<p>M.C. Congratulations!!!</p>
<p>Giuli: Fingers crossed…TWO WEEKS? OUCH!</p>
<p>M.C.: you realize, of course, that now you have to post your stats. Come on, it’s only fair!</p>
<p>Anyone else hear anything? Promising evidence of ANY kind? Each day that goes by without a change in my FinAid status is like a nail in the coffin of my hope…</p>
<p>Thanks BB!!! You can imagine how thrilled I am. I can’t remember having ever received a more wonderful phone call than the one I received today. (Even though my cell dropped the call mid-way through and ended up forcing the admissions person to voice mail – faux pas!)</p>
<p>Stats:</p>
<p>Prospective Major at CU: Comparative Lit. & Society</p>
<p>College 1 (after high school gap year):
Highly-selective art school
GPA: 3.6 (3 semesters)</p>
<p>College 2:
Humanities program at different art school
GPA: 3.5 (2 semesters)</p>
<p>College 3:
Public 4-year university
GPA: 4.0 (1 semester)</p>
<p>(cumulative GPA: 3.6)</p>
<p>Work Experience/Info:</p>
<p>At my first school I had an internship on the design and research committee for a massive exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, (the only undergrad to get one).</p>
<p>After taking time off from my first school to work, I launched a small business (a design firm) 50/50 with my business partner which has become a not-as-small business. We’ve been increasingly successful over the past few years, we have a few employees and a couple big clients and recently relocated the company from San Francisco to NYC. And it all started as what was going to be temporary work while I transitioned from an art school/art theory background into Humanities/literary theory study. But it took off. Anyway…</p>
<p>Being a business owner has been an incredible adventure but alas, I’ve always been an academic at heart and am long overdue to return to a more intellectual world.</p>
<p>Congratulations MC!!! I have a friend at Columbia GS and he loves it.</p>
<p>Thank you rcave! I’m glad to hear that your friend is happy at GS. That seems to be the general consensus, based on the very informal research I’ve done.</p>
<p>I’m incredibly excited and now I have to wait for the actual admissions packet which I was told I should receive next week.</p>
<p>I’m also waiting to read more good news on this thread!</p>
<p>Congrats, MC! I’m glad to see you’ve made it and got the news back in a relatively timely manner. 
Hopefully, they’ll be speedy with me. I dunno how long I’ll be able to take it now, haha.</p>
<p>Thanks GTW! Yes, I’m amazed at how quickly I received a decision. Hopefully I just got the ball rolling, so to speak, and the acceptances will be forthcoming for the rest of you very soon.</p>
<p>Today’s another day! Anyone else get anywhere on the financial aid page yet? To recap for any who missed it, one day I was able to log on to Student Fin. Aid when just days before I had been unable to do so. Shortly after, I received my admissions notification.</p>
<p>Specifically:
From within the application tracking page (after entering my ID and D.O.B.), I clicked the link to Fin. Aid (“Columbia University Financial Aid System Online”). On the “Login” portion of the resulting page, I entered my ID (the C######### number) and for my password I entered my birthday in MMDDCCCC format.</p>
<p>Good luck everyone!</p>
<p>No luck with the FinAid trick, which just makes me more and more despondent every time I get a code IA. </p>
<p>Anyone else manage to get something other than the IA screen?</p>
<p>Hi, everyone - I have also applied to Columbia’s School of General Studies for Spring 2011 admission. I am also waiting anxiously for a response. It’s exciting to hear that someone has been accepted and someone has been called for an interview. So things are happening. Does anyone know approximately how many applicants they tend to get for spring admission? I keep hoping it’s not too many! Thank you, MC for the tip about the financial aid page. I’ll be checking regularly! Hope to see you all in January!</p>
<p>Congrats MC. Bask in the joy while you can, because when your semester begins, you’ll be working like a dog just to keep up with the average Joe/Jane here (just like the rest of us).</p>
<p>Thanks ComaPrison. I am indeed trying to exhaustively exploit my (soon to be non-existent) free time, not that I have all that much right now anyway. But still, I know what you mean and I am ready to submit myself to the challenge.</p>
<p>Hey everyone… it’s a new week! This is destined to be the week many of you hear SOMETHING.</p>
<p>I noticed on the application tracking page that the data was updated last night (Sunday). Keep checking those Fin. Aid pages! Come on people! WHO’S COMING WITH ME?!?</p>
<p>Hey MC! I had my interview on Thursday so I think it’s still early for me to expect a decision…I’m going crazy!</p>
<p>I got nothing. Code IA. Still.</p>
<p>Stay strong!</p>
<p>Well congratulations, MC! That’s wonderful news! </p>
<p>Again, if you or anyone else wants to meet up when you get here, let me know. When I have the time, I’m glad to show people around and help them navigate the Columbia system. Also, speaking of precious free-time, and how little there may be, enjoy yours as long as you can.</p>
<p>I remember during one of our orientation events Dean Peter Awn, our dean and renowned scholar of Islam, made the following statement, referring to those of us who’d come directly from another institution:</p>
<p>“You may have some idea that things will be different here. But, just you wait, because it’s about to hit you right between the eyes.”</p>
<p>Ah, I just realized that I’m restating ComaPrison’s advice. So, I’ll offer another hearty congratulations to balance out to warnings:</p>
<p>WELCOME TO COLUMBIA! CONGRATULATIONS!</p>
<p>BoolaBoola, we’re still not in our 4-6 week window. Granted, some received their notices earlier (AM and MC, for example), but we don’t technically have to start freaking out until Monday, when that window opens. I’m still getting the IA code as well. It’s natural to get nervous around now—I’m pretty nervous, myself (and I have the strangest dreams these days!)—but there’s still an abundance of hope and our chances haven’t runneth off.</p>
<p>Seriously though, party as much as you can before your first semester starts.</p>
<p>Still alive and waiting. Does GS Admissions observe Veterans Day tomorrow or Friday, if at all?</p>
<p>I don’t see any mention of observance of Veterans Day on the Columbia academic calendar. I’ll bet the GS admissions officers are working!</p>
<p>You all must be losing your minds waiting. I don’t know why I was relieved of the torture so quickly. But now I’m desperately waiting for my admissions packet which I was told would probably arrive this week. So the anticipation lives on…</p>