Columbia c/o 2015 Applicants (2011-2012 cycle) Forum

[WhiteGuy5]

And +1, ever since I got into NYU, I've become really calm about the whole process. I would love to get CLS as well, and I would go insane if I somehow snagged YHS, but I would be very happy at NYU. Just be patient, we've got a few weeks before decisions roll out!

Here is my dilemma:

I have a GUARANTEED scholarship if I go to Yale, Harvard, Columbia, Chicago, or Penn. The scholarship will cover 50% of my tuition/costs. The scholarship only pays for schools that are in the top 10 universities in the world according to USNWR; six of which are in the U.S., and only five (the aforementioned) have law schools (MIT is the 6th). (Don't ask me what it is--you are not eligible, trust me).

So, as you can see, NYU is not on that list because its undergrad is not in the top 10 overall. The other schools (Penn and Chicago), even if I get in, would still rather go to NYU (for a number of reasons that should be familiar to TLSers and others). The other three schools that I would rather go to are Yale, Harvard and Columbia...schools that are really hard to get into.

Hence...why me getting into Columbia=an exceptionally great thing that could happen to me. I'll have my cake and eat it too!

Hopefully this didn't come off as troll-ish. If I name the scholarship it will out me for sure--it's really narrowly defined. It really is a GREAT scholarship though, with very little restrictions. It just presents some familiar problems to the prospective law student.

This will probably warrant its own thread but I'm gonna wait until Columbia decisions are out. I'm presuming I can get into one of Penn/Chicago, and thus have the dilemma to begin with.

[WhiteGuy5]

Listen, you seem like a good, friendly guy, so I want you to know that this is not coming from a place of anger, but you need to chill. the fuck. out. You have amazing stats (yes, even for Columbia!), yet you seem to abandon all hope for certain schools multiple times per day. It's not healthy! I mean, they haven't even started letting in RD people for crying out loud. No need to lose your shit just yet.

Deep breaths. You will have an amazing cycle. It's more likely than not that it will include a Columbia acceptance, and if it doesn't you will likely have whatever success and happiness you would have had without it.

Really? I thought i was one of the less pessimistic people on these boards. Which other schools have I lost all hope for?

In any event, sorry for the neurosis, I'm assuming the Gods of Low Expectations will reward me =). But thanks for the kind words!

[addy11]

Listen, you seem like a good, friendly guy, so I want you to know that this is not coming from a place of anger, but you need to chill. the fuck. out. You have amazing stats (yes, even for Columbia!), yet you seem to abandon all hope for certain schools multiple times per day. It's not healthy! I mean, they haven't even started letting in RD people for crying out loud. No need to lose your shit just yet.

Deep breaths. You will have an amazing cycle. It's more likely than not that it will include a Columbia acceptance, and if it doesn't you will likely have whatever success and happiness you would have had without it.

Really? I thought i was one of the less pessimistic people on these boards. Which other schools have I lost all hope for?

In any event, sorry for the neurosis, I'm assuming the Gods of Low Expectations will reward me =). But thanks for the kind words!

Ah OK. Your scholarship outline puts things into context a bit better. Without that the whole "planned my whole life" thing sounded like standard TLS histrionics.

As for the losing of hope, I think you recently concluded that Harvard had "officially" passed you over and in the same post began wondering when the next batch of KB1s would come out (or when you could officially give up hope, as if your previous conclusion didn't render it entirely meaningless to begin with).

Anyway it sounds like you've got some great options. I sit here too and bite my fingernails more than I should, but they will make the decisions for us and there's no sense in worrying before then.

[WhiteGuy5]

Ah OK. Your scholarship outline puts things into context a bit better. Without that the whole "planned my whole life" thing sounded like standard TLS histrionics.

As for the losing of hope, I think you recently concluded that Harvard had "officially" passed you over and in the same post began wondering when the next batch of KB1s would come out (or when you could officially give up hope, as if your previous conclusion didn't render it entirely meaningless to begin with).

Anyway it sounds like you've got some great options. I sit here too and bite my fingernails more than I should, but they will make the decisions for us and there's no sense in worrying before then.

Touché.

[Hawkeye Pierce]

Wow, that's a pretty awesome scholarship. Definitely rooting for you

[Mr. Somebody]

Whiteguy, just out of curiosity, do you still get the scholarship if a school offers you, say, half-tuition? So you could get a free ride?

[WhiteGuy5]

Whiteguy, just out of curiosity, do you still get the scholarship if a school offers you, say, half-tuition? So you could get a free ride?

That was my first question to them, but sadly, no. It covers 50% of the tuition AFTER scholarships (including ones you get from elsewhere).

Thanks Hawkeye! I've been rooting for you since you created these awesome threads.

[JamMasterJ]

Whiteguy, just out of curiosity, do you still get the scholarship if a school offers you, say, half-tuition? So you could get a free ride?

That was my first question to them, but sadly, no. It covers 50% of the tuition AFTER scholarships (including ones you get from elsewhere).

Thanks Hawkeye! I've been rooting for you since you created these awesome threads.

well then, hopefully you just get a full-ride at NYU

[JamMasterJ]

Columbia housing is pretty reasonable. Most of the housing is in morningside within a few blocks of campus. Average rent for a bedroom in a 2-4 bedroom unfurnished apartment (with oven and fridge) is 950. Average rent for a furnished apartment is 975.

I'll be married when I go to school, so I'd be paying for the whole apartment until she gets a job (which as a nurse in NYC, it hopefully won't be too long)

ETA: I'm not 100% sure you were directing your post to me, but either way, thanks for the info!

[Hawkeye Pierce]

Whiteguy, just out of curiosity, do you still get the scholarship if a school offers you, say, half-tuition? So you could get a free ride?

That was my first question to them, but sadly, no. It covers 50% of the tuition AFTER scholarships (including ones you get from elsewhere).

Thanks Hawkeye! I've been rooting for you since you created these awesome threads.

Still a pretty solid deal for Non-YHS schools since they can be pretty stingy with scholarship money (less so with Chicago, but still).

[7ED]

You guys aren't nearly as neurotic as we were last cycle. Congrats on that =P The CLS thread ended up being the longest school thread on the forum by far (it hit like 400 pages if I remember correctly)

[icedflames]

I've basically planned my whole life with the presumption that I get into Columbia. Someone tell me that it will all be ok when they start releasing decisions.

As numbers twins, we shall overcome and I'll see you at Columbia next year!

We should wait a few more weeks before getting crazy though.

[piccolittle]

You guys aren't nearly as neurotic as we were last cycle. Congrats on that =P The CLS thread ended up being the longest school thread on the forum by far (it hit like 400 pages if I remember correctly)

Except for like Chicago, I think. Those guys are nuts.

[thelong]

Just submitted my app. Hello everyone!

[Zelda]

RD Decisions expected 1/24 - 1/31?

[poe]

RD Decisions expected 1/24 - 1/31?

That late? Damn, I was hoping for next week. But then, I haven't been following this thread too closely.

[Hawkeye Pierce]

RD Decisions expected 1/24 - 1/31?

Sounds about right.

[suspicious android]

Out at Columbia via snail mail. Annoyed that they didn't just e-mail me, not sure what happened. Maybe they lost my e-mail address over their leisurely winter break.

[citykitty]

Out at Columbia via snail mail. Annoyed that they didn't just e-mail me, not sure what happened. Maybe they lost my e-mail address over their leisurely winter break.

How far away do you live? I'm expecting an early reject.

[suspicious android]

To clarify, I was ED, so all you RD'ers probably shouldn't be expecting anything.

[soj]

I'm sorry to hear that, suspicious android. I hope you get better news from other schools you've applied to. I'm sure you'll still have a good cycle with lots of acceptances and scholarships.

[mickeyD]

Sorry suspiciousandroid. I don't get it. Splitters have been struggling from what I've seen this cycle, it's as if that drop in LSAT takers meant nothing.

[lats19nys]

Sorry suspiciousandroid. I don't get it. Splitters have been struggling from what I've seen this cycle, it's as if that drop in LSAT takers meant nothing.

schools clearly are willing to drop 1-2 pts in lsat scores to preserve higher gpas. i mean...think about it, i honestly think a gpa drop looks a lot worse. why should some of these schools give the benefit of the doubt to people with low gpas when there are plenty of ppl with high gpas with just a drop lower in the ideal lsat scores. the drop in lsat scores helps the previously borderline scorers ie. someone say at harvard with a 3.9 and 170. a guy with say a 175 and a 3.5 is still a guy who in Harvards eye probably didn't take school as seriously as they could have.

[sunynp]

Columbia housing is pretty reasonable. Most of the housing is in morningside within a few blocks of campus. Average rent for a bedroom in a 2-4 bedroom unfurnished apartment (with oven and fridge) is 950. Average rent for a furnished apartment is 975.

I'll be married when I go to school, so I'd be paying for the whole apartment until she gets a job (which as a nurse in NYC, it hopefully won't be too long)

ETA: I'm not 100% sure you were directing your post to me, but either way, thanks for the info!

In case you didn't know, St Luke's Roosevelt hospital is within walking distance of the campus. It is literally a few blocks from the law school. I hope your wife gets a job there, it will make life so much easier for you. Enjoy NYC!!

[mickeyD]

Sorry suspiciousandroid. I don't get it. Splitters have been struggling from what I've seen this cycle, it's as if that drop in LSAT takers meant nothing.

schools clearly are willing to drop 1-2 pts in lsat scores to preserve higher gpas. i mean...think about it, i honestly think a gpa drop looks a lot worse. why should some of these schools give the benefit of the doubt to people with low gpas when there are plenty of ppl with high gpas with just a drop lower in the ideal lsat scores. the drop in lsat scores helps the previously borderline scorers ie. someone say at harvard with a 3.9 and 170. a guy with say a 175 and a 3.5 is still a guy who in Harvards eye probably didn't take school as seriously as they could have.

I mean this makes sense if schools have decided that they don't care about maintaining LSAT medians, which could be the route they have chosen with less LSAT takers. I guess it makes sense that, if LSAT medians go down, they can just blame it on a smaller pool of high scorers. They wouldn't have an excuse for a drop in GPA stats.