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Obviously someone who is that far off is not going to expect to get in.
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<p>You'd be surprised. I've interviewed kids who are very far off and who have convinced themselves -- or someone has convinced them -- that they have a good chance at Columbia. I don't know if someone tells them some BS self-esteem touchy-feely stuff about how they can be anything you want to be if you just, or they're ignorant about the process, or what not.</p>
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It was a hard deal, and a lot of people who are good candidates didn't get in (as the letter said), as usual with any ivy league. And its not complete BS, because out of 22,000 people, there are more than 1,300 people who have bright futures and will make something of themselves (as the letter said also).
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<p>You needed a BS form rejection letter from Columbia to reassure yourself that you might have a bright future and can potentially make something of yourself in life? You're missing the point: the letter is just a BS form rejection letter sent to everyone, and it says the same obvious feel-good stuff that every other college's rejection letter says every single year.</p>
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considering how few people are as blunt as C'02 in college, his attitude is quite refreshing at times
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<p>I disagree; Columbia -- more so than other more conformist schools -- has a lot of people who have confidence in themselves and aren't afraid to speak their minds.</p>
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As for you Columbia2002--I was waiting for your sarcastic comments as I scrolled down the page, and I really just don't understand why you have to be so rude. I was accepted at Columbia, but your attitude really turns me off. God.
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<p>Which part of my post is rude? Which part is sarcastic? Which part do you disagree with?</p>
<p>I did an article on college rejection letters for my high school newspaper years ago. They were all pretty similar. The fun part was writing to colleges asking for a rejection letter ("No, I'm not a masochist..."). The most unusual rejection was Brandeis saying you're in the "spring of your life."</p>
<p>It would be interesting if colleges differentiated between "Ooooh, you were sooooo close" and "Why are you wasting our time?" but they don't.</p>
<p>At least college applicants get a response either way. In real life, job seekers often get no reply at all.</p>
<p>I echo Rachelovesyou's sentiments. I am going to graduate from McGill University this spring and can't help dish out my two cents, because these discussions bring back a lot of memories.</p>
<p>I have learnt from undergrad experience that as long as you go to a top tier school it's not so much where you go but what you do with your undergrad experience is what matters . College admissions are a crapshoot. </p>
<p>Think of it this way: the schools that didn't admit you made an oversight and are losing out on calling y'all alums.Too bad for them.</p>
<p>Please try not to derive your self worth from which college you attend. It's a hard thing to do what with all this prestige whoring that goes on these days.</p>
<p>I was quite disappointed myself when I didn't get enuff aid from the Ivies way back in '04. My undergrad experience couldn't have been more fun. I turned down the ivies once, and I am turning them down again for grad school. I am going to JHU. IMO Harvard and gang are losing a fine candidate.</p>
<p>Take heart guys. Life will take care of you.Goodluck!</p>
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It would be interesting if colleges differentiated between "Ooooh, you were sooooo close" and "Why are you wasting our time?" but they don't.
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<p>The Waitlist?</p>
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At least college applicants get a response either way. In real life, job seekers often get no reply at all.
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<p>For one, you pay colleges $75 and don't ever pay to apply for a job. So you're in essence paying for the college to send you a decision. </p>
<p>And while you may not hear anything if you just send in a resume / cover letter to a job, the far more work goes into a college application. And I've never heard of an industry where people who actually get called in to interview for a job do not get a response.</p>
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Think of it this way: the schools that didn't admit you made an oversight and are losing out on calling y'all alums.Too bad for them.
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<p>Thinking of it this way is illogical because elite schools each only have a finite number of spots. They're making a calculated decision on which 1000 people they eventually want to be alums of their school, and can't possibly make everyone eventual alums. They haven't made an oversight.</p>
<p>I agree - as subjective as the application process is, their decision is still a calculated decision under uncertainty. So yes they definitely reject future super-stars, but hindsight is twenty twenty, and colleges who accepted the super-stars could easily have not known or been very unsure of their potential super-stardom. Columbia (and any other college) takes students in because they feel that through columbia(their college) these kids have a greater liklihood of becoming super-stars.</p>
<p>There is a lot of negativity going on here.
Just sayin.</p>
<p>But seriously, I have wanted to go to Columbia since junior year. I wore my Columbia T-shirt every day we had a test in AP Chem and to the SATs. (I know...sad. Obsessive. And ridiculous.) I have wanted to live in New York for so long, and Columbia was my opportunity. EVERYTHING fit: I had a perfect interview, I love the Core and think it is the absolutely perfect way to learn, I love the city, Columbia's colors are my favorite color, etc. etc. </p>
<p>And then I got deferred ED. And then I got rejected.</p>
<p>But somehow after all this leadup, I've realized that it's clearly not the place for me. There are SO MANY great insitutions out there and there's always grad school. It really sucked for a bit because I thought there was no way I wouldn't get in...not because I'm amazing or anything, just because it fit SO perfectly.</p>
<p>But I didn't. And...I don't know. Things happen for a reason, I think.</p>
<p>Just posted this in another thread, but the 6% comes from the bulk of the applicants (regular decision CC). Exactly SIX PERCENT of Columbia College regular decision applicants were admitted, which is lower than any other number undergraduate admit rate that I've heard, BAR NONE.</p>
<p>So to all of you out there who didn't quite make it this year, and I don't mean to sound condescending cuz I mean this in the best possible way, I have no doubt in my mind that you are fantastic & intelligent people who would have done well at Columbia, or for that matter, anywhere else you're going!!</p>
<p>Columbia2002: Clearly there are always people who apply to the Ivies who are under qualified, but I think it's sort of rash to assume that if you weren't 1)accepted or 2)placed on the wait list, you were wasting your time. I mean, news alert, there are rejected applicants who could have handled Columbia's workload and excelled just as much as the accepted student. What explains someone who was rejected at Columbia but accepted at Yale?</p>
<p>I was rejected from Columbia, and I'm not going to pretend like I had a good chance at getting in. But I do know plenty of other people who were excellent candidates for the Ivies but got rejected. And I also now a girl who took 2 APs at a competitive public school, had one club for ECs, "kayaking" for activities when she went once with her family, and got into Northwestern and was wait listed at Harvard. The catch is she had double legacies at both schools.</p>
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think it's sort of rash to assume that if you weren't 1)accepted or 2)placed on the wait list, you were wasting your time.
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<p>Um where did I say that?</p>
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And I also now a girl who took 2 APs at a competitive public school, had one club for ECs, "kayaking" for activities when she went once with her family, and got into Northwestern and was wait listed at Harvard. The catch is she had double legacies at both schools.
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<p>No, the catch is she got "courtesy waitlisted" from H. It's very common for schools to put unqualified legacies on the WL because it's less harsh than an outright rejection.</p>
It would be interesting if colleges differentiated between "Ooooh, you were sooooo close" and "Why are you wasting our time?" but they don't.
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<p>When you can finally get off your high horse, maybe you can stop trying to play dumb. I mean, now you can't even pretend like your answer "The Waitlist?" was sarcastic, because you've already tried to pretend like you never implied that all rejected students were "wasting" colleges' times. </p>
<p>And it doesn't matter if she was "courtesy waitlisted". What I'm saying is just because you were rejected from a school doesn't mean you were wasting your time. While you can be quick to defend Harvard's "courtesy wait list", the fact is Northwestern accepted someone who was academically under qualified and took up a spot for someone who really worked for it.</p>
