<p>Wow, LionHeaded’s scathing diatribe is probably the best thing I’ve ever read on here that I myself didn’t write. Hell, it’s probably better than any rant of mine.</p>
<p>“It doesn’t have to be easy for him to get books. The issue is whether it’s reasonably possible to get them. And I have no doubt that it would have been easy for him to realize that the SAT is required for US colleges.”</p>
<p>You idiot, how did I even know that I would come to the US? everything happened really fast. I was living the way I lived and in matter of MONTHS(because of a family issue I’m not going to discuss) I had to change my entire life:family, school, language. How would I know this would happen? would I have American college requirements somewhere in my dreams or would I have VISIONS where I would find out about the importance of SATs? You just dont get it, and we need to stop posting on this thread because it is useless.</p>
<p>I’m curious too though .What was your score and where are you from? I’m also international.</p>
<p>What is this mythic score again?</p>
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<p>We’re explaining to you why it’s disadvantageous to do what you did. That you don’t “get it” – or a lot of other things – is pretty sad.</p>
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<p>Ok, guy. I have to say you’re probably the douchiest guy I’ve come across on these boards and the weird thing is that you have absolutely no leg to stand on! </p>
<p>You’re asking for help, clearly unsure of getting in and on the other hand bragging about how much better Stanford is, trying to get a rise out of people. Newsflash, sailor; if you’re can’t get into Columbia because of your score you ain’t getting into Stanford!</p>
<p>You ask for advise from people who know better and then proceed to try to insult them when they give you extensive and good advice (when really a simple “you newb” would have amply sufficed). You have the unanimous voice here; It was a mistake. Accept that.</p>
<p>Acting cocky online won’t make change the size of the envelope you’ll get come May.</p>
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<p>I generally skim/speed-read posts on here and read things more carefully if they pique my interest. In undisclosed’s post, the first thing I noticed was “Acting cocky online won’t make change the size of.”</p>
<p>Why is everyone ganging him this much? This seems like it’s really gone way out of proportion in every way.</p>
<p>"I generally skim/speed-read posts on here and read things more carefully if they pique my interest. In undisclosed’s post, the first thing I noticed was “Acting cocky online won’t make change the size of.”</p>
<p>lol</p>
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<p>I don’t think it’s a question of ganging up. Everyone trashing him is acting independently. The uniformly scathing responses he is drawing simply demonstrates how wrong he is.</p>
<p>What were your SAT scores? Does Columbia know your situation? I don’t think the OP would have had time for all that research, and, OP, I don’t think you’ve explained it well. Maybe, if you did not let Columbia know your situation, you could do that and say why you were at a disadvantage for prepping for the SAT.</p>
<p>My sat’s were in 1800s. My SAT subject tests in 700s. All I did was that I told them that I did not have the opportunity to prepare for that test in any way. It took me quite some time to work on my English even after I came to the US, and by the time my language skills were ready for that kind of test, I did not have enough time for the actual preparation. “you should have researched american colleges” - how? could I have a prophetic dream that someday I would come here? Even the first time I came here a while ago, I had hard time dealing even with ESL class level English, let alone the SATs ( existence of which I was not even aware of.)</p>
<p>I’m still not understanding your situation. When did you come to the US and from where?</p>
<p>I say that if there are any severely disadvantageous circumstances, the adcoms will sense them…given that you provide them with some information about your upbringing/history, which I’m sure is already in your application.</p>
<p>my understanding was that CU doesnt place as much emphasis on SATs as the other ivies. surely if youre from some bum**** village where amazon.com doesnt deliver- the amazon perhaps?- they will be somewhat sympathetic</p>
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<p>That’s not even kind of true, I’m afraid. Maybe in the sense that they’re more willing to take more 2100s than say, Yale but if you look at the admissions breakdown, the middle 50% of admitted students scored between a 2090 and a 2300 on the SATs. Getting lower than that drastically reduces your chances. The 25% that get in with less have something glowing in their files to make up for it. And even then, they RARELY go lower than 1900. </p>
<p>I’m afraid that for a lot of schools, especially the ivies, an 1800 is just too low. I know of someone who got rejected from NYU with a similar score. </p>
<p>As for the nature of the excuse, well, I’ve said all I had to say on it already.</p>
<p>so theres never any exceptions? one can be a genius and do very poorly on a standardized test. not saying that this kid can be hailed anything close to a genius- his debating skills are quite “sucky” but my point is that I thought the U looks at things on a broader scale and doesnt dismiss automatically based on a low SAT. what if he brought communications to his little village in myanmar where they can now order study aids from amazon.com?</p>
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<p>No, lionheaded isn’t saying that. Of course there are exceptions but just because there have been cases in the past doesn’t mean that you should expect similar treatment, esp. considering how much more competitive applicants have gotten even compared to 3 or 4 years ago.</p>
<p>Also, Stanford09 came to the US to take the test so what you’re suggesting isn’t really relevant. Yeah it sucks that he/she didn’t have enough time to prep but that excuse could be used by hundreds of other applicants. They’ll consider that you’re an international student but that is not a justification for low scores, EC, whatever.</p>
<p>“so theres never any exceptions? one can be a genius and do very poorly on a standardized test. not saying that this kid can be hailed anything close to a genius- his debating skills are quite “sucky” but my point is that I thought the U looks at things on a broader scale and doesnt dismiss automatically based on a low SAT. what if he brought communications to his little village in myanmar where they can now order study aids from amazon.com?”</p>
<p>Don’t forget about the ACT as well. I don’t know if Columbia weighs them the same, but it’s something.</p>
<p>On the SAT: for a fundamentally academic institution, in a country with no other standardized measurement (APs maybe), the SAT is a crutch they have to lean on, and they should continue to do so, they need to believe that you have the potential to get Bs here. so columbia, or any other school will rely on it if they know what’s good for them, but yes columbia has a greater spread of SAT scores, meaning it is less of a factor than peer schools. (think of it this way: if the SAT was a non factor they’d have a solid spread from 1600-2400, so the greater the spread the less it’s a factor, assuming you have similar applicants at different universities - which again isn’t absolutely true.)</p>
<p>well, today I talked to my interviewer and he said that note would be just fine. He did not believe it would “**** them off” or anything I heard people say in here. I explained my circumstances and he said there are chances they will take it into consideration.</p>
<p>in regards to what aCTyankee said:if you think that my “debating skills are sucky” I will have to remind you that this is not a debate forum. Questions asked, questions answered, issues discussed, it is that simple. If you want to hear a debate go somewhere else. I did not think this would come out so complicated. I probably did not explain things well in the first instance. I have never encountered so many arrogant people in my life. They can diminish and overlook you on the very first opportunity instead of trying to make you understand things without making fun of wherever I am from. Big deal we do not have amazon.com there. Mind your own business, that should not be the first things you tell me.</p>