It is not rare to hear the name “Columbia” conflated with “elite.”
The school is part of the Ivy League, often considered the epitome of academic success in America. More than 35,000 students applied this year—a lot of people want to be part of the community, and it’s pretty damn hard to get into it. You need good connections, SAT scores, grades, extracurriculars, or some combination of all these things. So, yes, one must be somewhat elite to attend Columbia. But elitist?
