Wonderful City/College Experience

Introduction
I can't imagine being any place else. The Columbia campus is extremely beautiful, and every day I feel lucky and privileged to be here. I'm a very social and outgoing person and have had absolutely no problem meeting people and making wonderful new friends. Come here if you're looking to challenge yourself and meet interesting people while doing it. Columbia is great for me because it gives me a taste of the classic collegiate experience, while giving me access to the resources of New York. I've definitely done a lot more maturing during my Freshman year than a lot of my friends from high school have at their respective schools. This school has taught me how to toughen up, be assertive, and feel comfortable sharing my opinions. Don't come here if you're easily intimidated by people who you think may be "smarter" or more "talented" than you are - you're going to have a really hard time getting the most of your experience here if you're constantly comparing yourself to everybody else. Columbia is not for the faint of heart - it's not the place to go if you want to sit around in circles singing "kumbaya" and go to pep rallies and bonfires every weekend. You have to know what you want, and learning how to GET what you want is one of the most valuable things I've learned here.

Campus Life and Social Life
The social atmosphere here at Columbia is my favorite aspect of college life. People here are surprisingly "normal" and not as nerdy as you may think. I'm in the "social" freshman dorm, which, for me at least, was probably the best housing decision I could have made. Coming back to the dorm is a great release from the stresses of school. It may be for this reason that I have a somewhat biased opinion on the vibrancy of social life here. My friends and I go to bars, frat/dorm parties, restaurants downtown, concerts, and nightclubs, which may or may not speak for the "average" Columbia social experience. You're going to have your kids who stay in all weekend and study, you're going to have your kids who explore the music and theatre culture of the city, you're going to have the kids who sit in their dorms all weekend playing video games and smoking pot. Whatever you like to do, there's probably somebody who is going to enjoy doing it with you. On the average weekend night, kids either party on campus or venture downtown. There's always people here to find something to do with. During the day, kids usually do work or explore the city.

My one complaint, which probably goes for every college, is that students here tend to be cliquish and self-segregating. All of my friends are, like me, Jewish kids from the Northeast. Asians tend to hang out with Asians, blacks with blacks, etc. I wouldn't say that there are racial tensions on campus, although there was some hate-crime related vandalism on the first semester. I think that this is EXTREMELY rare for the University, and the administration did a pretty good job reacting to it (the kids got caught, suspended from school, and are being charged).

There's a skewed guy-girl ratio because of Barnard (Ed. Note: for those who don't know, Barnard is the Women's college affiliated with, and across the street from Columbia University). As a result, a lot of guys who probably got none in high school get a lot of attention from girls here, and have become pretty big-headed. Columbia girls generally can't stand the Barnard girls, and often complain that they steal their guys, campus resources, etc. The Columbia boys don't seem to mind. There's not a lot of dating, but lots of random hookups abound.

There are lots of clubs on campus. Political organizations are hot. The campus is definitely very Leftist. Frats are pretty big and tend to have good parties at the beginning of the semester, when they're recruiting. There are sororities, too, but there are far less of them. Greek life is here if you look for it, but it's definitely not in your face. Advertisement
Academics
The professors here are absolutely brilliant. One of my professors has just won an extremely prestigious fellowship in Italy, and another one is a famous writer. If you're at Columbia, you think learning is sexy. My Middle Eastern professor is 5'6'' and has a unibrow, but listening to him talk about Sufism and Partition makes my toes curl. Unfortunately, it's not as easy to seduce professors as one may think.

The workload is bearable as long as you like reading. If you got into Columbia in the first place, chances are you have a good work ethic and a lot of motivation. Keep it up and you'll be fine.

If you can't do integral Calculus problems in your sleep, stay away from the Math department by all means. None of the professors speak English, and the few ones that do are so lacking in personality that they may as well not be speaking at all.

Also for what it's worth, my Chemistry TA was an soulless woman who had about as much personality as a piece of cardboard. However, I don't know how much more you can expect from somebody who is going to grad school for Chemistry. I'm sure that the pickings are slim.

Student Body
There is no "typical" Columbia student. Geographically, most kids are from the Northeast or California. Most students come from families with money.

In Closing...
Words of advice: don't be surprised to find puke in the elevators on Friday and Saturday mornings. Luckily, maintenance cleans it up pretty quickly.

And don't date boys in double rooms. And definitely don't date their roommates at the same time.

A lot of guys come to school with girlfriends from home. A lot of the others are gay. Don't waste your time on the rest.