Rejected... Preparing for next year...

Transfer Students
1

<p>My condolescene to all those who were rejected from their college… I had two rejection already and am still waiting for 8 more pending… I have a feeling that the other 8 would still turn out to be rejections too so i have made my mind up and decided to post this thread on preparations for next year…</p>

<p>1st question… WHAT EXACTLY DID You guys put down in columbia’s “books” sections? </p>

<p>“The many strengths of the entire applicant pool - as demonstrated by scholastic successes achieved, by community service performed, by activities pursued, by essays written and by books read - made the selection process more competitive than simple numbers could possibly indicate.”</p>

<p>Were books read a HUGE thing for Columbia?</p>

<p>I am posting my stats here so pls comments to help me prepare better…</p>

<p>SAT I 2350/2400
SAT II Physics 800/800, Chemistry 780/800 Math II 800/800</p>

<p>High School average from a canadian High school: 90% (not that high i must admit) </p>

<p>Studied in Hong Kong, Singapore, Uk, and different areas in Canada.</p>

<p>I am an econ major, i have tons of extracirricular, but i Don’t have many awards - except national championship in waterpolo back in high school. ( i m not applying for sport scholarships).</p>

<p>College GPA : 4.0/4.0
Mother passed away since young… Grew up away from home living in boarding school all the time…</p>

<p>few working experiences… investment firm, set up own computer company… </p>

<p>My essays were pretty good, recs pretty good, not outstanding though… </p>

<p>How can i make myself more competitive???
What should i be reading then if i want to apply for columbia next year??</p>

2

<p>I read Pynchon and was accepted at Columbia College. Haha. May be you should pick a Pynchon up. I would start with The Crying of Lot 49–it’s the most accessible of his works. Good luck! I am sorry you weren’t accepted. Rest assured, however, that your stats are amazing! I doubt Columbia will pass you up twice!</p>

3

<p>I think maybe you should consider not applying again. Will anything have changed by next year? I seriously doubt the books had anything to do with. As long as you didn’t put something along the lines of The Boxcar Children I doubt your answer hurt you.</p>

<p>You have great stats. Why do you think you’ll be rejected at other schools? Columbia has one of the lowest transfer rates in the country.</p>

4

<p>To addy189… yes something is changing this year… I am flying to africa (hope that i will survive) to work in an AIDS orphanage as a volunteer… I hope that will boost me up a little… what do you think/?</p>

5

<p>I just got accepted to Columbia, and frankly, your stats are better than mine by a wide margin. I applied as an econ major as well, combined with Asian Studies. What I think really got me in, though, was my essay. I wrote a really, really impassioned (as well as ambitious) essay about how I wanted to combine a study of economics with Asian Studies to learn about development in China.</p>

<p>I had no awards. I had no internships. My SAT scores were far from perfect.</p>

6

<p>Oh, and for books, I maxed that thing out: Le Corbusier’s Toward’s a New Architecture, O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night, Lu Xun’s Diary of a Madman, and Alan Moore’s Watchmen, along with several others.</p>

<p>I think if the books mattered at all they liked the eclectic nature of it. I had a graphic novel, a Chinese classic, an American play, a book about architectural theory, and a few others I can’t remember. Actually I think they might matter since Columbia is a school with a curriculum that revolves so heavily around reading classic texts.</p>

7

<p>I really can’t believe a guy with your scores and experience like working in investment banking would not be accepted…</p>

8

<p>What can I say man…the system is flawed.</p>

<p>The joke of the matter is that I applied under a similar major as Laneb, am from a top 15 school, and have SAT scores above Columbia’s average, I got waitlisted. Reallllllly crushed. But life goes on…</p>

9

<p>I think that any applicant could be working for Goldman Sachs, and still be rejected. The bottom line is how individuals market themselves–your passions, your beliefs, your character, your abilities–are things that they really what they look into.</p>

<p>Investment banking is a great achievement, but what does it have to do with a major in CAS? What’s the relation? </p>

<p>If you pick up any admissions book that features interviews from adcom’s, you’ll find that they have seen everything. Family tragedies, illness’, broken families, war, genocide, and other such happenings are not unique at all. These situations are simply used for context in light of your achievements. In other words, they’ll focus on how you changed or reacted in the context of your history.</p>

<p>On other things…
Please don’t take this personally but, your writing is horrible. Columbia prides itself in its century old literary achievements; its Graduate School of Journalism consistently ranks at number 1 (debatable…I know). That’s just the tip of the iceberg in terms of Columbia’s literary achievements. </p>

<p>Columbia, of all Universities, will not excuse poor writing just because you’re an international student. Columbia has plenty of students with 4.0’s and high, as such they’ll look in other areas to knock applicants out.</p>

<p>Im presuming many things here, so I apologize if your writing now is different the way you wrote in your essay. I’ve noticed that great writers always write well, even in informal situations so I can’t help but presume that your essay may have contained grammar or logic errors.</p>

<p>OFF TOPIC: Hey, what investment license did you get?! I’m studying this summer to get my investment advisor license too. I’m guessing that you’re from a wealthy and well connected family from HK…lucky!</p>

10

<p>Ok maybe you are write about my writing… But i kind of know why i got rejected this year…
even though i look extremely presentable on paper, i haven’t really talked about my passion and how that relates to my education…
The reason for this is that I HAVE ALWAYS BELIEVED IN THE SAYING THAT EDUCATION IS NOT necessary FOR SUCCESS… I have been constantly telling myself that, and perhaps that might have affected how i wrote my essays…</p>

<p>In addition to this, i realize that i am not geniune enough… Of course, i am talented, but i lack a certain passion that is required to get into these universities… In response to your quote that “(my) writing is horrible”, yes I must admit that my writing here is horrible, in fact, i haven’t been speaking much english ever since i arrived in canada… (BELIEVE ME, YOU DON"T NEED ENGLISH TO GET AROUND)… </p>

<p>Dude i got my investment consultant license in Hong Kong, in trading futures. I worked in the department of private equity in Goldman Sachs… </p>

<p>^nathananise, working in an investment has nothing to do with passion, or success or etc. i hated working in ibanks because everyone in it is essentially a backstabber, and there’s a lack of trust among employees, and employers…
Investment Banking is kind of like a game, if you know the rules and apply them carefully, you win…</p>

<p>Yeah i guess i am gonna start working on my applications for next year… Well i pretty down right now so i guess i am gonna fly back to Kenya Adi</p>

11

<p>“how many brothers fell victim to the street, rest in peace, young ■■■■■, there’s a heaven for a G”
That’s all i gotta say</p>

12

<p>if rap was any good i would agree</p>

13

<p>Umm…which license did you get? There are sooo many…and each has their own ■■■■■■■■ test too. </p>

<p>I bet putting GS on your application hurt you too. GS’s overseas ops don’t officially offer private equity positions to individuals with your credentials. Morgan Stanley and GS are very public about their global employment opportunities.</p>

<p>My first/second year Ibanking buddies don’t think it’s that bad. It just seems that they don’t have much of a situation where backstabbing is likely to occur, since employees of different specialties have to work together to get anywhere in regards to LBO’s, investment theme’s, blablahblabhalha.</p>

14

<p>Try a business school in a place that doesn’t care about your English skills.</p>