2012-2013 Columbia University Application Thread

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MissPraynWait said:
I received the secondary this morning:

Dear [your name here],
We invite you to complete the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons secondary application. Below you will find the link and login information for the P&S online secondary application.


And then it talks about the username and password with a link.
Click to expand...

No i fully believe you. I wasn't questioning whether you received it or not. I just figured a lot of SDNers hadnt received it yet because typically a lot of people comment when the secondaries go out to applicants.
Members don't see this ad.
 
Seems like some schools are taking some time to roll out secondaries to all applicants. It's really just luck depending on what order they receive applications from AMCAS. For some schools I received them the first day, and others I got them a full 3 days after other people. It sucks that they can't find a way to give them to everyone at once, considering many schools have rolling admissions and people who get them the first day have a slight advantage.
 
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the secondary is being rolled out slowly due to a new system being implemented this year. apparently they want to make sure all kinks are worked out
 
Received secondary last night, but submitted today due to technical problems! Secondary prompts (in addition to some yes/no boxes about relationships with Columbia University):

11. In what collegiate extracurriculars did you engage? (250 characters)

12. Did you work for compensation during the year or summer? If so, what did you do? How many hours a week did you work? (250 characters).

13. If you have graduated from college, please summarize what you have done in the interim. (300 characters).

14. What challenges do you expect to arise from living and working in a complex urban environment? How will you meet them? (250 char.)

15. Is there anything else you would like us to know? (300 char.)
 
Yesterday I logged in and it would send me back to the log in page when I clicked start application. Today I can actually log in but when I click start application it doesn't show the questions pages only the payment and picture upload pages. :(
 
a little confused by this prompt

If you took time off from your undergraduate studies, please briefly summarize your reasons for doing so

do they mean answer this if you took time off during your undergrad? or since you graduated from undergrad?
 
tasiubao said:
a little confused by this prompt

If you took time off from your undergraduate studies, please briefly summarize your reasons for doing so

do they mean answer this if you took time off during your undergrad? or since you graduated from undergrad?
Click to expand...

They actually ask each of these questions separately, at least on my application. I don't know if we're getting different versions cause the numbers posted earlier don't match the ones on my application. The questions I have are:

10. If you took time off from your undergraduate studies, please briefly summarize your reasons for doing so.
Click to expand...
I read this to mean if you took off time during your undergrad.
13. If you have graduated from college, please briefly summarize what you have done in the interim.
Click to expand...
this one is about if you took time off after undergrad
 
I just received the secondary. Make sure you select which degree program you are applying for on the home tab. If you don't the essay questions won't appear and it will look you there is nothing to do except upload a photo and pay.
 
Hi!
Did anyone upload their photos to the site yet?
If so, did you automatically receive a check mark for the "By checking it indicates you want to mail-in your photo to Admission Office" option?
After uploading my photo, I realized that the mailing-in option somehow got checked off, and it won't allow me to undo it.
Thanks.
 
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Anybody else getting an error message when you try to hit "save and continue" (and want to go on to submit) on the photo page? Also it weirdly distorted my photo...and it was really hard to answer the "challenges of an urban environment" question in that many characters, I wonder if that was a glitch too. Seems like they're struggling a bit with this system.
 
For number 11: In what collegiate extracurriculars did you engage?

Did you just list the organizations you were part of or did you explain one that was the most important to you?
 
Carnation1895 said:
Anybody else getting an error message when you try to hit "save and continue" (and want to go on to submit) on the photo page? Also it weirdly distorted my photo...and it was really hard to answer the "challenges of an urban environment" question in that many characters, I wonder if that was a glitch too. Seems like they're struggling a bit with this system.
Click to expand...

I'm getting an error. Have tried firefox and chrome.
 
This secondary is a breath of fresh air.
 
to those who have successfully submitted, what browser were you using? i can't get chrome, firefox, or safari to do anything but give me the 500 error.
 
Just got it to work (with chrome) although I'm not thrilled about the fact that I submitted it with my photo all distorted...oh well, I just wanted to get it done!
 
Anybody else having trouble with the short essay prompt? I have no idea what they're looking for...

What challenges do you expect to arise from living and working in a complex urban environment? How will you meet them?
 
How do you expect to live in NYC if you haven't before? If you have, write about how it won't be a prob because you have already for the past x years. Challenges I'm guessing are the high cost of living.
 
Has anybody else noticed that Columbia and Yale's secondary websites look they are made by the exact same developer?
 
actually I've noticed that Columbia, Cooper, USC, UVA, NYU are all made by the same developer. Probably why it took longer to come out this year?

Also these questions sucked. Barely 2-3 sentences to describe anything. I wonder what the admissions committee actually gains from asking them.
 
giants25 said:
Also these questions sucked. Barely 2-3 sentences to describe anything. I wonder what the admissions committee actually gains from asking them.
Click to expand...

Oh yeah, USC's is the same too. If they are all going to hire the same people to make a website, why can't we just have 1 universal secondary? Better yet why do we even have secondaries?
 
So, I've been having technical problems since tuesday.
Basics Info tab used to disappear, photo is distorted and cannot be changed.

I called in, and supposedly there has to be an essay...? So maybe I'm not seeing the entire app, just q 1-15 in the basic info tab..

but then nobody else posted a prompt, so if there is indeed one, nobody is able to see it..
will just have to wait.
 
Is the compensation question about the last year only or about every year of your undergraduate studies?
 
Last edited:
Wait, I just checked my application again. Did the character limits suddenly turn into word limits?? I already had submitted!
 
What the heck, just logged back into the secondary and know all the essays have been changed from a limit of 250 characters to 250 WORDS...
 
Idk about you, but my application submit status just changed to incomplete...which means we have to all go back and put in these essays.
 
for questions like working while you were in undergrad, is it OK to pretty much use exactly the same description from your AMCAS?
 
Haha, shoot, I really liked the shorter version. Time to re-write...
 
That was crazy. I feel bad for people who submitted and aren't on SDN to have other people to tell them 250 characters changed to 250 words and that their application is not complete anymore if they already submitted.
 
weezynation said:
That was crazy. I feel bad for people who submitted and aren't on SDN to have other people to tell them 250 characters changed to 250 words and that their application is not complete anymore if they already submitted.
Click to expand...

I'm sure they'll email everyone about it.

Yale had an error as well, but ended up sending from an email that was marked by gmail as spam. :laugh:

Ivy leagues are struggle busing badly this year in the tech department.
 
this ruined my day. lol. no i was surprised it was so easy. dammit. back to the drawing board.
 
Just submitted, good luck to everyone applying! Hopefully we can be future classmates :D
 
Damn, I actually liked the shorter essays. Oh well, this secondary is still much better than some others (*cough* Vandy *cough*)...
 
For the "What college ECs did you engage?" question, did you all just list your activities from AMCAS? Did you provide descriptions, dates, amount of time?
 
DCSB6 said:
For the "What college ECs did you engage?" question, did you all just list your activities from AMCAS? Did you provide descriptions, dates, amount of time?
Click to expand...

I gave descriptions of my most important ones. If I had any ECs that were paid (tutoring job, paid summer research) then I listed them in the jobs section instead. Not sure if that was the correct strategy, but meh...

Also, DCSB6, I say boo to your avatar. As a Niner fan, I've been programmed from birth to hate the Cowboys. Don't take it personally.
 
Lol, I feel the same way towards yours. But if it means anything to you, I make much worse enemies out of Eagles/Giants/Skins fans.
 
Any thoughts for or against using a Why Columbia essay in the space for 'anything else?'
 
Columbia is a dream school for me, but wondering if its crazy to even invest in the secondary? I have a 3.8 gpa... 4.0 sgpa. but 32 mcat with an 11 in verbal. Lots of extra curricula's, varsity athlete, and have been head of athletics at a school for children with anxiety disorders for the last year...
also... why do these secondaries keep asking for meaningful extra curriculars when we've talked about them ad nauseum in our primary? are we supposed to find new and meaningful things that we just didn't bother mentioning before, or do we repeat ourselves?
would be grateful for any advice!
 
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