<p>Hi everyone,
This is my first day/post on College confidential.
I'm a non traditional (worked for a few years after high school) prospective student from abroad. I've applied and have been accepted to the General Studies program at Columbia but am still in the process of making my decision since I'm not sure if it's prudent for me to invest such a sum or if I should just attend a less expensive, less prestigious school.
The question I'm actually asking is about the possibility of a transfer from another college to Columbia before junior year. What would my chances be? Is it harder to transfer than it is to get in? How high would my GPA have to be in freshman and sophomore year? Would the fact that I was admitted but decided not to go for financial reasons be a setback and frowned upon or would there be no prejudice?
What are your opinions?
Also another question.... Is it insane to consider not going if I've already been accepted?
I appreciate all the help...
Thank you.</p>
<p>Hi there,</p>
<p>I’m in the same boat at the moment (trying to decide if going there is worth putting myself in possibly huge amounts of debt) but thought to answer at least one of your questions. It shouldn’t be too tough if you were admitted the first time so long as your grades from the other college are great. I am actually going to be transferring to GS after having completed an associate’s degree program and one of the major factors if you decide to go that route would be the grades from your other college. They have to be REALLY good.</p>
<p>Without factoring in other factors (your work experience, your essay, recommendations, etc.), I’d say you have a good shot with anything higher than a 3.7.</p>
<p>Knitty,
thank you so much for your reply.
A 3.7 i believe is doable even though i’ve never attended a school in the U.S. and am not really sure how the grading process works, but I’ve always done my best in school and achieved good results.
What is an ‘associate’s degree’ program? Is it something like a bachelors or is it different? Does it matter which school you’re transferring from even if you hold a high GPA? Is there prejudice?
Do you believe you’ll go?
Are you an American citizen? Have you applied for some scholarships and aid? What options are open to you? Are you considering a loan? I would love to share thoughts with you on reasons for and against going to such a University…</p>
<p>Please note that my answers are all based on personal experience and do not include exceptions that schools give on a case-by case basis or anything like that.</p>
<p>What is an ‘associate’s degree’ program? </p>
<p>This is a two year degree program that you can take at many different colleges – community colleges, some four year colleges, etc.) If you complete the program, it is the equivalent of completing the first two years of your bachelor’s degree. It is not the same as a bachelor’s. For example, I graduated with an associate’s degree in history this year. </p>
<p>See here: [Associate’s</a> degree - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Associate’s_degree]Associate’s”>Associate degree - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>I chose to go this route after taking time off from school to focus on my career in IT. I chose it because at the time, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to finish my bachelor’s and needed to build my confidence with taking college-level courses and for these reasons:</p>
<p>1) Money. Didn’t qualify for any aid at all due to my work but was still able to go to school without breaking the bank too much.</p>
<p>2) Community colleges often have classes more accommodating to the life of a working adult than other schools. I was able to finish the degree program by fitting in evening and weekend classes exclusively.</p>
<p>3) Community colleges often have agreements with a lot of colleges to ensure that credits transfer over smoothly for those interested in finishing a bachelor’s degree program elsewhere. This is highly dependent on the school.</p>
<p>4) Finishing the program shows schools that you want to go to that you have the discipline to finish something, even if it is “only” a two year degree program.</p>
<p>Is it something like a bachelors or is it different? </p>
<p>Different. See above.</p>
<p>Does it matter which school you’re transferring from even if you hold a high GPA? </p>
<p>Not sure. I don’t think so but only because I didn’t expect to get into GS after finishing my degree at my local community college and I got in. Columbia-anything wasn’t even on my roadmap despite the GPA that I maintained until a professor suggested it to me because of its History program and my grades. I applied thinking that there was no chance in hell since I wasn’t a veteran and I have a spotty academic history.</p>
<p>Is there prejudice?</p>
<p>I interviewed with a member of the GS admissions committee and there didn’t seem to be any when they talked about it. So if there is prejudice, it’s hidden well. I feel though that being able to maintain a good GPA on a mostly full-time schedule in addition to my family, extracurricular, and work responsibilities showed them that I had the discipline and potential to succeed there. (Or maybe they just think they’ll get a lot of cash out of me, who knows?)</p>
<p>Not sure where else prejudice might come from, since I haven’t started there or anything. If it’s from students, well, I don’t really care about that. It would seem rather immature from that direction.</p>
<p>Do you believe you’ll go?</p>
<p>Not sure. I called them today and told them that my decision is highly dependent on my financial aid info. I hear that GS isn’t very good with giving financial aid to students. I qualified for a scholarship through the honor society that I joined at my community college (another plus of going to community college for an associate’s) </p>
<p>Also, I need to do more research to see how flexible classes might be with evenings and weekends and such. Might have to do some juggling if I have to take classes during the day.</p>
<p>These factors will basically determine if I go at this point.</p>
<p>Are you an American citizen? </p>
<p>Yes.</p>
<p>Have you applied for some scholarships and aid? </p>
<p>I applied for the GS Scholarship stuff and filled out the FAFSA. I’m now also looking into what my other options are through stuff like FastWeb, etc. and applying for other scholarships.</p>
<p>What options are open to you? </p>
<p>See above.</p>
<p>Are you considering a loan?</p>
<p>I might, depending on the options available for loans. I have a ballpark figure that I’ve decided can be the burden I can take on, which highly depends on if I want to do graduate school or not, and highly dependent on the conditions of the loans. If my debt turns out to be higher than this figure, I might decide to defer my admission for a year or continue my education at another school.</p>