Columbia has lost its mind

[ruskiegirl]

I think they're worried that NYU will catch up and overtake them...

Ah, I see.  That makes sense. 

[Bisquick]

Both of these posters are URM's.. and at least one of them has a very rare major combination.  They may not just be sending out to reject people.

[ruskiegirl]

Actually, the 2004 numbers seem to indicate that NYU is a good 4% behind Columbia.  Penn and Chicago have a better chance of overtaking them in the acceptance rate category.

[Ginatio]

Both of these posters are URM's.. and at least one of them has a very rare major combination.  They may not just be sending out to reject people.

Columbia has no idea what the URM status is of individuals it sends waivers to. It is done based solely on LSAT scores. Therefore, though they may have a chance of being admitted, said chance was not Columbia's original intent in sending them the waiver.

[Ginatio]

Actually, the 2004 numbers seem to indicate that NYU is a good 4% behind Columbia.  Penn and Chicago have a better chance of overtaking them in the acceptance rate category.

in that particular category, maybe so... but this would be one way for Columbia to hedge any encroachments by NYU in any of the other categories...

[Bisquick]

Both of these posters are URM's.. and at least one of them has a very rare major combination.  They may not just be sending out to reject people.

Columbia has no idea what the URM status is of individuals it sends waivers to. It is done based solely on LSAT scores. Therefore, though they may have a chance of being admitted, said chance was not Columbia's original intent in sending them the waiver.

One of my letters told me that they based on GPA and LSAT, so it isn't just LSAT.  I do think they know URM status and there are a bunch of folks that haven't gotten the Columbia waiver with LSAT's in the 160's.

[Ginatio]

Both of these posters are URM's.. and at least one of them has a very rare major combination.  They may not just be sending out to reject people.

Columbia has no idea what the URM status is of individuals it sends waivers to. It is done based solely on LSAT scores. Therefore, though they may have a chance of being admitted, said chance was not Columbia's original intent in sending them the waiver.

One of my letters told me that they based on GPA and LSAT, so it isn't just LSAT.  I do think they know URM status and there are a bunch of folks that haven't gotten the Columbia waiver with LSAT's in the 160's.

hmmm. could be. i didn't think they were given URM status on top of LSAT scores

[foxnewssucks]

isn't race one of the categories in the CRS info?

[dta]

Both of these posters are URM's.. and at least one of them has a very rare major combination.  They may not just be sending out to reject people.

Columbia has no idea what the URM status is of individuals it sends waivers to. It is done based solely on LSAT scores. Therefore, though they may have a chance of being admitted, said chance was not Columbia's original intent in sending them the waiver.

Sure they know URM status. That's all part of the LSDAS information I entered when I first signed up w/ LSDAS. I also mentioned the states i'm most interested in attending. And lo and behold, those are the states that send me invitations to apply.

Also, what do all of your "invitation to apply" letters say? Mine always tout how "diverse" the student body is. I mean *REALLY* tout - a big long fat paragraph on the subject. I suspect each school has a "diversity" paragraph they automatically insert into the invitation letters when mailing out to URM's they discovered through LSDAS.

Also, i'm over 30 - which is part of LSDAS info since I had to enter my birthday. I'm sure all of that got passed along as well. Sure, Columbia says "we're highly interested in you and invite you to apply because of your LSAT score". Of course that's BS. Likely, Columbia got all the info from LSDAS and their form letter should actually say

"We see that you're a Mexican-American over 30 with a high GPA in two interesting majors and a 2nd bachelor's degree. Your LSAT is in the toilet. But you do have at least a snowball's chance in hell of being accepted. We know you wouldn't even bother applying otherwise, so here's an app fee waiver. Also, you're very likely to simply not meet our standards, so we will very likely reject you and that will benefit our selectivity rating. But your LSDAS info is mildly interesting (i.e. out of the normal) so we thought we'd give you a chance to strut your stuff."

I think the above probably reflects some of the truth involved in my getting a Columbia fee waiver.

[absy]

The Columbia one (at least the one I received) only mentioned the LSAT, whereas Michigan pulled from LSAT and GPA. 

Race is one of the other categories on the CRS listings, yes.