<p>I’m currently at a CC so I already know I’m at a disadvantage against other transfer applicants from 4-year schools. Would having an internship with a law alum over the summer and getting a good letter of rec boost my acceptance chances to Columbia College? I’m obviously working towards maintaining a 4.0, raising test scores, etc.</p>
<p>It’s not the person – it’s what is contained in the rec letter. Does it outline that you did anything substantial, does it contain anecdotes that show superior scholarship or initiative, does it highlight qualities of motivation, leadership, inquisitiveness — these are the overriding factors. </p>
<p>Who writes the letter is irrelevant as opposed to what the letter contains.</p>
<p>What T26E4 says is true, and is the main thing.</p>
<p>Another thing, however, is that an individual alumnus of a prestigious college or university is not as important to the admissions committee as many outsiders seem to believe. But think about it this way. A university the size of Columbia may have 200,000 or more living alumni. (The university granted just over 10,000 degrees in 2011-2012. Even if we allow that many of those will have been conferred upon people who already had a Columbia degree–for example, a Ph.D. awarded to a graduate student who’d already earned a master’s degree at Columbia–that’s still going to add up to a lot of people.) Even if a relatively small fraction of them recommended one or two students every year, the numbers would overwhelm the admissions office.</p>
<p>I think would have to slightly disagree. Also, 10,000 degrees for last year sounds way too high. Is that counting affiliated schools like Barnard, JTS, UTS, and TC? </p>
<p>I think a recommendation from a Columbia College alumnus/a would have decent weight if he/she were an active (read donating) member of the CC Alumni Community. What does a Law Alum know about undergraduate life at Columbia? The only recommendation that I think could potentially help you would be from a Columbia College alumnus/a.</p>
<p>The figure of 10,000 degrees conferred came from here (<a href=“Columbia OPIR”>Columbia OPIR), in Columbia’s statistical abstract for 2010-11. It includes undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees. It does include about 700 degrees from the School of General Studies and the School of Continuing Education, but most of the degrees are granted by Columbia College or Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, or by the Morningside professional schools such as Law, Architecture, Journalism and Social Work, or by the medical center. You can see for yourself.</p>
<p>And I think most of us alumni who donate (I’m not a Columbia graduate, but I did graduate from a different Ivy) don’t donate enough money to make a material difference in our own children’s prospects for admission, let alone in those of an intern.</p>
<p>"And I think most of us alumni who donate (I’m not a Columbia graduate, but I did graduate from a different Ivy) don’t donate enough money to make a material difference in our own children’s prospects for admission, let alone in those of an intern. "</p>
<p>This is truth</p>