<p>When I was deciding between colleges this spring, an older friend told me something that stuck with me–if she had known certain things about Penn when she was deciding, she never would have picked it. But she is really really happy that she did–she didn’t end up doing the activities that she’d planned, but she found new extracurriculars to love, that she never would have anticipated doing as a senior.</p>
<p>We’re young; we change our minds quickly about what we want to do. (You changed your mind pretty quickly about Columbia). The specific program you want now might not be the same field of study that interests you in three years.
But Columbia will have something for you. Find the club list and the course listings, look up the Class of 2015 Facebook group, maybe try to contact a current student. Find things to get excited for. If in a year, you really hate Columbia, you can transfer, but at least then it will be an informed decision.</p>
<p>Stanford is a lot more expensive than Columbia, have you considered how you are going to pay the extra? Stanford gives great financial aid but it may be all gone by now, at least for next year. If in the unlikely event they decide to “re-accept” you, you need to make sure that the financial aid you require is still available and not already awarded elsewhere, especially since it appears you have a great award from Columbia.</p>
<p>I don’t know if this will shed some light on your dilemna but I will share it anyway. My oldest son attended MIT and has been out of school over a year now. He has a wonderful job and will always be grateful to MIT for the education he has received. The interesting thing about MIT is that it really is not for everyone who is a great student. My son appreciated his time there but has no desire to ever go back. He graduated with a very good MIT GPA and some great involvement in research and a startup but he has made it clear that it is the last place he would ever go back to. </p>
<p>There is a reason you chose Columbia and maybe something in your heart told you MIT was not for you. You may want to give Columbia the chance it deserves. It is a great school. Even as a parent I never felt the same about MIT as I felt about Cornell probably because I knew my son was not happy with the school…happy with his education but not the school or the general population. He visited my sons at Cornell and always felt at home and welcomed in the Cornell environment. He also said his MIT classes were almost identical to Cornell. Just relax and enjoy the great NY experience and down the road you could apply to MIT for grad school if that is still what you would want.</p>
<p>Good Luck and most of all make your mark at the school you have decided to attend!!!</p>
<ol>
<li><p>You can go to Columbia.</p></li>
<li><p>You can (probably) go to a much less selective school that would still admit you at this late date (such as a local community college).</p></li>
<li><p>Or you can choose not to attend college in the coming year and reapply to Stanford, MIT, and any other colleges that interest you for the following year.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>If you are seriously considering choice #3, I strongly recommend that you contact Columbia to find out whether they would allow you to defer admission (meaning that a place would be held for you in the following year’s class). Your decision on whether to consider choice #3 might depend on their answer.</p>
<p>Also, if you are seriously considering any course of action other than going to Columbia this fall, you need to discuss it with your family promptly. There may be financial or other issues that your parents know about and you don’t that would affect your decision making.</p>
<p>Common Ap is open July 1.
You should apply to Stanford as a transfer student for Spring 2012 and in the interim, you MUST enroll at Columbia and do your best academically as well as enjoy the opportunity if you are to be a viable college applicant.<br>
You will have an easier time with a transfer application to Stanford (or anywhere else on your radar) with 1 semester of Columbia grades than should you simply take a gap year. If you don’t attend college, you’re a first time applicant and competing with other high school students plus having to explain your late change of heart in your college choices… Stanford said no b/c you said no first. No one wants to be second choice-- that is a strike against you at this point. Unfortunately, from Stanford’s perspective, you have to explain how it is that you changed your mind 45-50 days after telling them you weren’t interested. It’s not that you have to explain why you no longer want to go to Columbia. The relevant issue is explaining to Stanford why you once said you weren’t interested and no you suddenly are interested. This is tough to do and will actually be easier as a transfer student. Not meant to be a personal criticism - just pointing out the Adcom position here.</p>
<p>I must ask-- is there someone else going to Columbia that has influenced your choice?</p>
<p>I wish you the best at Columbia and you never know-- life sets us in directions that are expected and unexpected. If you face an opportunity with joy and wonder rather than disappointment and reluctance you will enjoy the next 70 years alot more.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for this post. Yes, I do have quite a lot of reasons for liking Columbia, but sadly 90% of those reasons would be applicable to Stanford as well.</p>
<p>Also, MIT was just a wait-list that I decided not to pursue. The offers I had were from Columbia, Stanford, Duke, Dartmouth, and Brown. In the end it came down to Dartmouth, Columbia, and Stanford, and well, you guys know the rest. :)</p>
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<p>My family’s wanted me to attend Columbia the whole time, since it’s much closer (we’re in NJ). And I’m pretty sure I’ll be attending Columbia, since I’m not too interested in the gap-year. </p>
<p>I guess Stanford is just another school at the end of the day and it wasn’t meant to be. I’m not going to lie though, I’m pretty devastated right now. I really wish I could turn back time.</p>
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<p>Haha, no. Not at all. Although, some people at school keep asking why I decided to turn down Stanford for Columbia. When I say I liked it more, they just stare at me with that “dude, you’re an idiot” look. That’s been annoying.</p>
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<p>The e-mail I sent to my admissions officer was almost an essay. But, yeah, I know the whole “why you didn’t come initially” will be a difficult question to tackle. That said, I highly doubt I’ll apply for transfer. I think I’ll just try to make the most of Columbia.</p>
<p>Personally, I think the best option is for the OP to give Columbia a full year. Going to a university and applying to transfer out the spring semester never gives you the opportunity to give the first school a chance. Applying for transfer in the spring for your sophomore year gives you the fall to settle in. If you are accepted as a transfer student you will have nearly a year’s experience at Columbia before you have to decide if you want to stay or not. IMHO that’s a fair shot. Going in and starting to fill out the transfer app, maybe even before you get there, possibly avoiding making friends first semester because you may be leaving in December would be very unhealthy. Columbia doesn’t get a fair shot, and if the OP isn’t accepted for transfer s/he ends up feeling even worse about the situation.</p>
<p>Just my two cents. A little off topic OP, but have you read “The Naked Roommate”? I got this for my 2011 grad and he’s really enjoyed it. It might be something entertaining to take your mind off of the immediate since you can’t do anything right now. Good luck!!</p>
<p>I agree. You should go to Columbia. Even if the reasons you like it are similar to the reasons you like Stanford, that’s kind of pointless now because you chose to go to Columbia. Go to Columbia, work hard, have fun, enjoy the things that you enjoy about it, and then you can always go to Stanford for graduate school or move out to California to pursue a post-graduation job.</p>
<p>I just looked at it on amazon, and it seems like a fun read, especially before september. I’ll definitely be picking it up. Thank you for the suggestion :)</p>
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<p>That’s the plan, as of now. I just hope I don’t make any mistakes in choosing between grad schools. :P</p>
<p>You can never really know whether a different option could have been better. You can only try to make well-informed decisions and hope for the best.</p>
<p>It may turn out that you love your time at Columbia. Or it may turn out that you are less enthusiastic. But chances are, the aspects of Columbia that lead you to really enjoy – or not enjoy – your time there will be things that you had no idea about when you applied.</p>
<p>So don’t beat yourself up over a bad decision. You may not have made one.</p>
<p>^ Further on that, a lot of people think that the poem “The Road Less Travelled” by Robert Frost is about picking the unconventional path. But actually, it’s about making a decision between two equally good looking paths, and going with one more by chance than by anything, and finding it makes all the difference. There’s no point in mourning for lost choices, you’ve just got to pick one way and see where it takes you.</p>
<p>"At some point you just have to move on with the opportunity that you have in front of you or you will find yourself in a very unhealthy place.’ - I agree. And it looks like OP is already doing that. </p>
<p>The advise to start considering all of the options before busy April in senior year is excellent. </p>
<p>Due to grueling schedule constraints, we had to have DS do 2nd visit to a CA college in late March spring break before he was accepted. (It made a good excuse for family CA trip. And we knew the insights would be helpful as he compared other colleges, even if he got rejected. )</p>
But, yeah, I know the whole “why you didn’t come initially” will be a difficult question to tackle. That said, I highly doubt I’ll apply for transfer. I think I’ll just try to make the most of Columbia.</p>