<p>Am I the only one who saw the CNN special report this fall about the Iraq war veteran who is soon to graduate from Columbia? He had a 1.7 or 1.9 grade point average at his high school in Minnesota, enlisted, lost a leg to a mine, sought a second tour on the front lines (as he said, the odds of losing a leg were reduced in half…), was denied, was offered a desk job in the military, declined, and applied to Columbia. During his interview with Anderson Cooper, he asked Mr. Cooper to write him a graduate school recommendation. Mr. Cooper agreed. It was a moving segment, which I’m too lazy to look up and post, and well worth watching.</p>
<p>es four,</p>
<p>How many words was your essay? Do they mind if you go beyond the 2000 allotted words? Is it just me or does 2000 words seem a bit short for an autobiographical essay of a “non-traditional” student?</p>
<p>I’m curious, too. I’m having a difficult time picking what parts of my life to take out of my essay to fit around 2,000 words.</p>
<p>You know, it is really quite upsetting that such mediocre and unqualified students are gaining access to Columbia through the back door that is General Studies. Without solid academic and analytical skills, you have no business wasting space at an internationally esteemed, ivy league institution, regardless of how tear-jarring your origins may be.</p>
<p>“You know, it is really quite upsetting that such mediocre and unqualified students are gaining access to Columbia through the back door that is General Studies. Without solid academic and analytical skills, you have no business wasting space at an internationally esteemed, ivy league institution, regardless of how tear-jarring your origins may be.”</p>
<p>Shut it.</p>
<p>I know plenty of extremely qualified and intelligent people who went to GS. Academics are not a universal indicator of applicant quality: a crappy GPA can be the result of a bunch of things, not just poor work ethic or being stupid. You really can’t judge analytical skills based on GPA. SAT scores, maybe.</p>
<p>In any case, based on how he writes, it’s pretty clear that bred to please is intelligent, thoughtful and experienced and qualified enough to apply to GS. There’s no harm in applying, and there’s no gaurantee he’ll get in.</p>
<p>On the other end of the spectrum, I knew kids who were academic superstars in high school and basically screwed up their college career. It can run both ways. Getting into Columbia is one thing. Getting out 4 years later is quite another.</p>
<p>Have you considered Duke or Vanderbilt? </p>
<p>Good luck to you Marine. I hope to read about your election to Congress someday.</p>
<p>Semper Fi</p>
<p>"I know plenty of extremely qualified and intelligent people who went to GS. "</p>
<p>Leads us to wonder why Columbia is so unwilling to release admissions statistics for the school.</p>
<p>I don’t mind 09910745. People like this knocked plenty of our industry leaders for their nontraditional backgrounds. I see them as an unfortunate consequence of rote learning; while that isn’t to say that all high school graduates leave indoctrinated with such limiting ideals of success, there are those at the bottom of the spectrum who become so fixed on the standard that they lose all ability to reason for themselves.</p>
<p>I appreciate the defense but it really isn’t necessary. I’m confident that as successful as 09910745 may become in life, his manner of thought restricts him from ever having the spirit of learning and creative thought that make life truly special – which is exactly why I have such a passion to work in educational policy. </p>
<p>Also, remember that our current president-elect was a transfer student to Columbia GS. Merry Christmas, all. :)</p>
<p>it doesn’t hurt to try.if it doesn’t work out, go back to community c and raise that GPA a bit more. You seem very capable of doing that. but you’ll never know if you can get into GS without trying.</p>
<p>“I appreciate the defense but it really isn’t necessary. I’m confident that as successful as 09910745 may become in life, his manner of thought restricts him from ever having the spirit of learning and creative thought that make life truly special – which is exactly why I have such a passion to work in educational policy”</p>
<p>educational policy? that’s awesome. Just be careful of the deathtrap. It goes by the name of Goldman Sachs :)</p>
<p>09910745’s attitude might change. (s)he’s probably one of those that David Helfand complained about one day–the kind that walk into Columbia feeling entitled to the Ivory towers and red carpets, only to discover that the world isn’t perfect.</p>
<p>I was one of those, to some degree. Eventually, I got whacked on the head and got it screwed on straight :)</p>
<p>cerberus08,</p>
<p>The major focus I’m working toward in my essay is how specific experiences molded my early understanding of the educational system’s failures (exacerbated by the various factors that plague low-income neighborhoods). Whereas during my teenage years this was expressed through frustration and antipathy (as reflected in my grades), my time in the Marines benefited me by not only expanding my worldview but also giving me a route to escape my conditions long enough to reflect on the psychological effects of poverty and on our educational system. For me personally, that’s what this whole Ivy League thing is about: moving forward with my determination to help enact reformist policies with respect to those failures I and others like me experienced as a youth.</p>
<p>Therein lies my current dilemma. I’m not sure the Columbia admissions staff will look too kindly on me knocking the tenets of the very institution that serves as a vehicle for their classifications of prospective students. I could come off as arrogant or revisionist – creating excuses for or simply not caring about my place as a failure in the American educational institution. That’s really not what I want, though I’m not sure how I can fit all the facets of this unique understanding and its effects on my early academic performance.</p>
<p>Edited to add: Sorry if it all sounds incoherent. I have some trouble with insomnia and I haven’t slept well lately.</p>
<p>^^That’s a point of view moulded by your own experience. It would be wrong of the admissions office to assume you come off as arrogant for just that reason; unless, of course, you sound arrogant in your essay, which you should try to minimize. That being said, if you’re worried about being controversial, I’d say what you did in the second paragraph: more than anything, it indicates introspection and maturity.</p>
<p>And as for your classification as a ‘failure in the American educational institution’, well, if you were, you wouldn’t bother applying to Columbia with a vision to reform education if you were a failure, would you?</p>
<p>If the adcom really were that sensitive to your characterisation of students–each one of them needs to be replaced. They can’t be that sensitive–they get application essays from all kinds of people, conservatives, liberals, anarchists, communists…I’m pretty sure there was a self-proclaimed fascist in my graduating class.</p>
<p>Point being, don’t worry about moulding yourself into something the adcom will like–they’re looking for a diversity of opinion. And I garauntee you many of them will agree with you.</p>
<p>My essay was >2,500 words.</p>
<p>bred - I have to correct you. Our current President - elect was a transfer student to Columbia College, not GS. Although there is nothing wrong w/GS as I have been admitted and will start Fall '09. :D</p>
<p>Ah, I read in a few unverified sources that he had attended GS. Well, in any case, Gravel attended GS. :P</p>
<p>Heh, thanks for the clarification.</p>
<p>Reading this board, I’m glad I didn’t stumble onto this before I applied to GS. I have a good H.S. record, graduated at 16 and received a full academic scholarship to a Big Ten school. Once there, I had a tough time acclimating to the college experience. Somewhat in part due to my age-you know, wanting to still be with my friends who were still in high school. I dropped out as soon as I was of age to obtain an apartment and moved 2000 miles away. </p>
<p>Here we are several years later and I decided to apply to GS for Spring '08. I must admit, my application was rather hasty and I just “went” for it. My essay wasn’t anything substantial. Of course I was denied admission. Partly due to my insatiable quest for perfection, I wanted to know what the admissions crew thought of me. If anything, it would only be to my benefit to speak with them regardless of admission or not, right? Well, to my surprise they informed me that my test scores on the GSEA were quite good and suggested I attend another college for a bit and consider re-applying with some recent history under my belt.</p>
<p>After my semester, my GPA was 3.89 - NOT including my previous credits from that Big Ten school. In fact, some of the classes at the Big Ten school I didn’t even show up for because I was off hanging with my H.S. buddies…but pretty much every class that I did attend, I got an A. I re-applied for admission for Fall '08 and was accepted. My essay was roughly 1700 words or so. I went into detail about the past but I was not that introspective. I spoke about why I thought I was good for GS and why it was good for me and gave examples to support that. As someone else noted, they review essays from all over the world. Don’t over-think it…especially when you have already established a rapport w/the Dean and other staff members. I say if you do good on the entrance exam, get as close to a 4.0 as you can during your semester of classes and write a literate, coherent essay as your posts have been, then I’d say you have a great chance of gaining admission.</p>
<p>I see. Well Occidental has a 2-year program geared towards matriculation into Columbia College and that’s what he did.</p>
<p>bred.to.please,</p>
<p>A couple quick hits of advice, since I’m late to the party here.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Fascinating story of course, I think you’d be an excellent applicant to GS, and I absolutely love your post #8 in this thread - I think you’re spot on and couldn’t have put it better.</p></li>
<li><p>Admissions to GS is actually not quite as competitive as some might make it seem here. They don’t take everybody, but I think they take about half. The reason for this is financial - they want to take everyone who’s academically qualified to hold their ground in the classes, because they basically don’t offer much of any financial aid to GS students and use them as cash cows. You do get what you pay for, though, as it really is more than the “glorified night schools” you mention at other peer places.</p></li>
<li><p>There are at least two GS students around here, WindowShopping and GS_Banding. The former is a polisci student (recent grad) and a friend of mine. LionHeaded or LionHearted or whatever was a successful transfer - I think to GS though maybe to CC. In either case, there are some people for you to send a private message to.</p></li>
<li><p>There is in fact more than a small portion of the crowd who supports the troops and doesn’t hold anything against the military. I was in one such group - called “Students United for America” at the time - who did things like send xmas packages for troops in Iraq, hold bake sales, debate at Political Union events, etc. There was some overlap with the College Republicans and the Conservative Club, neither of whom I shared much in common with, but there is a surprising amount of sympathy on campus for those who have served in the military. Less so for the leaders determining what to DO with that military, of course, but by and large everyone gives everyone a fair shake.</p></li>
<li><p>You will, however, encounter a few attitudes on campus similar to what’s expressed in post 24. They’ll be fairly passive, not hostile, but it’s something you’ll have to deal with on occasion. Kids at CC and SEAS had to out-compete thousands of other top applicants from high schools around the world in order to get a spot in the class, and they want to make sure that the brand they’re buying into and seeking to leverage in their careers doesn’t get diluted. It’s a pride thing, yes, but it also has something to do with wanting to see their university’s esteem maintained. The way you get past that is by proving that you can do your differential equations and analyze your literature and do it all with a friendly attitude - friends won’t be hard to find if so. But there is indeed a burden of proof at play on your side, and surely you can see the reasoning.</p></li>
<li><p>Wait, Occidental has a program geared towards transferring to CC? I thought he was just unsatisfied with where he was. Really? They have that kind of relationship? Wow. Do you have a link?</p></li>
</ul>
<p>It doesn’t matter how long you served in the military or how many badges you recieved. If you can’t even pass a grade in school they are not going to accept you. That is the harsh truth.</p>
<p>Er, there are several high school drop-outs at Columbia. At least one of them was recently a recipient of the Program for Academic Leadership and Service scholarship, awarded to only 15-18 newly admitted students every year.</p>
<p>Also, among other decorations, I earned the Joint Service Commendation Medal. That’s awarded by the SecDef. It’s not a badge. A badge is something you win in the Boy Scouts for tying knots. I received that medal as a lance corporal, or E-3 – unprecedented for that level of award. I received it for repairing international communications with our base in Japan from the Philippines after a landslide disrupted our communications systems. Note that it was not my job, and during the process, I implemented various old and New Media initiatives (i.e. feeds, podcasts, blogs and an award-winning magazine) that kept international media abreast regarding our disaster relief efforts in the country during that time. I don’t think it would be a stretch to say that my initiatives were at least comparable to extra-curricular activities you may have listed in your own application.</p>
<p>I’m resigned to this argument. I’m not going to keep defending myself to every person who throws a tantrum over the concept of substantive life experience as an adequate substitute for performance in learning by rote.</p>