| Author | Message | ||
| Robert Emmerich (Tall_bob)
New member Username: Tall_bob Post Number: 1 Registered: 10-2003 |
I really do not believe the school matters if you are truly smart and would succeed anyway. The school really only matters if you need the contacts/support to make life happen for you. I received a Ph.D. from the University of California - Davis. Clearly a second tier institution to Berkeley, Stanford, and the like. Doesn't offend me in the least and I left school with absolutely no debt and enough money in the bank to aid in starting my own firm (they pay you to attend graduate school). I owned a firm two years after graduating, now two additional years later have three offices in two states with 75 employees. Nobody cares where I went to school, and nobody asks. My advise (worth what you paid for it), keep your debt to a minimum and don't forget to "try" once you get out. | ||
| Ryan Alexander (Ryalex)
Junior Member Username: Ryalex Post Number: 137 Registered: 8-2003 |
William - Columbia Med School is in Harlem in a completely different area than the rest of the school, which is quite safe considering it's 'big city'(the rest of the university). Nebula - schools can find your SAT or ACT scores and your profile through ETS if you checked that box on the registration. Law schools can do the same with your LSAT, personal info and racial profile. That said, my wife works a grad school admissions office right now and they send out TONS of 'hey, apply here' letters to a wide range of people, many of which couldn't get in. There's two sides to that: a) they want more app's to get the best applicants they can (and increase selectivity), and b)they're in the business of 'selling' applications which can run $50-200 a pop depending on the school/program. I got offered an app with a fee-waiver from NYU Law with a big packet of stuff saying 'apply here!,' mentioning scholarships and the like. I applied and they said 'no!' As I'm always about keeping options open, why not shoot off a quick app to Columbia and see what happens... BUT, make sure you can finish the program you want in the time that you are thinking; you don't want to get shanked on your transfer credits or something. Some schools (I thought Harvard/Yale College were like this) make it so you have to do your entire major or more there to graduate - you might end up getting pushed back a semester or two. I might just enjoy the ride there at UCLA and focus on the LSAT instead of transferring, though. | ||
| William H (Countachxx)
Advanced Member Username: Countachxx Post Number: 3300 Registered: 2-2001 |
Columbia, Stanford, & Yale are good schools, no doubt but you might want to take a look at where they are. All three are either in or dangerously close to ghettos. I have a cousin who went to Columbia Med School, he told me students used to get mugged all the time back in the 80s. I doubt things have changed much. Harvard is in a really nice part of Cambridge right next to Boston which is a gorgeous city. Hey, I havent heard you state that a good party school is important, whats the matter you? | ||
| Russ Turner (Snj5)
Member Username: Snj5 Post Number: 574 Registered: 2-2003 |
Congrats on the Academic award! While my experience is with Med schools, if you only ever remember one thing: Numbers talk. That's what got you noticed.  Where ever you go, study hard and kick bottom on the LSAT. You'll do fine. Best for success! rt | ||
| Nebula Class (Nebulaclass)
Member Username: Nebulaclass Post Number: 674 Registered: 11-2002 |
The Cornell one was pretty form-ish, but I still found it odd that they knew I existed. The Columbia one is a mixtue of both. It is a form letter, but one with some specific awards I've received. | ||
| Rikky Alessi (Ralessi)
Member Username: Ralessi Post Number: 404 Registered: 5-2002 |
Are these personal letters or just form letters? Do they actually know something about you or do they just send them to everyone hoping to get people to try to transfer? | ||
| Nebula Class (Nebulaclass)
Member Username: Nebulaclass Post Number: 673 Registered: 11-2002 |
Trust me, I know how hard it is for CC students to transfer to an Ivy! I worried about it for months! It's strange, though, because first Cornell began to seriously invite me to join, and it was all unsolicited. Now, inviting me to apply and getting in are two different things, but it was odd that they 1. Knew my name and address 2. Wanted me to apply! The same thing with Columbia! How the heck did they even find out that I existed? I've never contaced them.....strange. I did win a fairly big Academic Competition in california last spring, and I guess that's where they got my name....but hmmmmm. Who knows. I'll talk to Columbia next week sometime to get a feel as to how serious they are about admitting transfer students. The letter acknowledged that they know I'm just finished at a Community College.... | ||
| Michael Yip (Mightyslash)
Junior Member Username: Mightyslash Post Number: 217 Registered: 4-2002 |
Yale: Transfer applications received for Fall 2002: 881 Transfer applicants offered admission for Fall 2002: 30 Transfer applicants enrolled for Fall 2002: 25 | ||
| Michael Yip (Mightyslash)
Junior Member Username: Mightyslash Post Number: 216 Registered: 4-2002 |
Some stats for Harvard: Transfer applications received for Fall 2002: 1,006 Transfer applicants offered admission for Fall 2002: 55 Transfer applicants enrolled for Fall 2002: 55 | ||
| Michael Yip (Mightyslash)
Junior Member Username: Mightyslash Post Number: 215 Registered: 4-2002 |
Stanford and Harvard are something else. They're 10 times tougher to get into than UCLA. They only take a few transfer students each year (god knows how many of those are from community colleges). Admission is not guaranteed even if you have a straight A transcript. But since you're on scholarship and even Columbia invited youm I'd say you have a shot. Apply and if you do get in, you're one hell of a student! | ||
| Ryan Alexander (Ryalex)
Junior Member Username: Ryalex Post Number: 136 Registered: 8-2003 |
Use the money you're getting at UCLA to free you up to do more extracurriculars and other special projects. UCLA is still a solid undergrad that keeps you in the running... I went to a relatively unkown liberal arts college on scholarship, and the best advice I got about transferring was to max out my opportunities at the small school I loved (BYU Hawaii, 2200 students on the Windward side of Oahu, sister campus of the big school in UT). I know how you feel - I had the same, "maybe I could get the Ivy league in undergrad, too..." dreams occasionally; but I really did have strong feelings for my little school too (and ended up meeting my wife there!). But then I set my sights on law school and shot for Ivy league for grad school. I ended up doing enough things in undergrad (more than the average bear) that it distinguished my application. Then again, if Columbia flashes $$ too, it might be something - but it sounds like finishing undergrad with as little debt as possible could be advisable if you're facing another $150k in expenses - UCLA is a very solid, reknowned school - and you'll still have the same Ivy name on your law school degree ;-). | ||
| Joe (Jts)
Junior Member Username: Jts Post Number: 124 Registered: 8-2003 |
Thanks for the clarification. My $0.02: I would finish off undergrad at UCLA, taking advantage of that sweet scholarship (and a fine school to boot). Bust your a$$ to kick butt on the LSAT and on your undergrad marks and then go for your top eight schools. P.S. Leverage the letter from Columbia into some form of dialogue between you and their admissions people (undergrad and grad) - let them know how badly you want to go there for law school etc. Definitely work that relationship. | ||
| Nebula Class (Nebulaclass)
Member Username: Nebulaclass Post Number: 670 Registered: 11-2002 |
Joe - sorry for the confusion. I just x-ferred to UCLA from a local Calfornia Community College. When I thought about applying to Stanford/harvard etc etc, it was to finish my third and fourth year as an undergrad. I chose to finish my undergrad at UCLA because of the scholarship package. Columbia is currently inviting me to apply as an undergrad, which means that, if I am accepted and choose to go, I would do 1 and a half years there and then my UG would be complete. I have not taken my LSAT yet, but I plan on taking it in June of 04. As for law school, I will be applying to these schools (ranked in my desire to go to them): 1. Harvard 2. Stanford 3. Yale 4. Columbia 5. Chicago 6. Berkeley 7. UCLA 8. Minnesota I hope that clears things up, and sorry for the confusing post! | ||
| Joe (Jts)
Junior Member Username: Jts Post Number: 123 Registered: 8-2003 |
Maybe I'm tired and my reading comprehension is dicey right now, so I apologize in advance.... Columbia is inviting you to transfer as an undergrad or are they asking you to apply for law school? How did Columbia know about your interest in law school? You're at UCLA due to a nice academic scholarship (I assume), so when you say you may have wanted to try out Stanford or Harvard, are you referring to undergrad or law school? Have you done your LSAT yet? If so, how did it go? Check this out http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/rankings/law/brief/lawrank_brief.php Generally, student loan debts are offset by higher starting salaries for graduates of top tier schools. If you're going Ivy League, don't forget Yale. | ||
| Nebula Class (Nebulaclass)
Member Username: Nebulaclass Post Number: 669 Registered: 11-2002 |
I just transferred to UCLA. I am in the third week of my first quarter. I like it, but it's not exactly what I expected. But I am happy. My goal is to get into Harvard/Stanford/Columbia law school after my undergrad work is done. Today, I got some mail from Columbia asking me to apply for Spring 2004. When I was applying to UCLA, I also considered Stanford, Cornell, and Harvard, but opted not to based on the fact that UCLA was going to be free (actually, they are giving my $18k/year when tuition is only $5k.) But now, I'm realizing that I might have wanted to try out Stanford and Harvard. I also kind of regret turning down Berkeley. So in other words, I am slightly regretting just accepting UCLA without considering other schools. Now, this thing from Columbia comes in my mailbox! Kind of odd, as it shows up, unsolicited, right at the time that I am slightly regretting my UCLA decision. So here's the question: should I go ahead and apply? If I do, and I get in, I'm assuming that I'll have to get substantial loans to finance it. Assuming I apply and get into Columbia, would it be prudent to leave UCLA and sustain big debt in order to go to Columbia? Any other time I wouldn't have questioned UCLA, but as I'm not as happy as I thought I would be, I am considering it. Thoughts? Opinions? Thanks! |