<p>Hello. I was wondering if there were any successful transfers to Columbia and if so if you could post your stats and any advice for me, as I am really wanting to transfer to Columbia for Fall 08. This would be greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>I have successfully transferred to Columbia College and will be a student there next fall, entering as a junior.</p>
<p>Major: East Asian Studies, Economics
HS GPA: 3.2 UW
SATs: 1440/780/740/670
Transferring From: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
College GPA: 3.86
Honors, Awards: Scholarship for one semester study in China, honors program
ECs: Started the only film club at my university, studied abroad in China (twice). Staff writer for a campus publication.</p>
<p>...But honestly stats don't matter beyond basic minimums (I'd say you need at least a 3.75 GPA to be competitive). The real reason I was accepted was because I had a very legitimate reason for wanting to transfer: academic opportunity. I didn't write about how much I disliked my previous university or how cool it must be to live in New York. I stuck to academics. Also, in my second essay, I conveyed a true passion for learning about Asia, and how I have jumped at every opportunity to study there.</p>
<p>So essentially what do you need to do to get into Columbia as a transfer student? 1. Get good grades and recommendations. 2. Have a very good reason for wanting to transfer (meaning NOT prestige, social, or locational). 3. Show that you have a true passion for something Columbia excels at (Chinese studies worked perfectly for this) and explain why ONLY Columbia will suit your interests.</p>
<p>I hope this helps, good luck!</p>
<p>EDIT: Oh, and be creative with the entire application. My essays were honest and straightforward, but they were also very well-written, witty, and original. Tell them something about yourself that makes you look unique. I honestly believe that a 3.75, 1400 has a better chance than a 4.0, 1550 if the latter were to write his essay on how he wants to work for Goldman Sachs so he can be rich one day.</p>
<p>Columbia also asks for your favorite books read in the last year. Go wild! Just don't put down The Great Gatsby and To The Lighthouse, even if those are the only two books you've read. Good choices to go with include Gogol, Nabokov, Pynchon, Pamuk, Joyce, O'Neill, Wittgenstein, Popper, Friedman...you get the idea. Take risks, be daring! The only way to maximize your chances is to stop trying to emulate the actions of people you've met at online forums. Discover who YOU are (and just make sure deep down you really are an intellectual).</p>
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Good choices to go with include Gogol, Nabokov, Pynchon, Pamuk, Joyce, O'Neill, Wittgenstein, Popper, Friedman...you get the idea.
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<p>Um, what? Other than Joyce (and Friedman, if that refers to Milton), I've never even <em>heard</em> of any of these other authors. You surely don't need to know who these authors are--much less read them-- to get into Columbia.</p>
<p>hold up C02, you haven't heard of James Joyce, Eugene O'Neill, or the author of Lolita?</p>
<p>You must've been an athletic recruit :-P</p>
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You surely don't need to know who these authors are--much less read them-- to get into Columbia.
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<p>Hahaha, I didn't even remotely suggest that anyone HAD to read any specific author. I was trying to make the point that it's important to show a diversity of literary interests.</p>
<p>But here's the Answer Key:</p>
<p>Fiction
Thomas Pynchon is perhaps most famous for Vineland and Gravity's Rainbow. Very post-modern.</p>
<p>James Joyce was an Irish modernist author who wrote A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Ulysses.</p>
<p>Vladimir Nabokov wrote the AMAZING Lolita.</p>
<p>Nikolai Gogol wrote the very influential short story "The Overcoat" that essentially birthed all of modern Russian literature.</p>
<p>Orhan Pamuk teaches at Columbia (!) and is the first Turkish recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature.</p>
<p>Eugene O'Neill wrote Long Day's Journey Into Night, perhaps the finest play ever written by an American.</p>
<p>Non-Fiction
Ludwig Wittgenstein was perhaps the most influential philosopher of the 20th century. He wrote the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus that made huge contributions to our consideration of language.</p>
<p>Karl Popper was probably the most influential philosopher of science in the 20th century.</p>
<p>Milton Friedman, Nobel Laureate in economics, wrote extensively on libertarian idealism and the importance of economic freedom.</p>
<p>I really don't know what I ever did to deserve so much spite from you, Columbia2002.</p>
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hold up C02, you haven't heard of James Joyce, Eugene O'Neill, or the author of Lolita?
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<p>Wait, wait, reread my post. I said I knew Joyce and Friedman, probably the two most famous on the list. I've seen the movie Lolita but didn't know the author!</p>
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You must've been an athletic recruit :-P
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<p>I wish. </p>
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I was trying to make the point that it's important to show a diversity of literary interests.
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<p>I still don't think so. It's important to show Columbia who you are. If you have diverse literary interests (and it sounds like you do) and that's who you are, all the better. But if listed a bunch of physics books as books you read because you're a physics nerd, that also works.</p>
<p>It's probably hard for us lit nerds to comprehend how somebody wouldn't have hard of, say, Nabakov. His prose is worship-worthy in many of our eyes. But I do agree with you, Columbia2002, that physics books would work just as well. </p>
<p>However, you should still look into the authors laneb2005 listed ;p</p>
<p>To clear up any misconceptions: What I was going for, and I might not have conveyed it accurately at (what time was it?) 4:19 in the AM was that you need flesh out your passions by going tackling the big fish in the field. If you like physics (and I'm just guessing here), read stuff by Feynman, Hawking, Einstein, etc. If you like math, read Hardy's A Mathematician's Apology. Hell, if you DON'T like math, read A Mathematician's Apology. If you'll excuse a poor man's metaphor, go for the intellectual jugular.</p>
<p>But don't take my word on any of this stuff. Discover your tastes. Shoot for the stars. And above, all, feel more.</p>