@VerbalKint2024 when they release the plan, would admitted students be offered a chance to postpone? hasn’t the deadline already passed? I don’t see how it would affect the waitlist
Hi @VerbalKint2024 I’m the mom of an admitted student to Columbia class of 2024. I contacted admissions at the end of April regarding deferment, as the date approached and we watched Covid-19 ramp up. Columbia admissions held fast to the early May date for deferment. You will not have the opportunity to defer after they announce plans for the school year in early July. After much consideration my daughter hit the button to defer on May 6 (the deferment date) and will now be class of 2025. There is an active FB group of kids who deferred so she is not alone in feeling the risks were too great for this year (she definitely does not want to wind up back at our kitchen table zooming…). If you were accepted RD the deferment date has passed. If you are taken off the waitlist, you cannot defer. That is one of the drawbacks of a waitlist acceptance - but you do get a spot! Students that have currently accepted do not get to change their mind in early July - it’s a tough spot to be in - but that’s how it works according to Columbia admissions. Best wishes for a healthy year, wherever you end up!
@singoutlouise how many students are part of that deferral group?
@singoutlouise I appreciate your comments, but if you read some of the other posts, the admissions office accepted deferments after the May 15 deadline (let’s assume they were telling the truth). I would not consider any “deadline” an actual deadline this year. But who knows? Until the actual announcement (and potential outrage) we won’t know what’s what!
@VerbalKint2024 you may be right. Just passing on information given to me by Diane McCoy, Senior Associate Director, Undergraduate Admissions. They were not willing to extend the deferment date to July, I expressly asked and was told no. Which makes no sense to me. How can a family decide, when they don’t have the full information? We’re just going to hope in another year they have things a little better figured out.
My daughter officially withdrew from Columbia and received her confirmation last week. Although her reason was that she does not feel ready to continue living 3000 miles away from home, I must admit as a parent I felt very uncomfortable about the uncertainty that coronavirus and the tentative 2020-2021 logistics added to the decision.
I love Columbia and would have done anything of she decided to stay, but I must admit I felt some relief when my daughter chose to attend college much closer to home.
All colleges are in a big bind. They must ensure that they don’t overenroll, but they cannot afford to underenroll, either. And it’s far too difficult to predict how many students will re-enroll the following year, so I understand the constraints on deferment and leaves of absence.
I wish all of you the best with your acceptances. I believe most student land in a good place for them.
@whidbeyite2002 which year is your daughter?
She’s 2023.
@whidbeyite2002 sorry to hear it. But I’m sure she’s got great things ahead!
Do you know of others doing similar things (withdrawing, leaves of absence, etc)?
@whidbeyite2002 I saw on your post history that you’re a graduate of Cornell. How did you like it? I’m currently committed there, but am on the transfer waitlist for Columbia. In any case, I am ecstatic about either!
I absolutely loved Cornell! The campus and surrounding area are beautiful, and the resources and faculty were amazing. People who worked at Cornell and around Ithaca were very nice, too.
I believe Cornell can provide more of the “typical” undergraduate experience than Columbia can. Columbia’s campus can feel cramped, and one needs to travel a distance for sports events.
Both universities will offer you ample entertainment and eating out opportunities. Both offer a dizzying breadth of extracurricular activities.
I was able to secure an internship in my field (nutritional science) for 2 school years and summers. However, I believe that NYC and Columbia could offer you more internship opportunities depending on your field.
I think your choice between the 2 really depends on a strong assessment of who you are. I grew up in the suburbs and wanted a rural environment. My daughter grew up in a rural environment and wanted a city, but she found NYC and the area surrounding Columbia (overall a pleasant area to me) overwhelming.
Wishing you the best with your choice! You can’t go wrong either university. Both are amazing!
BTW, which region of the country do you live in? Ithaca is a bit harder for travel, but it still takes a while to get to one of 3 airports from Columbia. Personally, I found Newark the easiest.
@nickvader7, I have not heard of my daughter’s friends taking leaves of absence. One friend will be attending Barnard as a freshman this fall.
Has there been any waitlist movement? I know Stanford had a big one yesterday/today so maybe there is hope for Columbia
@chickennoodlesoupppppp wdym Stanford had big waitlist movement?
@nickvader7 check the Stanford 2024 cc waitlist. There are four or so people who got off. Columbia’s my dream school, but tbh the matriculation % is higher at Stanford than Columbia. Soooo if S had to go deep into the waitlist in late June, I’m praying that C has to as well.
@chickennoodlesoupppppp they will definitely go deeper in their waitlist than Stanford, especially considering the location in NYC. People expected coronavirus to go away in the summer and that’s proving to not be the case. However, it’s also important to note that this is Stanford’s first wave and Columbia has already had like 3 waves. But, the Stanford wave seems to be super big compared to any of the columbia waves. Best of luck to you!
Anyone know the size of the Columbia Waitlist? (either Transfers or Class of 2024).
Yeesh. This may be problematic for some pretty soon… https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/24/new-york-new-jersey-and-connecticut-impose-14-day-quarantine-on-travelers-from-coronavirus-hotspot-states.html
@milhojas The “deadline” passed but admitted students were still allowed to defer after the deadline. (That information is from posts on this forum; I don’t know if those people were lying.) Many students have accepted at multiple schools and are waiting to see what each school does for the year. Then they will start withdrawing or canceling. Plus, what’s to say that the announcement doesn’t allow for additional deferments? 2020 is a crazy year. Based on NY, NJ and CT announcing today that travelers from hotspots must quarantine for 14 days, the next few weeks/months will force “announcements” to be modified regularly. Based on the surge of cases in the last week, online is looking more likely. But who knows???
does anyone know when will there be any more waitlist movement? or if there will be any at all?