Mixed bags, get it?

Why did the number of applicants to Columbia dwindle to a mere 32,000? Perhaps the kids realized  it’s “impossible” to get in so they’ve all stopped applying, or more likely, it’s because Harvard and Princeton brought back early action. (Business Week)

Mayor Bloomberg already takes Spanish lessons, but this year he wants to try a new language: Javascript. And he’s going to use Columbia alum/students’ Codecademy to learn it. (NYT, TPM)

In last night’s Republican debate, Rick Santorum claimed rivals Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich “were playing footsie with the left.” That’s not all Gingrich was playing footsie with; after the debate, his ex-wife claimed he asked her for an open marriage. (Youtube, ABC)

Yesterday morning, the Feds took down file-sharing sites MegaUpload and MegaVideo, arresting seven employees while sparing their CEO, Swizz Beats, who has worked with Jay-Z and as NYU’s producer-in-residence. No word on whether they’ll be back up in 72 minutes. (NYT, Rolling Stone)

A new Vietnamese sandwich shop just opened on 108th and Broadway, which means Columbians can finally try one of the hottest foods in the city: báhn bánh mì, a colonialist combination of traditional Vietnamese food served on a French baguette. The lens essay just writes itself! (Westside Rag)

Baker St, a band made up of Columbia alums and students (and one random Fordham kid), has sort of hit it big. Their new EP is dropping tonight and they’re headlining a show downtown at The Delancey. It’s not free, but who knows? Like every other Columbia band for the last five years, they could be next Vampire Weekend. (Baker St, the Delancey)

More like purses, via Wikimedia

Today, compounding the stress of nervous high school seniors across the hemispheres, our Office of Undergraduate Admissions released preliminary numbers for the regular decision pool. The stats showed an overall drop in applications from last year, which they attributed both to a normalizing effect from Columbia’s switch to the Common App in 2010, and also to the recently reintroduced early action plans at Harvard and Princeton. Despite the less impressive numbers, the applicant pool was described, as it is every year, as the most academically competitive yet. Hooray! The potential class of 2016 also demonstrated itself to be exceedingly sensitive and loveable by excelling in categories like “diversity of experience” and “voice.” The breakdown is as follows:

• 31,818 applications for a class of 1,391 students
• Anticipated to be one of the larger applicant pools in the Ivy League
• Applications were down 8.9% from last years numbers, but,
• There has been a 21.5% overall increase in applications since 2010

Full email after the jump

"I'm holding your future."

This afternoon the Columbia Undergraduate Admissions performed their ritual early decision annoucement send off. Belting “Roar, Lion, Roar”, the crew carried the decisions from Hamilton to the awaiting FedEx truck on College Walk. Now we have only to wait until some intrepid pre-frosh founds the Columbia Class of 2016 facebook group and a new generation of heros are born. Congratulations future Columbians!

Some stats about this year’s Early Decision acceptances:

• Columbia received 3,088 ED applications, 5.86% less than last year.
• Jessica Marinaccio, Dean of Undergraduate Admissions, writes in an email that this is “likely attributable to changes in some of our peer schools’ early policies.”
• However, “the ED pool increased in terms of academic quality indicators, making this the most competitive selection process in our history.”
• Columbia has historically filled 44% of the incoming class with Early Decision applicants, and this percentage did not change this year.
• Accepted early applicants hail from 40 states plus DC and 32 countries outside of the US.

Statement from Jessica Marinaccio after the jump

Maybe we're the center of the universe. Probably not, though. MetaBwog...

Drug busts don’t just happen at our school! These guys stepped it up a notch, and now they’re down $8 million and 8,000 marijuana plants. (NY Post)

And it looks like we’re not the only ones with new admissions stats—kindergarten hopefuls continue to wait for a spot at their elementary schools, but the lists just keep getting longer. (CityRoom)

Remember when James Franco went here? Now he plans to teach at NYU, and we plan to feel scorned. (NYU Daily News)

Plus, someone else who went here—Columbia Alum Kelley Gasper—just scored a New York Times blog post. (At War, NYT)

Image via WikiMedia Commons.

Admissions Dean Jennifer Fondiller signed each of the 5,154 letters!

This week, accepted Barnard prospies for the class of 2015 are receiving their letters–and they will have to wait, because Barnard holds to tradition in sending out only paper acceptances. So much admissions hoopla going on!

And it was a notable year for Barnard. The college saw a 38% increase in early applications, from 397 to 550. The college also received 5,154 applications, more than ever before; up from 4,618 last year, for a gain of 12%!

This sets their admission rate at 24.9%, also the lowest ever, up down from last year’s 27.8%.

Dean Fondiller attributes the success to targeted recruitment worldwide and the opening of The Diana Center.

Photo by Adrienne Hezghia

Welcome home 2015!

The Office of Undergraduate Admissions has just released the admissions statistics for the Class of 2015! The takeaway: shitloads of people applied to Columbia. The overall admission’s rate for this year was 6.9 percent, compared with last year’s 9.2%. We suspect this has a lot to do with the switch to the Common App, but regardless, congratulations are in order for next year’s freshpeople!

Jessica Marinaccio, Dean of Undergraduate Admissions, made the following statement:

The Undergraduate Admissions staff and I take great pride in admitting the Class of 2015 to Columbia College and Columbia Engineering. Chosen from among 34,929 applicants in our most selective admissions cycle ever, admitted students hail from 73 countries and all 50 states, as well as Washington D.C., Guam, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands. We admitted 6.4% of students who applied to Columbia College and 9.9% of those who applied to Columbia Engineering, for an overall admit rate of 6.9%.

The full statement and breakdown of the data after the jump!

It seems like just yesterday that 2015 ED got sent out. Hell, it seems like just yesterday our decisions got mailed out. But it isn’t! Today the Deciders of Fates at Admissions mailed 2015 Regular Decision responses. Nail biting ensues.

The admissions people filed solemnly out of Hamilton, placing box after box (after box!) into the UPS van. Then they sang “Roar, Lion, Roar!” It made Bwog happy and feel fresh and excited and pre-froshy again.

Speaking of pre-frosh, holla 2015! We know you’re out there. G’luck friends.

As per tradition, Columbia’s Undergraduate Admissions team ceremoniously marched out of their Hamilton office this afternoon, singing “Roar, Lion, Roar” and carrying Early Decision admissions packages, which they sent off on the FedEx truck waiting on college walk. Congratulations, Class of 2015!

Don’t be too jealous, but this year the electronic admissions letter is a video clip of campus with the fight song playing the background, and a flash animation welcome message.

The Office of Undergraduate Admissions has just released the admissions statistics for the Class of 2014! Be proud, Columbia – we now have an overall admissions rate of 9%. And congratulations to the incoming freshmen for having survived the toughest admissions process in Columbia’s history!

Jessica Marinaccio, Dean of Undergraduate Admissions, made the following statement:

“The Undergraduate Admissions staff and I take great pride in admitting the Class of 2014. Chosen from among 26,178 applicants in the most selective admissions cycle in our history, admitted students hail from 75 countries, all 50 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands. We admitted 8% of students who applied to Columbia College and 13% of those who applied to Columbia Engineering, for an overall admit rate of 9%.”

Full statement and statistics after the jump!

Read more…

The Office of Undergraduate Admissions sends out letters informing the 23,195 potential members of the Class of 2014 of their fates. That number, in addition to early decision applicants, brings this year’s total to 26,178: 21,747 of them applied to the College and 4,431 to SEAS. Best of luck, friends!

Because tens of thousands (jp, jp) of high schoolers and their anxious parents have arrived for tours on this rainy Monday. We want to set a good example, don’t we?

Roone Cinema was packed with overachievers waiting for an info session, and parents flooded out in streams to ask Bwog where the bathrooms were. Observe below: prospies and parents in Roone, and a wandering tour group.

Starting this fall, Columbia will join the ranks of most other schools (over 400 institutions) in the country and start exclusively using the Common App. Jessica “the Decider” Marinaccio writes that using the Common App will “make applying to Columbia more accessible to students from every background,” and reassures us that the App will still include a Columbia Supplement where you can make up books you’ve read and stuff. Our classics-oriented cousin University of Chicago created a stir when they switched from their infamous Uncommon App (aha!) to the Common App for the class of 2013; we’ll see if Columbia’s change ruffles any feathers.

Oh, and before bed, here are some admissions statistics you may enjoy:

CU has recieved 26,178 applications for the class of 2014. 2,983 applied early to CC and SEAS combined (2,495 to CC, 488 to SEAS). 23,195 starry-eyed high school seniors applied to CC and SEAS regular decision (21,474 to CC, 4,431 to SEAS). Good luck, kiddos!

Marinaccio’s full email explaining the switch to the Common App after the jump.

Read more…

After yesterday’s celebratory sendoff, the Admissions Department put out stats for the early decision round of applications for CC/SEAS 2014. According to a statement from Admissions Director Jessica Marinaccio, applications for early decision increased by only 2%, to 2995; only 631 were accepted, for an admit rate of 21%.

As for geographical diversity, “the CC and SEAS class includes students from 41 states including Alabama, Hawaii, Kansas, Montana, New Mexico, and South Carolina as well as some of our major market areas (New York metro area, California, Massachusetts, Florida, Maryland and Illinois).” Students from 25 other countries were also accepted, including “Bahrain, Belarus, Ethiopia, Greece, Jordan and Vietnam.” Our only request for the new Columbians: start suffering from senioritis as soon as you can acquire it.

- JCD

Admissions decisions are online now! It feels like the Terrible Twelves barely had time to learn how to pronounce ‘Schermerhorn’ before being shunted aside by the newer model, but such is the circle of life. It moves us all.

As the Spec reported, regular-decision acceptances were sent off yesterday with pomp, circumstance, and “a middle-aged man wrapped in a light blue flag.” Welcome, Class of 2013. Oh, the nickname you’re going to get, once we think of one.

Columbia issued polite invitations to some 2,496 high school seniors to make Alma Mater their new boss come September. The overall acceptance rate was 9.82, with a CC acceptance rate of 8.92 (up from last year) and a SEAS rate of 14.42 (down). This year yields, yet again, the lowest admissions rate ever.

Congratulations, and we’ll see you at Days On Campus, looking for that elusive owl.

Columbians love/can’t afford a nice glass of of Chianti

At last, a Spec column that doesn’t mention Bwog. Except in the headline.

Tomorrow, 21,000 aspiring Columbians get that fated letter from Jessica Marinaccio and find out if they take the step from high school, “the brain’s merry-go-round” to college, the brain’s “Wii”.

From talking about protesting, to actually protesting? No, probably not.

Spec admits to slummin’ it. No east side deluxe apartment nor piece of pie for them!