<p>I just came into the Columbia board after hearing about the 'massacre'.</p>
<p>What happened? I often heard that admission is kinda random, but I never knew it would be this hectic. Good EC's, 1500+, 4.0's, and 3 700's get rejected and lower academic achievers with similar ECs get accepted. (I dont mean to go against anyone, if I sound rude.) </p>
<p>So I guess it was the essay which broke the hearts of many....<br>
I'm getting all frigging nervous and scared now... What rights do the adcoms have to such thing?</p>
<p>no. I'm not even a senior!. lol. congrats to all those accepted! HS is supposed to be one of the best times of yer life and every1 including me are just killing themselves trying to impress the adcoms and the adcoms just puts that big red X on the app.</p>
<p>Bleh, this is why you should never live your high school life for hte purpose of getting into college. You're not a senior yet, so relax, your miserable time will come soon enough.</p>
<p>I'm telling you its cuz those morons answered Why columbia? with something insignificant like "no where in the world will you find a city like new york.."
You don't understand how seriously columbia admissions officers take that, future applicants, HEAR THESE WORDs---Think very carefull about Why columbia!</p>
<p>hmmmm... so that answer changes everything?? well, I think my stats just represent the deferees.....there's no strengths or weaknesses...yeah, but i focused on the core in "Why Columbia" part...hmmm maybe that was wrong?? and yeah..the admission was pretty random...people who I expected would totally get in didn't get it...</p>
<p>The adcoms have the right to do such things because it's within their domain to assemble what they consider to be the best class for the university, using criteria which may not align with yours.</p>
<p>I don't think it can be said enough: do not confuse Admissions decisions--in <em>any</em> direction--with some absolute value of merit.</p>
<p>"The adcoms have the right to do such things because it's within their domain to assemble what they consider to be the best class for the university, using criteria which may not align with yours."</p>
<p>TheDad, I think that's probably the best explanation at this point for any non-acceptees. Hmmm, could Columbia (& All Other Ivy/Top Tier Colleges) be looking for it's own "strange" quotas, something like this:
"yea, the university already have 20 state ranked violinists, we think that's enough"</p>
<p>Still...it's NOT a state college where you get in for mainly the scores. It's not really "RANDOMNESS", but more like "Columbia's preference"...I think.</p>
<p>The third best student GPA-wise in my class got rejected (she was also a great dancer who had participated in numerous dance competitions and such).
However, a girl just on the Honor roll, who was very bright but never seemed to get her average up to awesome, ended up getting admitted. I suppose the adcoms really look for something special. I'm guessing the girl who got accepted at my school had good essays or an awesome interview.</p>
<p>What they want for the why essay is interesting, jskim went with a traditional feature (the core) and silver wavez went with a original topic (I can't remember off the top of my head) yet neither of them was accepted. I really do think we overestimate how well we know the admittance process. There are so many factors that could play into it- and I think that the essay could very well be it. Your stats can't get you in, and I think that was fatal thinking for a lot of people, they thought they would be accepted because stats (gpa, test scores, EC's) they were perfect, but something must have made them say- this person isn't what were looking for.</p>
<p>Last year, my S was accepted with good, but not stratospheric, stats. We feel he was very fortunate, but that what put him over the top was an appealing essay, and good short answers. Also, all the parts of his application cohered, emphasizing two bullet points: music and astronomy. Incidentally, his why columbia was the classic: the core. I think Thedad is exactly right--they probably needed an astronomer who played the instrument he did. Not random, but not guessable.</p>
<p>The great thing is that each of you embody the combination that some great school is looking for, and you'll all get into wonderful places.</p>
<p>When people compare stats between who got or didn't get admitted, they overlook the point TheDad makes that the stats just get the admissions committee to look at you. Then, as people point out,there is how you've presented yourself in your application. But, beyond that are exactly the factors you have no control over: how many other people applied this year from your area, did the head of the music department just walk in and say "we've got plenty of classical violinists but we sure could use some jazz trombonists for the jazz program we're trying to build," was your sport the one the coach has already heavily recruited for so they don't need anyone else whose main ec is lacrosse, do they need more students in the hard sciences, do they have lots of male students who look as if they might be math majors and want some female mathematicians this year,...on and on. They are not judging you unworthy, though I know it may feel that way. They are balancing their class from the pile of applications they've received so far and they anticipate receiving in the next round. </p>
<p>I echo garland: You will get in some place that makes you happy. It never hurts to take what info you can from this round and make sure your application does the very best to represent your strengths. Beyond that, there is always the matter of luck. But there are lots of great schools out there. You'll find one of them and they'll find you.</p>
<p>It's not what you think you can contribute to the colleges, it's what they WANT you to contribute.</p>
<p>I know what I just said might not make sense...but what sac said is exactly right. You might be all-state something-something but the maybe the college really need a mediocre something-else.</p>
<p>That's why there are other colleges that will appreciate what you do, and you'll be very happy there.</p>
<p>"it is random...i think many dont even do their jobs properly"
lol, I think it's not a matter of "proper" but the need of each individual college to craft the "ideal" student pool.</p>
<p>Yeah I feel I did a really poor job emhasizing my strengths. I think I might have been too modest in my application and never mentioned the amount of community service hours I had. I think thats probably why I got rejected, but its good to know so that I can fix it for my other applications.</p>
<p>It's great you were able to get some information out of this round, Welsh, and apply it to the next. It's not just the number of hours, but that the number of hours says something about what community service means to you. (Colleges know that lots of high schools now require community service, and they do try to sort out those who are do it out of conviction rather than resume building.) If it's not the subject of your essay, you might get someone from your community project to write you an extra rec and have it sent to whatever colleges are willing to look at more than the recs they require.</p>
<p>The admissions process at any competitive private school IS NEVER a solely quantitative process. Why do people (those with superior stats) insist on believing otherwise?</p>
<p>i don't know what it is.. but it sure was random.. or maybe i say that because i didn't get in.
but after monday.. i'm calling.. and i'm asking them why.</p>
<p>I'm tired of everyone playing the "fate" card. The reality is that NOT everyone goes to a college that they will love. This is the best chance that many applicants had at a top college and while you may not agree with those priorities you must agree that it could in fact be the place where some applicants are happiest because of that. It's wishful thinking that everyone ends up happy; it's simply not true. Why isn't it possible that every college you wish to attend doesn't "recognize your talents?"</p>