Columbia International University Doctoral Programs

Listed as very selective.
https://www.prepscholar.com/sat/s/colleges/Columbia-International-University-admission-requirements

Lowest acceptance rate in the state.
https://www.collegesimply.com/colleges/rank/colleges/lowest-acceptance-rate/state/south-carolina/

I did suggest not to confuse basic admission requirements with the actual qualifications of those selected.

 

If this is the school in SC I think it is (I'm from SC), if memory serves me correctly they also take a certain position on divorce. I don't remember the particulars, but it was enough to get them eliminated from consideration because I'm a divorcee. *shrug*

 

Yes, it is the one. I found this regarding divorced applicants. http://www.ciu.edu/sites/default/files/Admissions/Forms_Instructions/Pastor_Marital_Reference.pdf

 

They want to know if the divorced person repented or was "restored". I don't like the insinuation that a divorced person sinned, by getting a divorce, because there are some circumstances that warrant a divorce and others where it would be stupid not to get one. Stuff like this is part of what drove me out of Christianity.

 

As a local, this smells like BS, but let me dig into the numbers to see if I can prove it.

That list would indicate they’re more selective than the state’s two flagships - USC and Clemson, which no one would ever mistake them as below CIU on the prestige scale. I’m going to ignore Clemson for a while, both because I’m less familiar with them, but also because they’re even choosier than USC. If you click on CIU on that list, their admission standards are listed as “very easy”, while USC, with a much higher acceptance rate (63%) is listed as having “very high” standards. The next lowest admission rate, Lander, is actually rated as having “extremely easy” standards.

CIU’s harder stats for admitted students are given as “SAT940/1120ACT17/23GPA3.66”. USC, remember, accepts applicants at twice the rate, yet their stats are “SAT 1190/1360ACT 25/30GPA 4.15”. So an upper range SAT/ACT at CIU is below the bottom range at USC. Clemson produces an even high student profile at “SAT1220/1400ACT27/32GPA4.18”, and, remember, even they take a full 14% more of their applicant pool than CIU.
It leads me to conclude what any local would already know: The best students wanting to stay in state apply to Clemson, USC, or College of Charleston. The other thing this data can’t tell us is how many are declined at CIU for religious, rather than academic reasons? (I, for one, would be, with no consideration paid to my academic record)

So who on Earth is getting rejected at CIU, if they reject 2/3rds of their applicants, and those they admit would be below average at the (at first glance, less selective) USC/Clemson?

 

Well, you know what they say - "Marry in haste, repent at leisure."

Seriously - I'm divorced too - long ago, in another century. Baggage all gone, but I still wouldn't have anything to do with a school, business or place of religion that took this stance. It's low, mean and highly judgmental, as I see it. Certainly not Christ-like. Didn't Jesus Himself say something about "Let him who is without sin ...etc." Not that anyone here has sinned, in the first place.

 

I'm from South Carolina and have close ties to Clemson. Columbia International University isn't even in the same collegiate universe as Clemson or USC. I believe CIU is including students who failed to gain admission based on not meeting some religious standard it has set. One thing CIU has never been considered is competitive. Bob Jones University is more academically sound than CIU, and that was the case even when they didn't have any accreditation. Bob Jones U. is a decent school. Weird, in a Stepford kind of way, but decent academically. I would get in being divorced but, like Liberty, they try to control what you do even off-campus and at home and that wouldn't sit well with me. I did attend their "sister" school North Greenville College (now University) when I was young and it was a two-year college. I loved it at NGC and had a blast! The kids from BJU would sometimes drive up the mountain to our football games.

I used to hold a grudge against Lander. I applied there during application season during my senior year of high school. Back in the 80s it even had a reputation for being easy, then. They denied me admission - but not because my grades and test scores were too low. They denied me because I wasn't in the top 1/2 of my senior class... but, my senior class only had 24 people! I graduated from a small, private, Christian K-12 school that I transferred into from a public high school with several hundred people in my class. But, Lander didn't care. I didn't meet that one metric and they denied me. I really didn't want to go there, and had been accepted to other schools, but they hurt my 17/18 year old pride, LOL.

 

I believe there was a school in Grand Rapids MI that had a similar stance. Seems in some segments of Christianity, divorce is the unforgivable sin. Almost anything else grace covers but not that.

 

I know this is a dead thread but if in the future anyone does a search on this school I think I am the only person who was actually accepted and started at this school. I left because it was too religious, to the point that there was not a single topic/discussion/paper that did not center around the bible. Take what people say about the religious content of Liberty and times it by 50. They were really nice and I think if I was a more religious person and had better biblical knowledge it would have been a good fit, they do not have the same reputation as Liberty which I think is good if you do want a religious school. If you think you will have a more University of the Cumberlands feel here you are dead wrong. It's basically the bible 1st and everything else 2nd and if you do want to talk about the 2nd thing find a way to incorporate it into the 1st thing.
Proceed at your own choice and feel free to reach out if you have any specific questions.