Columbia's Cool

Introduction
Columbia has a great Engineering program (Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science), so it was a great choice for me, since I'd like to be a Chemical Engineer. And New York City is a great place to go to school, but someone who doesn't like city life wouldn't enjoy it. The campus is really nice (very safe) and the city is just outside the gates!

Campus Life and Social Life
Social life is pretty good here: you can go anywhere in New York City to find anything you'd like. The parties I've been to on campus aren't very good, but the City has a lot to offer. Weekends begin Thursday nights (no classes on Fridays) and the restaurants around campus cater to a college student's lifestyle. I never really attend any of the campus parties (I've only been to one or two, during orientation week), since I found that the Greek life is almost nonexistent here. There are other parties I don't hear about since they're smaller. Advertisement
Academics
My Science and Math classes are pretty in-depth. You should make sure that you are taking the appropriate course level...always go one below what you think you can handle. I didn't and it was really difficult, and my grades are proof of it. Workload is usually manageable, for the most part. Professors can be reviewed on http://culpa.info/ It's a great resource when looking for a class.

Student Body
A lot of the students aren't from the City. Many of them are from other countries: I know people from China, Korea, Indonesia, and Nigeria. Most are from the states, though. It's pretty diverse, which is really nice.

In Closing...
Good luck choosing/getting into a school you want!