Dispelling the Columbia Myth, Once and For All

[AnnieShiro]

I am making this announcement as a public service: All future SDN'ers, heed my words, the "keeping you very strongly in mind" letter you receive from Franz means *nothing*. In fact, the very nothingness of this letter could very well extend beyond nothing, and trespass into the abyss of negative reality. You will get waitlisted and you will proceed to go on a raging warpath. So when you receive Franz's happy little letter after your interview, do not be lulled by the Siren's Call of faux interest. Embrace your imminent fate. Your black, black, waitlisted fate.

And a hearty (yet bitter) congratulations to those who were accepted. Next!

 

[krelian]

considering that most people who interviewed got that same "keeping you very strongly in mind" phrase, it's not surprising that the phrasing turned out to be crap after all. sorry to hear about your bitter waitlist though.

 

[AnnieShiro]

considering that most people who interviewed got that same "keeping you very strongly in mind" phrase, it's not surprising that the phrasing turned out to be crap after all. sorry to hear about your bitter waitlist though.

I was a theater girl in college, so I tend to overdramatize. You get the point though

 

[dewzen]

I dont know I got one of those (a little more personal) but I got in today.

 

[AnnieShiro]

I overdramatized. What I meant to say is, (for the benefit of those applicants a year from now) the letters don't necessarily mean you will get accepted. At least not right away. The issue of Franz's letter is a perennial subject of speculation on these boards (at least the past few years), so I just wanted to clarify that letters do not equal acceptance. Here's to the fluidity of the waitlist.

 

[MiaFLSurf]

I got the same letter and was accepted....its just a formal letter they send to all interview invites.

 

[dewzen]

here here

 

[chlorineK]

Yes, I think that all future applicants should know that I got waitlisted despite a wonderful letter from frantz saying that "although it is too soon to know how things will go this year.... we will keep you very strongly in mind" and "from a purely personal point of view...it would give me real pleasure to have you with us" and in response to an update letter, I got another "very much in mind"

So- reading into these notes is not recommended! I got my hopes up.

 

[CarleneM]

yes throw those notes right in the trash when you get them!!! frantz is a big tease....i got them too and got a stupid highly ranked alternatie list letter today. also note that someone just posted an acceptance who recieved no such praise laden communications from the notorious dean during the season.

 

[SD Skunk]

yep, waitlisted here too, but at least i know that frantz is keeping me "very strongly in mind"


pfffft

 

[bidster]

I got the same letter and was accepted....its just a formal letter they send to all interview invites.

No...it's not. The most I ever got mailed to me from the admissions office was the initial invite letter, and then later a "stock" postcard that just had "your communication [an update letter] has been received" printed on it. I never got the infamous thank-you reply or "strongly in mind" or anything. Given the current wave of evidence, I'm really really at a loss for how to read into it now, so I'll quit trying and instead break into the cadburys my roommate gave me (BIG mistake on her part, doing that this week...)

 

[indianboy]

Embrace your imminent fate. Your black, black, waitlisted fate.

Consider it a favor.

Hope that Helps

P 'Andrew Franz hearts NAMBLA' ShankOut

 

[blump]

Consider it a favor.

Hope that Helps

P 'Andrew Franz hearts NAMBLA' ShankOut

Is this the same indianboy who hates Columbia and is a med student there now

 

[rme04]

are these letters from Dean Frantz going to people who were interviewed by him specifically? cause the guy was MIA on my interview day. I got a nice letter back from the doctor who interviewed me, but not from Dean Frantz.

 

[Scooby Doo]

Is this the same indianboy who hates Columbia and is a med student there now

This guy has some wild fetish on trying to rip on Columbia. He's not here...and he never will be...

As far as the Frantz letter..yea...most people will get it..if you get on the waitlist, don't give up hope...

As for the gal who got waitlisted...i see you're now going to HMS... Well, why do you think you got waitlisted here? Cuz he knew you'd get into HMS and go there (it's hard to pass that up when it's ranked all up in US News shizz)...

I know a dude my year who applied...waitlisted columbia...right into HMS... Right into hopkins...don't think the deans don't talk to each other and make this a more "fair" match for them...if you had your heart set on columbia, you'd send him a letter saying "u know, i'm in at HMS, but I REALLY REALLY wanna go to P&S b/c I heard it's a lot better and the students aren't snobby"...
but, if you don't send that, then oh well, u go to a school you were prolly gonna go to anyways.
I personally got waitlisted at schools where my scores were easily above the average - why? --- b/c they knew I would probably go somewhere else...or stay in california....
that's the way it goes....congrats on HMS...u'll obviously be really happy there.

And indian boy...well I think he got in there too...so you might wanna stay away from him....

 

[Changaroo]

was dean frantz's letter in response to communication you initiated? if so, i think the response is simply a matter of courtesy for them to acknowledge that they received your letter/note/email/card/etc, and i think that it's quite nice of them in fact. the fact that it is generic should not be surprising and shouldn't be taken offensively... can you imagine how long it would take to personally write to each applicant?

i was always told that post-interview follow-up communication carried very little weight, particularly at the top schools. thus, i personally didn't have any communication with columbia after my interview, and never heard anything from them either until the acceptance came in the mail.

the revisit weekend sounds like a really good time, and i'd love to hang out in the city and meet more current applicants. however, to be fair to those waitlisted, i reluctantly withdrew today (learning toward HMS)... it was so hard ticking "decline" to such an awesome school, but best wishes to those staying on the waitlist!

 

[Scooby Doo]

Goodluck Changaroo..it would have been good meeting you at the revisit!

 

[indianboy]

This guy has some wild fetish on trying to rip on Columbia. He's not here...and he never will be...

Scooby, why the hate? <tear> We have so many things in common - our unhealthy prediliction for alcohol, and unsatiable fondness for ShavedPussyCats to name just a few(2).

We have one little disagreement, and like Najeh Davenport, you go and sh!t in my proverbial laundry?

that's the way it goes....congrats on HMS...u'll obviously be really happy there.

And indian boy...well I think he got in there too...so you might wanna stay away from him....

I see that my reputation proceeds me, as usual. However, you won't find me roaming the sleepy streets of Longwood ...

Hope that Helps

P 'ILikeItRaw' ShankOut

 

[Scooby Doo]

Well...we'll just have to go hunting for shavedpussycats while drunk st. patty's day then...

 

[eulogia228]

Scooby Doo, are you currently at P&S?

Also, I wouldn't be so sure that deans communicate with each other and basically decide where students will enroll themselves. Although some interviewers do ask where you applied and were already accepted, any information about pending decisions (when the jury is still out) is usually guarded by the adcoms because there is a confidentiality issue here.

In instances where deans of admission and admission officers did seek information about pending admissions decisions, they were caught and reprimanded by the university. A good example of this is when Fred Hargadon, former Dean of Admissions at Princeton, found out that some of his senior staffers used applicants' social security numbers and birthdates to see whether they were admitted to Yale by accessing Yale's admissions decision website. Hargadon didn't do anything when he found out what his staffers had done and when the Princeton administration caught wind of this, they fired him.

http://www.yaledailynews.com/article.asp?AID=19458

 

[Scooby Doo]

Scooby Doo, are you currently at P&S?

Also, I wouldn't be so sure that deans communicate with each other and basically decide where students will enroll themselves. Although some interviewers do ask where you applied and were already accepted, any information about pending decisions (when the jury is still out) is usually guarded by the adcoms because there is a confidentiality issue here.

In instances where deans of admission and admission officers did seek information about pending admissions decisions, they were caught and reprimanded by the university. A good example of this is when Fred Hargadon, former Dean of Admissions at Princeton, found out that some of his senior staffers used applicants' social security numbers and birthdates to see whether they were admitted to Yale by accessing Yale's admissions decision website. Hargadon didn't do anything when he found out what his staffers had done and when the Princeton administration caught wind of this, they fired him.

http://www.yaledailynews.com/article.asp?AID=19458

Yes and yes...and not so much that they communicate..but they base a lot of acceptances on the chance that a person will go there..... A top candidate is prolly not going to get into every top 10 program... but likely they will get an interview at all the places...