<p>I was just wondering how the admissions committee go about determining who qualify for this program and the usual number of applicants who are accepted for the program. Detailed feedback would be nice.</p>
<p>Hopefully this will give you some insight...</p>
<p>Opportunity Programs and Undergraduate Services</p>
<p>Mission & History of OPUS </p>
<p>Opportunity Programs and Undergraduate Services (OPUS) was founded in 1988 as the umbrella organization for the Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP) and the National Opportunity Program (NOP) at Columbia University. Working with students from Columbia College and The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, OPUS provides intensive, integrated, and comprehensive academic and personal support in order to maximize student success. </p>
<p>Currently found at over sixty independent colleges and universities, the Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP) was established by the New York State Legislature in 1969 to assist eligible New York State residents in obtaining higher education at private institutions. Columbia College has participated in the program since 1970 and The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science has participated since 1978. In 1986, the University created the National Opportunity Program (NOP) and made a commitment to provide the same kind of academic and financial support offered to eligible New York residents to students from the entire United States. </p>
<p>Program Services </p>
<p>Support services available to Program students include: </p>
<p>Full financial aid for the academic year.
Five-week pre-freshman residential & academic summer program.
Individualized/group tutorial services.
Academic, personal, career, and financial counseling.
Professional and peer mentoring programs.
Semester book allowance.
OPUS Textbook Library. </p>
<p>Information about HEOP</p>
<p>What is HEOP?</p>
<p>The Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP) provides supportive services and financial aid to New York State residents attending independent colleges and universities in New York State.</p>
<p>Who is Eligible?</p>
<p>To be eligible for HEOP you must meet all of the following conditions. You must:</p>
<p>1.Have been a resident of New York State for one year preceding your term of entry into HEOP.</p>
<p>2.Possess a high school diploma or a State-approved equivalency diploma or its equivalent. The equivalent of a general equivalency diploma is defined as being one of the following:</p>
<p>a)An Armed Forces Equivalency Diploma, with a minimum score of 40 on each test section and a minimum composite score of 225;</p>
<p>b)A level of knowledge and academic ability equal to the level required for entrance to the educational opportunity program at the institution to which the individual seeks admission.</p>
<p>3.Be educationally disadvantaged. An educationally disadvantaged student is a student who otherwise would not be accepted as a matriculated student under the institution's normal admissions standards in the degree program for which application is made. At open admissions institutions, an educationally disadvantaged student must meet one of the following criteria:</p>
<p>a) Possess a high school equivalency diploma; or
b) Possess the equivalent of a GED; or
c) Have no high school diploma; or
d) Meet other acceptable academic criteria, which differentiate the HEOP student from regularly admitted students (e.g., lower test scores, lower GED scores).</p>
<p>4.Have the potential and motivation for successful completion of college.</p>
<p>5.Be economically disadvantaged.
6.Have been in an approved opportunity program (if a transfer student).</p>
<p>How Do I Apply?</p>
<p>To apply for admission to a Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP), request an application from the institution that you are interested in attending. There are 61 HEOP programs throughout New York State, offering a wide variety of academic courses in major fields of study. Specific information can be obtained by writing to the HEOP program on that campus. A roster of HEOP programs is listed at the end of this brochure.</p>
<p>Please note: Many independent colleges require you to apply by February 1 of the year you intend to begin. This date varies at each campus. Please plan to apply as early as possible.</p>
<p>If I Am Accepted - What Next?</p>
<p>Summer Program. Entering students usually are required to take part in a prefreshman summer program. The summer program is designed to orient the student to college life, initiate a program of academic skills building, and acquaint the student with the services available through HEOP.</p>
<p>Supportive Services. During the summer and academic year, supportive services take many forms:</p>
<p>a.Remedial and Developmental Courses. If you need additional academic assistance to prepare you for college-level work, HEOP can meet your academic needs. Before you begin your classes, the HEOP professional staff will evaluate your academic strengths and weaknesses, and design a specific academic program to help eliminate your academic deficiencies. You will have the opportunity to take noncredit and credit remedial/developmental courses. These courses provide instruction in basic skills, reading, writing, vocabulary, mathematics, and other areas of study. </p>
<p>b.Tutorial Services. HEOP provides you with tutorial services to assist you with your academic courses. Tutorial services are conducted on a one-to-one basis or in groups, depending upon your needs. Some tutors are competent, experienced HEOP students and some are professional tutors. </p>
<p>c) Counseling Services. Counseling services are provided by the HEOP staff on an individual or group basis to assist you with any problems which may interfere with your academic work. You will receive the following types of counseling:</p>
<p>Academic - The HEOP counselor will assist you in selecting your academic major and courses. You can take a reduced course load during your first semester. You are also given an extra year of eligibility to graduate.</p>
<p>Personal - Adjustment to college life often presents many new problems for HEOP students. Counseling helps you develop your self-confidence, identity, and a positive attitude about learning.</p>
<p>Career - Students are often undecided about what to do after graduation. The HEOP staff will assist you in making career choices. Career counseling will help you in selecting the necessary courses to prepare you for employment or postgraduate study.</p>
<p>Economic Eligibility Criteria for Opportunity Programs</p>
<p>Family Income Scale for the Purpose of Determining Eligibility for Supplemental Financial Assistance for First-time Students Enrolled in Opportunity Programs</p>
<ol>
<li> A student is economically disadvantaged if he or she is a member of a household supported by one member thereof with a total annual income which does not exceed the applicable amount set forth in the following table; or a household supported solely by one member thereof who works for two or more employers with a total annual income which does not exceed the applicable amount set forth in the following table by more than $1,800; or of a household supported by more than one worker thereof or of a household in which one worker is the sole support of a one-parent family, if the total annual income of such households does not exceed the applicable amount set forth in the following tables by more than $4,800. For the purposes of this subdivision, the number of members of a household shall be determined by ascertaining the number of individuals living in the student's residence who are economically dependent on the income supporting the student.</li>
</ol>
<p>FOR STUDENTS FIRST ENTERING COLLEGE ON OR AFTER JULY 1, 2005 </p>
<p>Number in Total annual income in
household (including head preceding calendar year
of household)
1 $14,100
2 19,600
3 22,350
4 27,800
5 32,850
6 38,550
7 42,900
8 47,250
9 51,600
10 55,950
11 60,300
plus $4,350 for each family member in excess of 11</p>
<p>The income figures in the table of this section apply to the student applicant's income only when he or she is an independent student. For purposes of this part, an independent student:</p>
<p>(i) is a student who is 24 years of age or older by December 31 of the program year; or </p>
<p>(ii) is an orphan or ward of the court; or</p>
<p>(iii) is a veteran of the Armed Forces of the United States; or</p>
<ol>
<li> A maximum of 15 percent of the students admitted to a HEOP program may come from households whose income exceeds the scale listed in the preceding table when unusual and extenuating circumstances warrant. Documentation of these circumstances shall be kept on file by the institutions at which such students are enrolled, and shall be corroborated by a disinterested, reliable third party. Categories into which the exceptions may fall are limited to the following:</li>
</ol>
<p>a)Serious mismanagement of the family income, with little accruing to the interest of the student; or</p>
<p>b)A one-time fluctuation in household income, where there is a history of low income; or</p>
<p>i have explained to the financial aid office that due to personal issues, my father has been released from employment and that my mother is the sole provider as of today. Also, i know that my family income exceeds the requisites for the NOP by about $3000. Because of this, am i not eligible for the program? Recently, i faxed an inquiry to the Columbia Admissions office and to Academic Success Program's office inquiring great consideration for the program. I don't know if that was a good move or not but i would like anyone in this forum to evaluate my letter to them to learn if it was persuasive. Anyway, thank you for providing a detailed reply. </p>
<p>This is my inquiry for the NOP</p>
<p>Dear Admissions Officer,</p>
<pre><code> On December 16, 2004, I was reviewing the Columbia application with great grief and disbelief pouting and wondering how I will succeed admission with the credentials I would provide, until my eyes landed on the bold phrase and glared at it; Opportunity Programs: Higher Education Opportunity Program and National Opportunity Program. I read it and I was very intrigued; it significantly brought my hopes up to resurrect. Immediately, I called the admissions office wanting more information on this program; I was then transferred to someone in student affairs with a lovely name, Limary Carasquillo-Montalvo. We had a delightful conversation pertaining to the overview of the program. I, with a ministers optimism, then decided that I would apply to Columbia for admission to the NOP so I can have the opportunity to minimize my academic deficiencies throughout the four years of assistance in college. (Admissions Officer: Why should we grant you admission for the NOP?) I would like to be a part of the National Opportunity Program because it would be a chance for me to redeem myself. In what sense of redemption you ask, the time for whats important kind of redemption. I have been completely ignorant and naive towards my education (the determiner of my future) for the past three years in secondary school and did not bother to seek proper guidance; all I was worried about was making sure that my flashy, crimson Phat Farm shirt matched with my forty dollar Sean John jeans and that my stainless, steel chain and bracelet was glistening enough to blind someone just so that infamous hotties of the school could be around mea sense of temporary popularitynonsense. (It was like a drug addiction) It was not until my junior year, the golden year of improvement, when I thankfully eliminated that phase and began to focus more on the vital thingsthe things that matteredthe beginning of my redemption. All the significant years I screwed up in school would part from me knowing that I would pursue and utilize activities at a private institute of higher education that would significantly prepare me for law school and the frightening reality I would have to face. How grateful and blessed I would feel for that kind of preparationa preparation for adulthooda preparation for survival. However, I visited a web link that Ms. Carasquillo-Montalvo provided for me to explore more on the program and I reviewed a page discussing the financial requirements and learned that I dont meet the requisites (not that I am disappointed). Thus, I typed this letter to inquire great consideration for the National Opportunity Program. Through the years of lacking scholarship (during my I look fly phase), grasping vocabulary and structured sentences in readings, understanding scientific reasoning and analysis, mathematical formulas and applications have been hindering me from additional academic success; I realize and agree that I need and want academic help; and if there is any college that I would be honored to attend that has the resources, the teaching power, and the sincere will to better individuals academic potential it is an Ivy League institute. Even so, I am sure that there actually are others who have the same academic potential and motivation that I have but could not take advantage over some crucial resources (in which I had the opportunity to absorb, but like an ungrateful buffoon, I didnt advance it or even if I did, it was too late) to exploit in order to enhance their education. With that stated, if this program is to genuinely aid those particular students, well then I yield all rights and advantages for them to benefit from this ingenious program, for they deserve it and for I am unfortunate. Because I screwed up my secondary school career, I must accept what I have; it is only fair and a part of my manhood thatll make me stronger and wiser as a black man. With great confidence, after attaining exceptional credentials in another college, I will thus seek admission as a transfer applicant. All I know is that admission to Columbia College is one aspect of self-fulfillment that I must, that I will attain. And there is not any barrier dominant enough to put a cease to my ambitionnot one
not one at all. Thank you for using your most valuable time to read my inquiry for it is the most appreciated.
</code></pre>
<p>have you considered applying to Columbia through the school of general studies?</p>
<p>The Columbia application did not give me that option. It wasn't until after i submitted my application that i learned of the school of general studies.</p>