<p>i just want to thank everyone for posting their personal experiences about GS and etc. </p>
<p>hope everyone who applies get in, ill wait to apply because my grades arent 3.7+. this forum has really helped me. thank thank thank you ALL!</p>
<p>I assume a state university would be more rigorous, and therefore look “better,” though I suppose it depends on the state.</p>
<p>well the options at this point are georgia perimeter college (which has a phi theta kappa chapter, an honor society for 2 year colleges which GS uses for recruiting), georgia state university (more expensive but maybe a bit more prestige?), and vanier college in montreal ( have a specific 2 year program with compsci and discrete math that i’m interested in, this is the cheapest option)…</p>
<p>that being the case, will georgia state be substantially more advantageous in terms of admittance to columbia gs, upenn’s version of gs, et al?</p>
<p>who says you have to have a 3.7+ gpa? even you have a 4.0 doesn’t mean you will get in.</p>
<p>thanks for not addressing the question whatsoever.</p>
<p>
Not really, GS students can not take CC core courses. And GS degree requirement is different from CC degree requriement.</p>
<p>do you guys think i should just start my own thread for my question?</p>
<p>From what I’ve read on here it seems as though Columbia really doesn’t look at students with a Community College GPA of 3.7 or below? </p>
<p>Does that mean that their advertisement of admitting people with a GED is false?</p>
<p>I would think/hope that business/work experience could compensate…?..There have to be some people applying to Columbia GS that work full time, and are unable to attend class enough to earn a 4.0 (I’m not sure about you guys, but professors at my community college care almost as much about attendance as they do tests/assignments).</p>
<p>Also, I’m surprised to see so many people talking about applying to Columbias non-traditional student program, and not the UPenns..? Upenn LPS sounds great to me. In fact, from what I’ve read, it sounds even better.</p>
<p>i agree, lps does sound very interesting, although i’d imagine columbia to be more selective…</p>
<p>@imfricken - I’m not really sure what you mean about the GED thing? Are you referring to people who, after getting their GED, apply directly to GS as a freshman?</p>
<p>I got my CHSPE (California’s version of a GED, essentially), and started at a community college. I work full time and am now ready to transfer (47 units completed). </p>
<p>As for the admissions process, I believe that they look at the whole package, not just your GPA. So in that way, work experience would carry quite a bit of weight. I’ve heard that the essay portion of the application is the most important, then GPA and EC’s.</p>
<p>AMorrison - Yes. Columbia states it is willing to accept people who have only taken their GED with no college experience (the website at least states that).</p>
<p>My cause for concern is that although there are most definitely people on this forum who are non-traditional (older, and have taken time off) I also get the vibe that there are people who really aren’t too non-traditional. Columbia seems to be the only school out of all these non-trad programs (if what you all say is correct) that seems to focus more on past academic performance, instead of future academic potential.</p>
<p>In addition, out of all the non-traditional programs I’ve done homework on, Columbia seems – well, it is difficult to describe. UPenn is another Ivy League school with incredible non-traditional opportunities. The degree is exactly the same, like Columbia. When I speak to people at Penn, they seem so much more interested, engaged, and willing to help a prospective student. Asking a representative for their email address and or extension is no problem. However, when I have spoken to Columbia reps, they seem quite arrogant, and uninterested. I have never been given the opportunity to get a reps email address or extension, and all questions I ask are given generic answers. It also does not seem as geared towards being designed for a non-traditional student, like UPenn LPS or NYU SCPS. </p>
<p>Granted, Columbia’s admissions rate for traditional students is much lower than that of NYU or Upenn, but I can’t really find any reason to believe that their education is any better. In fact, according to US World news (I believe), UPenn is a higher ranked school, especially for economics. </p>
<p>I personally am really non-traditional, and really want an experience designed for someone like myself. I feel that Columbia’s program doesn’t really fit my style any longer. I have life/work experience, that I believe makes me a candidate able to succeed there. However, because of my relatively low GPA (in contrast to what everyone has been saying) I’m most likely ineligible. Will they really care that I work 70 hours per week and attend school full time? From what I seem to gather, probably not.</p>
<p>Hello,</p>
<p>I am an international applicant to GS. I am concerned about the following: I had a 4.9 GPA(out of possible 5), and I have 1880 SAT, 660 and 690 SAT Subject tests, TOEFL-104. But my college GPA is 4.57 out of possible 5, because I have had to combine my study with working and community work. I am so much worried about my College GPA; do you guys think my GPA is tooooo low? They told me at the adm office the range is 3.5-3.8. out of possible 4.</p>
<p>Truly,</p>
<p>goharik19 well i don’t know if you read the official website but on their it says 3.0. so I am not sure what they have told you. Try call them again to see if you will get the same answer though. and now you are making me nervous too :(</p>
<p>I think worrying too much about a GPA cut off isn’t going to be productive. I’d bet that there are examples of people with a GPA less than 3.7 being accepted, because GS looks at your overall situation and potential. If your essay is stellar, you’re confident in your work experience and you perform well on the SATs/GSAEs, I’d say you’re competitive.</p>
<p>Morrison, I wish I could agree with you. </p>
<p>“because GS looks at your overall situation and potential.”</p>
<p>The experience I personally have received when speaking to Columbia staff is not consistent with what they seem to project on their website. I would argue that Penn and NYU have programs for non-trads designed in this way, not so much columbia.</p>
<p>I hope that I’m wrong, and your right. Interestingly though, it seems (at least according this site) there are much more people applying to Columbia as a non-trad than there are applying to Penn and NYU’s non-trad programs. Is this simply the name recognition associated with Columbia, that from what I can tell, is slightly higher than that of Penn?</p>
<p>Also,</p>
<p>goharik19</p>
<p>Hopefully my above statement is incorrect, and my assumptions and judgements of Columbia’s program are wrong. Let us assume that this program is in fact in line with the idea of admitting non-traditional qualified students who have had significant experiences resulting in a break from their education.</p>
<p>If this is the case, I would begin to focus more on why you’re a non-traditional student, than your past academic performance. You mentioned your an international student. Unfortunately, international students (at least in my opinion) are maybe non-traditional, but far from scarce. When you begin (if you haven’t already) writing your autobiographical essay, describe how you’re non-traditional, different from the rest, and how experiences (maybe being from another country) have shaped you into an individual that would contribute substantially to Columbia’s campus. Make THEM want you.</p>
<p>Hey guys,
thanks to all of you for your replies!</p>
<p>I just conted again and I have a 3.66 College GPA on the American scale! It is AROUND 3.7, right? So it is not too below the average , right???</p>
<p>goharik19, since you are international student did they asked you to take the ECT test? or did you take it already?</p>
<p>Hello,</p>
<p>I have taken TOEFL IBT and scored 104; they require only 100. </p>
<p>and what about the GPA??:(:)</p>
<p>hi goharik19 </p>
<p>So I just called, well i didn’t take TOEFL but I did took the ECT and she told me that I need at least a level 8 but then I would need to take the language classes until I reach a level 10. anyway, I also asked her about the GPA issue and this time she told me it’s just an average GPA. I guess it depends on the applicants over all GPA. So anyway, I think you don’t really need to worry about your GPA just like AMorrison said. if GPA really matters that much I guess some of the people here won’t even have a chance of getting in right? Honestly personally I don’t have a very high GPA, and I didn’t discover there are easy professors who just sit there and give A’s. So I struggled when I first started college. I think it’s really our story, our experiences and our potential that matters the most right? so just submit your app and let them decide. And good luck to all of us :)</p>