Ivy in the City

Introduction
I think the biggest piece of advice that I'd give a H.S. students considering Columbia would be that you need to make sure that you're ready to make the big step into independent living. Columbia is a great school, but they don't hold your hand like other schools do. If you want something done, you have to be proactive. People here are great and they're willing to help, but the school pretty much puts you in charge of making sure that you're on the right track. One of the biggest challenges of adjusting to Columbia is balance. Yes, you need to learn how to balance your life at other schools, but with New York City at your fingertips, in addition to an active campus life, there are tons of opportunities provided to you that you won't find at other schools. The temptation is to want to do it all, but the reality is very different when faced with the requirements of a student in a challenging program. If I had to it over again, I'd choose Columbia in a second.

Campus Life and Social Life
The five best things about the social and campus life are: 1. People are very accepting, there is room for everyone at Columbia. 2. If you can't find it at Columbia, there's a whole city at your dorm step. 3. There is a campus life, but it is not suffocating like at other schools. You can choose to be a part of it or not. 4. The campus is beautiful. 5. The school brings some very cool speakers and bands to the campus. The five worst things about the social and campus life are: 1. Sometimes the campus can feel a little bit suffocating, it's really not that big. 2. The party scene doesn't offer that much variety, if you don't like the West End, Nachos, or Frats, you're going to need to find a different scene. 3. There isn't too much school spirit. 4. Many of the groups can be very cliquey. 5. Sometimes you wish that the school had more of a "college town" feel than an urban feel. The partying is nothing like a state school, but there are some good parties on campus every once in a while. Bottom line, don't come here if you're looking for a huge party school. As for Columbia sports, many people have never been to any game. This isn't the type of school where people live and die for their teams. We're much cooler than that, we don't need to distract ourselves with petty rivalries and all out support for our athletes. The campus is pretty much always buzzing, but it definitely gets quieter on weekends. Advertisement
Academics
The five best things about academics are: 1. There are a lot of really great professors. 2. There are a lot of really great classes. 3. Many classes are interesting, and the professors don't make you do a lot of "busy work." 4. Lots of classes are pretty small. 5. Many classes involve disussions rather than lecturing. The five worst things about academics are: 1. It's tough to get into some of the really popular classes. 2. People take a lot of classes here, which means that the workload can be really huge. 3. Many classes base grades on just a couple of assignments, so if you mess up on those, you're pretty much screwed. 4. It's sometimes tough to make a schedule that doesn't involve going to early morning classes. 5. There are a lot of requirements. The professors are very accessible. You can talk to a lot of them after class, and office hours are always a good time to talk as well. Many of the professors respond to email and they're very interested in answering questions and taking the time to talk. The TA's are pretty good for the most part, but many of them can't speak English very well. The workload here is very intense.

Student Body
Most of the students here are pretty chill. The typical student here is someone who is a leader and isn't going to sit back and tolerate something that they don't approve of. People here love to talk and debate issues whether they happened 2000 years ago or just last week. People here are pretty savy about everything and are very curious about the world. There are a lot of New Yorkers here, but there are a lot of people here from all over the country and from almost every country in the world.

In Closing...
Columbia rocks. Opportunities are literally at your dorm mat. Be prepared to go to school with some of the brightest and talented people in the world. Get ready to conquer the world, make lots of money, or help make the world a better place.