College acceptance letters are rolling in — and suddenly, some applicants don’t even want to hear from Columbia. An admissions consultant who helped 10 clients get accepted to the Ivy League school’s Class of ’29 told The Post that not a single one plans to attend. “This would not have been the case three years ago,” Christopher Rim said. “The actual brand has been tarnished. ”The truth and facts are not being told.
As for September’s incoming freshman class, Rim said: “I think it’s going to be the students who didn’t get in anywhere else.” This comes as the school has mishandled pro-Palestinian protests and the Trump administration has threatened to pull some $400 million in federal grants. Interim university president Katrina Armstrong resigned her post amid allegations that she had told the federal government she would implement a mask ban for campus protests — but privately promised faculty it would not happen.
“There’s so much up-and-down craziness, and Columbia doesn’t seem stable at all,” said Rim, the CEO of Command Education. Instead, he explained, his clients who were accepted to Columbia during this year’s regular admissions cycle are headed to schools like NYU and Duke. Ethan, a Manhattan high school senior and client of Command Education, was accepted to Columbia — from which both of his parents graduated.
“We were hopeful that the new president at Columbia would turn things around, which is why Ethan applied,” his mother, who asked to withhold the family’s name for privacy reasons, told The Post. Rim talked the family out of applying to the Manhattan Ivy during the early decision round — which requires a binding commitment with acceptance.