<p>Just as the title says, because Obama's alma mater is Columbia University, and due to his popularity with a lot of young people, do you think a bunch of HS seniors will apply to Columbia just because he went there? Or at least let their decision to apply be partly influenced by this factor...</p>
<p>If so, of course I'm guessing the admissions process at Columbia will get a lot more competitive for us all.</p>
<p>(btw, I don't mean for this to a political thread, so please keep your personal opinions about the presidential/vp candidates to yourself, or save them for the other threads that are actually meant for the expression of such opinions.)</p>
<p>Not matter what you think about Obama, applying to Columbia is going to be particularly more competitive simply because there is going to be a larger applicant pool than there was in previous years (there is a major bubble of high school students graduating over the next couple of years).</p>
<p>^well yeah, but that goes for every university. it's going to get a lot more competitive everywhere, including public state universities. i meant will columbia in particular be especially more competitive--beyond just the natural increase of applicants from the greater graduating class sizes--because of all the publicity its been getting from the obama campaign?</p>
<p>just because more people apply doesn't mean it is going to get more competitive. if more qualified students apply to columbia over other top schools then yes it would get more competitive. however, since intelligent people would never vote for obama and his socialist ideals, i don't think there should be any problem.</p>
<p>Why would someone apply to Columbia just cause Obama went there? They must be pretty stupid then, in which case they wouldn't make it in anyway.</p>
<p>^^I completely agree.
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however, since intelligent people would never vote for obama and his socialist ideals, i don't think there should be any problem.
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<p>I'm with you 100%! We should all go and vote for the party that's going to bring us four more years of Bush. Because the economy has been so awesome lately, and all we need is more of the same.</p>
<p>And to answer the op's question, maybe like one or two people would actually do that. But like NY_Democrat said, the people that would do that wouldn't make a big difference.</p>
<p>haha thanks for the amusing responses. @blueducky, I'm not worrying, just speculating.</p>
<p>for me personally, watching the forum last night (thurs 9/11) with obama and mccain made me realize how much i'd love to attend a school where i might have to opportunity to attend such events and hear ppl like them speak. it would be a really cool experience during such a hyped-up election year. of course i understand such visits by high profile or celebrity-type figures are commonplace at many other schools, but columbia is now getting a lot more publicity. </p>
<p>i was just wondering if anyone else felt the same way i did. it's not like my entire decision to apply is based on obama's attending there, i already was going to apply and it's definitely one of my top dream schools. i'm just even more attracted to it than i was before because of the kinds of things that happen there.</p>
<p>Unlikely since Columbia (and NYC, which is its main attraction for undergrads) is already well known. Such boosts work for lesser known schools, such as BC prior to Doug Flutie, or Georgetown prior to Patrick Ewing. ('Lesser known' means outside of its own region.)</p>
<p>I don't know whether the advent of Obama will increase the numbers of apps, but the school itself is certainly playing up the connection. Obama's alumnus status was prominently mentioned when we took the Columbia admissions tour and info session this summer.</p>
<p>@hannahmontana - In the Ivy League, Dartmouth is also great for seeing the political process because of the New Hampshire primaries. My tour guide there talked about how there were candidates hanging out in the PoliSci building before the NH primary.</p>
<p>yup definetly, when i went to the multicultural recruitement ceremony they were BEAMING with pride every chance they got when talking about Obama. they definetly playedd up his alumni status....and i definetly think, again this is my own opinion, that columbia AND harvard(where obama went for graduate) are going to see DRAMATIC increases in applicants. Im almost worried for the admissions reps that have to read all of them</p>
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i definetly think, again this is my own opinion, that columbia AND harvard(where obama went for graduate) are going to see DRAMATIC increases in applicants
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<p>you're kidding right?</p>
<p>columbia and especially harvard do not need barack obama to be popular choices among HS seniors. not to mention most HS seniors do not even know that obama went to columbia. do you really think a competitive applicant would have passed up applying to columbia but will now apply because the president elect went there for undergrad? if we suspend all logic and assume you're right, the increase would only be in unqualified applicants.... but that shouldn't make a difference to how competitive the pool is. </p>
<p>i just love these threads that are meant to psych people out or are preemptive attempts at justifying rejection</p>
<p>Second what Shraf said. Plus, how clueless do you have to be to think that Harvard Law School -- which has produced dozens of Supreme Court justices -- will see a dramatic increase in applicants because some dude who practiced law for 2 or 3 years became president?</p>
<p>I'm with you 100%! We should all go and vote for the party that's going to bring us four more years of Bush. Because the economy has been so awesome lately, and all we need is more of the same.</p>
<p>yeah Bush might have done a bad job
but I dont see how obama is gonna make the economy better
after all, he's just an idealist
look at the stocks after obama got elected, u think we're gonna be better off in the next 4 or hopefully not 8 years?
yeah....</p>