Columbia Waitlist 2006

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I guess it's time to start this thread (unless someone already started it and I hadn't seen it). Just got my letter today in Brooklyn... Who is planning to stay on the list? And what are you planning to do to increase your chances? Anyone know how many people get off the list? Since the list is not ranked, do they evaluate each candidate every time a spot opens up?
 
Add me to the list! I'm both happy and sad that I got waitlisted... It's cool that such a great school puts me in the top ~400, but so so sad that I was this close. Arg!

Anyways, I read through the c/o 2009 waitlist thread and it sounds like maybe 30 people will get in, and writing letters and calling seems to help (although people did get in off the waitlist without). Not much movement at all until after May 15 (not surprisingly). I'm not feeling too confident about my chances, but will do what I can to show I still 😍 the school.
 
i'm also waiting it out for columbia. i didn't send in a letter of intent, although i attached an update letter to that waitlist form, so we will see. good to know that i shouldn't expect any news until after may 15th. fun fun
 
I'm on the waitlist, and sent in my form today. I'm still waiting on decisions at most of my med schools, so those results will determine how aggressively I pursue an acceptance.
 
How many people are on the waitlist? I'm on it too. It's stinky being so close yet so far away.
 
drhouse said:
How many people are on the waitlist? I'm on it too. It's stinky being so close yet so far away.
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Seriously, does anyone know our chances or how many people are in our position? I'm not coming from an ivy league college and i'm content for now to be on the waitlist....are any of you from a public university? I'm from Univ. Texas.
 
I'm from u. of michigan on the waitlist.

Someone on a previous thread said that Columbia accepted 210 people and waitlisted 250. I think the thread was called "columbia decisions mailed" or something like that.

On columbia's website they have a page where they show the acceptance numbers from last year. The link is:

http://t1.berlinprod.com/accounts/columbia/columbiasite8/applying.htm

on there it says that 300 are accepted when all is said and done, assuming the numbers stay the same from year to year. So that leaves 90 spots that will be given off the waitlist. 90/250.

Do people agree with this reasoning? Is the 210 and 250 confirmed? Who knows.
 
Hmm... that sounds reasonable to me. I'd be interested in seeing previous year numbers to see if it is consistent. It will also be interesting to see when the Harvard, Penn, Yale, Hopkins, and other tier 1 schools send out their acceptances, who withddraws from Columbia.

Anyone move off the waitlist yet?
 
i will be withdrawing from the waitlist if penn lets me in...
 
wohooo.. that's one. come on Penn.
 
I submitted my waitlist acceptance today.
 
I'm on the waitlist as well, but I'm not pursuing it very aggressively. If they want, they'll want me without begging and pleading... Besides, the whole NYC thing is a little intimidating for this small town girl 😛
 
Tigerstang said:
even though you are in at stanford?
Click to expand...

Yes. I loved Columbia as much as I loved Stanford when I went for interviews. Plus, Columbia is closer to home.
 
Hey Yall. So I received a letter finally from Columbia and they said that I am on a " 'List of Alternates' made up of highly ranked applicants who have accepted the status of alternate..." I assume this is the same as a waitlist, but cince, it never actually says waitlist anywhere, I was wondering (hoping) that it meant something else? Did you guys receive the same? Thanks
 
Hebrew Hammer said:
Hey Yall. So I received a letter finally from Columbia and they said that I am on a " 'List of Alternates' made up of highly ranked applicants who have accepted the status of alternate..." I assume this is the same as a waitlist, but cince, it never actually says waitlist anywhere, I was wondering (hoping) that it meant something else? Did you guys receive the same? Thanks
Click to expand...

That's the waitlist... sorry. 🙁 But some numbers people above are guessing that around 90 or so will get in... out of 250 waitlistees, that's not terribly bad!
 
1 down off the waitlist. now if i can only convince 160 other people to do the same...

1. anyone doing anything other than writing a letter/calling to get off the waitlist?
2. any idea when this waitlist starts to move?
 
Last year the waitlist first started moving very slowly at the end of April (4/25), with most of the action around mid-May (5/17ish).
 
250 get the waitlist. some will take themselves off it, now and in the next month. it's probably 90/150-175. honestly, the impression i get is that if you lobby hard enough, you can probably get in.

Wolfgang12345 said:
That's the waitlist... sorry. 🙁 But some numbers people above are guessing that around 90 or so will get in... out of 250 waitlistees, that's not terribly bad!
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beetlerum said:
250 get the waitlist. some will take themselves off it, now and in the next month. it's probably 90/150-175. honestly, the impression i get is that if you lobby hard enough, you can probably get in.
Click to expand...

Where did you get the impression? Just curious. It kinda seems like everyone who didn't get accepted on SDN got waitlisted.
 
To my knowledge, the number is known (250 waitlisted). The reason it seems that everyone was waitlisted is probably self-selection. You would also get the impression that 50%+ were accepted to Columbia and Duke from the recent threads (and more generally that like half of med school applicants go to top 10 schools).

Read last year's thread. There were lots of accounts of people who had written repeatedly and gotten in. Columbia, unlike many other schools, seemed very receptive to that. Since Columbia likes it and only so many people are going to do that, it will give you a very good chance of getting in. You may get the impression from SDN that everyone writes lots of LOI and everyone on the Columbia waitlist sends in 6 letters, but that's not true.

And anyway, assuming 250 on waitlist, 75 take themselves off eventually, you get a pretty good chance.

drhouse said:
Where did you get the impression? Just curious. It kinda seems like everyone who didn't get accepted on SDN got waitlisted.
Click to expand...
 
Does one have to send updated grades for waitlist? Is it expected, or can you get away with not doing it (ie saying my GPA increased w/o giving specifics)? How about sending updates letters highlighting research heavily in lieu. I guess what I'm saying is are they going to think its fishy if people do not update them with grades?
 
drhouse said:
Does one have to send updated grades for waitlist? Is it expected, or can you get away with not doing it (ie saying my GPA increased w/o giving specifics)? How about sending updates letters highlighting research heavily in lieu. I guess what I'm saying is are they going to think its fishy if people do not update them with grades?
Click to expand...

Yes, I'm wondering this too. Would it look extremely weird if you didn't provide a final transcript or grade update if your grades went down or something?
 
lookslikerain said:
Yes, I'm wondering this too. Would it look extremely weird if you didn't provide a final transcript or grade update if your grades went down or something?
Click to expand...


I hope that if you've made it all the way to the waitlist they know you're fine in the classroom and wouldn't care that much if you didn't send them. but who knows what they are looking for to separate people at this point.

sounds like enthusiasm for columbia from what others are saying.
 
Another one off the waitlist here... I'm declining my spot. Good luck you all!
 
Lorrayne said:
Another one off the waitlist here... I'm declining my spot. Good luck you all!
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You rock! I 😍 people who decline their Columbia spots 😀

Good luck to you at your school of choice!
 
Just out of curiousity, where are you headed Lorrayne?

I agree with Wolfgang... decline, decline, decline!
 
PhillyMD2006 said:
Just out of curiousity, where are you headed Lorrayne?

I agree with Wolfgang... decline, decline, decline!
Click to expand...

UT-Southwestern (99% sure)... I just can't turn down the in-state tuition. Plus, I've decided to stick closer to home for now. Columbia seems like an awesome school. I'll be jealous when you all get in. 😉
 
Lorrayne said:
UT-Southwestern (99% sure)... I just can't turn down the in-state tuition. Plus, I've decided to stick closer to home for now. Columbia seems like an awesome school. I'll be jealous when you all get in. 😉
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I can't even let myself think I'll get in right now, cause it's so bad for my health. I'm just pretending I got rejected until ... well... I get rejected. 🙂 Thanks again for giving up your spot so early in the season... it's going to make someone out there extremely happy.
 
Saluki said:
I'm on the waitlist as well, but I'm not pursuing it very aggressively. If they want, they'll want me without begging and pleading
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👍
 
Anyone else declining (or will decline) acceptances? Post to give waitlisters some hope.
 
hey y'all.... i'm not taking my waitlist spot. good luck to all of you!
 
hey guys, i sent in my waitlist acceptance but will decline it later this week, i was thinking about financial aid there vs. washU but st. louis is much cheaper to live and i think i would pick washU anyway.
 
Thank you very much, to each of you who are declining your waitlist spot. 😀 😍
 
Is anyone requesting a second interview with Frantz? If so, how are you going about doing it?
 
I finally got some news from Columbia. I got waitlisted. I am going to hold on to it, Hopefully wishing for the best. Right now I got into Nwestern, but I would like to go to Columbia. Anyways, what are your thoughts on scheduling a phone interview, or sending an update. I still haven't done either.
 
Got my letter notifying confirming that I'm on Columbia's list of alternates. Pretty standard wording. Did anyone receive any sort of hand written note at the bottom or a request to set up a 2nd interview yet? Just curious.
 
You can pry my columbia acceptance from my cold dead fingers. But maybe I'll see ya anyway!
 
gafft said:
You can pry my columbia acceptance from my cold dead fingers. But maybe I'll see ya anyway!
Click to expand...
Don't tempt me Gafft, I've killed for less.

Anyway, any changes in people's waitlist status or requests granted for 2nd interviews?
 
Here's the thread from 2009 in case your looking for more info:

Columbia Waitlist... Thread i guess

I for one am still internally nursing the pain of the Columbia waitlist letter, and will be writing an update letter in the next week or two. I have read that some people thought straight out asking for a second interview was tacky, but if it's not offered, I don't really know what else to do. The school I am currently accepted at (SLU) starts the first week of August. In order to move to St. Louis and start school, I am going to have to withdraw from the Columbia waitlist by the end of June... so I am think of calling Dean Frantz at the beginning of June to ask if I have any chance of getting in...
 
WHO CARES ABOUT TACKY? People are so concerned with that.... If it gets you the interview, then the style of the tactic doesn' t matter. This is an issue of you getting in, its too important to consider if other people, or if someone in the admissions office thinks its tacky.

Call and ask for the interview then knock his socks off during it. No one will think then that you were tacky for requesting the interview.


By the way, I don't think it is tacky to request that.
 
PHECT said:
WHO CARES ABOUT TACKY? People are so concerned with that.... If it gets you the interview, then the style of the tactic doesn' t matter. This is an issue of you getting in, its too important to consider if other people, or if someone in the admissions office thinks its tacky.

Call and ask for the interview then knock his socks off during it. No one will think then that you were tacky for requesting the interview.


By the way, I don't think it is tacky to request that.
Click to expand...

Personally, I don't care if someone thinks I'm tacky - UNLESS it is going to seriously inhibit my chances of getting the interview in the first place... which is why I threw it out there... I will definitely ask for an interview if its not offered by early May or so...
 
did anyone get a letter confirming that P&S received their acceptance of being placed on the alternate list; if so, when?


did anyone have a hand written note at the bottom (I'm guessing everyone/most did)?

thanks,
 
stherling said:
hey y'all.... i'm not taking my waitlist spot. good luck to all of you!
Click to expand...

In case anybody cares, I will also not be staying on the wait list @ Columbia. I sincerely hope some of you guys who really love Columbia get in.
 
Thanks Sen. Where are you heading?
 
csbrow02 said:
did anyone get a letter confirming that P&S received their acceptance of being placed on the alternate list; if so, when?


did anyone have a hand written note at the bottom (I'm guessing everyone/most did)?

thanks,
Click to expand...

i got the letter a few days after i sent it in (i'm in NY), but no handwritten note . . although my letter said - please write us in the spring, and every MONTH thereafter . . . I've been imagining all of the funny letters I could send, or singing telegrams, or whatever.
 
I'm new to the board, but I've been following you all for a while now. Anyway, when you all replied to Columbia to accept their "alternate list" decision, did you receive a letter in reply? If so, how many received a handwritten note from Dean Frantz at the bottom of the letter?
 
FutureDoc06 said:
I'm new to the board, but I've been following you all for a while now. Anyway, when you all replied to Columbia to accept their "alternate list" decision, did you receive a letter in reply? If so, how many received a handwritten note from Dean Frantz at the bottom of the letter?
Click to expand...

I got the letter with the request to write and phone frequently, but no hand written note. Did yours? Would you mind telling us what it said?
 
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