Recently in Columbia

Columbia sent me a letter outlining how many credits I would receive in transfer credit. The max they will take is 60 and they have indicated that 59 are transferable. This is good news because that means I would only have to take 65 credits to graduate AND I qualify for the higher Stafford Loan amounts of $12,500 ($5,500 max subsidized).

Now, I'm not sure if all 59 of those credits will match up perfectly to Columbia's "core" so I still may need to take more then 65 credits. All this credit counting is important because each credit costs $1,270.



I need to start outlining my degree requirements and matching to my current courses in order to get a good idea of what EXACTLY is required for graduation. Need to do this for all schools I've been accepted to so far.

I received an email today with a questions from someone who is in a similar situation to me. Since not much is happening academically right now (since I am just waiting on acceptance letters) I thought I'd share his email and my answers. Here is some initial background:

Rus: I've also been out of school (high school) for ten years, and I'm going to start college in the fall, with the intention of getting into Harvard Business School for my MBA.  Out of high school, I started a construction company instead of going to college.

This is a similar situation that I was in except I had taken a couple years of school before I dropped out.

Rus: Did you have any troubles getting acclimated to being in an academic environment after many years?

Harvard or Bust: Surprisingly, I didn't have as much trouble acclimating to school life as I thought I would. The first semester I went way over board in terms of studying and diligence on tests, especially considering I was in community college classes. Though it did secure me a 4.0 that semester which was very important.

Rus: I'm most concerned with math since it is more "developmental" than other subjects. Did you take any straight math classes, or are they not required?

HoB: Yes I did. I took Probability and Statistics and I was worried that since I had been out of math for so long it would pose a problem, however, math has always been a strong suit of mine as I completed third level Calculus in my previous college years so I did not have any problems with the class. If you want to pursue a MBA degree Calculus and Statistics are highly important.

Rus: I'm debating between community college, a state school, and a small liberal arts college. Did you have that decision process as well or did you just decide on community college right away?

HoB: If your plan is to go to an Ivy League school (you mentioned Columbia and Yale in your email) then I would say you would most likely need atleast a solid year of either a traditional school or community college first. You "may" not need this for Columbia's School of General Studies since I believe they focus more on your life experience then your academics, however, a summer semester or especially this coming fall will not hurt your chances.

Rus: Did you find it easy or difficult to obtain recommendations (for Columbia) from your community college?  Did you have extracurriculars?

HoB: I had a great English teacher my first semester at CC that wrote a solid rec letter for me. As for EC's, I think people like you and I who have been working successfully do not really need to worry about EC's. I assume you have hobbies? I think those are sufficient. When you are in college, however, any leadership positions you can obtain will help with possible MBA applications, but again, it's very subjective.

Rus: When applying to Columbia's School of General Studies how much importance do they put on your business history?

HoB: None really. They don't ask for specific information above and beyond any other school you'll apply to, expect to explain WHY you are a non-traditional student and WHAT you have been doing out of school. If you have been running your own construction business then I'd imagine you have plenty of "business" experience when it comes to apply to an undergraduate degree.

I hope these responses are helpful, remember I am not an admissions counselor by any stretch, these are just my opinions. Be sure to chat with admissions counselors as much as possible to ascertain your best plan of action. Thanks for writing!

I received a letter from Columbia today informing me that I have been awarded a $8400 New Student Incentive Scholarship. I have to admit, I was slightly disappointed. It's exciting to have been accepted and it's exciting to receive some type of scholarship, but $8400 is not really that much considering 24 credits at Columbia (plus fees) is $35,000 a year. I have not received the final financial aid package from Columbia which will tell me of any federal grants or loans (atleast I'm assuming that is on its way) so things could get better, but right now I am a little bummed with the thought of having to take out $26,000 a year in fees for 2-3 years. That's alot of debt.

Some have said that debt is easily outweighed by the the opportunity costs of a Columbia education, but considering I can go to a University of California school for a third of that amount (and finish in less time) is something I have to think about.

I have a call scheduled with the head of financial aid on Thursday, so we will see what I can do.

So, I have seen mention of Harvard Business School's 2+2 program over the past few months, and after seeing a Twitter posting from @HarvardMBA about a Podcast discussing the program, I thought I'd do some reading about it.

http://www.hbs.edu/mba/admissions/podcasts.html

In a nutshell, the 2+2 program is for Juniors in college who want to work in the business world for two years before attending business school. You apply at the end of the Junior year and learn your acceptance at the beginning of your senior year. Once accepted you have to work in a program approved job for two years and then you are guaranteed a spot in the MBA program. Not a bad idea really, and probably my best bet.

Considering my short current academic record and somewhat limited lack of "serious" business experience I realize that I am going to face some strong competition for acceptance. My plan was to to get accepted to an Ivy League school (done) and also to figure out an AMAZING summer job between my Junior and Senior year before the applications for grad school were due. I don't see how else I could be a competitive applicant.

However, now thinking about the 2+2 program, if I attend Columbia (or even Berkeley (not that I've been accepted there though)) and manage to get top marks I think I can write affective essays and acquire a good set of recommendations that would make me a very strong candidate for the 2+2 program.

I think I have an interesting story and a strong background. Given my short amount of time to make a difference, Columbia is starting to look like the paramount choice for me...

So it's been almost a week since I got the call from Columbia informing me of my acceptance. I'm still pretty thrilled. Even if I end up not being able to go there (pretty much entirely for economic reasons) I will have a great sense of pride at being accepted.

However, I am trying to be reasonable about the economic issues at hand and what opportunity costs of attending another institution will bring. I have not received the financial aid letter from Columbia yet so that limits my planning somewhat, but I do know that tuition, fees, and living expenses at Columbia is about $55k/year. Not a small number. Where as all in expenses at the University of CA system are only about $25k/year.

Berkeley and Columbia are about on par with each other in terms of academics, though Columbia is ranked higher. However, Davis and Santa Barbara are not ranked as high. The question that I'm fielding from alot of people is, if I had to choose between Columbia and Davis, would saving $60k in student loans be worth it? I would have to say most likely not.

My plan at attending Harvard is going to weigh heavily on these next two years. And while they do say they do not place a huge amount of emphasis on the undergraduate school you attended, I'd be hard pressed to believe a Columbia degree would hurt me.

Either way, I have not received financial aid info from Columbia nor have I received decisions from any other school. I am just running over all the scenarios in my head trying to come up with atleast some beginnings of a plan...

Eight more weeks.

I AM AMAZED! I have been accepted to Columbia University to finish my degree! The deadline for early application was only March 1st and they called me today, March 4th, to let me know that I have been accepted. Amazing news!

I need to wait to hear about scholarships from them as that will be a big part of my decision as Columbia is by far the most expensive on the list.

Wow. Quick update.

Yay

According to U.S. News & World Report, Harvard University is back as the Number One ranking national university for the first time in 12 years. It  beat out Princeton, Yale, and MIT to claim the top spot. Harvard also takes the number one for it's graduate business school, followed by Stanford and the Wharton School (U. Penn).

Columbia University comes in at a three way tie with Duke and University of Chicago at number eight, which is one step higher then it was last year. Columbia's graduate business school comes in at number nine.

Yahoo News lends Harvard it's success to the fact that it scaled back the size of it's classes, "Harvard reports the percentage of students in classes under 20 students rose from 69 percent to 75 percent since last year's report, while the percentage in classes bigger than 50 fell from 13 percent to 9 percent."

It's good to see these kind of results cause it reminds me of what great odds I'm up against, nothing that's insurmountable, but it is definitely humbling.

Today I had a quick phone meeting with an admissions counselor at Columbia University's School of General Studies. It was a good call as it reinforced the fact that I might be a perfect candidate for this program. Which is very exciting.

For those not familiar with Columbia's School of General Studies, let me give you the brief overview.

Columbia University is made up of many 'schools', as most universities are. The three main schools at Columbia are: Columbia College (this is the standard Freshman applicant school), Barnard, and General Studies. The General Studies school was setup to meet the needs of 'non-traditional' and returning students. The application process places more emphasis on who you are and what you've done over the grades you received. Students who have been out of school for more then three years, ex military, or adults seeking a second bachelors degree are encouraged to apply to this program.

The nice thing about the General Studies school is that you are placed into the regular student body and take regular Columbia classes (not special adult or evening classes). There is no difference at all between the education you receive as a Columbia College student and a General Studies student. This is different from other 'returning student' programs at other Ivy League universities like Harvard and MIT. These schools have 'extension' classes (see Harvard's Extension School) that are totally separate from the main student body; classes are held at night and typically not by University professors. You still earn a Bachelors degree, but I don't believe the class work is anywhere near as challenging.

The actual physical degree you earn from the General Studies program is slightly different from the Columbia College program but the education is the same, and that's really what matters.

So back to the phone call. It was a great starting point. The admissions counselor informed me of two information sessions happening here in LA in October that I will be sure to attend. She was impressed with my work background, however, she did mention that my grades are on the low side. She recommended that I take some classes at Santa Monica Community College as a way to bolster my application.

Unfortunately, I can not take classes until the winter term, and those classes don't count for transfer credit, but they would still use the grades as part of my application. I will have to check SMC's classes schedule when it's posted in a few months and see what classes would be best. I am thinking of taking a Calculus refresher course as I know it's used in Economics and I'm sure my differentials and integrals are a little rusty.