2012-2013 Columbia University Application Thread

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Sophocles said:
I'll just respectfully agree to disagree...

Bard Hall-hahaha that's hilarious. I haven't met one person that has said anything good about the place, but in all fairness most schools that I interviewed at had crappy dorm rooms (Harvard, Cornell, etc.). Perhaps the nicest dorms that I saw were the ones at Einstein and there are other schools like Ohio State where people have to live in nearby apartment complexes because there are no student dorms. One thing I will say is that the towers were actually nice. There are ways for first years to get into the towers, but yeah it seems that Bard Hall is the worst part of Columbia-the students on the tour stated that there have been at least three generations of physicians that have lived in Bard Hall, which needless to say speaks for itself, and there was also a rumor that after anatomy the students would go to the pool at the bottom of Bard to get rid of the smell from the cadavers...... I don't know what to make of that.
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I got to live in Bard Hall for 3 months over the summer. Let's just say...the co-ed bathrooms are not too pretty, and the lone kitchen up on the topmost floor makes it hard for many people to cook at the same time. On the other hand, the Towers are beautiful. I'm not aiming to go to Columbia for the dorms, but for the top-notch education, clinicals, and people. I also want to be closer to my loved ones and s.o. so that is also very important.

btw, Bard Hall gym is renovated now. Over a million dollars spent on renovations to make it all spiffy.
 
OwlPower22 said:
I got to live in Bard Hall for 3 months over the summer. Let's just say...the co-ed bathrooms are not too pretty, and the lone kitchen up on the topmost floor makes it hard for many people to cook at the same time. On the other hand, the Towers are beautiful. I'm not aiming to go to Columbia for the dorms, but for the top-notch education, clinicals, and people. I also want to be closer to my loved ones and s.o. so that is also very important.

btw, Bard Hall gym is renovated now. Over a million dollars spent on renovations to make it all spiffy.
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Nice... I thought we would have to commute to Dodge...
 
obviouslyteal said:
Wait so OwlPower and Sophocles, are you both at Columbia now for UG or did you both already graduate?

At the risk of destroying the little anonymity I probably have left... I miss my alma mater!! 😀
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Yeah, I'm graduating in May. Seems a lot of us want to stay with the same institution.
 
obviouslyteal said:
Wait so OwlPower and Sophocles, are you both at Columbia now for UG or did you both already graduate?

At the risk of destroying the little anonymity I probably have left... I miss my alma mater!! 😀
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Anonymous, my butt - it doesn't matter anymore because I'm already accepted into med school. Minus P&S, of course. I graduated 2011 so I'm an old lady.
 
obviouslyteal said:
Ah see, I wasn't a pre-med at Columbia (took care of that business later, hence old lady status) so unfortunately I can't share your pain. But I did have long chats with Ms. Megan Rigney my senior year when I had my "what am I doing with my life" crisis :laugh:

We all survived to tell the tale of LitHum and CC though, and that's the beauty of being a Lion!
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You dodged the bullet on that one! LitHum and CC were actually my two favorite classes - too bad I had them both at 9AM, when my eyes refuse to stay open post-chemistry problem set.

On another note, I think I might be snowed in at my CUMC lab. ooohhh boy....
 
For real. I'm downtown and managed to get out early. Good luck to ya
 
OwlPower22 said:
I got to live in Bard Hall for 3 months over the summer. Let's just say...the co-ed bathrooms are not too pretty, and the lone kitchen up on the topmost floor makes it hard for many people to cook at the same time. On the other hand, the Towers are beautiful. I'm not aiming to go to Columbia for the dorms, but for the top-notch education, clinicals, and people. I also want to be closer to my loved ones and s.o. so that is also very important.

btw, Bard Hall gym is renovated now. Over a million dollars spent on renovations to make it all spiffy.
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Hm, I love to cook for myself, so this is a bit of an issue. Is there a good group of people who choose to live off campus in shared apartments, or would you say for social reasons, it's always better to live in Bard? :-/
 
Narie said:
Hm, I love to cook for myself, so this is a bit of an issue. Is there a good group of people who choose to live off campus in shared apartments, or would you say for social reasons, it's always better to live in Bard? :-/
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I know a few first years that live off-campus and they really enjoy their independence, but they have said that they really miss being able to go to all the little parties that their peers have. Not that they can't go but that sometimes it's a bit of a hassle.
 
Sophocles said:
I know a few first years that live off-campus and they really enjoy their independence, but they have said that they really miss being able to go to all the little parties that their peers have. Not that they can't go but that sometimes it's a bit of a hassle.
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hm, okay, good to know......

on another note,
MAARRCCHHHH......please come now
 
Does anyone know when the last interview day is in February?
 
AllDay24 said:
feb 8, per food selection survey on interview tab
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People interviewed today, your food selection tab is for the days you were being offered. Last day is tomorrow and individual interviews will occur beyond there on a case to case basis.
 
mmmcdowe said:
People interviewed today, your food selection tab is for the days you were being offered. Last day is tomorrow and individual interviews will occur beyond there on a case to case basis.
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When do the deliberations start?
 
Getting closer and closer to March is not good for my hairline.
 
My interviewer had said they start discussions in early feb..


also how do first years get into the towers?
 
med17 said:
My interviewer had said they start discussions in early feb..


also how do first years get into the towers?
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I think the loophole has to do with prior individuals who already have a contract. If you could move in with someone who is living there and can be their roommate or the individual is about to leave yet their contract isn't up, you might be able to take it over for them. I'm sure some of the current students can clarify this.

I also know, as in my situation, if you have a family (i.e. wife/son) you are supposed to be able to have those accommodations.
 
Sophocles said:
I think the loophole has to do with prior individuals who already have a contract. If you could move in with someone who is living there and can be their roommate or the individual is about to leave yet their contract isn't up, you might be able to take it over for them. I'm sure some of the current students can clarify this.

I also know, as in my situation, if you have a family (i.e. wife/son) you are supposed to be able to have those accommodations.
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I think couples housing is in the Towers too. Shack up with your s.o. (if you have one) and save money!
 
obviouslyteal said:
I thought this was only for married couples? Or at least from the anecdotes from my friends last year who were trying to get (unmarried) couples housing as MS1s.
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whaaat. That's kind of disappointing. : (

On another note, I just got published today! woohoo!
 
Congratulations! What was the research about? Methinks that update has to get in quick!
 
FijiGNR89 said:
Congratulations! What was the research about? Methinks that update has to get in quick!
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I'm working on cerebrovascular and dynamic cerebral autoregulation research with the Stroke guys at Columbia. Very interesting neurology niche stuff. I already sent my update in before, because it was pretty much accepted, pending minor revisions. I really hope to get in P&S so I can continue to do this research at my current lab - it's a very exciting field!
 
OwlPower22 said:
whaaat. That's kind of disappointing. : (

On another note, I just got published today! woohoo!
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I think the rule is that if you can prove you lived together before for x amount of time and have other things such as a joint bank account, they consider you in the same fashion as someone who is married.
 
OwlPower22 said:
I'm working on cerebrovascular and dynamic cerebral autoregulation research with the Stroke guys at Columbia. Very interesting neurology niche stuff. I already sent my update in before, because it was pretty much accepted, pending minor revisions. I really hope to get in P&S so I can continue to do this research at my current lab - it's a very exciting field!
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No kidding, super interesting field! What did you do that got published, though? I actually just had a pretty significant bump in my research downtown at the NYU Medical Center because of a chance communication with the neurology department. Feel free to message me if you don't want to say it here 🙂 I'm just interested 👍
 
FijiGNR89 said:
No kidding, super interesting field! What did you do that got published, though? I actually just had a pretty significant bump in my research downtown at the NYU Medical Center because of a chance communication with the neurology department. Feel free to message me if you don't want to say it here 🙂 I'm just interested 👍
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Lots and lots and lots of data analysis and entry. We collect the transcranial doppler data from hundreds of patients, and I do the data cleaning, analysis, etc. It's a pain in the neck when we get noisy data, because I'll have to sift through and cut out parts from over 12 minutes of recording, but the results are rewarding. If you're really interested in this, check out M. Reinhard and M. Czosnyka's research on dynamic cerebral autoregulation. I feel like neurologists who specialize in stroke and critical care should be aware of the importance of autoregulation in patient management.
 
obviouslyteal said:
I thought this was only for married couples? Or at least from the anecdotes from my friends last year who were trying to get (unmarried) couples housing as MS1s.
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that's not true, they just require a certain amount of documentation
 
obviouslyteal said:
What, the documentation of being married or being domestic partnered? Even the latter is pretty strict, you have to have joint bank accounts or shared property/leases, etc.
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The latter is what we were told and the some of the documents might have to be for a certain time period (i.e. you might have to have been living together for a certain period of time before you are considered domestic partners).
 
Yeah that would be great. Not looking to be dealing with those legal hoops yet. And not to mention the savings. Also Owl, that's awesome stuff. I looked up some of Reinhard's work and its super fascinating. Didn't have time earlier to look up the others. Fingers crossed, knock on wood, maybe if we're at the same place at the same time in a few months, we can discuss it more! xD
 
obviouslyteal said:
What, the documentation of being married or being domestic partnered? Even the latter is pretty strict, you have to have joint bank accounts or shared property/leases, etc.
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obviouslyteal said:
Domestic partnership is a fairly strict affair in NYC, it's almost tantamount to being married IMO. Looked into it when curious about future housing options with my SO. Someone please corrected if I'm wrong though! I would love some couples housing without having to go through legal hoops, just yet 🙂
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it's a Columbia designation, not a legal one. the least resistance way is to show a shared bill or lease, the presumption is that if you're serious enough to live together here you've done so before. you can also open a joint bank account and just close it later. anyone who is moving with a SO should feel free to pm me or ask in this thread for more info, i qualified for towers but went off campus anyway

Edit: from a thing I got some time ago -

II. Documentation which shows that you and your partner are responsible for each other's common welfare and share financial obligations. Submission of 2 ofthe 5 listed documents is required.

1. a joint mortgage or lease
2. a designation of domestic partner as primary beneficiary for life insurance or retirement benefits,
3. a designation of domestic partner as primary beneficiary in student's will
4. assignment of durable property or health care power of atforney to domestic partner,
5. ownership of a joint bank account, joint credit card account, or joint ownership of a motor vehicle.

3, 4 and 5 seem pretty easy to do, though i only can speak with personal knowledge regarding #5.
 
Last edited:
Maybe premature, but anyone know when Second Look is planned?
 
MSAR says that the earliest decision date is March 1st! Does anyone know if this is accurate?
 
Member2488 said:
MSAR says that the earliest decision date is March 1st! Does anyone know if this is accurate?
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Yes this is accurate. Last year a few people were accepted on the first, and most were accepted in the first week of March I believe.
 
FijiGNR89 said:
Excuse me, "commence" the panic? What have you called the last two weeks! 😛
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I'm not sure what I call the last two week, but all I know is that I'll be snuggling with my cats and eating a lot of Post-Valentines chocolate.
 
smallone said:
You guys, it's definitely March 1st.

I was told this.
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I don't know exactly who you're responding to, but my post was in response to a question about when Second Look weekend would possibly be. We all know decisions are sent out March 1st. 🙂
 
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