Review of Columbia University in the City of New York
from Cincinnati, OH
Describe your college in three sentences.
Between the Common Core and the city of New York, it is difficult to conceive of an education more intellectually stimulating than that which Columbia provides. The Core allows students to engage with the great thinkers of the past, while New York City provides a wealth of cultural opportunities both historically oriented and contemporary. The result is an environment which enables students to conceive and accomplish important work.
Do you have any tips for prospective students?
1. Approach everything with intellectual curiosity, or else experiences which are potentially tremendously rewarding will become long slogs of work which you will find meaningless.
2. Extracurriculars at Columbia are people by the most passionate, intelligent people you will ever meet. Get involved. You will learn that there are beautiful things which you never knew existed.
3. Get off campus at least once a week. You live in New York, not New Haven. If you're not paying attention to the city, you're missing a big part of your education.
Do you find there’s enough academic rigor at your school?
The work is intense but I would say upwards of 90% of it is meaningful and contributes to understanding/growth. The professors are excellent. The courses offered will make you weep because they are so multifarious and interesting and you can only take so many.
Describe the dorm life at your college.
Many of the dorms are very comfortable and even homey. Some are gross. Because it's New York, nobody really moves out of the dorms (or other school-related housing like a frat) unless they have a billionaire parent or two, but on the plus side, housing gets exponentially nicer as you get older. By the time you're a senior, your dorm is basically an apartment in Manhattan.
Describe the food and dining at your college.
First-years are required to have meal plans. Dining hall food is tolerable. You won't starve. You won't gain the freshman fifteen unless you really try. Get off the meal plan and enjoy the many delicious foods of Manhattan as soon as possible. Kitchens in dorms are ample. Restaurants are just fantastic.
What’s there to do for fun at your college?
It's New York City. Things that are the greatest in the world here: museums, theaters, bookstores, parks, movie theaters, restaurants, music venues, libraries, galleries, etc. Consume culture, wander beautiful city streets for hours. However, you will also spend a lot of time not even going anywhere because you will be so amazed by the wonderful people you will meet that you will just talk to them for hours on end.
Do you feel you’re getting value for the money you’re spending on college?
Columbia is more expensive than comparable institutions, because Manhattan is more expensive than the cities where comparable institutions are located. However, financial aid is very good. Many people say that Columbia turned out to be their cheapest option after financial aid. But the sticker price is higher, and all financial aid is need based.
That is the buck. The bang cannot be overstated.
Share any unusual traditions or locations on campus
Don't tell anyone, but you can usually sneak into classrooms during off hours and use the projectors to watch movies on a big screen.
The marching band are very funny and play traffic cones.
Between Butler Library, Avery Library, and East Asian Library, you will become so used to studying in beautiful places that you will wonder how your high school self did all that work while not surrounded by beauty.
Which types of students will excel at your college?
For the love of God, just be actually interested in things. It doesn't matter what, just have a genuine and voracious desire to learn and think and work and discuss. If you are open-minded, the people you meet here will expand that desire from the things you're interested in to the things they're interested in, and before you know it the whole world will actually seem like an interesting place. Come here if you want to both experience and contribute to that.
Are you involved in any clubs or activities?
There are very many clubs at Columbia, and they tend to be comprised of people who are passionate and knowledgeable about the focus of the club. Participating in basically anything seems to be incredibly personally enriching, and will open up new worlds for you. WKCR is the student radio station. If you like music, join WKCR. If you do not like music, listen to WKCR until you like music and then join WKCR.
Are you involved in any clubs or activities?
It exists. Nobody pays it much attention, so far as I know. <10% of undergrads are involved, it's not really a presence on campus, the fact that Columbia is in New York sort of eliminates both the impetus for and possibility of serious frat life, but their houses are mostly pretty.
How would you describe campus safety? Do you feel safe on campus?
I've never heard of anybody getting mugged on campus or anything. There were some robberies of academic buildings last semester though.
Between the Common Core and the city of New York, it is difficult to conceive of an education more intellectually stimulating than that which Columbia provides. The Core allows students to engage with the great thinkers of the past, while New York City provides a wealth of cultural opportunities both historically oriented and contemporary. The result is an environment which enables students to conceive and accomplish important work.
1. Approach everything with intellectual curiosity, or else experiences which are potentially tremendously rewarding will become long slogs of work which you will find meaningless. 2. Extracurriculars at Columbia are people by the most passionate, intelligent people you will ever meet. Get involved. You will learn that there are beautiful things which you never knew existed. 3. Get off campus at least once a week. You live in New York, not New Haven. If you're not paying attention to the city, you're missing a big part of your education.
The work is intense but I would say upwards of 90% of it is meaningful and contributes to understanding/growth. The professors are excellent. The courses offered will make you weep because they are so multifarious and interesting and you can only take so many.
Many of the dorms are very comfortable and even homey. Some are gross. Because it's New York, nobody really moves out of the dorms (or other school-related housing like a frat) unless they have a billionaire parent or two, but on the plus side, housing gets exponentially nicer as you get older. By the time you're a senior, your dorm is basically an apartment in Manhattan.
First-years are required to have meal plans. Dining hall food is tolerable. You won't starve. You won't gain the freshman fifteen unless you really try. Get off the meal plan and enjoy the many delicious foods of Manhattan as soon as possible. Kitchens in dorms are ample. Restaurants are just fantastic.
It's New York City. Things that are the greatest in the world here: museums, theaters, bookstores, parks, movie theaters, restaurants, music venues, libraries, galleries, etc. Consume culture, wander beautiful city streets for hours. However, you will also spend a lot of time not even going anywhere because you will be so amazed by the wonderful people you will meet that you will just talk to them for hours on end.
Columbia is more expensive than comparable institutions, because Manhattan is more expensive than the cities where comparable institutions are located. However, financial aid is very good. Many people say that Columbia turned out to be their cheapest option after financial aid. But the sticker price is higher, and all financial aid is need based. That is the buck. The bang cannot be overstated.
Don't tell anyone, but you can usually sneak into classrooms during off hours and use the projectors to watch movies on a big screen. The marching band are very funny and play traffic cones. Between Butler Library, Avery Library, and East Asian Library, you will become so used to studying in beautiful places that you will wonder how your high school self did all that work while not surrounded by beauty.
For the love of God, just be actually interested in things. It doesn't matter what, just have a genuine and voracious desire to learn and think and work and discuss. If you are open-minded, the people you meet here will expand that desire from the things you're interested in to the things they're interested in, and before you know it the whole world will actually seem like an interesting place. Come here if you want to both experience and contribute to that.
There are very many clubs at Columbia, and they tend to be comprised of people who are passionate and knowledgeable about the focus of the club. Participating in basically anything seems to be incredibly personally enriching, and will open up new worlds for you. WKCR is the student radio station. If you like music, join WKCR. If you do not like music, listen to WKCR until you like music and then join WKCR.
It exists. Nobody pays it much attention, so far as I know. <10% of undergrads are involved, it's not really a presence on campus, the fact that Columbia is in New York sort of eliminates both the impetus for and possibility of serious frat life, but their houses are mostly pretty.
I've never heard of anybody getting mugged on campus or anything. There were some robberies of academic buildings last semester though.