I’m currently slated to transfer to Columbia GS for this upcoming fall, and I’m curious about how GS is perceived. Specifically, will it work against me for IB recruiting? If so, how? I know that it’s difficult to determine that since GS has a wide-ranging pool of students, but any comments are appreciated. I’m non-diverse, by the way.
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columbia college
WHAT ON EARTH is General Studies?
Do you eventually funnel into a major or declare a major after a period of time or do you deadass do General Studies for the entirety of your degree?
The only people that care are CC kids who not so subtly look down on them because of preconceived notions. What’s important for recruiting is the uni name on the resume
No one who is interviewing you knows/cares about the difference unless they went to Columbia. If you don’t get an offer, it has almost 0 to do with GS and is most likely due to some other part of your app. I had no issues getting an offer
Please I hope you don't trust them. Columbia GS students can't really enjoy the recruiting experience. It's just a little better version of Harvard Extension School. Let's be honest, THERE IS A REASON why it's harder to get into Columbia College.
This is entirely false. You have no idea what GS is. It’s an undergraduate school at Columbia alongside CC/SEAS designed to house untraditional students ineligible for CC/SEAS due to factors such as gap years, military service, etc. This means that for 99% of students (excluding dual degree students) they are only allowed to apply to CC/SEAS or GS — not both.
Most people at GS who try to place into IB do very well because of their untraditional background. The high volume of vets/unique backgrounds make great stories.
Source: myself. At General Studies and received offers from a top group in GS/JPM/MS alongside several EB offers. I personally know many others who placed similarly well if not better (MF).
Hi, I'm currently a student in Columbia. May I please DM you?
I would just mention Columbia University on your resume. No need to specify general studies - not that there’s anything wrong about it, but it just isn’t a valuable or useful detail. I don’t think anybody’s digging in that deep.
I generally only see parent universities on resumes, with very few exceptions. Non targets tend to specify the business school and target STEM majors tend to specify school of engineering and science.
Only exception - when you network with Columbia alumni I would specify the general studies, because there it’s a meaningful detail.
Writing this for more open knowledge.
Columbia is an interesting place where CC/SEAS students who went the traditional route are usually not even aware of the existence of GS at the time of admission. With this, it is almost inevitable that GS transfers are looked down upon by the rest & usually have a chip on their shoulder.
Objectively, it is indeed dilutive. Close to every aspect of GS does not come close to CC/SEAS experience, ranging from admission process/rates, to requirements for graduation (minimal core + pay by credits + more).
The kicker for many (myself included) is not the above, but the general demeanor. Rather than accepting and being receptive to the fact that GS people are in, quite literally, the school that they got into, many usually resort to 1. Trying hard to hide that the fact that they go to GS (still usually pretty obvious) and 2. being the loudest in the room in flaunting the Columbia name under social settings. While neither of these is problematic to the core, they can be when these same kids, under the "Columbia" umbrella, look down upon other schools when they themselves have essentially gotten in from other backgrounds.
The original intention of GS was more than respectable - however, I'd argue that the general composition of the school does not represent what it was meant to be. Now it is in many cases used as a back door for people from community colleges/others to obtain an ivy league degree.
You are a proper hardo. As a weapon? They're just trying to get a good education, often times with adversity or service in their backgrounds.
No need to call names, but fair points regardless. The language could have been better - edited.
Some do truly come from backgrounds, including overcoming adversity, which deserves equal, if not more, merit and discussion (and rightfully so). 100% agreed they should in no way be discouraged or pushed away from opportunity - in GS or otherwise. However, the general sentiment stands in that there seem to be plenty of people that do not fit the mold of the person you are describing.
I would note that there are dual degree programs in GS which don’t really fit the rest of the GS crowd. While they are in a “non-traditional” program, most students come from “traditional” (albeit more international) backgrounds (direct from high school into the program). The stats on the admitted page are the same as that of normal CC/SEAS in terms of GPA/SAT. Afaik (my friend told me) the dual degree students have the highest overall GPAs at Columbia. Probably not a great program for breaking into IB because no on-campus recruiting, but considering most people there are angling for law it makes sense.
I knew many GS students (particularly ex-IDF guys) who had no trouble getting interviews and jobs.
wow columbia studying goldman sachs ur family members will cream
You’re an undergraduate at Columbia University. Enjoy!
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