<p>And just can't help feeling that Columbia's Application just doesn't give enough room to "capture" the person that I am. There's no room to explain activities (not even the one line that the common app gives), very short, stringent character limits on other responses. A 500 word essay can't do everything. The only part of the application I'm satisfied with is the books/readings portion. It all makes me feel as though Columbia is really just looking at scores and numbers, and hard "facts". </p>
<p>Dunno, maybe I'm just comparing it to the MIT app, which give MORE than enough room to write and expand. Does anyone else feel this way?</p>
<p>I think that the 500 word essay can do everything. The style of your writing shows a lot about your personality. Plus, the people who can convey their personality in the limited space given show that they can be concise and effective at the same time. </p>
<p>Anyways, there are also teacher recommendations in addition to the scores and numbers which are very important. </p>
<p>Sorry that I disagree, I may be biased. I always defend Columbia.</p>
<p>hey columbia provides the additional information part to add more information if you feel you did not have the opportunity to explain something. some students use it, some use it better than others, some end up sinking themselves by how they use it.</p>
<p>1) columbia gets enough information about you piecemeal that they get a great sense about, who you are, what you’re like, how you describe yourself, your investment, your energy. so i think this is more a question of your perception, you want to feel like you have more control of the application - and that is certainly okay. but you do have a lot of control - you decide your recommenders, you can even explain to them what CU is looking for, you write your activities, even what you write as your title matters, your interest section matters, what you say about columbia. these small spots are completely in your hands.</p>
<p>2) invariably an application will have some criticisms. and when i applied when most folks still did it by paper, it was just as hard because people would complain they write too big and didn’t have space. i think we have to realize that an application wont make everyone happy. and then there is the fear that if they make it longer folks will abuse the space or feel it necessary to include something. also many students might not apply if they think too much is required - so you have to sort of go the middle of the road about it, and make sure the application does its job - to collect information from a student and provide enough for a judgment to be made. so though you might want something better, columbia continues to walk the fine line between getting what it needs, keeping the app short, and maintaining columbia’s own personal quirks.</p>
<p>3) columbia adcoms pretty much obsess over everything you do on the app, how you use the limited space and how you choose to represent yourself. from the actual books you write, to your most important activity, essay, everything is looked at very closely. and even if grades and numbers get you noticed, it is the personal that gets you admitted. otherwise there wouldn’t be all those folks with 2400 or so SAT scores that are denied regularly. so don’t worry, what you write and what you say does matter.</p>
<p>@admissionsgeek–thanks, I feel a little better now. I guess the reason I’m worried is because my writing/activities are the backbone of my application (my scores/stats are good, but nothing like 800’s and 100’s that will by themselves distinguish me from other applicants), and I just hope the adcom’s pay enough attention to them. I did include additional info (93 words, tried to keep it brief) about one of my activities that I thought needed more explaining. There are issues and topics in my life that I am deeply passionate about, I just hope that come’s across well in my application.</p>
<p>Do you know why Columbia is the only Ivy that doesn’t use the common app? Is it just an independence thing?</p>
<p>nano, years back columbia built a system to allow for online submission of materials before some schools even knew what computers were. so it would cost them a pretty penny to completely reformat just for the sake of the commonapp (especially when you have a good thing cooking). and spending such in an economic downturn probably is a luxury than a necessity.</p>
<p>considering that columbia doesn’t see any lack of apps, and can still control its own application, it hasn’t changed over.</p>
<p>among alum circles there are purists that like columbia having its own application, and a great pride to know we can outstrip great schools in apps without resorting to the commonapp. (it means kids really want to apply to columbia, and not just add us to their registry.) i get the arguments from kids that they want something easier and more formalized, and i know some salivating alums probably note that going to the commonapp would put columbia in stanford/harvard territory as far as apps - which would shrink the admit rate to something absurd. but i probably fall in the purist camp - i like the character of the app, the spirit of the questions, and as a former tour guide, i respect the people that take time to put it together. it gives you a sense that columbia is not something you buy wholesale. if there is anything i lament, i think that on the other hand having your own app can make you seem exclusive and prevent kids from less than savvy backgrounds (or those that eschew exclusivity - even though columbia is one of the least pretentious colleges i’ve been around) from applying. and ultimately that is my biggest concern as an active alumnus and a commenter on this board: that kids feel they can if they so desire apply to columbia and that having its own app isn’t a deterrent.</p>
<p>Since you are an insider of the Columbia admission office, can I ask you how can I track the status of my application such as whether Columbia has received my school report, score report, recommendations? The website said I had to wait until mid-Feb to check. Isn’t it too late by then? Why does it take so long?</p>
<p>lol insider? i am just an alum interviewer and i used to help out when i was a ugrad as a tour guide. it means i know some stuff, but can’t tell you anything from the perspective of an admissions officer.</p>
<p>but as for your question. they used to have it so that you could check the status right away, but kids used to call all the time asking if their information had been received when they had only sent it a few days before (i had a few friends that worked at the front desk). it got to the point that it was not helping the student and it was taking up a lot of time for the front desk people. so they made it so that kids could only see their status after columbia had pretty much gone through all the mail they had before kids started to inquire if things were missing. </p>
<p>it makes sense - it lets them do their job.</p>
<p>do you feel like you are missing anything? and it isn’t too late. columbia doesn’t mail until late march or april 1. so mid feb gives them a lot of time to collect things and review kids.</p>
<p>Thank you for your explanation. I feel like this is one area where Columbia can make improvements. If there is a system to provide quick feedback, there is no need for people to call the front desk. I submitted my application a month ago and I just want Columbia to confirm that they have received everything. </p>
<p>I also read your posting regarding Columbia alum interviews. It’s very informative and I want to thank you for sharing your thoughts. You mentioned that the interviews are selective. Is it fair to assume that Columbia is more interested in interviewing people they’re likely to admit? I submitted my application in early Dec but I have not received an invitation yet (I live in NY metro area) and does that mean my chance at Columbia is low?</p>
<p>yea i hate having to write 500 word essays. Usually when I write essays i just write, then cut down to the exact number which was really hard for me But I understand that since its harder to write a great short essay, colleges like giving word limits. Still i prefer no word limits :D.</p>
<p>you don’t have to write a 500 word essay for Columbia. it says on the website and on the app that it’s 1-2 pages. and it doesn’t specify single or double spaced.</p>
<p>haha yeah like on the common app? i remember i asked one college if i could go over the word limit a little, say 530 words, and they were like: NO! </p>
<p>wait…the common app has a word limit? WHAT! I don’t know if I knew that! Anyway, any college that allowed me to attach a word document instead of type information into box I think I fudged a little bit on the word limit hehe. I hope they don’t literally sit there and check. And a lot of school said ~500 words…so I took that literally.</p>
<p>glacier - no they are not selective in that sense. we don’t know anything about you as interviewers beyond very few biographical details (your name, your school, and your interested majors). </p>
<p>but we can’t interview every person, we have a docket of kids, and try to get to as many as possible. it is more random than in any way prescriptive.</p>
<p>many kids are admitted that do not receive an interview. and remember an interview can go both ways - it could help or hurt you.</p>
<p>glacier - re: your point about quick feedback. i think it makes sense, but it is difficult to do. i think students don’t realize the boatloads of mail that places like columbia go through. and the fact that your envelope has to be opened, sorted, data entered. the stuff postmarked on the first, might take a few weeks before it gets processed. </p>
<p>i know that students want to know that something was received - well that is hard because it is not as if they write down, received package 23,010 from John Doe. so best is if you send it as certified mail through USPS or use something with a document tracker (UPS/Fedex). asking columbia to tell you the moment they receive something is a bit impossible. and let’s assume that you have a loose recommendation for someone with a very common name - how are they supposed to figure out it belongs to you and not someone else. i think the onus should be on the applicants to make sure materials are sent through reliable means, or to use electronic submissions that are quicker to process.</p>
<p>admissionsgeek, Thank you for your replies. I am a shy person at least when talking to unfamiliar people. So I guess it might be my advantage not to have an interview. </p>
<p>As to sorting applicaiton materials, that’s a problem for every school but obviously most others have a solution already that they could provide status within 3-5 days of submission.</p>
<p>How can having an interview hurt you, unless you are some sort of psycho freak? I just imagine adcoms looking over the application of someone who had the oppurtunity to have an interview but chose not to, and thinking “hmm this person was clearly not interested enough in our school” or “they must have something to hide”. An interview may not boost your application, but choosing not to have seems like it will hurt you. admissiongeek, could you clarify what you meant by that?</p>
<p>it is pretty clear. an interview COULD hurt you. i mean it is not a stretch of the imagination that a bad interview could be the crack in a water tight story, or a great interview could lead to a reinspection of your other work. that an interview by itself is not benign.</p>
<p>and i don’t think you need to be a psychofreak. let’s suppose you show up to the interview and tell the interviewer you don’t know anything about columbia (which could be true, or could be just nerves), it gets relayed to the adcom. </p>
<p>i believe on par though that what you stated is true nano. in general having an interview probably is advantageous (it gives you a way to express yourself you otherwise cannot), but i have had enough bad interviews from smart kids to know that don’t take the interview for granted (you have to work to impress your interviewer). come prepared, come excited, and realize that this is not the first time you’ve really had to sell yourself, and it wont be the last.</p>
<p>as for glacier - life is unkind to the shy. i hate to be such a brutalist, but that will be something you will have to grapple with for many years. start getting out of your shell. be confident. and you can be quiet and pensive and yet not be shy - shy implies you are afraid or uncomfortable with yourself. i do not mean to say that you are or not (i think you are pretty bold on here), but i wouldn’t call yourself shy, and certainly don’t use that word in an interview. *and i concede this is my view of shy, but it comes with quite a bit of conversation on the topic.</p>
<p>lastly, i don’t think it is for lack of ability that columbia doesn’t post, but considering even if they process 95% of people within 3-5 days, that still leaves over 1000 people that will spend the next few weeks calling daily. and i am not sure if you applied to cornell, but they do the same thing.</p>
But I understand that since its harder to write a great short essay, colleges like giving word limits. Still i prefer no word limits :D.</p>
hehe. I hope they don’t literally sit there and check. And a lot of school said ~500 words…so I took that literally.</p>