Stupid Question abt Waitlist. Need Help Urgently!

<p>I got waitlisted to Columbia. When I saw my online decions letter, I noticed on the letterhead that it said "columbia College: The Fu Foundation of Engineering and Applied Sciences".</p>

<p>The problem is, I don't want to be an engineer, I want to be a reconstructive plastic surgeon. My questions is was this even the right school for me? I though I was just applying to Comubia Colleege generally. When I checked the Fu website, it seemed more geared to engineering and math than to medicine to me. </p>

<p>In addition, my worst grades were in math and other engineering subjects. I already told Columbia i wanted to remain on the waiting list, though I know its a lost cause. Does anyone think that I could check the part of columbia colege that I applied to while on the waiting lis? And will it even help me? Is there anything I can do to optimize my chances?</p>

<p>I need help desperately because I applied to 10 colleges, and got rejected from 8, waitlisted on 2. I have excellent grades, extracurrculars, SAT scores, etc, so I thought at the very least I would get into UCLA, so i didn't bother to aplly to other safe schools. Well, I got rejected from all my choices, and now if i don't get into columbia or wellesley (my waitlisted schools), i'll have to go to community college. Of course, my counselours and I are appealing the UC decisions.</p>

<p>i'm sorry to hear that, admission system is very strange sometimes and people who are very accomplished do slip through the net. Keep your head up and understand that you are capable of anything - regardless of where you decide to go =)</p>

<p>Coming from Columbia College, it is different to Fu Foundation (SEAS). I'm not sure what you can do to further help your chances apart from letting Columbia know that you are still eager to attend - but I would look at other places just so that if things don't work, you have something to fall back on.</p>

<p>Outch, sry to hear this OP. How many waitlistees does Wellesley accept in the end? Of course nobody knows how many Columbia will eventually admit, but it seems as though most ppl believe that the number will be pretty low. I think you should have your GC call the admissions office to see whether their was something wrong with your app or whether it was just that the competition was extremely fierce. If they tell you the 2nd thing, it's probably a good idea to think about alternatives. If in the end you don't get into Columbia or Wellesley, you should maybe think about getting into some decent UK universities through the clearing process. It'll be better than community college, but it's just a thought.</p>

<p>If all else fails, you should consider taking a gap year and do something that really interests you. Last year on this board, a very accomplished kid got no acceptances as he failed to apply to any safety schools. This year he attends MIT, one of the schools that had previously rejected him. If you are interested in a gap year, post on the parents forum. They have wonderful suggestions. Good luck.</p>

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Does anyone think that I could check the part of columbia colege that I applied to while on the waiting lis? And will it even help me? Is there anything I can do to optimize my chances?

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<p>Huh? I have absolutely no idea what you're asking. It's nearly impossible to get of the CU waitlist, FYI.</p>

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I thought at the very least I would get into UCLA, so i didn't bother to aplly to other safe schools.

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<p>Not that you can do anything about it now, but couldn't you have checked the box for UCSB and solved yourself a whole lot of problems?</p>

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Of course, my counselours and I are appealing the UC decisions.

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<p>Does this ever work? A guy from my high school was rejected from UCLA but got into San Diego, Cal, and two Ivies. He had very high numbers. He tried to appeal the UCLA thing, and it didn't work. My thinking is that his rejection from UCLA could have been something like a pure clerical error where someone dropped his application and put it in the wrong pile.</p>

<p>YES, appeals at the UCs work all the time. My sister got rejected from UCSD becuase of a clerical error, and appealed it. They thought she didn't fulfill the fine arts requirement. I know tons of people who appeal and it seems that there is a very good success rate with them. Try it!</p>

<p>Can you not take a gap year?</p>

<p>Also sofianoori, is it just the UC's or have you heard of appeals working elsewhere?</p>

<p>just the UCs. What do you mean about "not take a gap year?" You mean like take a year off? I don't know about that. You'd have to do something substantial that year, I guess. I was thinking of appealing Penn, but I'm not even sure if you can. Can you?</p>