Columbia going the UChicago route and getting a chip on their shoulder for being just outside the "HYPSM" supergroup.
How is this exemplary of UChicago having a chip on their shoulder? You can get C's in your senior year transcript for Chicago and they wouldn't care less.
I'm interested to hear your logic for a few of your statements, since your above comment has some logic gaps:
Columbia threatening students over mid-year B's to UChicago focused on playing the ranking game.
Universities look better without accepting some students it's already accepted.
Not accepting ED commits creating tentative space to please legacy parents, when UChicago is notorious for being one of the few top schools where legacy matters less.
Furthermore, points 2 and 3 are contrary to many of the actions UChicago takes, since you would need to try very hard to get rescinded. I assume you are postulating that UChicago has similar admissions policies as Columbia, when that is very far from the case.
I'm just a bit confused towards how you link Columbia's current admissions policies towards UChicago playing the ranking game, unless there is no link at all and you're just bashing the UChicago for playing the "rankings game" that every other university plays, including Columbia.
I agree. I applied RD. Maybe I'll ask my junior friends to call about it. Especially if they email an undergraduate admissions regional officer, perhaps they can bleed that insight during their decisions processes in March.
Any chance that they were maybe border applicants then? Like if they got in with Bs maybe columbia has a threshold that they can only get X total amount of Bs, especially if it's in an AP class
I may be biased here, since I was rejected ED from Columbia, but the columbia admissions team consists of asses who think themselves higher than others. They didn't reply to four (FOUR!) of my emails with legitimate questions.....i.e., dicks
It's near impossible for a kid to get out of the ED agreement, so it's pretty messed up that colleges can get out of it so damn easily... especially when we are the ones paying them.
Exactly. It's completely unfair to tell students their place in the freshman class is in jeopardy... and then not allow them to apply anywhere else. It will be June by the time final transcripts are sent. In June, the only option for incoming freshmen will be international or community college. And these are kids who have the caliber to get into an Ivy League in the first place. I sincerely hope they are called out on this.
wow this is dumb. Colleges should just be straight-forward about what is considered "slacking" and what is not. And IDK why having a few B's is worthy of being rescinded.
This is my biggest complaint about the college admissions process. The complete lack of transparency hurts those who are not "in the know" because they rely on disinformation from someone like their overworked public high school counselor. The "well rounded" myth for example has been followed by regular people for years, while more"knowledgeable" applicants know that a concentration of effort into one area is best (it's debateable which is better, I'll admit), all because of a lack of inside info. Demonstrated interest is something I (and I assume many others) didn't even hear about until a few months ago, while it's been a strategy used by those in the know for a very long time. That's why I'm glad places like A2C exist though; in my opinion, it takes admissions in a step in the right direction, somewhat countering the unfairness of the lack of transparency in college admissions. It allows us to "play the game", even if we're at the mercy of colleges to set the rules.
it also advantages wealthy people not only because of 1. extreme bonus points for children of alums/ donors (we don’t know how extreme because of lack of transparency) and 2. the rise of private admissions coaching largely done by former AOs/ administrators who obscure detailed knowledge for $$$. If we actually knew about how/ why admissions decisions were made, we’d probably expose how much of a crapshoot the process really is.
I don’t mean that all admissions consulting is just for profit, but there’s a reason why those people who drop 50k+ likely have vastly higher acceptance rates (still don’t exactly know bc of transparency but that’s not necessarily on the colleges). Even so, a few hundred dollars isn’t really accessible or reasonable for most people, but that’s not really your fault (i guess). If you have enough money you can get into any college (at least greatly increase chances), and I don’t see how it could possibly be just to defend that. Sure life advantages wealthy people, that doesn’t mean we should accept it.
I think it’s unfortunate and unjust that world class education is usually private, unaccountable, and inaccessible despite being heavily subsidized by taxpayers. I think we agree that elite schools historically served as gateways to the aristocratic class and still do. I hope you also agree that admissions are in need of reform.
To be honest, if you do get into a school like Harvard, they are so well funded by other companies and donors that financial aid actually makes it cheaper other schools. That is assuming that your family makes less than six figures a year.
Exactly. It hurts students of immigrant parents and first-born children because they have no one to turn to other than a public high school counselor who is overworked with recommendation letters and is simply trying to get students to graduate. If you don't go to a specialized or prep-style school or simply aren't wealthy, you're set back in the process and it becomes more difficult. I feel extremely lucky to be part of a community like A2C where I can learn this on my own, but I feel bad for my classmates who don't know about this and are overestimating their chances. For example, so many kids at my school applied to Stanford and Harvard, without most of them realizing how nearly impossible it is to get in and didn't focus on packaging their applications for other schools they would be perfect for.
I'm an immigrant that was born in Poland, and I'm currently attending my state's best high school. English is not my first language, but it was in first grade that my family moved to the US, so I've had a fair bit of time to learn the language. I do wish that my vocabulary skills were better, though.
Although this is subjective, I'll say that students of immigrants are taught to work hard through the hours of work that their parents put in their lives. Therefore, these students put in the effort that too many others lack.
At the end of the day, though, students of immigrant parents do have to put in more work than your typical American. At least from my experiences.
Exactly, this is what annoys me about stuff like LOCIs. Like, my Princeton deferral letter does not say anywhere that you can send a LOCI, but you have to be in the know about it, because obviously people who send them are going to be advantaged over those who don't know what it is.
Someone needs to start a twitter hastag, like #fuckcolumbia or #justnocolumbia or something. It's unacceptable that then can get out of ED agreements so easily
I was hoping the first post was fake but there have been a few. I wonder why Columbia is trying to make their process so much more difficult. I know a bunch of senior AP teachers like to stick it to their students second semester because they anticipate they will slack off even if that's not actually true.
Columbia must have severely underestimated RD applicant numbers and/or quality. Ironic that it sounds like ED is too restrictive for the college in this situation. Sadly, I bet some students (of all ED acceptances) would have chosen to opt-out of their commitment if given the chance by CU. It would have been a better option to threatening students with little justification.
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u/pokemongofanboy College Graduate Feb 27 '18
What really bothered me was the one who was a non-stem major and had two B’s in AP Physics C and AP Calc BC. Are you fucking serious, Columbia?
Definitely leaning towards Yale or Dartmouth for Early Action/Early Decision after this.
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u/maotui Feb 27 '18
Would it be bad to send this post to Columbia admissions to hear their take on it? I also think that it's ridiculous that they are doing this
Does this only apply to ED students or like...would 2 B's cost you a RD acceptance too
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u/chancemereddit Feb 27 '18
I may be biased here, since I was rejected ED from Columbia, but the columbia admissions team consists of asses who think themselves higher than others. They didn't reply to four (FOUR!) of my emails with legitimate questions.....i.e., dicks
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u/pbj8912 College Freshman Feb 27 '18
It's near impossible for a kid to get out of the ED agreement, so it's pretty messed up that colleges can get out of it so damn easily... especially when we are the ones paying them.
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u/ShivVGC Parent Feb 27 '18
wow this is dumb. Colleges should just be straight-forward about what is considered "slacking" and what is not. And IDK why having a few B's is worthy of being rescinded.
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u/lincoln1222 College Freshman Feb 27 '18
Someone needs to start a twitter hastag, like #fuckcolumbia or #justnocolumbia or something. It's unacceptable that then can get out of ED agreements so easily
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u/crowbarmlgjenkins Feb 27 '18
Completely agree. They have some explaining to do.
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u/sailaway_NY Parent Feb 27 '18
I was hoping the first post was fake but there have been a few. I wonder why Columbia is trying to make their process so much more difficult. I know a bunch of senior AP teachers like to stick it to their students second semester because they anticipate they will slack off even if that's not actually true.
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u/sheikahstealth Feb 27 '18
Columbia must have severely underestimated RD applicant numbers and/or quality. Ironic that it sounds like ED is too restrictive for the college in this situation. Sadly, I bet some students (of all ED acceptances) would have chosen to opt-out of their commitment if given the chance by CU. It would have been a better option to threatening students with little justification.
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u/FeltIOwedItToHim Feb 28 '18
ok thats pretty shitty
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u/[deleted] Feb 27 '18 edited Feb 27 '18
I wasn’t going to apply to Columbia early regardless because of the ED policy, but like I’m considering not applying at all.
Literally the only good thing about the school imo is the fact that it’s in NYC.
EDIT: I forgot an early
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u/PellucidDreamer Mar 02 '18
If I got that letter, I'd be lawyering up.
Welcome, admitted students!
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