<p>i was waitlisted, too.</p>
<p>Well, if you choose to accept your admission, then you forfeit your deposit to another school.</p>
<p>I was also accepted off the waitlist last year, so it's definitely not hopeless. One of those 54 could be you. In my one-page (10.5 font, 0.5-inch-margined) letter, I mentioned some awards and a new EC, but I think that the part that was more memorable was the how do you feel about Columbia part (as phantom said, I would steer clear of NYC and Core); be genuine and try to leave them with one image of you that they'll remember. I would also advise avoiding over-formality. Start with Dear Admissions committee and end respectfully, but the more conversational, light, and friendly the better. I know it's hard to be conversational when you're making sure you've got all of your whom's and subjunctive moods in place, but formal just sounds dull, plus being conversational makes you seem more real.</p>
<p>The next few months may suck. All of my friends were done with admissions and had moved onto housing and that kind of stuff while I was still mired in admissions. My mom kept telling me to forget Columbia and go to a school that was fighting for me (I think she was just trying to protect me from going to a school that doesn't want me, but that's totally the wrong way to think about the waitlist).</p>
<p>So you've made the waitlist; it's your second chance. Good luck, everyone.</p>
<p>Okay let me get this straight, we have to write another essay for the waitlist?</p>
<p>I find it odd, yet satisfying that I was waitlisted at Columbia. This is after I was rejected at cornell, dartmouth, and penn (deferred ed). It is interesting that I was waitlisted in the second-most competitive pool of applicants ever, yet rejected at these others.</p>
<p>ace223, I feel you. I feel really honored to be waitlisted in a weird way, I looked at the email and I was like "Waitlisted??Yea!!!". My sister thought I got in and was crazy for reacting that way, but come on! I seriously though that Columbia was impossible for me, everyone I know got rejected so this is special. Though it would have been even sweeter if I actually got in. Lol.</p>
<p>well, i'm definitely going to try to write a kick-ass one-page letter and cross my fingers that more than a few spots open up in the class of 2010 at columbia...</p>
<p>Waitlisted! It doesn't seem like they waitlisted a lot this year, or maybe I'm wrong.</p>
<p>i got waitlisted too.....i have a feeling they waitlisted a lot of people, just look how many people on these boards alone got waitlisted!</p>
<p>I'm pretty happy about the waitlist. Was totally expecting a rejection.</p>
<p>waitlisted over heeeere. i was relieved. when they say they "strongly adivise" sending supp. materials, do they mean it will hurt you if you do?</p>
<p>Haha, I guess I'm not the only one who got waitlisted here ;-) By any chance, do any of you know how the admissions office chooses the applicants to get off the waitlist? Apparently, they don't rank, so is it basically just random??</p>
<p>Also, I got the impression that the undergrad office doesn't want to be bothered by any additional documents. But some of you say that writing that one-page letter is helpful? Any clarification on that? Thanks!</p>
<p>I was named a National Merit Scholar--is this worth telling Columbia and would it have any influence on possible waitlist reversal?</p>
<p>The admissions committee says that they review all waitlisted students again once they know how many spots in the incoming class are open. If there are 50 spots, then they look at all waitlisted students and pick 50.</p>
<p>Well, they do say in the waitlist letter that you can send a one-page letter to the admissions committee.</p>
<p>I would definitely tell Columbia in your one-page letter that you were named a National Merit Scholar, especially if you've named Columbia as your first choice school.</p>
<p>faculty members can't pull strings, can they? i strongly doubt it, given the way the waitlist works. i keep trying to tell my mom that it probably won't help if her coworker at the OSU james cancer hospital (a doctor/columbia alum) mentions me to his columbia professor friend...
i just keep asking my mom why she didn't tell me she knew columbia alumni who knew columbia professors! maybe they could have helped me get in...haha. oh, well.</p>
<p>yeah how many people are typically put on the waitlist each year for Columbia?</p>
<p>I was waitlisted at Columbia. Of course I would have rather liked to have been accepted, but hey, now I have concrete motivation to continue to strive for the best: academically, extra-curricularly (haha is that a word?), socially, all that.</p>
<p>2nd-most selective year in the Ivy-League, huh. That's pretty damn good then, that we were waitlisted, and not flat-out not accepted. :)</p>
<p>Besides the one-pg. letter, should wait-listed students send an updated transcript? Or do they "strongly advise against" such activity as well?</p>
<p>IMO, updated transcript's fine. I sent an updated one (just make sure your 3rd quarter grades are actually good).</p>
<p>i read that the waitlist size last year was ~1700 and they accepted 64 off it</p>
<p>Do we have to send in final grades(is it a requirement?)</p>
<p>also, can the one page be another essay instead of an update? Ive already sent them several updates before and I don't think any more is necessary</p>