Columbia University and Columbia Engineering consciously seek out strong transfer candidates to welcome to campus each year. The number who get accepted isn’t massive, though — a little over 125. That wouldn’t necessarily be intimidating except that there are over 4,000 candidates for those few spots. The transfer acceptance rate fluctuates based on available spaces in the class, but has stayed between 5% and 10% in recent years.

Columbia University is a famed Ivy League university in the heart of New York City. Columbia has had a rocky few years as far as keeping calm on campus, but so have many big name universities in the United States with passionate and engaged student bodies. Columbia remains an outstanding educational institution that opens doors for students from around the world, launching them into top-tier careers, professional programs, and graduate-level study. There are about 9,000 undergraduates between Columbia College, Columbia Engineering, and the School of General Studies, an alternative undergraduate pathway for non-traditional students, like military veterans, and 35,000 students overall. Accepted students are pretty evenly divided between the arts and humanities, engineering, mathematics and natural sciences, and social sciences. They receive over 60,000 applications for first-year admission, and the acceptance rate for the Class of 2029 was 4.29%. 

We know, getting deferred from your dream school is a gut punch. You poured your energy into your Columbia application, hit submit, and now you’re stuck in the gray zone of “maybe.” It’s frustrating, it’s confusing, and yeah, it stings. But before you spiral, take a second. Breathe. A deferral isn’t a no. It’s a hold. A “not right now, but maybe soon.” And that means your shot isn’t over yet!