rahul1089 wrote:
Hey all,
couple of questions:
1. Regarding the interview call - do you automatically have a higher chance of being called for an interview if you're in/near NYC? Columbias website says that a call for interview can be made at any time (regardless of where they are in the acceptance process). Is that really true?
2. Regarding the alumni-choice process - do they change the status and immediately send you a list of 8-9 alums to choose from in your area? Or do you search by zipcode? I might be traveling the next few weeks (of all places, to NYC) for work, and I'm almost considering telling the adcom that I'll be in the area so they don't have to look for an alum in my area.
Thoughts?
Oh and another thing - I definitely think this forum is unhealthy for me...lol. It's the last thing I saw before going to bed, and first thing when I woke up.
1.) It doesn't matter where you live. Even if you're in NYC you're still asked to interview with an alum (opposed to the adcom)
2.) With the alumni selection process for the interview, you enter your zip code or city/state and it provides you with a maximum of 3 alum in that area. If you can't get a hold of those 3 alumni, you can search again using the exact same or a different zip code/city. Once you search again it will provide you with 3 more names to contact.
The tricky thing for you, and one thing that is kind of confusing, is that you can only search a maximum of three times. Once you've searched 3 times, 9 names will be displayed, and the system won't let you search anymore. I suppose the reason for this is so that applicants can't keep refreshing the search and be picky with whom they interview with.
But just be forewarned about that. You only get three shots at searching. So if you're traveling, be 100% certain that you'll be in the cities you're searching for and will have time to interview while there. I didn't realize this when I was searching for an alum to interview with and I accidentally wasted 2 of my searches for cities that didn't end up working out in my travel schedule.
(I hope that makes sense!)