<p>I was taking a class in Project Management recently and the guy sat next to me said he graduated from Columbia in the last 10 years or so. I was surprised and I asked him what was he doing in a crappy certificate program like this? I would be ****ed if I were his parents, spent all this money on private school to get him to an Ivy and he is taking this lousy Project Management Certificate! Even I did not think it was worth my money but hey my company is paying for it.</p>
<p>Upgrading yourself is never a bad idea 'TooRichForAid', if he wants to change his career after 10 years he is entitled too. But do remeber if he completes the certificate and apply for the same job as you and if you don't have a columbia degree then you might get shortchanged in the interview until he blow away totally negatively and you do the opposite.
He might have an edge over you otherwise.</p>
<p>No this is a certificate for people with no degree even. All sorts of people, some did not go to college even, that was the odd part.</p>
<p>I'm very well aware of the Project Mangement Certification. What I was trying to convey that the person after 10 years of the graduation has the courage to go to a certificate show his value of education and that is what is provided at the great colleges your love for education.
It is a ever changing world and you will never know what degree becomes the cash crop.
If you come to silicon valley you will find lots of people earning huge salary because they happen to have computer degrees from Asian countries. Will that put this person Columbia College degree to shame.</p>
<p>Not necessarily, it is just the time. But in my view a good education from a good university will win over short term cash crop degrees.</p>
<p>My nephew is one of 3 NMF at his midwest public hs. SAT 2390 - rejected at Stanford, Harvard, and MIT. Accepted CalTech, WashU, and Northwestern.</p>
<p>My daughter is the only NMF at her public hs (different state) - had no interest in applying to an Ivy. They just weren't what she was looking for.</p>
<p>Congrats MidewestParent for your daughter becoming NMF at her school.</p>
<p>I think it is a big thing if your are the only one at your school.</p>
<p>But does it hurt if you are not 1 of the 52 at your school who got NMF.</p>
<p>ParentOfIvyHope - Thank you very much! What D was very happy about was that her PSAT score would have qualified her to be a NMSF in any state, not just our podunk midwestern state.</p>
<p>Sister called and my nephew came home from school hoppin' mad!! Some kid, NOT one of the 3 NMF, kind of a nondescript kid with not much going on DID get accepted to Stanford. Sister said she didn't know who was more shocked - her son that this kid got in, or the kid that nephew DIDN'T get in!
Strange admissions year, strange!</p>
<p>Stanford admissions have always been like this. My Child school had 38 NMF last year and only 8 acceptance at Stanford which was duh 8/38 with scores mostly in 2300. </p>
<p>So we know that at HYPMS, there are no rules or standards to follows.
You should be happy if you get in and happy if you won't. </p>
<p>There is no logic behind admissions to these 5 universities.</p>
<p>You can still prepare for other Ivies but not at those 5 univerisities.</p>
<p>at my school there's no correlation; two of us were NMSF and the best (in terms of academic) schools that we got into were Dartmouth. Meanwhile, we have multiple people matriculating at Princeton, as well as one at Brown, Columbia, and Harvard.</p>
<p>Were those NM Commended students? Was there any additional hook with those students like great sportsperson, great research etc.</p>
<p>ParentOfIvyHope, I disagree. I think that there is a logic to admissions at HYPS. They have the luxury of choosing from thousands of excellent candidates and endeavor to create the best student body they can. Admissions only appear random because we as applicants have almost no idea of what the college's greatest needs are to build their student body. </p>
<p>Say Billy is an excellent applicant (grades, scores, recs, EC's, etc.) who is also very fine tenor sarrusophone player. If the college has a glut of tenor sarrusophone players already, and 14 other fine tenor sarrusophonists who are also excellent applicants apply, Billy will be at a disadvantage. This is no fault of his; the college simply cannot justify admitting too many more tenor sarrusophonists because it has many other needs to fill. To the admissions office, this decision makes perfect sense. However, to Billy, who has no knowledge of the influx of tenor sarrusophonists and the lack of slots for them, it seems random. Especially when he sees a similarly excellent applicant with a slightly different focus, perhaps one the college needs, get the big envelope. </p>
<p>(Yes the tenor</a> sarrusophone is a real instrument. I have no idea if sarrusophonist is the proper term.)</p>
<p>ParentofIvyHope, two were National Achievement (one Princeton and Yale, oops forgot to put Yale up there). and then one Commended (Columbia) and then the others did not receive NM awards.
Nobody had any merit-hooks that anyone on CC would call a hook. they all did stuff, but no huge awards or anything that I know of. All but Columbia were URMs, and Columbia acceptee had a parent on their faculty though.</p>
<p>I'm a national merit finalist and was rejected from all the ivies that i applied to plus waitlisted at uchicago.</p>
<p>I'm a National Merit finalist, applied to two Ivies, and was rejected by one and waitlisted by the other. I was also rejected by Stanford and UC Berkeley. I don't think top tier schools really care if you are a finalist or not.</p>
<p>It's big deal for some schools, though. My local state university offers guaranteed admission, a full scholarship, and a $1000 per year stipend to finalists.</p>
<p>yeah, I didn't even report to my colleges that I advanced to finalist standing. I doubt it would've had a major effect on my admissions decisions.</p>
<p>I honestly don't think that being NM has much of an effect on admissions. I'm a NM finalist, got rejected from Stanford, Georgetown, and Swarthmore. However, NM is helpful in getting scholarships at most colleges</p>
<p>ParentOfIvyHope, which state/school do you live in/your child goes to?</p>
<p>I don't think it matters much. I'm not a NMF and I got into three Ivies: Dartmouth, Cornell, and Columbia. Columbia shocked me considering they had an 8.9% acceptance rate this year, one of the lowest in the country and the lowest in Columbia history. I got into Swarthmore as well. Focus more on your child's grades, admissions essay, extracurricular activities, and the rigor of their course load because stuff like that is vital to a successful application.</p>
<p>It probably doesn't help, like if 39% of your senior class are National Merit semifinalists and 26% ends up matriculating to an Ivy-caliber university (top 15). .... Even if they were all the same people (which they're probably not), that's nothing near the 75% the OP suggests. </p>
<p>Also, I agree that having high scores without a high GPA will not help you (lazy waste of potential?). A conversation in the UPenn admissions office goes:</p>
<p>"We've got a lot of B's on this transcript, including four in her junior year," Jackson says. "She's described as having lots of potential. But there's a lot of depth to this class. And she's got too many B's for me to be comfortable at a school like this where we do see their top kids coming to Penn."</p>
<p>Stetson: "She ended up getting a 120 point increase on her SATs. But it just proves even more that she's not using her ability."</p>
<p>Jackson: "There are so many B's on her record in a rig [rigorous curriculum]. Still, she's in the top 15 percent of her class. I'd like to hold onto [defer] her."</p>