Why did Columbia put me on reserve? Forum

[Ragged]

I'm kind of surprised to have been put on reserve at Columbia, since it seemed that my numbers were probably going to be too low...particularly for this cycle. Any thoughts on why I might be on reserve instead of being rejected right away?

Numbers: 167/3.7
Softs: masters degree, musical performances around the world, teaching experience,

I am not a URM.

Because your softs are interesting, and they haven't yet admitted someone with similar ones, so they want to keep you around to see if they will eventually have room for you?

I'm on the side of the less cynical people ITT, I'm starting to believe that LS isn't a total numbers game.

I'm one of the cynics, but it's directed toward this tactic and not the numbers game (I actually think softs and essays matter a lot more than TLS gives them credit for). I just think people are reading far too much into this "hold/reserve hundreds of applicants" business. Check previous cycles and see how many holds they end up taking--let alone reserves--and notice how the very few that actually make it have competitive numbers anyhow.

Bottom line: I think it's sort of a clever tactic by CLS (and they're not alone in this) to take away a bit of the sting and leave people with a more favorable attitude towards the school. Oh yeah, it also helps them appear more "holistic" when people come on boards like this and post about how surprised they were not to get rejected. The school loses nothing by doing it, and potentially gains reputation points with a bunch of future lawyers.

Well put. They are letting people down easy. Like a girl who says she will call as soon as she is done with her finals, but then never does.

[Integrity]

I'm kind of surprised to have been put on reserve at Columbia, since it seemed that my numbers were probably going to be too low...particularly for this cycle. Any thoughts on why I might be on reserve instead of being rejected right away?

Numbers: 167/3.7
Softs: masters degree, musical performances around the world, teaching experience,

I am not a URM.

Because your softs are interesting, and they haven't yet admitted someone with similar ones, so they want to keep you around to see if they will eventually have room for you?

I'm on the side of the less cynical people ITT, I'm starting to believe that LS isn't a total numbers game.

I'm one of the cynics, but it's directed toward this tactic and not the numbers game (I actually think softs and essays matter a lot more than TLS gives them credit for). I just think people are reading far too much into this "hold/reserve hundreds of applicants" business. Check previous cycles and see how many holds they end up taking--let alone reserves--and notice how the very few that actually make it have competitive numbers anyhow.

Bottom line: I think it's sort of a clever tactic by CLS (and they're not alone in this) to take away a bit of the sting and leave people with a more favorable attitude towards the school. Oh yeah, it also helps them appear more "holistic" when people come on boards like this and post about how surprised they were not to get rejected. The school loses nothing by doing it, and potentially gains reputation points with a bunch of future lawyers.

I think this is interesting and perhaps plausible. My question would then be, How do they choose who to offer a faux "holistic" approach to versus the others who are numerically qualified but are rejected? For example, my 4.0/158 is auto-reject territory, but I was deferred from ED. What is to gain from that versus a 3.6/170 who was rejected ED.

[AngryAvocado]

I'm kind of surprised to have been put on reserve at Columbia, since it seemed that my numbers were probably going to be too low...particularly for this cycle. Any thoughts on why I might be on reserve instead of being rejected right away?

Numbers: 167/3.7
Softs: masters degree, musical performances around the world, teaching experience,

I am not a URM.

Because your softs are interesting, and they haven't yet admitted someone with similar ones, so they want to keep you around to see if they will eventually have room for you?

I'm on the side of the less cynical people ITT, I'm starting to believe that LS isn't a total numbers game.

I'm one of the cynics, but it's directed toward this tactic and not the numbers game (I actually think softs and essays matter a lot more than TLS gives them credit for). I just think people are reading far too much into this "hold/reserve hundreds of applicants" business. Check previous cycles and see how many holds they end up taking--let alone reserves--and notice how the very few that actually make it have competitive numbers anyhow.

Bottom line: I think it's sort of a clever tactic by CLS (and they're not alone in this) to take away a bit of the sting and leave people with a more favorable attitude towards the school. Oh yeah, it also helps them appear more "holistic" when people come on boards like this and post about how surprised they were not to get rejected. The school loses nothing by doing it, and potentially gains reputation points with a bunch of future lawyers.

I think this is interesting and perhaps plausible. My question would then be, How do they choose who to offer a faux "holistic" approach to versus the others who are numerically qualified but are rejected? For example, my 4.0/158 is auto-reject territory, but I was deferred from ED. What is to gain from that versus a 3.6/170 who was rejected ED.

Well, waitlisting/holding the guy who is ~2 LSAT points away from being in decent shape doesn't exactly scream "holistic." Waitlisting someone who's 14 points below the LSAT median, on the other hand, does.

That said, I don't really mean to suggest that there's no rhyme or reason to how CLS does it. It could very well be that they found something about your application (and the several hundred others that were held/reserved instead of outright rejected--including mine) that was interesting or that they liked. I just wanted to point out that they sacrifice nothing by holding/reserving people, and that if they were really half as holistic as this tactic would suggest, their LSN would look starkly different than it does. That's all.

[Integrity]

Oh, are you an ED deferral as well? Any idea when we will hear the final decision?

I absolutely think you have a point. My perception of Columbia has skyrocketed ever since my shocking deferral. I fully expected an outright ding. And the schools who did outright ding me (except Harvard...that's just a rites of passage) did kind of leave me with a bad taste in my mouth. And the top schools that waitlisted me (UVA, Vandy), even if they do not accept me off the waitlist, I will leave with a more positive impression.

But HOLY COW...getting into Columbia...goodness...!