Columbia 2011! Forum

[lzyovrachievr]

Guys this time last year the CLS thread had 128 pages. We have over 250.

This is the new gunner thread.

[hiddenfist]

I'm pretty sure there will be another batch of holds today. I'm 4.4 (highest) index so not good enough to beat out some of these hold people but hopefully not ding material either. I went complete in mid-January but since other Jan completes have heard I don't think thats an issue anymore. And I'm abroad so if I'd been accepted I would have gotten an email. blargh

Another batch of holds would serve only as harbingers of the apocalypse.

[padthai]

Dulcatis, can you please sort both the holds and non-holds spreadsheets according to index?
I want to compare the two but the numbers are all over the place. Thank you!

[rundoxierun]

After a moment of thought, I have to agree with Columbia's use of hold in my case. Elements of my application, combined with my numbers, make it clear that I would not, and could not, attend Columbia with anything less than a full scholarship. Basically, offering me admission without also offering me the Hamilton would pretty clearly put me in a position where I would have no choice but to go elsewhere. Apparently, I wasnt quite in the Hamilton league.

[padthai]

After a moment of thought, I have to agree with Columbia's use of hold in my case. Elements of my application, combined with my numbers, make it clear that I would not, and could not, attend Columbia with anything less than a full scholarship. Basically, offering me admission without also offering me the Hamilton would pretty clearly put me in a position where I would have no choice but to go elsewhere. Apparently, I wasnt quite in the Hamilton league.

But you're in the "acceptance to every other great school" league
Why didn't you apply to Yale?!

[amkid100]

two things:

1) what's the consensus about sending a LOCI/additional recs? I am out of school so have no additional grades to send them. I wrote no "Why Columbia" and do have a potentially impressive rec from a law prof. that I could send along. My numbers are not strong for Columbia, so these "softs" are the only things that could push me over the edge, I'm guessing. Thoughts?

2) Has anyone been rejected yet?

[rundoxierun]

After a moment of thought, I have to agree with Columbia's use of hold in my case. Elements of my application, combined with my numbers, make it clear that I would not, and could not, attend Columbia with anything less than a full scholarship. Basically, offering me admission without also offering me the Hamilton would pretty clearly put me in a position where I would have no choice but to go elsewhere. Apparently, I wasnt quite in the Hamilton league.

But you're in the "acceptance to every other great school" league
Why didn't you apply to Yale?!

Have no interest in attending so didnt want to spend the money(Yale waiver process is a bit of a hassle.)... would take both Stanford and Harvard over it at comparable cost. I had an LSAC fee waiver that allowed me to apply to most of my schools for free. The only one I paid for was Stanford.

[c_dubya_s]

two things:

1) what's the consensus about sending a LOCI/additional recs? I am out of school so have no additional grades to send them. I wrote no "Why Columbia" and do have a potentially impressive rec from a law prof. that I could send along. My numbers are not strong for Columbia, so these "softs" are the only things that could push me over the edge, I'm guessing. Thoughts?

2) Has anyone been rejected yet?

1) Planning on calling during my lunch break--I've already updated my grades, but considering sending in a LOCI/updated resume. I'll report back.
2) Not to my knowledge. RDers have only had VCEs and holds so far.

[arism87]

After a moment of thought, I have to agree with Columbia's use of hold in my case. Elements of my application, combined with my numbers, make it clear that I would not, and could not, attend Columbia with anything less than a full scholarship. Basically, offering me admission without also offering me the Hamilton would pretty clearly put me in a position where I would have no choice but to go elsewhere. Apparently, I wasnt quite in the Hamilton league.

This is reasonable.

Unfortunately I'm taking it more personally. I'm just at both medians so clearly don't require any bribes, and there's nothing negative in my app (that I know of) so I'm really just sad that CLS doesn't like me

[amkid100]

two things:

1) what's the consensus about sending a LOCI/additional recs? I am out of school so have no additional grades to send them. I wrote no "Why Columbia" and do have a potentially impressive rec from a law prof. that I could send along. My numbers are not strong for Columbia, so these "softs" are the only things that could push me over the edge, I'm guessing. Thoughts?

2) Has anyone been rejected yet?

1) Planning on calling during my lunch break--I've already updated my grades, but considering sending in a LOCI/updated resume. I'll report back.
2) Not to my knowledge. RDers have only had VCEs and holds so far.

Thanks.

The fact that no one has yet been rejected makes me less excited about still being in the game here

[r6_philly]

I keep thinking that when I meet TLSers IRL, they are going to look like their avatars... e.g. castlerock will be a dog, r6 will be a young child, knock will either be a stanford football helmet or cat, dulc will be some dude/the chick from chuck, eski will be natty p, etc. etc.

I will not behave any different than a young child. I promise. And I have more hair and a tad bit uglier.

VCE today?

[champsound]

Wow, what happened to this thread? I haven't looked at it since about pg 225 or so. Last I heard, we started getting some holds.

[bendurnotes4me]

Maybe CLS read this thread and decided we were getting too clever with all our spreadsheets and what not and just decided to throw us for a loop

[4102011]

Dulcatis, can you please sort both the holds and non-holds spreadsheets according to index?
I want to compare the two but the numbers are all over the place. Thank you!

I sorted the no-holds one, but the holds spreadsheet is azn's. Will ask him about this later if I remember.

Also I need to pick uglier avatars so when I don't look like a movie star people aren't disappointed. hahaha

& this. Sadly, I do not look like the girl from Chuck. Or..like a guy, I hope.

[Excellence = a Habit]

two things:

1) what's the consensus about sending a LOCI/additional recs? I am out of school so have no additional grades to send them. I wrote no "Why Columbia" and do have a potentially impressive rec from a law prof. that I could send along. My numbers are not strong for Columbia, so these "softs" are the only things that could push me over the edge, I'm guessing. Thoughts?

2) Has anyone been rejected yet?

1) Planning on calling during my lunch break--I've already updated my grades, but considering sending in a LOCI/updated resume. I'll report back.
2) Not to my knowledge. RDers have only had VCEs and holds so far.

I will look forward to your report! I am so ready to write a LOCI.

I keep thinking that when I meet TLSers IRL, they are going to look like their avatars... e.g. castlerock will be a dog, r6 will be a young child, knock will either be a stanford football helmet or cat, dulc will be some dude/the chick from chuck, eski will be natty p, etc. etc.

Yes.
I will not behave any different than a young child. I promise. And I have more hair and a tad bit uglier.

VCE today?

[piccolittle]

I keep thinking that when I meet TLSers IRL, they are going to look like their avatars... e.g. castlerock will be a dog, r6 will be a young child, knock will either be a stanford football helmet or cat, dulc will be some dude/the chick from chuck, eski will be natty p, etc. etc.

I thought Knock was a hot girl covered in tennis balls for the longest time.

[jd2014!]

Hmm... I think I should've EDed at CLS. Whoops.

[c_dubya_s]

I keep thinking that when I meet TLSers IRL, they are going to look like their avatars... e.g. castlerock will be a dog, r6 will be a young child, knock will either be a stanford football helmet or cat, dulc will be some dude/the chick from chuck, eski will be natty p, etc. etc.

I thought Knock was a hot girl covered in tennis balls for the longest time.

Man--I really need an avatar so you people can get a mental image of me. I'll choose carefully.

[Eponymous]

i'm on a tangent here just out of curiosity, is the vomit colour Columbia's school colour? and how long has it been called "vomit"?

Columbia's color is a baby/sky blue that (so Columbia undergrads claim) is actually known as "Columbia Blue" -- a virtually proprietary hue, a la "Knightsbridge Scarlet."

WRT the "hold/non-hold/general chaos" debacle...

It seems to me that the most plausible explanation is, indeed, that the no-hold/no-VCE crowd (okay, small cocktail party, not "crowd") is headed for accept/reject soon. Maybe WL, but why bother, at this point, with a WL? However, if that were definitely the case, then one would expect to see the stats in the spreadsheet take on a bi-modal quality. Interestingly, from a purely numbers-driven perspective (index numbers), the range of numbers/scores for the no-hold/no-VCE/presumptive-imminent-decisions group is NOT bi-modal. There is a fairly smooth continuum of numbers.

In other words, one theory is that Columbia currently has THREE GROUPS of applicants who have either just heard or who are about to hear the disposition of their applications: (1) ADMIT (=no hold/no VCE, attractive numbers) or (2) HOLD (=borderlines and many splitters, some URM) or (3) REJECT (=no hold/no VCE, numbers not so compelling). But if that were the simple case, then one would expect that the spreadsheet for "no holds" would show the attractive numbers, followed by a sort of no-man's land into which the "holds" would have fallen, if they were not sorted into a separate group, followed by less attractive numbers. That does not appear to be the case.

I have multiple theories about what the "hold" means, but most of them come down to this: multiple causes, and multiple likely outcomes from the list. It seems to me that the "hold list" is sort of a pre-waitlist-waitlist (as others have theorized), combined with some late-ish apps and some decisions delayed by a late December LSAT, by snow, and by the general vicissitudes of life.

Two additional relevant observations:

(1) The adcoms have, until recent years, been used to dealing with applicants who understand the application process, and who react to it, as singletons. There never used to be the "hive mind" effect created by the internet (by chat rooms, forums, etc.) Therefore, in years past, any individual applicant who received a "waitlist" or a “hold" was free to make of that information/feedback what he or she would – but was forced to do so in a vacuum. The applicant was likely to be annoyed, frustrated, perhaps puzzled, maybe even relieved. But the applicant would experience these emotions in private. The reaction of insulted outrage (or at least miffed indignation) that many are experiencing is, in great part, an artifact of the internet.

The current “holds” have instant and widespread access to the particulars of other “holds,” and the reaction is not an individual’s unhappy, weak, somewhat insecure mewing of, “Why not me?” The individual’s reaction becomes part of the roar of a crowd. A “hold” is angry, rather than unhappy, confident in the righteousness of, if not one’s own cause, then in the cause of so many others so unjustifiably and so carelessly “held.” One can imagine that an eventual April acceptance will be greeted rather differently by an applicant who feels that he or she has been casually mis-treated and taken for granted, versus an applicant (of theoretical years ago) who feels (would have felt) slightly overlooked and somewhat unappreciated, but who is (was) generally relieved and glad to be remembered and welcomed at last.

It may be that Columbia has not anticipated such a “group think” reaction. An unintended consequence of a widespread and simultaneous “hold” that has been perpetrated in the age of the internet…? Possibly. (If so, one would assume that Columbia will not repeat this.)

(2) I notice an unusual dearth of 175-plus LSATs in both spreadsheets. (Count ‘em up.) Not sure what that says. Obviously, it may say something about the LSAT scores of those who have already been accepted, who are not represented on the spreadsheets. It may simply reflect the generally lower numbers of LS applicants across the board this year (see LSAC info). Not sure. In any event, it is hard for me to escape the supposition that a significant aspect of the “holds” process/approach is Columbia’s attempt to balance out (maximize) its numbers during a cycle in which the highest LSAT scores seem to be a relative rarity – at least in its own applicant pool.

[arism87]

For those of us who have contemplated how this year's pool compares to last year's, I just compared LSN data from both. Students who report being admitted last year (overall) vs. this year (until now) have nearly identical quartiles.

Hmm.

[amkid100]

I have multiple theories about what the "hold" means, but most of them come down to this: multiple causes, and multiple likely outcomes from the list. It seems to me that the "hold list" is sort of a pre-waitlist-waitlist (as others have theorized), combined with some late-ish apps and some decisions delayed by a late December LSAT, by snow, and by the general vicissitudes of life.

I'd agree with this analysis - although I'm sure there will be some people who are admitted/denied without ever making it onto the waitlist.

Now, this may be premature - especially for someone w my numbers - but how likely is it to be admitted off of Columbia's waitlist? Duke apparently didn't touch theirs last cycle, what about Columbia? Also, some have speculated that the quality/# of applicants is down this year. How will that affect things? How does Columbia's waitlist work? There are multiple rounds, right?

Yup, just asked a string of questions in a row. Sorry to be such a pain.

[jd2014!]

HELD!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! *Lights hair on fire again*

How can they go into a second day of holds??? They held almost the entire applicant ppol yesterday!


Everyone hide from their email!

[arism87]

HELD!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! *Lights hair on fire again*

I'm sorry! (I think? Maybe not? Idk if it's bad.. ? lol) Just now?!

Edit to add: just kidding, you edited to answer that.

How ridiculous

[rundoxierun]

HELD!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! *Lights hair on fire again*

How can they go into a second day of holds??? They held almost the entire applicant ppol yesterday!


Everyone hide from their email!

Wow.. more holds?!?! No way.. no way.

[Fresh]

HELD!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! *Lights hair on fire again*

How can they go into a second day of holds??? They held almost the entire applicant ppol yesterday!


Everyone hide from their email!

Jeez...

Should I scramble to turn off my email handler or accept my impending hold?