University Advisor Nicole Thompson said her love for working in higher education began during her undergraduate years at Georgetown University, where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology.
“When I left college, I knew I wanted to work in higher education,” Thompson said. “I thought I wanted to be an academic dean at the college level, so I went to graduate school at Columbia right after I graduated for higher administration.”
Though her initial career goal was academic advising, Thompson said she quickly found herself immersed in admissions, a field she soon fell in love with.
Thompson’s time in admissions began at the City University of New York, followed by a six-year tenure at Fordham University. Afterward, she spent three years at Columbia University. Thompson said she didn’t expect to work in admissions for as long as she did.
“I didn’t think I’d be doing admissions for ten years, but I ended up loving it,” Thompson said.
Thompson said admissions, while a very fulfilling career, was challenging.
“It’s not rocket science, but it’s definitely demanding,” Thompson said. “It involved a lot of travel. I would say between three different schools I worked at, I could travel between three to six to eight weeks between the year.”
Moreover, Thompson’s role involved spending countless hours reading applications. She said her schedule changed with the course of decision dates.
“By the time I left Columbia, I was probably responsible for around 2,000 applications in an admissions cycle, and I would read 30 to 35 applications per day,” Thompson said. “The early reading period is from November first to mid-December, which is six intense weeks, and from December until mid-March reading the rest of the regular decisions of applications was really long hours, really intensive work, nights and weekends, and a lot of travel.”
Despite the exhaustion, Thompson said she experienced many heartwarming moments when reading applications that made lasting impressions. For example, she said she still remembers a student whose essay stood out to her during her last year working at Columbia.
“He wasn’t at the very top of his graduating class, but he wrote a simple and self-deprecating essay about getting separated during a cross-country race,” Thompson said. “I then brought him to the committee and I remember everyone laughing at the same parts of the essay, and we all thought he was authentic and ended up admitting him.”
Months later, Thompson said she was happy to hear about the student’s progress after she left her job at Columbia.
“A friend of mine from Columbia reached out to me after I left and said, ‘Remember that kid we admitted from Florida?’ and told me that he had just applied to be an ambassador, and he is the same funny kid that we met in the application,” Thompson said. “It was very gratifying to know that he was able to convey personality, and it was one of my favorite moments, thinking, ‘We got it right.’”
Columbia University admissions
Thompson said while the admissions process at Columbia University was similar to other U.S. institutions, the level of scrutiny due to the school’s selectivity was unique.
“In America, many schools practice holistic admissions,” Thompson said. “This means they don’t look at any one aspect to admit them, but more at the grades they’ve earned, which are most important, the rigor of their curriculum, their test scores, extracurricular activities, recommendations, supplementals. Really, the whole thing matters.”
Thompson said when she initially began working at Columbia, the undergraduate acceptance rate was around 10% and dropping. She said as the rate decreased, she had to do “a lot of hard work to make those distinctions between very talented students.”
Thompson said to stay in the low acceptance rate bracket, the admissions team had to turn away many good candidates.
“You could admit a class to Columbia more than ten times over from the number of amazing kids you have applying, but you obviously don’t have space to do that,” Thompson said.
Thompson said one defining element of the admissions process at Columbia is being well-suited for the university’s Core Curriculum, a century-old tradition.
“Determining what students would feel like a good fit for the Core is a unique aspect,” Thompson said. “It’s a distinct tradition they’ve had since 1919.”
The Core Curriculum requires students to engage deeply with classical literature and liberal arts subjects, which Thompson said distinguishes Columbia from other prestigious institutions.
“It’s not for everyone, and students need to know that about themselves when they apply,” Thompson said. “You have to know that you’re the type of learner who is interested in that kind of broad and deep liberal arts exploration and engaging with classical texts.”
Thompson said because many applicants have high grades and scores, showing personality and character in essays is very important.
“When you set aside kids, you think about the way they talk about their lives, experiences, how they respond to certain essay prompts, what they might be reading, both for and outside of school, to get a sense of what subjects interest the students outside of school, which we paid very close attention to at Columbia,” Thompson said.
Moreover, Thompson said she noticed the impact of thoughtful recommendation letters and extracurricular activities that students submit in their applications.
“The recommendation was also important because the way that counselors and teachers talk about their students within the context of the high school can tell you a lot,” Thompson said. “Also the extracurricular activities. With those, it’s not the number but the type of impact that students have on their given community.”
Diversity and outreach
Prior to receiving applications, Thompson said Columbia ensured the applicant pool was as diverse as the student body they wanted to admit by selecting various schools across the country to visit.
“Admissions officers were very sensitive to that in planning their travel and what high schools they would visit, events they would attend, which events we would sponsor and plan ourselves,” Thompson said.
Furthermore, Thompson said she had a direct role in fostering diversity within Columbia’s student body.
“For a period of time, I was responsible for Native American recruitment, so I did very particular travel to parts of the country where we had pockets of Native American students and communities,” Thompson said. “You build relationships there, and you try to introduce those students to Columbia.”
Thompson said many students believed Columbia was not accessible due to its selectivity and cost, however, through her travels, she aimed to educate them on assistance that could be provided to families.
“Columbia is in a very fortunate position to have a lot of resources available to it, a very robust financial aid program and are able to provide assistance to low and middle-income families,” Thompson said.
Moreover, Thompson said Columbia’s admissions team sought diversity to expand the range of voices in the community and on campus.
“Admissions officers were traveling to every continent, so in all assets of diversity, you first try to build that pipeline, and then as you read those applications, you need to pay close attention to those stories and ask yourself, ‘What do we think these students bring to our community?’, ‘What might they add?’, ‘What kind of voices do they bring?’, and that’s really important,” Thompson said. “There is a very intentional outreach, recruitment and application review.”
During her time working at Columbia, Thompson said she was glad to see the number of women studying engineering at the university increase.
“It’s definitely a demographic that you try to connect with in a recruitment process,” Thompson said. “You try to attract young women to STEM programs, and, by the time I left, the engineering school had a much higher increase in women, and I would think and hope that it’s more so now.”
Application advice
For students hoping to attend Columbia University, Thompson said applicants must recognize the importance of fit.
“Columbia is in New York City, and that’s not for everyone,” Thompson said. “You have to be a certain type of 18-year-old to thrive there.”
Thompson said the idea of fit is introduced early at ASL due to the benefits it can bring towards the end of high school.
“It’s why you’ll hear us [the university advisors] talking so much about doing good research and making sure that you’re gathering good information,” Thompson said. “You’ll hear us even before you get to the university advising process, in advisory where we have you guys reflect a lot because we know how valuable that can be when you get to Grade 11 and 12 and you’re thinking about what kind of place will suit you best.”
Additionally, Thompson said students thinking of Columbia should know the kind of academic atmosphere and interests the university holds.
“The Core Curriculum is specific, so you need to know you are interested in that deep and broad liberal arts exploration and engaging with classical texts,” Thompson said. “Fit is super important and really being thoughtful and honest with yourself about what kind of academic and social experience you’re looking for, because no school is really for anybody.”
Reflection
Aside from what New York City has to offer, Thompson said she misses how “Columbia felt like such a hub.”
Thompson said the school frequently attracted visitors and held many kinds of events.
“It’s not just a university,” Thompson said. “It’s a tourist attraction, a place where people of all walks of life and careers would want to come.”
Ultimately, Thompson said the energy at Columbia made her work experience thrilling.
“There was always a buzz, students were busy, and it wasn’t just academic,” Thompson said. “The energy in New York feels like people gravitated towards the school. It was beyond exciting to be there.”
This story was originally published on The Standard on October 21, 2024.