<p>I was looking though some of the other threads, and it occurred to me that parents could be helpful on this.</p>
<p>Right now, I'm deciding between NYU Stern and Carnegie Mellon.
I am interested in some combination of economics and science.</p>
<p>I was waitlisted by 3 matches, and Columbia.</p>
<p>I am not going to stay on the first 3 waitlists - I like the colleges I got into better at this point, and don't really want to be their backup.</p>
<p>I got my Columbia decision almost a day after everybody else because of some technical glitches. I completely expected a rejection, and was surprised to find out that I was waitlisted.</p>
<p>To be honest, I was angry. Not because I didn't get in, but because it through a wrench in my plan to forget about the waitlists and just focus on where I had been accepted.</p>
<p>Now I'm not sure if I should stay on the Columbia waitlist or not. Also, if I decide to stay on it, I have to decide whether to pursue it, with updates and new recommendation letters and homemade cookies to the admissions office. I'm not completely sure if I would choose Columbia over my current choices, or, if I did by some miracle get accepted after May 1, want to give up whatever college I had decided to go to by that time.</p>
<p>It really depends on how much you like Columbia. Do you like the core curriculum? Do you like NY but want a campus? Does Columbia have better academic offerings in the area you are interested in? If you definitely like it better than CMU or NYU, it doesn’t hurt to stay on the list. No need to send them cookies. (Though obviously a short cover letter and any obvious updates - like awards should be sent.)</p>
<p>Are you more interested in Business over Econ, OP? If so, the NYU Stern or CMU Tepper would set you up nicely with internships and immediate post-grad job opps. A Columbia Econ degree or double-major in science would help more if grad school (or law/med) school is your target.</p>
<p>A few years ago my D was on the Columbia waitlist … that year they didn’t take anyone off the waitlist. If you really love the thought of going to Columbia, stay on the waitlist, but continue to process your deposit and take steps to fall in love with your 1st favorite school. If you get off Columbia’s waitlist, which has a low probability even in years that they use it, then you can figure out what to do from there.</p>
<p>I’m interested in business more than pure economics, and as of right now, don’t intend to go to law or grad school. Well, maybe grad school. But I like the focus that Stern and Tepper have on post-grad jobs and internships.</p>
<p>I like city, but I don’t necessarily have a campus. Columbia’s campus is more similar to CMU’s than to NYU’s,but I don’t necessarily want a campus.</p>
<p>Focus on the colleges that accepted you, but there’s no harm in staying on the Columbia waitlist – I don’t think you should put effort into changing the results though.</p>
<p>I don’t know specifically about Columbia, but many need-blind colleges are not need-blind when it comes to their waitlists – and when they have spots to offer, often go to full-pay students first. (Makes sense for several reasons, both budgetary & pragmatic) So if you are in that category it could be an advantage…</p>
<p>If you “completely” expected a rejection, then it’s extremely unlikely you will be taken off Columbia’s waitlist, if anyone is taken off. Focus on your other colleges and move on</p>
<p>“I like city, but I don’t necessarily have a campus. Columbia’s campus is more similar to CMU’s than to NYU’s,but I don’t necessarily want a campus.”</p>
<p>Like the city: +1 point to Columbia and +1NYU each</p>
<p>Do not want a Campus: -1 for CMU and -1 for Columbia and +1 for NYU</p>
<p>Right now looks like Stern,NYU is the one with confirmed acceptance and +2 on some of your criteria for a College.</p>
<p>Also if you view the following link, it might help to put things in perspective even more clearly,</p>
<p>If you look at the Specialities within a Business Program , the only 2 areas where CMU has an edge over NYU is Production and Management and Qualitative Analysis. Columbia does not figure in the top 20 ranking of any of the specialty areas.</p>
<p>In early May a couple years back, my son was accepted off the Columbia wait list (the College, not SEAS). In early April, he had sent in an additional recommendation from a current teacher and his own cheery letter informing the admissions office about interesting things he had been doing since he filed his application the previous December, things like a school play and an extra-curricular project. No homemade cookies :-)</p>
<p>We got a good financial aid package from them in mid-May, very comparable to the other schools that had accepted him in April. He chose to go to Columbia rather than the school he had initially committed to, and he has enjoyed himself there.</p>
<p>One key thing to understand about being wait listed is that before the end of April, you must commit to one school where you are accepted and pay a (nonrefundable) deposit to secure a place at that school. I would recommend going to all the accepted student events that you can, to get a sense of the place, and of your prospective classmates and faculty. </p>
<p>While my son was working through his own admission process, I did some searching on CC and the web generally about wait listing – From what I have read, it is possible colleges and universities may go to their wait lists before end of April, depending on the yield from their original set of offers</p>
<p>I also read that there are a handful of students who, given the opportunity, hung out on a selective college wait list until August and got accepted really late. I think a lot of parents would encourage to cut your losses before then, though; planning for financials and other logistics in August would be a mad scramble. </p>
<p>Best of luck, whichever university you choose.</p>
<p>You frankly sound better suited to a business major at Stern or CMU than economics at Columbia. Even if accepted off the waitlist, Columbia might ultimately prove a mistake. Take the time to lay out your academic program course by course at the 3 schools. You may ultimately decide the birds currently in hand are preferable to the one tormenting you in the bush.</p>
<p>I decided to stay on the waitlist, and just sent them a completely serious but slightly corny note about why I like Columbia, why its better than the other schools I got into (without naming the other schools), and what I could add to their student body. </p>
<p>I’m not getting my hopes up - I don’t actually care, but I might as well try. That’s been my philosophy for the entire college process, there’s no reason to stop now.</p>
(Though obviously a short cover letter and any obvious updates - like awards should be sent.)</p>