Man oh Man Columbia

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longhorn

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So what is the deal with the course history section at Columbia. First of all, why don't they just add more pages to each course year so any normal person can enter in their courses. Secondly,I can not fit in some of my course names and subject for that matter because they allow you so few spaces. AND yes I am using all abbreviations possible. This kind of stupidity really makes me mad. OK I am done venting, any suggestions???

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A thicker skin. This is just the VERY VERY beginning of the app process and you'll get much more BS slung at you. --Trek
 
I have a question. What are you guys doin for the essay on the Columbia app. They really do not give you much room.Should I try to write a coherent essay(ie chopping my AMCAS essay in half) or just write about it in a paragraph or two? What have other applicants been doin?
 
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If it's the same embark.com application as two years ago (when i applied), you can just type up a separate course history and upload it with any additional essays (AMCAS, etc.) at the Additional Information link on the last section. Just make it all one big file with page breaks in between different sections. I uploaded everything but the kitchen sink in that section for my application (resume, course history, essay)...my interviewer kind of laughed at me, said my application was the thickest he'd ever seen. :)

Solves both the essay and course history length restrictions on that stupid app. Hope this helps.
 
i don't see the option to upload anything besides a picture - unless of course you jam a personal statement into the word file that contains the picture - hmm ... i think we have a winner.
-jot
 
What I did was highlight and copy the coursework page and pasted it into a Word document. Then I entered all of my coursework into the blanks and then uploaded when I finished. I don't remember if I uploaded the Word document or a picture of it...but I don't recall going through too much trouble.
 
thanks - yeah they just put in an option to upload additional info - which is nice - should make it much easier.
-jot
 
i'm going to columbia and i sent them my amcas essay. i don't remember exactly what the question was, but if your amcas personal statment fits their question, even loosely, i'd send it. if you work a hundred hours on your personal statement and then have this other separate application to do, chances are, the PS will be a better piece of work. just my $.02. and don't get turned away from the tough application. columbia seems worth the trouble!!!!!!
 
Do you guys list AP credits on Columbia's app? Their instruction doesn't mention anything about AP's. Also, what do you do for grades? They want us to use numerical grade equivalents, from 0 to 4. What should we put for an AP score of 5? Thanks.
 
BUMP

and one more question...
When creating an additional document to be uploaded, should we save it as a text file, or can we save it as Rich Text Format?
 
i just uploaded a word doc - i suppose as long as it isn't in LaTex they won't care that much.
 
If you have, please let me know what you did for your essay format. The final version gets rid of my paragraph indentation. I know this may sound piddly, but I don't want them to think I can't write an essay.
 
when you print it as a pdf it will have the spaces. i skipped lines btw 'graphs to be sure.
 
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Has anyone tried posting half of your amcas essay and uploading the other half? i don't wanna another essay (though it's only around 2400 characters) if i don't have to. thanks
 
hah - i think they might pick up on the lack of effort



blah half amcas statment blah blah
Now if you would like what you read, please send me $90 and I will send the other half ...
 
Blargh... more questions...

For those of you who uploaded your coursework, is it permissible to upload your entire coursework, hence not including anything in the online fields provided?
 
no

put in whatever you can - and then include it again in the uploaded doc.
 
hi everyone,
would it be okay to include all the coursework you can in the online form, and then just list the ones you couldn't fit in a document to be uploaded?
also, what's the "optional" essay statement about? it is better to include something there?
thanks!
 
I just started plugging away at the columbia app and have found many of the same issues you all have been discussing.

I listed all course work I could online then wrote up a MS Word table with all the rest and uploaded it in the additional course work section. It worked very well.

As for the essays, I'm still debating. Just to be clear, we are talking about two essays here.

1. the 2484 character essay about satisfactions we hope to receive

2. the last question that says upload whatever you want.

2484 characters isn't much and I already have something like this written so I'm gonna included it there.

as for the blanket upload I think I'm going to upload my AMCAS personal statement. With maybe an intro that says something like here are my motivations for becoming a physician.
 
How did people enter their study abroad credits into the Columbia app?? Here's my scenario:

My undergrad school transferred the credits, but not the grades, from the courses I took during my semester abroad. So basically as long as I passed the course abroad, I got credit at my home institution.

Technically, though, the courses were taken independently at a foreign institution. Should I just list these courses online alongside my domestic coursework, or upload them in a separate document with an explanation or something? Argh! Any advice would be much appreciated.
 
I tried to view the submitted picture online, but it came up FUBARed. Anyone else been able to successfully view their submitted files (Word Doc) online?

Thanks,
SP.
 
thanks jot, that tells me there might be a problem on my part, or something went wrong during upload. i tried ie6 and mozilla 1.0 so i don't think it's browser issue.

i'll try uploading it again.
 
BUMP! What, no one else studied abroad? Boy you all missed out. Any help would be much appreciated!
 
Originally posted by JumboFool
How did people enter their study abroad credits into the Columbia app?? Here's my scenario:

My undergrad school transferred the credits, but not the grades, from the courses I took during my semester abroad. So basically as long as I passed the course abroad, I got credit at my home institution.

Technically, though, the courses were taken independently at a foreign institution. Should I just list these courses online alongside my domestic coursework, or upload them in a separate document with an explanation or something? Argh! Any advice would be much appreciated.

I just entered my study abroad credits as coursework from the school that sponsored the program (I got grades as well as credit). I got in, so I guess it was OK to do it that way. I think as long as the courses are individually listed on your school transcript, you should be OK just entering them with your domestic coursework.
 
sweet, thanx for the info SMW.
 
Did anyone list courses they withdrew from and got a W? How am I supposed to put this in since all grades should be in numerical format? Maybe I can just skip it and free up space for other courses.
 
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