2013-2014 Columbia University Application Thread

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How many people do you think will stay on the wait-list after all the March acceptances?
 
How many people do you think will stay on the wait-list after all the March acceptances?

im hoping not as many as before but i feel like a lot of ppl may stay on the waitlist just to see if they might get in...
 
Seems really messed up if they end up rejecting the people they interview twice on two separate occasions, especially if the candidate is from far away. I hope the school pays for the plane ticket, but I guess that's unlikely.
 
Seems really messed up if they end up rejecting the people they interview twice on two separate occasions, especially if the candidate is from far away. I hope the school pays for the plane ticket, but I guess that's unlikely.

I've heard of schools paying for plane tickets for disadvantaged students. Don't know how much Columbia has done it but I've heard of JHU and HMS doing it.
 
Dr. Nicholas must be reviving the old 2nd interview tradition to a small extent, because the last time that we spoke they had become solely for exceptional circumstances (like you passed out during your interview or you had some serious issues with your interviewer, etc). They are a good thing, but they don't guarantee anything and not getting one doesn't mean you are out of the running. People who already interviewed with Dr. Nicholas may not be as likely to get one because they have already interviewed with him (that was the old policy under Dean Frantz at least).

FWIW I was a waitlist student back when second interviews were common. I got off without a 2nd interview.
 
Seems really messed up if they end up rejecting the people they interview twice on two separate occasions, especially if the candidate is from far away. I hope the school pays for the plane ticket, but I guess that's unlikely.
Haha I hope you're right because I'm flying in for round 2!
 
for those of you who uploaded LOIs since being WLed - did you get a confirmation/response signed by the general admissions office or dean nicholas? (either way probably doesnt mean much but im just curious...)
Dean Nicholas
 
It seemed very generic, but it was his name and signature at the bottom
 
yea srsly...mine was signed by dean nicholas as well but it was really generic too. sigh.
 
I'm wondering if I can get some thoughts from current Columbia students on this:

One of the main things keeping me from choosing Columbia is how expensive it would be to live in NYC. The other cities where I have options are significantly less expensive (Chicago, St. Louis, Baltimore). As students, how do the sky-high prices of everything from food to rent affect your quality of life? Also, does the school do things to make it easier on you?
 
I submitted this when I withdrew myself from the waitlist. Shout-outs to SDN:

After submitting countless applications to undergraduate, graduate, medical school, and fellowships programs, I can say without a doubt that P&S was the most stressful application I've encountered. Dean Nicholas' post-interview responses contain similar wording as traditional "likely letters" do, which is extremely confusing because they are not likely letters. I had to resort to combing through SDN threads to figure out that his responses aren't actually "likely letters." In addition, the calling of accepted applicants a day or two before notifying the rest of the pool breeds stress and anxiety. There were many people sitting around, including myself, who were hoping for a phone call that never came. I understand the desire for a personal touch; however, it would be much less stressful if phone calls arrived after everyone was notified. If you look on the current SDN thread on Columbia, applicants on the waitlist are even now scrutinizing details of Dean Nicholas' responses, trying to figure out what they mean (if anything) and if they're consistent. P&S's application process involved a lot of avoidable stress, and that's a large reason why I'm withdrawing.
------------
Columbia is obviously a fantastic school, and hopefully future applicants won't have to stress out as much as some of us did. 🙂
 
I submitted this when I withdrew myself from the waitlist. Shout-outs to SDN:

After submitting countless applications to undergraduate, graduate, medical school, and fellowships programs, I can say without a doubt that P&S was the most stressful application I've encountered. Dean Nicholas' post-interview responses contain similar wording as traditional "likely letters" do, which is extremely confusing because they are not likely letters. I had to resort to combing through SDN threads to figure out that his responses aren't actually "likely letters." In addition, the calling of accepted applicants a day or two before notifying the rest of the pool breeds stress and anxiety. There were many people sitting around, including myself, who were hoping for a phone call that never came. I understand the desire for a personal touch; however, it would be much less stressful if phone calls arrived after everyone was notified. If you look on the current SDN thread on Columbia, applicants on the waitlist are even now scrutinizing details of Dean Nicholas' responses, trying to figure out what they mean (if anything) and if they're consistent. P&S's application process involved a lot of avoidable stress, and that's a large reason why I'm withdrawing.
------------
Columbia is obviously a fantastic school, and hopefully future applicants won't have to stress out as much as some of us did. 🙂

I'm sorry but this is the stupidest thing I've ever heard a pre-med do. It was really unnecessary to send this to Columbia to try to call them out or something. They didn't tell you to go on SDN and stress out about getting called or not, scrutinizing emails, etc. A normal student applying to their school wouldn't know about all the BS we keep track of here on SDN and they wouldn't view Columbia's admissions process as "stressful". I come here every now and them but guess what? I don't let these threads stress me out. They never promised anyone a phone call, and I've honestly very rarely heard of likely letters when it comes to med school admissions, so who cares? Until you get an official decision, nothing is guaranteed.

I honestly feel bad for the admissions office because they must get crazy letters like this all the time from ridiculous, neurotic pre meds.
 
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A normal student applying to their school wouldn't know about all the BS we keep track of here on SDN and they wouldn't view Columbia's admissions process as "stressful".

First, I completely disagree that a "normal" applicant to Columbia wouldn't know about SDN. Every single person I know who applied to medical school is well aware of SDN's existence; they might use SDN to differing extents, but the knowledge is there. I've also heard numerous people on the interview trail mention various aspects of SDN threads during downtime on interview days. If you check older threads, when SDN used to show how many people were sitting on a thread, there would be hundreds of people waiting around the Columbia release date.

And second, I don't think it's "unnecessary" at all to try to provide constructive feedback to Columbia. The fact is, every single year, there are many applicants who are stressing over Columbia's admissions policies. That same level of scrutiny and worry over "personalized" or "not-personalized" responses from the Dean just doesn't exist on threads at peer institutions.

Third, and you're calling me "crazy" and "ridiculous?" I barely post on SDN or used it until my application cycle. You have over 700 posts. So, it's not crazy or ridiculous to talk at length about admissions concerns with fellow applicants, but it is to send a couple paragraphs of feedback to the medical school? OK, duly noted!
 
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I'm sorry but this is the stupidest thing I've ever heard a pre-med do. It was really unnecessary to send this to Columbia to try to call them out or something. They didn't tell you to go on SDN and stress out about getting called or not, scrutinizing emails, etc. A normal student applying to their school wouldn't know about all the BS we keep track of here on SDN and they wouldn't view Columbia's admissions process as "stressful". I come here every now and them but guess what? I don't let these threads stress me out. They never promised anyone a phone call, and I've honestly very rarely heard of likely letters when it comes to med school admissions, so who cares? Until you get an official decision, nothing is guaranteed.

I honestly feel bad for the admissions office because they must get crazy letters like this all the time from ridiculous, neurotic meds.

First, I completely disagree that a "normal" applicant to Columbia wouldn't know about SDN. Every single person I know who applied to medical school is well aware of SDN's existence; they might use SDN to differing extents, but the knowledge is there. I've also heard numerous people on the interview trail mention various aspects of SDN threads during downtime on interview days. If you check older threads, when SDN used to show how many people were sitting on a thread, there would be hundreds of people waiting around the Columbia release date.

And second, I don't think it's "unnecessary" at all to try to provide constructive feedback to Columbia. The fact is, every single year, there are many applicants who are stressing over Columbia's admissions policies. That same level of scrutiny and worry over "personalized" or "not-personalized" responses from the Dean just doesn't exist on threads at peer institutions.

Third, and you're calling me "crazy" and "ridiculous?" I barely post on SDN or used it until my application cycle. You have over 700 posts. So, it's not crazy or ridiculous to talk at length about admissions concerns with fellow applicants, but it is to send a couple paragraphs of feedback to the medical school? OK, duly noted!

i dont like to get involved in arguments but i do want to say that personally i experienced more stress with columbias app than with any other (probably bc columbia is my #1 choice) so i somewhat agree with what edta is saying. i dont think its their intention to cause more stress with their responses to ty notes and it seems like most amazing schools except for columbia release all their decisions at once so it does indeed cause a lot of unnecessary stress when some applicants are informed before others so perhaps its good that someone is actually telling them this. furthermore, i personally dont think that was a "crazy" letter at all...crazy would be irrationally ranting about it and sending that to them...this seems like a carefully written note of an applicants personal experience with this particular schools application process as compared to their experience with other schools.
 
also just wanted to add that you dont have to be an sdn user to know about the phone calls/ty note responses as most pre-meds have pre-med friends who also applied or had applied in previous years which is how i personally knew about them...i wouldve had no idea about the phone calls if it werent for the fact that two of my good friends got in last year and found out via phone call...
 
First, I completely disagree that a "normal" applicant to Columbia wouldn't know about SDN. Every single person I know who applied to medical school is well aware of SDN's existence; they might use SDN to differing extents, but the knowledge is there. I've also heard numerous people on the interview trail mention various aspects of SDN threads during downtime on interview days. If you check older threads, when SDN used to show how many people were sitting on a thread, there would be hundreds of people waiting around the Columbia release date.

And second, I don't think it's "unnecessary" at all to try to provide constructive feedback to Columbia. The fact is, every single year, there are many applicants who are stressing over Columbia's admissions policies. That same level of scrutiny and worry over "personalized" or "not-personalized" responses from the Dean just doesn't exist on threads at peer institutions.

Third, and you're calling me "crazy" and "ridiculous?" I barely post on SDN or used it until my application cycle. You have over 700 posts. So, it's not crazy or ridiculous to talk at length about admissions concerns with fellow applicants, but it is to send a couple paragraphs of feedback to the medical school? OK, duly noted!

By "normal" I meant someone who might know about SDN, but doesn't frequent it as much as you or I. Someone who wouldn't comb through the threads to scrutinize insignificant emails from the admissions office or times of phone calls from interviewers. Maybe "normal" is the wrong word to use but hey, I own up to it, I'm not normal. I'm overzealous. Believe it or not, there are a bunch of people applying to Columbia that know about SDN, but don't stress out over the information that's on here.

Honestly, let's take this out of the context of SDN. Let's say you know 10-15 other kids that applied to Columbia from your school and they all got interviews and you all chat about it all the time. Let's say 3 of them got calls and got accepted, while 2 of them got accepted without a phone call. If you want to give any feedback at all IMO it's much better to say "Hey, I had some friends get phone calls and others not get calls while they were all accepted, and it's just really stressful for applicants who discuss the process with each other. Thanks." Just because this is an online forum where thousands of people connect everyday doesn't make it some official place that admissions offices should take into account. They really don't give a **** about SDN. Your letter just made you sound kind of as though the admissions office owes you and all other applicants something, which they really don't. I understand the feeling of want to "stick it to em" as you're withdrawing from the waitlist, but no one at the admissions office is going to lose sleep over it, sorry.

Maybe to some people it's totally reasonable to provide this kind of feedback to a school, so if others agree than I apologize, please feel free to do as you please. I just don't like when people stress out so much about these little things.
 
If you want to give any feedback at all IMO it's much better to say "Hey, I had some friends get phone calls and others not get calls while they were all accepted, and it's just really stressful for applicants who discuss the process with each other. Thanks." Just because this is an online forum where thousands of people connect everyday doesn't make it some official place that admissions offices should take into account. They really don't give a **** about SDN. Your letter just made you sound kind of as though the admissions office owes you and all other applicants something, which they really don't. I understand the feeling of want to "stick it to em" as you're withdrawing from the waitlist, but no one at the admissions office is going to lose sleep over it, sorry.

First, I think that an online forum with thousands of people is a better example (at least in terms of numbers and weight) than a mere personal anecdote that involves a few friends. We can agree to disagree about that.

Second, I am in no way trying to "stick it to em" or hoping that anyone "loses sleep" over it. I am very happy with my options...hence the withdrawal. I just suspect--and this is purely personal conjecture--that Columbia is unaware of the fact that their policies lead to the same stressed out responses from applicants year after year. People who are accepted obviously aren't going to complain, and I'm guessing that people who withdraw (and who have thus have found a better fit) tend not to care enough to write back. I think that Columbia has the best intentions with their personalized responses, and I'm hoping that they'll now at least be aware of some unintended negative consequences.

And finally, some schools don't care at all when applicants withdraw. Some, including Columbia, include a survey with open-ended response forms. I didn't randomly send the institution hate mail; I filled in the response form that they requested. Columbia seems like a school that's receptive to feedback, which is why I took the time to reply.
 
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I'm wondering if I can get some thoughts from current Columbia students on this:

One of the main things keeping me from choosing Columbia is how expensive it would be to live in NYC. The other cities where I have options are significantly less expensive (Chicago, St. Louis, Baltimore). As students, how do the sky-high prices of everything from food to rent affect your quality of life? Also, does the school do things to make it easier on you?

Anyone?
 
New york is new york. You are right that New York would be significantly more expensive than the other cities you mention and is something that you are smart in looking into this before you make a huge decision. Schools in Manhattan have a higher cost of living incorporated into the loans that they would give a student, but remember a loan is a loan. So, yes, you will go into significantly more debt at a school in Manhattan, its the price you pay for living in NYC.
 
Long time lurker first time poster.
Got waitlisted after my interview not accepted anywhere.
If I do have to reapply in the next application cycle what are my odds for Columbia on the second time around? better? worse?
Thanks
 
Long time lurker first time poster.
Got waitlisted after my interview not accepted anywhere.
If I do have to reapply in the next application cycle what are my odds for Columbia on the second time around? better? worse?
Thanks
I think I remember someone saying earlier (maybe an earlier thread) that they reserve a few waitlist spots for people who didn't get in anywhere else. Might be worth looking into. Good luck!
 
Long time lurker first time poster.
Got waitlisted after my interview not accepted anywhere.
If I do have to reapply in the next application cycle what are my odds for Columbia on the second time around? better? worse?
Thanks

Definitely do consider if a student is accepted elsewhere and there are quite a few kids who only got into P&S. Your chances are worse if you have nothing new, but if you are a better applicant they definitely re-interview people from past cycles (even if you interviewed her last cycle).
 
I submitted this when I withdrew myself from the waitlist. Shout-outs to SDN:

After submitting countless applications to undergraduate, graduate, medical school, and fellowships programs, I can say without a doubt that P&S was the most stressful application I've encountered. Dean Nicholas' post-interview responses contain similar wording as traditional "likely letters" do, which is extremely confusing because they are not likely letters. I had to resort to combing through SDN threads to figure out that his responses aren't actually "likely letters." In addition, the calling of accepted applicants a day or two before notifying the rest of the pool breeds stress and anxiety. There were many people sitting around, including myself, who were hoping for a phone call that never came. I understand the desire for a personal touch; however, it would be much less stressful if phone calls arrived after everyone was notified. If you look on the current SDN thread on Columbia, applicants on the waitlist are even now scrutinizing details of Dean Nicholas' responses, trying to figure out what they mean (if anything) and if they're consistent. P&S's application process involved a lot of avoidable stress, and that's a large reason why I'm withdrawing.
------------
Columbia is obviously a fantastic school, and hopefully future applicants won't have to stress out as much as some of us did. 🙂


You simply made it clear to the Admissions Office that they made the right choice in waitlisting you.
 
You simply made it clear to the Admissions Office that they made the right choice in waitlisting you.

Wow. It is amazing how saying anything critical about a medical school in response to their request for feedback becomes a negative value judgment on my application. Is the medical school some sacred cow that we dare don't criticize? You could compile pages of comments over the past few years from Columbia applicants agonizing over the same easily changeable details, details that aren't involved in peer institutions' admissions. If this were just my personal distress, I wouldn't have written that note; it's the fact that it's an ongoing policy that has affected a sizeable number of people.

And as for the insinuation that mentioning SDN to medical schools is not "professional," I know for a fact that at least 2 top 10 schools offer optional feedback sessions for first year students where the administration solicits responses--both positive and negative--to their admissions experiences. SDN is mentioned in these sessions.

+pity+
 
I have no idea why everyone is so sensitive toward your comments. Take their responses with a grain of salt. S/he just stated an opinion (which describes many applicants' experience) and sent it as feedback. It was not disrespectful. Could it be said in a different/ better way? Yeah I guess so. It's not like s/he sent a letter saying 'hey Columbia f*** you guys, you hurt my feelings. I don't wanna play your Waitlist game. Bye,' You guys seriously lack empathy. Maybe it is because you all got in or something but it is unfortunate that you guys forget how stressful and sometimes painful this process can be - and Columbia is no exception. It made the process more difficult given their misleading letters. SDN is a very well known resource. I have no idea why it would be labeled as unprofessional to mention. Get off your high horses.
All this being said, Columbia is an excellent medical school. If you all are lucky enough to go there, I would expect you guys have compassion for your fellow human being, whether his words were said in anger or not. Then again this is the Internet. Troll away.
 
I have no idea why everyone is so sensitive toward your comments. Take their responses with a grain of salt. S/he just stated an opinion (which describes many applicants' experience) and sent it as feedback. It was not disrespectful. Could it be said in a different/ better way? Yeah I guess so. It's not like s/he sent a letter saying 'hey Columbia f*** you guys, you hurt my feelings. I don't wanna play your Waitlist game. Bye,' You guys seriously lack empathy. Maybe it is because you all got in or something but it is unfortunate that you guys forget how stressful and sometimes painful this process can be - and Columbia is no exception. It made the process more difficult given their misleading letters. SDN is a very well known resource. I have no idea why it would be labeled as unprofessional to mention. Get off your high horses.
All this being said, Columbia is an excellent medical school. If you all are lucky enough to go there, I would expect you guys have compassion for your fellow human being, whether his words were said in anger or not. Then again this is the Internet. Troll away.

I did not get into Columbia, nor do I own any sort of tall horse.

IMO, OP did indeed send a letter saying 'hey Columbia f*** you guys, you hurt my feelings. I don't wanna play your Waitlist game. Bye,'. I understand feedback is fine, everyone should be able to take criticism including medical school admissions offices, but this person could definitely have gone about this in a much better way.

I find it offensive that you would say I "lack empathy" as I am in the same position as the person who wrote that letter. I'm currently on the waitlist. Columbia is my absolute #1 dream school. But do you see me getting all worked up over an email correspondence signed by Dean Nicholas vs the admissions committee? "OMG, my letter said you are "very" well qualified does that mean Columbia is trying to tell me that I am higher on da waitlist than everyone else????? I am so0o0o0o stressed now cuz of dat!" Why would the school want to tell you in some cryptic code that you have a better shot than other people?? If they wanted you to know they'd come out and tell you. It just makes no sense

I'm sorry but the above nonsense is what I'm taking issue with. Sure Columbia could change it's correspondence so that it's all EXACTLY the same, but my argument is that they shouldn't have to because of some pre meds who stress over every little detail.
 
Lol I have to admit, the 'nor do I own any sort of tall horse' had me laughing; well-played. I think both positions are valid and make sense. It's just that the letters Columbia sent do sound like traditional likely letters. Hopefully future applicants will see this thread and not read into the wordings etc. Future applicants, please take note!
 
Can someone who was able to go to Second Look us what it was like? I wasn't able to go for financial reasons.
 
So does anyone know when Columbia sends out financial aid info?

Also, is Columbia known to be generous with their scholarships/grants?
 
for those of you who uploaded LOIs since being WLed - did you get a confirmation/response signed by the general admissions office or dean nicholas? (either way probably doesnt mean much but im just curious...)
Dean Nicholas
 
So does anyone know when Columbia sends out financial aid info?

Also, is Columbia known to be generous with their scholarships/grants?
The unit loan at Columbia is $27,750, which I think is generous. I also heard from some current students that they were able to get full merit scholarships by asking Columbia to match offers they received elsewhere. Columbia hasn't released official FA packages yet, but I was extremely impressed with my "tentative" one. That said, my parents have limited resources and I don't know how offers look for middle income families. Columbia may turn out to be a cheaper option than my state school for me - pretty crazy!
 
I submitted this when I withdrew myself from the waitlist. Shout-outs to SDN:

After submitting countless applications to undergraduate, graduate, medical school, and fellowships programs, I can say without a doubt that P&S was the most stressful application I've encountered. Dean Nicholas' post-interview responses contain similar wording as traditional "likely letters" do, which is extremely confusing because they are not likely letters. I had to resort to combing through SDN threads to figure out that his responses aren't actually "likely letters." In addition, the calling of accepted applicants a day or two before notifying the rest of the pool breeds stress and anxiety. There were many people sitting around, including myself, who were hoping for a phone call that never came. I understand the desire for a personal touch; however, it would be much less stressful if phone calls arrived after everyone was notified. If you look on the current SDN thread on Columbia, applicants on the waitlist are even now scrutinizing details of Dean Nicholas' responses, trying to figure out what they mean (if anything) and if they're consistent. P&S's application process involved a lot of avoidable stress, and that's a large reason why I'm withdrawing.

------------
Columbia is obviously a fantastic school, and hopefully future applicants won't have to stress out as much as some of us did. 🙂

Lol. Don't hate on people because they got what they deserved. This is exactly why you didn't get in. People get offers all the time that I don't have and I am not stressing out about it. You get in you get in, you don't you don't. If you don't get in, the only thing you should be doing is supporting you peers.

You're stressing yourself out.
 
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Really sorry to post here as opposed to WAMC, but thought I'd have a more specific pool here.

3.88, 31 MCAT, many years research (multiple labs, national conferences) and EMS, volunteering, consistent and long ECs, 5 strong LORs, outside very long term hobbies, trilingual immigrant (but from a very young age, to be fair/honest), just to name a few.

Is it worth it to apply here? Mainly speaking due to my low MCAT.

Again, sorry for posting here, just would rather not post it to the entire WAMC thread.
 
Really sorry to post here as opposed to WAMC, but thought I'd have a more specific pool here.

3.88, 31 MCAT, many years research (multiple labs, national conferences) and EMS, volunteering, consistent and long ECs, 5 strong LORs, outside very long term hobbies, trilingual immigrant (but from a very young age, to be fair/honest), just to name a few.

Is it worth it to apply here? Mainly speaking due to my low MCAT.

Again, sorry for posting here, just would rather not post it to the entire WAMC thread.


I think you should! Columbia really looks for students like you who are dedicated to long term hobbies and have diverse backgrounds. Your MCAT may be under their average, but I think thats okay🙂
 
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Really sorry to post here as opposed to WAMC, but thought I'd have a more specific pool here.

3.88, 31 MCAT, many years research (multiple labs, national conferences) and EMS, volunteering, consistent and long ECs, 5 strong LORs, outside very long term hobbies, trilingual immigrant (but from a very young age, to be fair/honest), just to name a few.

Is it worth it to apply here? Mainly speaking due to my low MCAT.

Again, sorry for posting here, just would rather not post it to the entire WAMC thread.
I got an interview with a 30 MCAT. Go for it!
 
Hi everyone.

For those of you on the waitlist, are you filling out the NeedAccess forms for financial aid? I am a little bit confused about whether they want the waitlisted candidates to do both FAFSA (which I have completed) and NeedAccess or whether they only expect this information from accepted applicants.

Thanks all! Happy Spring!
 
I and my friends by and large live life normally. Stuff's expensive here yes but I disagree with yankee##'s assessment that you'll definitely have a higher loan. That's a baseless statement. If money's an issue (isn't it always) I'd recommend waiting for all your aid packages to come out and do a careful comparison. For me Columbia was the cheapest option.
 
Anyone know if Dean Nicholas actually reads letters that come in from those on the wait list? Uploaded one a few days ago to the portal titled "Letter to Dr. Nicholas" and I just got an email back from admissions saying that my "letter to the dean was successfully added to my application". Lame to think something I spent a few hours writing may have gone into the void.
 
I am just a mom of a member of the P&S class of 2013 who is posting to congratulate mmmcdowe on his election to AOA!! Nice job M and best of wishes with your future endeavors.
 
Anyone know if Dean Nicholas actually reads letters that come in from those on the wait list? Uploaded one a few days ago to the portal titled "Letter to Dr. Nicholas" and I just got an email back from admissions saying that my "letter to the dean was successfully added to my application". Lame to think something I spent a few hours writing may have gone into the void.

That's all it said? That's weird. I thought the lengthy "thank you for your continued interest in P&S blah blah" email went out to everyone after sending in updates.
 
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