<p>a few random thoughts on the waitlist:
1) whether or not someone stays on the waitlist doesn't affect anyone else's chances. if someone who doesn't intend to accept a spot in the class of '09 gets the call and turns it down, then columbia will go to the next person. it's more work for them, but it doesn't affect the chances of whoever gets the next call.
2) i would like to see the stats of how many calls a school has to make to waitlisted candidates in order to get someone to accept a spot in the freshman class. i have a feeling that they have to call a lot of people considering that people are committed elsewhere (both financially and emotionally) and that there are plenty of people on the list because they are curious as to whether or not they are accepted or simply because they wanted to get in badly back in early april and now they don't feel as strongly anymore... the huge number of waitlisted students is evidence that schools "need" to have a large reserve. some schools more than others (e.g. Wash U.) apparently, princeton only waitlists "several hundred" as opposed to columbia's 1000ish. i can only imagine how many waitlistee's there are at Wash U!
3) good luck to everyone whether you are going to columbia or elsewhere. if you want in from the waitlist, i hope you get the call. if not, be happy! you will be successful in life if you make it happen!</p>
<p>Are you absolutely certain that is how it is? Where did you find that info? I thought that they just had an idea of how many people they would like to accept a spot at the school off of
the waitlist and then divide that by the percent of the recent matriculation rate.</p>
<p>The thing that depresses me most about Columbia's waitlist is that they waitlist even more people than they accept!</p>
<p>do they really? i doubt that</p>
<p>They accept about 1600 overall, but only about 1100-1200 RD, while they waitlist about 1500 RD. However, not all, not even half stay on the waitlist.</p>
<p>I'm from a small town in NC, an underrespresented state at CU, and I was waitlisted while a girl from here was accepted. Do you think it would boost my chances since she will decline (in order to keep diversity)?</p>
<p>FYI...(taken off another CC post in College Admissions)</p>
<p>US News for Fall 2003
Qualified applicants placed on waiting list: 1,706
Applicants accepting a place on waiting list: 1,143
Students enrolled from waiting list: 64
Total Class Size 1011
6.3% of Class came from the wait list</p>
<p>So yes, bluirinka and mekrob were telling the truth when they said Columbia waitlists more students than they reject (for 2 years ago, at least). </p>
<p>WHY DO THEY DO THIS??? ARRGHHHH! </p>
<p>and mekrob...who knows? I personally doubt that it would boost your chances much though.</p>
<p>ha, i'm part of a special group.</p>
<p>special group?</p>
<p>Uh...I read in another thread from a long time ago that there were only 600 people who were waitlisted last year (so I am very confused now). I actually talked to an admissions person at Columbia last week (I was visiting Barnard), and I said something like "I heard there were 600 waitlisted last year; how many actually got in?" He responded by saying that only 100 or 200 would stay in that case, so the chances aren't that bad. But maybe he only said 100 or 200 'cause I mentioned the number 600, which was apparently wrong. Ack!</p>
<p>I've stayed on the waitlist, and I'm writing the appeal right now (which is why I came here for guidance). I'm writing many pages--I don't care what they say. I'm tearing my hair out right now, though, 'cause I THINK I'd like to go to Barnard, AKA Columbia Jr., and I don't know if I should write my appeal like "I will wi****lly look out my Barnard window each day, and feel inferior wondering why I wasn't 'officially' accepted into Columbia." Would that be a good idea? Would it be a better idea to just ACTUALLY go to an Ivy like Cornell (which accepted me)? Help!</p>
<p>Edit: why is the board censoring the word "w i s t f u l l y?" <em>scratches head</em></p>
<p>Haha, they censor s t f u, even though it's part of a word. That's pretty awesome/insane.</p>
<p>You should go to Cornell. I don't think you are doing anyone any favors by being at a school you don't want to go to just because it is as close to Columbia as you can get</p>
<p>Ooh...thanks for the input.</p>
<p>But I guess, for know, what I wanna know is: would going to Barnard be anywhere near as impressive as going to Duke or Cornell?</p>
<p>It's funny...the reason why I personally didn't apply to Barnard was because I felt that I'd suffer an inferiority complex everyday when I looked out my window. I'm glad now that I didn't apply because I feel that people might have tried to push me into Barnard (including my g.c. and parents) if I had gotten in. </p>
<p>Now for the prestige factor:
Personally, I'd say that Duke is more prestigious. Cornell and Barnard I'd place on an equal footing, though some people might claim Cornell is more prestigious because it's a true Ivy, whereas Barnard is just the sister school of an Ivy. However, please DON'T choose your school by prestige alone. I'm guessing you've visited and considered all 3 schools thoroughly (if not, please DO!) and can't think of any other way to choose between them. And just remember that Barnard has NYC vs. the locations of the other 2 schools. Imagine yourself at all 3 schools --where do you picture yourself happiest?</p>
<p>Well, I didn't actually put Duke in the picture until very recently (like, yesterday), so I haven't even seen the place. <em>looks uneasy</em> I didn't think Cornell was right for me, since it had that whole isolation-in-an-already-big-campus business. So that leaves the problems of Barnard not being Columbia, and Duke being absolutely anything. Sigh...</p>
<p>i heart columbia....STILL. but now i'm not so sure I would want to go there after being waitlisted, and i don't know if I would choose it over stanford/yale/mit anymore. SOB!!!</p>
<p>I was waitlisted to a grad program at CU. I've been advised to write a waitlist follow-up letter by some, but when I called admissions I was told not to bother. What are we suppose to do, sit around awaiting doom or glory without taking any action? I'm lost.</p>
<p>I called the admissions office too regarding what to do on the waitlist, and I got someone who was very unsympathetic; he acted as if he couldn't be bothered with my questions. I would say definitely send the follow-up.</p>
<p>Good job, bing! When I talked to an admissions guy last week, he told me that the Admissions Office would only consider students on the waitlist who had sent in something like a follow-up--if spots would become available at all. I don't know if it would be different for the grad school, but I sure wouldn't take my chances.</p>
<p>Okay, I just got an email back from the faculty member I interviewed with last month suggesting that it won't hurt to write my letter to the chair of the department. Wish me luck! Thanks...</p>
<p>P.S. Yes, I really wish I knew if (and how) the admissions process differs between the college and grad school level.</p>