<p>After getting the "Blue Album" from Columbia, I read that there was a 6 year JD/BS/BA Accelerated program for selected students, which seemed too good to be true. How hard is it to get into this program?</p>
<p>I think they take 2 people a year in each SEAS and CC. I know someone who did it, but I'm not exactly sure what the person's stats were. It's really not a big deal because lots of Columbia kids are able to get into Columbia and/or other top law schools anyway.</p>
<p>there's no cap on the number of students for SEAS, but the requirements are steeper.</p>
<p>The program is called AILE, Accelerated Inter-something Law Exchange, or something like that. The requirements for SEAS were, at the conclusion of your junior year, you must have:</p>
<ul>
<li>3.9 GPA (roughly top 10% of the class)</li>
<li>170 LSAT</li>
<li>You must have completed ALL of your major requirements (!). Like, done, gonzo.</li>
<li>You must have no more than 12 credits of nontech electives to complete to meet your graduation requirements. These you will be allowed to complete through GSAS classes while in the law school (i.e. grad school-level courses to substitute).</li>
</ul>
<p>And while you're taking those GSAS classes, by the way, you're also taking a full rigorous first-year load of law classes.</p>
<p>Basically, it's no fun. I made the mistake in high school of, essentially, skipping my senior year (and filler classes / hanging out with friends), in favor of working my butt off at a full-time job. When I came back for HS graduation and prom, I felt like I didn't know anybody, didn't have much in common with them anymore. Once I saw those requirements, I realized that I'd have to essentially give up most of what I found fun in college, in order to single-mindedly pursue the goal of... what? Saving a year of tuition?</p>
<p>I decided that it wasn't worth the priceless experiences of having a year to pursue what I wanted while in college, with low stress, enjoying myself, exploring new things, and still doing well. As it turns out, I didn't go to law school right after college anyway. I may yet; I may not. But every year they have one or two people who are hell-bent on getting into and out of college and law school as soon as possible, who do AILE. And I just hope that at the end of that gauntlet, they're still happy people. Because jesus, I know I wouldn't be.</p>
<p>Thanks for providing the color; this begs the question of why someone who's that accelerated/ambitious/etc. would want to do the joint program when they could just graduate in 3 years and try to get into Harvard or Yale for law school rather than Columbia.</p>
<p>the certainty of admission to columbia law school, which isn't chopped liver. plus the forgiveness of needing 12 points of credit, which means you can be on target to graduate in 3 1/2 years instead of 3. everywhere else would make you pay for 4 years at that point.</p>
<p>Does anything preclude you from simultaneously trying for H or Y while trying to get into the joint program?</p>