In just a little over three weeks, some of you will be deciding whether or not Columbia is the place for you. My advice? Think of who you'd want at your dinner party.
I can't say I was in your exact position a year ago being that I applied Early Decision, but as someone at the end of her freshman year, I think I understand what you're going through.
You're probably looking through photos of all of your friends at college, trying to imagine yourself going to those dinners and parties, with those people as your friends.
You're reading through posts on the Class of 2016 group page, thinking whether or not these people think the same way you do ("Do I really like Doctor Who as much as these people?" "I haven't even heard of half of these bands, am I not 'hipster' enough?").
It may seem daunting-- I put myself into a complete panic after thinking about how the idea of "college" had been looming for at least ten years, and realizing that now was the time when I had to make The Decision.
For the next four years, you'll be surrounded by some of the most interesting, funny, and talented people you've ever met. Stop thinking about classes, potential majors, other people's expectations, and US News rankings, and think about where you really want to be. Think about who you want to talk to and what you want to talk about.
Everyday at college is like one big dinner party. You're meeting people every day, and talking to them about everything from literature to your favorite T.V. shows to the boy you met in class. Try to decide what kind of conversations you might want to have and what kind of people you'd like to have them with. Keep stalking your friends' photos, and keep reading the group page, and keep thinking about how you would feel about being a part of this community.
Living in New York, and attending Columbia isn't for everyone, but it may be just the place for you.
The food at John Jay might not be the best, but with the most fascinating company I've ever had, this year has been the dinner party of a lifetime.
First-Year Student Sounds Better Than Freshman is a weekly series on life as a first-year at Columbia that runs every Saturday.
Comments
Not deciding what Columbia is like for everyone - of course not. And no, my time here hasn't at all been shitty. I, and I think just about everyone here, tremendously value the incredible students at Columbia. The diversity in backgrounds and viewpoints and the brilliance each student here brings to the stable is, to say the least, inspiring. In no way am I criticizing Columbia's student body.
My point was twofold. First, Columbia's administration is abysmal. From the outrageously overpriced meal plans to the inflexibility and disregard for undergraduate concerns, it's clear Columbia from an administrative perspective is interested in making money first and foremost, and its a shame. There are such dedicated and brilliant students and professors here - it's too bad the administration is so pathetic. I think Columbia has a lot of potential that it fails to achieve due to a graduate school focus and financial interest on the part of the administration. Second, there is an air of competition within many of the majors here and within a certain contingent of the school itself that is concerning. The self-interested approach towards college many students here adopt is something that would have made me do more thinking had I known such competition and such an atmosphere was present when I was applying to college.
Columbia is great. New York City is great. I'm happy to be here. But, is Columbia a better community or institution as an undergraduate than, say, Brown? Harvard? I know as a prefrosh I'd say so. Now, I'm not sure (for the reasons above). MANY majors here are awesome and second-to-none, the inspirational student body is the most attractive selling point of attending Columbia as an undergraduate, but there are certainly many disappointing aspects of the school a prefrosh wouldn't necessarily know...
columbia is great if you come from money. something like 50% of the people here don't request any form of financial aid whatsoever. (ie: they come from families where $200k is no big deal) if you don't, maybe you'll still mesh with the culture... i didn't. caveat emptor.
columbia sucks.
Alum, I agree with your post. Well said.
I find that Columbia students are very well prepared to enter the real, working world after graduation. It is a very competitive world and Columbia students are ready to take it on.
When I compare Columbia students to students at sheltered colleges and universities, the Columbia students stand out. And, I mean this in a good way.
This place has been a trial. My religious friend has likened his experience here to the Book of Job, where Job's faith is tested by a series of misfortunes. I've become more religious from coming to Columbia.
1) Housing blows
2) The administration shits on students
3) No space to do anything on campus, unless it's a cultural event so Columbia can put it on its brochures
4) The teaching fucking sucks - it's equivalent to any run-of-the-mill state school where I pay 20% as much
5) I've never met so many pretentious assholes as I've had at Columbia. And I've worked in 2 investment banks.
Thank God I am leaving! I'm sure that all the alumni at Columbia who've graduated will say, "Columbia's glad that you're leaving too." Thanks for the support guys. I'll be sure never to give back or hire any Columbia student.
"I'll be sure never to give back of hire any Columbia student"
Would you hire yourself?
Columbia sucks lets be honest. The housing system is shit (state schools have nicer dorm rooms for 1/4th of the tuition), the core is a hugely in favor of humanities majors and is a waste of time for science majors(show me lithum for physicists and I will say the core is fair), the dinning system is a rip, the administration hates undergrads and considers us cash cows. Basically every aspect of undergrad life is complete crap. I blindly made the decision to go to Columbia because it was the top school I got into. I regret not looking at lesser institutions (Cornell, WashU, etc) and would advise every prefrosh to really think if they want to enter this world of neglect before they send in their money.
Not sure why you are referring to other schools as "lesser institutions", especially considering how much you hate Columbia.
It's the Columbia Syndrome. I think it's going to defined in DSM-V, the APA's revised psychological manual due out in 2013.
To paraphrase, it is the condition by which a patient expresses deep-seated resentment to the point that two sides of a position can be simultaneously reviled. The root cause is a deep dissatisfaction with one's position in life, owing to a variety of extraneous proximate factors, including but limited to the administration, school, food, and people. The ultimate factor can be attributed to an internal disgust at having chosen Columbia University due to prestige.
Similar Conditions: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Depression
I'm not happy you are leaving, I am upset you didn't have a better experience. Columbia is not the answer itself. There are a lot of variables out there to consider - the biggest is the individual him/herself, which may render one a bad fit for Columbia.
Could housing be better? Probably not significantly, considering how hard it is to build something in NYC. Could the administration shit on you less? I suppose if you explain what shitting on you is like. Could there be more space? Read answer to number one, but that is something you would have known before you came to Columbia. The teaching sucks? More on why this is silly later. Pretentious assholes? Compared to my high school, I found Columbia to be less pretentious, but that is my contextual baggage I bring. Though need we 'name-drop' that you interned at an investment bank?
Nevertheless, I would ask you to tell me how does attending a lecture where your professor is not even in the room, or not being able to take classes to graduate in 4 years, is somehow 'better' than Columbia. I think the other statements are certainly possibly true subjective viewpoints, I just think that the one fault you raise is trying to somehow make a comparison that 9/10 is not true. There are serious deficits in public institutions compared to Columbia (note I am not saying to all private institutions) that makes Columbia have value. Do I think that the value makes up for the fact it is 2-4x more expensive? I think that is what all students must ask themselves in this process. That is a great unknown.
Ahh, you are a true master of the Columbia way. Show false compassion in order to save face and then proceed to rip your opponent a new asshole. ("need we 'name-drop' that you interned at an investment bank") I mentioned that fact because Columbia students are more duplicitous, arrogant, and pretentious than people who work on Wall Street.
As for education, I'm referring to the quality of teaching and the actual value of instruction. I'd gladly graduate in 5 years if it meant that I would learn from the classes that I attended.
I think that you admit some of the deficiencies at Columbia, but have come to terms with it. I expected more from university and I should have conducted more research. But let's not fool ourselves and pretend that Columbia does not portray a false image in its admissions material. Sense of community? Something to do every night on campus? Amazing research and undergrad participation? Give me a fucking break.
When a witness lies like Columbia, that person is tried for perjury. When a friend lies like Columbia, that person is an asshole. When Columbia lies like Columbia, it's the victim's fault.
Sure, there's a probability that you'll find a sense of community at Columbia. Sure, there's a probability that you won't get fucked by housing. There's also a probability that you'll become a billionaire in North Korea. Everything is possible. It's your fault for not making it reality.
we should be friends
"Sense of community? Something to do every night on campus? Amazing research and undergrad participation? Give me a fucking break."
This is a little pathetic. If you meet people you like, there's a sense of community. If you don't make any friends and decide everyone else in a multi-thousand person university is a pretentious asshole, then, guess what, you're not gonna get that community. Same thing with things to do every night on campus. I have too much to do every night on campus with all the extra curriculars I'm doing (various journals, teams, papers, etc). What were you looking for? A place to binge drink every week day? Should have gone to Dartmouth. As for amazing research, most of my friends who tried have managed to land research jobs here over the summer but I can't speak for everyone, that may be a real problem. It seems like you had a shitty time here. That sucks and some of that's on CU (administration is indeed terrible, or at least hard to reach), but a lot of that is on you for not making the most of your time here. For not going to office hours, involving yourself, and getting to know some of the best faculty on the planet. For not getting involved in the many student organizations here (seriously, there are like thousands, if you can't find one you like then no one can help you). I'm not sure there's a place you would have liked better. Hopefully after college life works out for you better than college did.
There's no point. The admissions committee latches itself onto anything regarding admissions on Bwog, Spectator, and College Confidential. They will simply continue to perpetuate a false image of Columbia to High School students. I'm just a student with some free time. They are part of the machine, a well-paid behemoth hell-bent on tricking children.
On one hand, I feel terrible that I was sold false promises in much the same way that these high school students are being lied to. On the other hand, as a graduating senior who doesn't have to deal with this shit, I derive a shameless sense of schadenfreude from these hapless prefrosh, a large percentage of whom will hate this place and will one day laugh at incoming classes as well.
I say let the circle of fuckitude continue.
Ima gonna turn The circle of fuckitude into a song and then your all gonna see my name in lights and you all gonna be like we were wrong about her
If that were the case wouldn't your post be deleted by now?
I would just emphasize the idea of learning in an urban space and an urban minded university changes your perspective on life and what is possible.
I truly loved Columbia not for anything that was 'supposed' to happen, but all the things that came about from living in a multicultural place that gave me an education that Cambridge, Palo Alto or New Haven could not.
Columbia - when you add up the pluses and minuses of the advantages and annoyances - is above all a school that will give you a kind of education (overbearing and indulgent, complex and enlightening) that you cannot compare. It is, I believe, the best educational experience available at this time.
In a world that is becoming increasingly urban - the student that can learn to negotiate such a world and yet be grounded by an education such as the Core renders them more aware of the problems, solutions and world we will soon be asked to guard and improve.
Show Bollinger/Schollenberger and the like that they've screwed over undergrads so much that they are actually influencing admissions stats. They think they can do whatever they want because you bright-eyed high school seniors will come here no matter what because we're an Ivy in NYC. Show them otherwise and go to some hippy school like Brown or some Hogwarts fairy tale like Princeton.
Well, after reading the comments here and hearing so many comments about the poor administration and disinterested professors, I know exactly what I'll be asking my admissions officer about at Days on Campus next week.
Lol, that's like asking BP whose fault it was for the Gulf oil spill. I'm guessing they aren't going to say BP.
The admissions officer's job is to get you to come to Columbia. Hell, they're probably half the positive posts on this article. I'd be a bit more inquisitive and get off the beaten track, like asking students in upperclassman dormitories.
I have been sending emails to newly admitted students this year and I can tell you the admissions office told us that if a student replies with a question that can paint columbia in a negative light to either ignore them or change the subject. There is no truth in what they say, find real students whose job is not to lie to you all day every day
Now you heard from the 30 or so students who don't like Columbia. The other 26,000 love it and are going about living their lives doing a million things.
Sorry, parents, Columbia takes very few off the waiting list. They tend to take everyone they want in March. Harvard and Princton underaccepted this year, so you will probably have a better chance of getting in there than Columbia.
Historically, the most extreme comments come out in April after decisions are posted, and before students choose a college. People who could be posting here insistently:
1) Students and alums who've had siblings rejected
2) Rejectees themselves
3) WAITLISTed students!
4) Parents of kids who were rejected by Columbia / all the ivies they applied to
5) Columbia admissions officers
6) Columbia students who are admission reps
7) Students/Alums who truly love or truly hate their school and feel the need to discuss it online.
I've basically listed parties who are currently passionate about or against Columbia, or have a dog in this fight and want to push you one way or another for their own selfish end.
I've never liked anonymous forums as a guide to make an important life decision. There's no verifying who is persuading you nor where their true intentions lie.
Watch out for waitlisted students and their parents who are trying to get you to say no to Columbia.
Columbia students are way smarter and more well rounded than those of Harvard or Yale.
Columbia is by far the best. All the other schools you will just drink and go to frat parties (Dartmouth, Brown, Cornell, Penn) and be bored out of your mind. Columbia students are bright and engaging and interesting.
The negative comments are akin to those one would read about unhappy online shopping customers who were dissatisfied both with their purchase and with the way their dissatisfaction was handled. The reality is the happy customers vastly outnumber the constantly unhappy ones, and we don't usually hear from the happy ones as they are too busy being productive and making a positive difference in their communities.
Essentially, high school seniors, come to Columbia because it's like a four-year dinner party. Disregard the fact that it's composed of as competitive a student body as you'll find and run by an administration who views its undergraduates in units of tuition, blatantly turning a blind eye to their well being and sense of community, and instead conveniently assuming "the city" provides a sense of culture and, thus, makes Columbia unlike other Ivies and different socially. And the Core sounds great, right? Too bad it means that in order to do anything interesting outside of it, you'll have to take 5-6 classes per semester. Consider that Harvard, supposedly the smartest university in the country, has a 4-class cap. They may not, in actuality, live up to their reputation but the notion that somehow Columbia students should be able to handle 1-2 more courses per semester is preposterous. So, yeah, if you want a segmented, competitive, over-working campus which prepares the vast majority of its students for a career working as scum on Wall Street, come to Columbia.
Your assertion that Harvard has a four-class cap is inaccurate. Students there need to take an average of four classes per semester (which is the equivalent of 16 points at Columbia) to graduate, but they are generally welcome to take five classes (20 points). Yale students, by contrast, have to take an average of 4.5 courses per semester to graduate, and quite a few take five classes each term.
Yes, it's true that most Columbia students take five courses most terms, but in doing so, many will quickly accumulate more than the 16 points per semester they need to graduate since their schedules consist of a mix of 3-point and 4-point courses. With the right planning, it's easy to have several semesters with just four courses, if that's what you really want. Now, if it's really important to you to complete two big majors, well you'll probably suffer.
I graduated Columbia with exactly the 128 points I needed for my degree, finished one semester early (saving my family a ton of money), had a wonderful academic experience in the core and my major, and had a great time meeting precisely the kind of interesting, engaged people the author described. Sure, there was a portion of the student body with whom I never really connected (which would have been true at any top school - or any school for that matter), and yes, not all Columbia administrators are effective in their roles. But what you guys have now at Columbia in terms of community support compares favorably to what we had 10+ years ago.
While Columbia was at times a tough experience, I grew so much from it. I think it's a great option for those with a sense of independence and adventure, an appreciation for diversity, a sense of inquiry, and an open mind. It's not Harvard, Yale, Brown, or Stanford. It has a rich and complicated history and a unique place in the higher education landscape; you'll be happiest at the school if you can stop comparing it so much to its peers and accept it for its strengths as well as its weaknesses.
I'm sorry you've apparently had a shitty time here. The great majority of people I know have enjoyed themselves for exactly the reasons that Sara identifies. That doesn't make your concerns less valid, but it also doesn't give you the right to decide what Columbia is like for everyone.
Be very concerned that these negative posters may be on the waitlist. I have had the best college experience at Columbia and all my friends feel this way.
The best idea for admitted students is to get over to Columbia and spend some time here and talk to students. I think you will see why Columbia is so amazing.
I'll assume that you're not just attacking my character. In case you are, kudos to you for proving my point that Columbia students and/or administrations are just assholes.
I'll assume the deeper point you're trying to make is that by doing what I am planning on doing, I will be precluding a set of opportunities for future Columbia graduates. Furthermore, I would not be in the position I am today had I not benefited from Columbia alumni.
Have no fear, I've been scrappy enough to get to where I am in large part from my own abilities. You can probably stick me in the middle of bum-fuck USA and I'd get somewhere.
Furthermore, most of the Columbia recruiting captains are graduates from the Business School. They take on the onus of Columbia undergraduate recruiting because HR has no one else to do it and they might as well kill 2 birds with one stone.
I, am therefore, just a small raindrop in this flood of alumni apathy and disgust.
Hey everybody!! Columbia is sooo amazing. I'm currently a freshman living in Broadway and I have loved every moment of this fine institution. The Core is sooo amazing. I'm taking LitHum right now and I have to say, being able to compare Plato's the Republic to great works of classic literature has been a truly informative experience.
All my floor mates are amazing! Truly, the best part of Columbia is how awesome the people are. They're so nice, not pretentious at all and so down to earth. I'm also having so much fun. I spend half of my time in NYC and half of my time on campus and the transition is so seamless. Truly, Columbia is at the heart of NYC. It's only a 1 hour subway ride from NYU, a 75 minute subway ride to Chinatown, and a 15 minute walk to the Apollo theater. Don't listen to the negative nancys on here. They are probably losers with no friends and are a minority, albeit vocal, i.e. whiny.
What kind of freshman are you that you're living in Broadway?
I call bullshit.
It was being ironic
And in addition, nobody reads Plato's Republic in Lit Hum.
The fact that this had +2 at the time of posting definitely means that the admissions office or parents are here upvoting random bullshit.
Any first year SEAS students knows that this bull. How is this comment still positive?
The issue is that the majority of columbia students are biased while talking in person because no one wants to admit that they are spending 60k a year on something that sucks. They say out loud that they love columbia to convince themselves that they did not fuck up and ruin a chance at being happy in college. It comes from the whole idea of "college being the best time of your life" saying and everyone wants to live "the dream"
Bro, college is the best man. Columbia is the shit. I party so hard and get so drunk. I habe met some of the best bros a bro could ask for. We bro out. I don't know about you but I'm living the dream brah. Peace.
you're confused with Sig Ep.
Love this post! It's so true. The Core is wonderful and makes for great conversation and the requirements, though more than other schools, are really not that much (focusing on CC here, SEAS seems more rigorous but you get that at every school). I've taken a number of classes that I never had to take for my major and it's made me a better, more well-rounded, and more interesting person for sure.
Lol, I'm not a parent or a student trying to get off of the waitlist. I'm the one who posted about the circle of fuckitude. Seriously, I have no stake in this admissions game anymore. Take it for it's worth. It's bittersweet to watch all the prefrosh suffer.
I remember my first year, I saw this Fed stick figure cartoon about Columbia fucking a student in the ass. http://www.the-fed.org/articles/volume20/issue0/
I laughed casually, convinced that this was just drawn by a bitter student who didn't enjoy his or her time here, an anomaly in the sea of happy students I saw in the marketing material. The sophomores laughed at my innocence. "Wait for it" they told me. "Wait for what," I asked sheepishly. They burst out laughing, seeming to revel in my blithe innocence, an innocence that would be crushed.
Looking back, I think maturing as a Columbia student means coming to the realization of what that cartoon means. When you get it, you'll get it. Until then, Welcome to Columbia.
P.S. Don't worry. All the upperclassman are laughing with you, not at you.
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