicants will be able to afford the education in the current situation, of which an even smaller number will qualify for Columbia) they'd affect their rankings, alumni networks, etc.</p>
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You should be ok: the fact is, <em>everyone</em> will be affected by the downturn: and it's likely that there will be more students in need of FA because of the crisis.
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<p>People in recession-proof industries and who keep their money in cash might be doing better because of the downturn. And even if they're doing worse on an absolute scale, they're faring better on a relative basis.</p>
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and before anyone jumps on me I'm not implying that rich kids are dumber
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<p>Would anyone disagree with me that Columbia would have a much stronger student body if it only admitted kids whose parents made say 100K versus if it only admitted kids whose parents made less than 100K? On average (yes, I said on average, which is a general statement and doesn't preclude many obvious counterexamples), rich kids are going to be smarter.</p>
<p>"rich kids are going to be smarter"</p>
<p>Or have more opportunities to exercise their interests and focus on their talents?</p>
<p>"People in recession-proof industries and who keep their money in cash might be doing better because of the downturn. And even if they're doing worse on an absolute scale, they're faring better on a relative basis."</p>
<p>I was making a general statement (just like you). it's going to be harder to get student loans in any case, so it makes sense for CU to offer up more financial aid.</p>
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"rich kids are going to be smarter"</p>
<p>Or have more opportunities to exercise their interests and focus on their talents?
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<p>Obviously that's also correct, but richer kids are more likely to have higher "g."</p>