No One Holding Your Hand

Introduction
Deciding to come to Columbia means deciding to give up being molly-coddled. The staff here is caring, but there's definitely an independent and take-care-of-yourself New York attitude that permeates the campus. I came here because of the city, but be forewarned: living in New York really isn't for the faint of heart. To take advantage of the city, you have to be willing to jump on a subway and explore. If you're not that curious or adventurous, then Columbia might not be a great match.

Campus Life and Social Life
As a Freshman, weekends were sometimes disappointing here because the party scene on campus is pretty quiet and you don't know enough people to comfortably go out yet. Once you get to know people, though, it's great -- you and your friends have the whole city (including comedy shows, jazz clubs, dance halls, and concerts) at your fingertips every night. Advertisement
Academics
The academics at Columbia are really as spectacular as their reputation. There's a lot of work, and the Core Curriculum involves a lot of reading, but it's satisfying. There's a lot of camraderie because the Core ensures that everybody suffers the same workload at the same time. CULPA is a reliable website to get professor reviews, and they're pretty accurate, while TAs can be hit-or-miss. In general though, professors are accessible through office hours (even in the larger classes).

Student Body
There is no typical student at Columbia. I've never heard of a more diverse group -- and I'm not just refering to ethnicity. Even backgrounds, interests, experiences, and goals are so different. In general, political views tend to be liberal, but Columbia attracts a lot of different types of people for a lot of different reasons.

In Closing...
Columbia's probably best known as "an Ivy in New York." That roughly translates to it being a fabulous academic instution with high standards and a world-renowned staff. Because it's in New York, a lot of big political, social, and scholarly figures give guest lectures: there was a two-week series where Columbia hosted a different international president each day from countries like Paksitan and Venezuela. It can actually be embarrassing when I reunite with friends from high school because it's clear that I've had so much more of a dynamic experience in college, and I credit that completely to Columbia.