Many international students had commited to Columbia accepting ED terms and paying $6.000, but now they are left without non-co signed loans due to current financial situation. These guys are now without admit from other schools (apps withdrawn or not even submitted), without loans and without deposits. Columbia commited to refund only $4.000 in the case they failed to secure financial package.
It is some strange policy of this school - they didn't have loan scheme for internationals even last year when overall economic situation was much better. Many schools had the agreement with Citi, but not Columbia. Hence, it is hard for me to beleive that they are going to do soething about it now in this economic environment.
I have to say that I like this school and I've done some research on it since I was willing to apply. But, when I saw their "Fees and funding" page one year ago, I decided not to waste my money, time and nerves on them. This whole situation is very bad for Colubia's reputation, they seem to be the only M7 school that failed to secure non co-signed loans for internationals.
Prospective international applicants should be aware of this fact and to be very cautious when applying to b-schools next fall.
_________________