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AdmittedStudentsOurDecisions 7 - 05 Apr 2009 - Main.JasonLissy
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| | Our Experiences at Admitted Students Day
This topic is meant to be a documentation of what we experienced at our admitted students day, how we made our decisions to come here. It is pulled from the discussion here, and should serve as a basis for a discussion on how admitted students day can improve. For the specific issue of choosing CLS over a public state school, see here. | | | -- AndrewCase - 02 Apr 2009 | |
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< | Bold text COLUMBIA vs. "HIGHER-PRESTIGE" SCHOOLS | >
> | COLUMBIA vs. "HIGHER-PRESTIGE" SCHOOLS | | | Both Columbia and Harvard accepted me. As noted above, while Columbia attempted to sell its prestige post-acceptance with a deluge of materials, Harvard attempted to market its prestige both prior to and following acceptance. In order to gain an offer of admission, candidates in high-standing were required to phone interview with the Dean. The same dean gave a phone-call acceptance and hand-signed acceptance letter. During the phone acceptance, the dean said something along the lines of "Welcome to the Class of 2011. You are going to love it here." | |
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< | While perhaps just personal touches by a caring admissions dean (he seemed like a nice guy), these actions can be viewed as tactics designed to heighten the sense of accomplishment of those accepted. The fact that my matriculation was presumed, is indicative of the strategy that higher prestige schools may employ with regard to students considering "lesser-caliber" schools. When I submitted my withdrawl notice, the dean emailed me and wrote something to the effect of "are you sure you are making the correct decision..." Again, the sowing of doubt seemed another tactic employed to induce reconsideration of my choice to attend Columbia. | >
> | While perhaps just personal touches by a caring admissions dean (he seemed like a nice guy), these actions can be viewed as tactics designed to heighten the sense of accomplishment of those accepted. The fact that my matriculation was presumed, is indicative of the strategy that higher prestige schools may employ with regard to students considering "lesser-caliber" schools. The implicit message seemed that since Columbia et al. were not on Harvard's radar it should not be on mine. When I submitted my withdrawl notice, the dean emailed me and wrote something to the effect of "are you sure you are making the correct decision..." Again, the sowing of doubt seemed another tactic employed to induce reconsideration of my choice to attend Columbia. | | | | |
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< | Ultimately, personal and not prestige factors informed my final decision. At the time, peers, relatives, and professors continually encouraged me to reconsider. Making an important decision on the basis of what I and, not what society thought, was most important felt empowering. I hope I can be courageous enough to continue blazing my own path. | >
> | Ultimately, personal (relational and geographic) not prestige factors informed my decision. Peers, relatives, and professors constantly encouraged me to reconsider. At social gatherings, I was introduced not as a CLS 2011 student but as the guy who "got into columbia and HARVARD" or more commonly as the guy who "got into Harvard and ISNT going (read: what an idiot!)."
Making an important decision on the basis of what I, and not what society, thought most important felt empowering. I hope I can be courageous enough to continue carving my own path and to remember, come the 2L and 3L years, that defying society's expectations is not the end of the world and, in fact, yielded an increase in my general happiness. | | | |
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