<p>I got waitlisted at Columbia as a freshman and transfer. I had a gpa at a top 15 school per us news practically near a 4.0 and an sat score in the mid to high 1400s. It is extraordinardly competitive.</p>
<p>ses, but trying to get in as a transfer should be a new start meaning they should forget about your high school years and evaluate it from your college years.</p>
<p>I'm an incoming transfer student. Had a 3.970 GPA after my first year at mid-30's ranked US News and World Report Liberal Arts College. I had applied last year in regular decision, got wait listed and then put on the extended wait list. When you've been on the wait list or extended wait list the previous year, I have a feeling they give you preference if you reapply. Was on the crew team, had a radio show, and was involved on a community service board. Had also volunteered at various political campaigns. I am an East Asian Languages and Culture major with a minor in Biology. I basically enterred my old school thinking that I wanted to transfer, my first choice probably being Columbia. Because I went in with this attitude, it gave me a goal for which I was able to work. Maybe it's just me, but if I'm presented with a challenge like that, I will do everything I can to face it and overcome it. I think my choice of majors may have differentiated me slightly. The best advice is to truly be yourself. Don't play that whole "what do they want to hear from me?" game and instead speak truthfully, from the heart. That's what I did this time around and I was met with far more successful results. Just be yourself. Look at it this way: if you work hard and a school doesn't accept you after applying, and you've shown them who you really are, then maybe that school isn't such a great match for you in the end. If going to Columbia is what you really want, work very hard freshman year, as I did, reapply, and you may have a chance again. And lastly, I spoke with many incoming freshmen to various schools last year who said that they were planning to transfer after freshman year, and in the end decided not to because they had fallen in love with their school. So see how it goes and then make the decision.</p>
<p>Best of luck!</p>
<p>Watch "Rudy" for inspiration :)</p>
<p>ivyalum and Evrynitefrwk have very intriguing advice that sounds like wisdom to me. also, I may be taking the bait, but...
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I know Denzera will say that if I want to go to Columbia so badly, I should just take a year off and solve world hunger and re-apply again, but I slipped this idea past my mom and she gave me the "hell no".
[/quote]
look, my point has always been, "if there's a school you REALLY want to attend, there is ALWAYS a way to get in and go there. it just might require sacrifices or choices and risks that you're not willing to make." In some cases, the best advice I have for people is to take a year off, yes. to do so, and live the kind of life that would make you more attractive to columbia after a year than before - that is not easy. and you're clearly not willing to do that. that's fine, and listening to your mom on how to lead your life is fine too. but don't dismiss the concept out of hand - it was probably the best decision i've ever made in my life.</p>
<p>helpful post so to the op you said your sat scores are bad but exactly how bad are they? what are your scores??</p>
<p>2050 superscored with a 770 on two subject tests.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice Denz; I might have to make a bold decision on my own.</p>
<p>This So Authentic dude needs to reconcile these two musings:</p>
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applying for transfer to me is almost the same as applying to college straight from high school.....
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</p>
<p>
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trying to get in as a transfer should be a new start meaning they should forget about your high school years and evaluate it from your college years.
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</p>
<p>almost the same Jackass!!!
do you suffer from epilepsy?
its almost the same because they still look at your college gpa etc. just like coming from high school....but they shouldn't take what you did in high school into consideration ever again.</p>
<p>Columbia2002, im getting the feeling that I shouldn't cut mentally disabled people some slack anymore</p>
<p>But if you're applying after only one or two years of college (not even full years when you're actually applying), they won't have as much to go on if they don't consider your high school records. It is important for them to see consistency as well as have a better idea of who you are by having more years to look at. When you apply to CU as a transfer, they specifically ask to see your high school records and activities. High is important, but not as important as college records.</p>
<p>So Authentic, it makes little sense to give transfer advice when you know nothing about the transfer process. (No?) And you're picking fights all over the boards. Chill out.</p>
<p>ivyalum nailed it, but I wanted to add that it's important to take a challenging course load and score well on the SAT's (take them again, if nothing else it'll show them you're not the same applicant as a year ago). It also helps if you've done research, especially if it's published...and the essays will need to be more focused on why Columbia, not your travels in Botswana.</p>
<p>Of course your SAT scores count. Everything counts. Everything always counts. It's just that the relative priority of the various bits of information shifts somewhat.</p>
<p>I believe if you apply to Columbia and are denied admissions, when you re-apply your old application will be reactivated and re-read. So don't use the same essay.</p>
<p>If you don't like the advice you are getting here, call Nicole Thompson, Director of Transfer Admissions and the Visiting Student Program. Her phone number is on the Columbia admissions web site. When I had this job (at another institution), I was always happy to talk to students like you.</p>
<p>"Dr. Seuss is smart to me.......just not street smart."</p>
<p>What base do you have for this statement?</p>
<p>If you're transferring, SAT's are still pretty darn important. I just wanted to make sure that was clear. Maybe it was, sorry.:)
Low SAT's were likely the reason a few of my friends weren't able to transfer to their choice schools. They didn't pursue them like many high school kids - they just took them once, did meh, and figured the scores wouldn't matter for transfer anyway. (This was from a school that didn't require SAT's for admission, hence they hadn't taken them before.)</p>
<p>it matters much more for sophomore transfers than it does for junior transfers.</p>
<p>Posts 9, 23, and 34 are all good, informative posts. Selective colleges remain selective even at the transfer level. (Different from some public institutions, where it can be decidedly easier to transfer in as a junior -- in which case those public institutions often do not consider SAT's at all -- than to be accepted as a freshman or even a sophomore at some really great flagships.) I do know of someone who transferred from NYU to Columbia as a sophomore, but I don't know her stats. I have a vague memory that she may have been initially waitlisted at Columbia (supporting the info in one of those above-named posts).</p>
<p>To Ivyalum, i've read on the site that the old application is apparently scrapped, meaning you have no choice but to resubmit. I mean there is a chance they would keep your old files, but....why?</p>
<p>I just read that ^^ too, just today. I had also heard that previously from admissions reps in general, including on cc, stating that they toss the files. I wonder if they also immediately toss the waitlisted apps once the final class determinations have been made. I thought I remembered that sometimes on some college apps (I don't remember if true for C in particular), they ask "Have you ever applied to this U before?"</p>
<p>I have a feeling that if they do throw out the old applications they probably wait 2 or 3 years, because, especially at a school like Columbia, they must know kids may apply more than once, in which case they would want to compare from the previous year and refresh their memories. They may also want to compare applicants from previous years from regions and schools, and they may also want the application on their database incase they find something suspicious, such as a newer applicant having an essay that is very very familiar. I could be wrong though.</p>
<p>^Yeah, I'm pretty sure that at other schools if you reapply they reopen your old file...</p>
<p>
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I got waitlisted at Columbia as a freshman and transfer. I had a gpa at a top 15 school per us news practically near a 4.0 and an sat score in the mid to high 1400s. It is extraordinardly competitive.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Now he's at Penn...the poor soul :P</p>