<p>I am an international student (from South East Asia) seeking admission in Fall '10. Though I'm not over 21 (I'll be almost 19 by the time I join college), I happen to be a non-traditional student.</p>
<p>I joined High School directly in 10th grade- there is a gap in my education from the middle of 8th grade to the end of 9th grade because I had been working as a junior accountant, a freelance reporter and a teacher (teaching underprivileged children). I had to take up jobs out of necessity as my father had been bedridden for quite a few years and I had no choice but to help support myself and my family.</p>
<p>I continued school till 11th grade and now am studying independently (I shall take a few GCE AS/A-level exams in May/June this year) while working part time.</p>
<p>I've had a GPA of 3.9 on a scale of 4.0 (UW), received many awards and participated in a lot of extra-curricular activities while in school.</p>
<p>My academic achievements include -</p>
<p>The Trustees' Award for Best Overall Development in Academics and Co-curricular Activities (received certificate and scholarship/cash prize)
Class Topper- Rank 2nd among 120 students
Topper in Economics</p>
<p>My extra-curricular achievements include-</p>
<p>Freelance writer.
Purple-stripe belt in karate
Table Tennis player
Badminton player
Involved with the school magazine
Participation in inter-school quizzes, competitions, debates, etc
Participation in creative writing workshops
Regular community service
Class Representative (Student Government)
Co-founder of Debate Society</p>
<p>I now am the coordinator of an international NGO and part of the governing body of a national one. I've also started a small distributorship business of my own.</p>
<p>Kindly let me know if I'd be eligible to apply to GS .</p>
<p>I shall take the SAT this month.</p>
<p>Quit fooling yourself, the Adcoms will see right through your shenanigans and reject you. As far as the General Studies program, regardless of what you read and what people say, you’ll be surprised that REAL prospective students have taken HEAVY, and RIGOROUS course loads in other post-secondary institutions before transferring with 3.9 GPA’s. Sorry, but you do not fit into the mold, better luck next time. </p>
<p>The days of 50% acceptance into General Studies are gone. In fact, it was gone a long time ago. But even then back in those days the candidates were all self-selecting, as in, everyone had 3.8’s and above. Just last year, the acceptance was a whopping 18%. This is primarily due to the economy, and adults are coming back to school, coupled with students, like you, that are attempting to fool the system, but doing a better job of fooling themselves.</p>
<p>I went to an information session and I was surprised to find that half of the prospective students in there were still UNDER 20 years of age. LOL. Ahh geez, I guess they were all ballerinas. OR, they all were reading the same Ivy-Gate article from 5 years ago… kids these days…</p>
<p>The general consensus is that the further away you are from 18 years of age, along with a rigorous academic background, phenomenal EC’s, AND WORK EXPERIENCE, the more likely you are to be a competitive candidate. Which is why the median age is 29. </p>
<p>The younger you are, the more likely your not going to get in, no matter how good the conjured reason may be.</p>
<p>A harsh reply, but true nonetheless. (I should point out however that the post is a year old, and he/she was applying for Fall 2010 
)</p>
<p>@RandomAdmit - Do you have a source for the 18% figure? I’m not doubting it, just curious.</p>
<p>I don’t think I’d put any stock to RandomAdmits comments. Let’s bury this thread. It’s redonk.</p>
<p>I am completely aware on how old this thread is. But the fact remains that threads like these always come out on google searches on General Studies(I checked). So I wanted to respond to it just in case there are others that will read it and decide to pull the same “shenanigans.”</p>
<p>As far as the General Studies program, its true value (from my perspective) is that it brings the Ivy League experience to OLDER, TRULY DISADVANTAGED ( as in you grew up in Nicaragua making Nike shoes at a sweat shop, or you were dodging rocket launchers in Iraq, etc etc. ) , and non-traditional students who would otherwise not have the chance to attend a school like Columbia. And they, in turn, bring a seasoned perspective to the campus that most younger (and more traditional) students do not have. </p>
<p>Since this person has attempted to “pull a fast one” on Adcoms and stage himself as non-traditional is not only insulting, but it does no do justice for the people that have gone through thick and thin to have a chance at an Ivy League education. </p>
<p>With that said, ADCOMS are not going to admit any schmuck into the program. The classes ARE rigorous, because you are taking THE SAME classes, from the SAME teachers, as other Columbia College, & Barnard kids. That is why they make sure the applicant is a 3.8 +++++</p>
<p>wow, randomadmit…</p>
<p>what inside knowledge permits you to make such sweeping assessments about the adcoms’ admissions practices? you write, although eloquently enough, and although with clear conviction, with a hostility that is truly unbecoming of both you and your institution.</p>
<p>the spirit of the school of general studies–as i perceive it and as it seems to model itself to the public, anyway–is that there are no such preconceived molds against which they assess their candidates. they consider each application holistically and are open to admitting any student who presents a legitimate justification for joining their unique program, which i would summarize as providing the opportunity to attend school part-time, in New York City, at a top university that offers a diverse range of academic departments (and the superb course selection that comes with it), eminent professors, and bright, motivated peers.</p>
<p>i respect that you are territorial about your school and apparently frustrated by the false perception that it is not as rigorous as columbia or that it is not highly selective in its own way, but you need not lash out at every interested young person whom you assume is manipulatively using the school as a back door to ivy league prestige.</p>
<p>and i don’t think that the school intrinsically favors older applicants, nor do i think that a “HEAVY and RIGOROUS” courseload is categorically necessary for acceptance. after all, the school is structured based on the expectation that students can and will take two or three courses at a time due to external obligations (obligations varying in nature from work, to family, to personal) ,and one would certainly presume that the compelling circumstances that motivated such a preference also existed while the applicants attended their prior institutions. academic success? definitely necessary. four to six classes? probably not as much.</p>
<p>I agree with fisherman93. Your responses are a bit over the top, and considering in the fashion you replied to OP showed that you did not notice the time gap and expected a reply.</p>
<p>More importantly, as fisherman93 and AMorrison pointed out, I’d like to know where you got that 18% acceptance rate from. I went to an Information Session about a month or so ago and an Admissions Officer directly told me it is about 30% when I asked.</p>
<p>If the guy wants to waste his $60 to apply for GS even though he is not a traditional student, let him. Why does it really matter when the officers will quickly throw it in the trash. I’m with HelloJan on his reply as well.</p>
<p>Yea… 30%… They tell everyone its a high percentage because they want to raise hopes and above all, raise revenue from applications…</p>
<p>This is a more accurate data, its not 18% but it is also not 30%.
College Search is pretty accurate on admissions data with respect to other schools also.</p>
<p>[College</a> Search - Columbia University: School of General Studies - GS - At a Glance](<a href=“College Search - BigFuture | College Board”>College Search - BigFuture | College Board)</p>
<p>Let’s just use this as a reminder of how cool it is to be supportive, welcoming, and reassuring to potential applicants - regardless of how convincing third party speculative data can be.</p>
<p>Totally random question came to mind. Percentage aside, anyone have any info on the average number of applicants per Fall and/or Spring semester?</p>
<p>@JamesIG: It seems to be the number of APPLICANTS that is precisely the most difficult information to find. I was admitted this semester (1st midterm down! 4 to go! woohooo! so tired . . .) and I know that our full admitted Spring '11 class was around 100-110 people. Obviously the Fall admits constitute a much larger class. But the application pool size remains a mystery.</p>
<p>I’m not sure if you’ve seen this:
[Statistics</a> & Facts | Columbia University in the City of New York](<a href=“http://www.columbia.edu/content/statistics-facts.html]Statistics”>Statistics and Facts | Columbia University in the City of New York)
But here you can find lots of moderately interesting statistical data about school headcounts, majors, etc. However, admissions-specific statistics are still absent for GS.</p>