<p>So my friend just got into Columbia for athletics. He is a very mediocre student I’d say- doesn’t really take honors or AP classes (only has taken 1 in high school) and has a sub-3.5 GPA. Clearly not in the top 25% of our class.</p>
<p>Thing is, a lot of people are really really angry that he got in. He is a great swimmer, but clearly his academics are nowhere near as good. Columbia is the best school that people get into from my school, historically, and they only take ONE a year. Thus, this poses a problem for all the people who are actually hard-working in school and have academic interests in colleges…</p>
<p>To add onto this, the kid has been involved with drugs and has been caught cheating on several tests throughout high school. My school is pretty unfair in the sense that his parents came down last year and basically bribed the school to strike it from his record. This was a source of gossip throughout my school, and as you can see, he is clearly not the most popular kid. He is just getting worried that someone will write a letter to the college stating all of this. Would they do anything?</p>
<p>If the student is a very good athlete that could put Columbia on the athletics map and/or bring people to games, than anything short of a a felony would not cause the rescinding of his admission. However, I have heard of people calling/emailing adcoms anonymously and telling them about the poor choices of an applicant. (i.e. go look at fb). If an applicant were to send a letter by himself it would probably make the applicant look desperate and hurt his/her chances more. However, if the applicant is truly disliked as much as the OP says, then a mass letter from many people may cause a problem for the applicant. However, for the letter to have real weight it must contain specific antedates of poor behavior (i.e. multiple people saw him cheating and teachers/other staff will probably have to lend support because students may not want him to go to columbia because he takes one of their spots so their would be a conflict of interest. The best idea though is to ignore the applicant and move on.</p>
<p>People need to move on and focus on their own opportunities. There is injustice in this world to be sure, but trying to succeed by undoing the success of others is a loser’s game.</p>
<p>Thus, this poses a problem for all the people who are actually hard-working in school and have academic interests in colleges…</p>
<p>Sounds like he worked pretty damn hard…as a swimmer…to get in. Is he the fastest swimmer in your school? Columbia needed a swimmer, and they got one. Get over it. Life isn’t always fair.</p>
<p>Even if someone writes a letter and by some chance this person gets rescinded, there’s no certainty that Columbia would offer the spot to someone else in your school. In fact, they probably would avoid doing so.</p>
<p>Maybe you don’t know the whole story here. The only thing you can control in this process is your own effort and your own behavior…keep your focus where it can do you the most good.</p>