Columbia Law Class of 2014 Forum

[hellome]

hey guys, quick question

i just sent an email notifying them of a financial aid deadline from another school
and i was wondering if they write back to confirm receipt of the email

...or do i just sit and wait without word?

[sonervous88]

[quote="hellome"]hey guys, quick question

i just sent an email notifying them of a financial aid deadline from another school
and i was wondering if they write back to confirm receipt of the email

...or do i just sit and wait without word? [/quote

they didn't respond when i did that. so i emailed them again telling htem i wanted to know if they got it lol they responded that time

[WestOfTheRest]

hey guys, quick question

i just sent an email notifying them of a financial aid deadline from another school
and i was wondering if they write back to confirm receipt of the email

...or do i just sit and wait without word?

Just phone. I emailed, no response. I phoned, they sent my aid package via email within 15 minutes.

[mcweanis]

what phone number did you call?? ive called the official financial aid number like 6 times and nobody answers, it tells me to leave a message

[Hobbes89]

I used the number from the Admitted Student Handbook, 212-854-6522.

[WestOfTheRest]

I just called the regular number. I just called until someone was there and answered the phone.

[jtemp320]

You want ASW stories, here's mine!

I took a red-eye in and was exhausted the whole time, which made me a little overwhelmed by the hundreds of people there. The first day was kind of random and it was hard to meet people (and I'm a pretty social person). The second day was more structured, and I was well rested haha. There were mock classes, and I got cold called, and I didn't know the answer haha.

On the whole, all of the 1Ls and 2Ls I met seemed very chill and happy with their decision. I didn't get a competitive vibe from any of the current students so I think the whole CLS is competitive thing is just a bunch of crap. I made some really good friends (looking at you, annie) and I know I will make many, many more if the people I met end up going to CLS. The 0Ls are really tight.

There were a few people who were kind of ... frustrating. As in, they just kept talking and talking. And, you know, most of the time I want to hear about your story and where you came from and all the cool stuff you've done. But half an hour later, if the whole lunch table is falling asleep while you're talking about some random transaction you handled at your consulting firm, it's time to let the conversation flow in a different direction. But I only met a couple of people like this, and I think you can expect that at any law school.

I met some people who recognized me from TLS, although the first time someone said the letters 'TLS' it took me a few seconds to get what he was talking about since I had never heard it said out loud before. One person even called me out on being the OP of the Columbia 2011! thread. That was embarrasing.

The after-hours parties were awesome, I didn't pay for a single drink but boy did I pay the next morning.

The housing is really great. I don't think you can go wrong (unless you go to the Arbor). I requested to live with other law students, but some people took the different view that it would be nice to get away from the law students. Morningside Heights is a cool neighborhood, but I can see it getting old after 3 years.


ED to UVa. EDIT: sorry, i don't know where that came from

Had to call you out on starting the thread and for "hold on to your hats" . Great meeting you though

[hellome]

thanks, guess i will call as well.
wish me luck on getting some money!!

[HG2014]

So I emailed my NYU offer to Columbia yesterday morning, and then got my letter from Columbia congratulating me on being eligible for Stafford Loans (and no grants) in the afternoon. Awkward... They say they will review everything and get back to me. I'm guessing that if $60,000 from Chicago didn't sway them that $37,500 from NYU won't either. Thoughts?

[amorfati]

So I emailed my NYU offer to Columbia yesterday morning, and then got my letter from Columbia congratulating me on being eligible for Stafford Loans (and no grants) in the afternoon. Awkward... They say they will review everything and get back to me. I'm guessing that if $60,000 from Chicago didn't sway them that $37,500 from NYU won't either. Thoughts?

eek... this is not giving me much hope, considering I'm trying to use my $25k from NYU on them... :/

But seriously, I've heard lots of people say they got more from Columbia than NYU... I would think you should be able to finagle something. FWIW, in my correspondence with Columbia's Financial Aid Office, I've felt they're nice but not exactly super organized... The best experience I had with them was actually going there and chatting with them during ASW, and after that, calling and talking to them... I have yet to get a response to any of my emails. Point being, who knows if your NYU/Chicago offers even made it to the right place/got considered.... so if I were you, I'd send them a letter summing up your situation and emphasizing your offers from Chicago/NYU, and then call (or better yet, drop in) to talk about your situation and make sure your letter was read/taken into consideration.

Good luck!

[agora139]

wooo im tagging this thread!
so so happy to have been admitted difficult decisions to make!

[HG2014]

So I emailed my NYU offer to Columbia yesterday morning, and then got my letter from Columbia congratulating me on being eligible for Stafford Loans (and no grants) in the afternoon. Awkward... They say they will review everything and get back to me. I'm guessing that if $60,000 from Chicago didn't sway them that $37,500 from NYU won't either. Thoughts?

eek... this is not giving me much hope, considering I'm trying to use my $25k from NYU on them... :/

But seriously, I've heard lots of people say they got more from Columbia than NYU... I would think you should be able to finagle something. FWIW, in my correspondence with Columbia's Financial Aid Office, I've felt they're nice but not exactly super organized... The best experience I had with them was actually going there and chatting with them during ASW, and after that, calling and talking to them... I have yet to get a response to any of my emails. Point being, who knows if your NYU/Chicago offers even made it to the right place/got considered.... so if I were you, I'd send them a letter summing up your situation and emphasizing your offers from Chicago/NYU, and then call (or better yet, drop in) to talk about your situation and make sure your letter was read/taken into consideration.

Good luck!

Thanks for the advice! They actually just got back to me and said it's still $0. So it looks like I'll be at NYU next year. Honestly I think it's a better fit anyway given my commitment to public interest and my feelings after both admitted student events. Good luck to everyone here!

[lakerfanimal]

0 dollars for me too. But the offers I sent in were from schools just outside the top 10 so I guess it makes sense.

[Ship87]

I think that maybe Columbia is more need based than we than we think? To tell how much they are upping offers based on competing scholarships we need data on personal/family assets and income along with GPA/LSAT. I haven't seen that kind of financial data on here since its obviously a bit too personal, so maybe Columbia is only sending decisions quicker with competing offers and not really upping their finaid as much as we believe?

[Non-Chalant1]

Do I only get my username an ID after I've put down my deposit? Because I can't even start the housing application.

[redsoxfan2495]

Do I only get my username an ID after I've put down my deposit? Because I can't even start the housing application.

Check through the emails you've recieved from them. There should be one called "Columbia Law School--Housing Information" that will contain the info you need to access the housing application.

[Non-Chalant1]

Any of you guys down for apartment shares? Good to see another Red Sox fan with a NY state of mind for law school.

[redsoxfan2495]

Apartment shares seem like the way to go, though I'm waiting to officially pick a school to register for housing. Leaning heavily towards CLS at this point. There's a lot of good info regarding housing on the CLS 1Ls Answer Thread.

[Spykuh]

if your nyu offer exploded on monday but you didn't get an email from them, don't worry! I thought I was going to get nothing, but the letter finally reached my house yesterday and they gave me more than nyu!

[mcweanis]

i got my columbia offer today.. 25k over 3 years (5k less than nyu). LAME! withdrawing this week sometime

(edited for clumsy writing)

[Non-Chalant1]

i got my columbia offer today.. 25k over 3 years (5k less than columbia). LAME! withdrawing this week sometime

I'm assuming you mean NYU.

[lastch2]

hey guys! just checking in, decided i'm definitely coming to columbia in the fall planning on living at the arbor, anyone else??

[kwais]

hey guys! just checking in, decided i'm definitely coming to columbia in the fall planning on living at the arbor, anyone else??

I am interested because the price is right, but I keep hearing that the commute sucks. What are your thoughts?

[viking138]

hey guys! just checking in, decided i'm definitely coming to columbia in the fall planning on living at the arbor, anyone else??

I am interested because the price is right, but I keep hearing that the commute sucks. What are your thoughts?

Hi guys, I lived there for fall term and half of winter term. The apartments are very nice, the maintenance and front desk guys are very helpful and friendly, but the commute does suck. Someone said somewhere that they had a friend who had issues getting to campus for class -- should not be a problem if you plan ahead, but that means being outside waiting for the shuttle (which is actually a large van with one door) about 5 minutes before its stated leaving time. You also want to plan to take the shuttle at least 40 minutes before classes start because it can take up to 30 minutes if there is traffic on the Henry Hudson Parkway or if someone wants to go to the medical center (there are quite a few med students at the Arbor).

The shuttle drivers are nice enough but OMG most of them drive TERRIBLY. Seriously, there were so many near-accidents, people wrote letters quite often but I do not think Columbia has any plans to get new drivers or anything. It's really bumpy and it's 14 people scrunched into a van.

The shuttle runs infrequently in the evenings (more like once an hour) and stops at 10:45, so it's quite packed throughout the evening. You have to walk a mile to get to the subway and it's in a much less nice area (Bronx rather than Riverdale). The shuttle runs once an hour on Saturdays and stops at 7:30pm, and it doesn't run at all on Sundays. Also, in bad weather, there can be issues getting to class because all the vans are in NJ and they have to get across the GW bridge so if it's closed, the shuttle might not run.

I loved my apartment itself, but the shuttle and commute got to be too much, especially for my boyfriend who was working in midtown, so we moved to the Upper West Side (not Columbia housing) when he got a raise in January. Very happy with our decision, even though the rent is higher.

Final note, I cook a lot so this wasn't an issue for me, but if you plan on getting take out very often, the options around the Arbor are pretty much terrible and are expensive (it's a very old community, tons of rest homes up there). It wasn't an issue for most of the term but come finals when I cooked less it was a bit annoying.

Wow, that's a lot, sorry! Just some stuff I wish I had known before I moved there, though.

[Ship87]

Just paid my deposit the other day; when will we be able to register a CLS email?? When do we get a CUID or whatever we need?