<p>I was just wondering if there's anyone else who is coming to Columbia from a failing high school, or if there are any current students whose high schools were not great. I'm curious how difficult the adjustment is.</p>
<p>my high school finally moved out of academic probation this summer, but it's still the poorest school in the state of ohio, unfortunately. i'm pretty worried about the transition too--the coursework in high school wasn't exactly demanding, and there wasn't enough staff to cover advanced courses in most cases.
so yeah, i'm a bit worried that the switch to somewhere like columbia is going to be a bit daunting and terrifying. guess we'll know in a few days, huh?</p>
<p>coming from a not-so-great high school to columbia is definitely a more challenging transition than coming from one of the elite prep schools, but you get used to columbia and the increased workload pretty quick. my best advice is to not take an extremely difficult schedule your first semester. as you get used to columbia you'll be on the same level with everyone else, but at first it definitely helps to take it easy. i came to columbia from a pretty easy hs, and although i probably had to work a bit harder first semester, just cause i wasn't used to learning so much material so quickly, now that i'm entering junior year i'm taking a more rigorous schedule than most of my friends and...i'm basically completely adjusted to columbia by now i guess. although looking back, if i was taking the classes i took 1st semester freshmen year now, it would be soooo incredibly easy for me, and i'd probably do a lot better with a lot less work. so yea, you just hafta take the time to get used to columbia.</p>
<p>i knew a few people in similar situations, diylobotomy - there are actually programs to help people in your situation transition to a Columbia-level workload. They have a lot invested in helping you succeed.</p>
<p>Frankly, there are two aspects to the culture shock for you.</p>
<p>One is arriving at what is essentially an upper-middle-class environment. NYC and all of its complications, the lifestyle and conversational assumptions most CU students will make, and all sorts of other class differences may manifest themselves in unusual ways, and while individually you may be able to handle or adjust to them, collectively they may become stressful. This is a step up for those of us who didn't go to, you know, Phillips Andover, and will almost certainly add issues on top of...</p>
<p>The second part of adjusting is of course the academics. The usual phrase from MIT is, "taking classes here is like trying to drink from a fire hydrant." Columbia is probably a half-step down in intensity from MIT, but not much more than that. The problem isn't the actual workload given to students, it's how competitive everyone is and how much more used to it most everyone else will be. If you were admitted here it's because you're smart and resourceful enough to do well. However, that will likely take organization and an attitude of "taking it seriously" far beyond what you're used to. In my experience there are a few key elements to adjusting well:</p>
<p>1) Getting an organizer. My weekly at-a-glance planner, bought from the CU bookstore, was literally my lord and savior freshman and sophomore years. I kept every appointment, every paper due or test coming up, every meeting for my clubs and activities, and any other important notices, right on that thing. Otherwise, frankly, I'd forget something and drop the ball. Every morning I could look at it and understand what I had to do that day. It took the stress of uncertainty out of the mayhem of college life. I can't recommend it highly enough.</p>
<p>2) Not partying too much your first semester. Honestly, half of the point of college is the learning, and half is the meeting people and exploring new stuff. Don't short-change the social life, but first semester when you're not used to being on your own, it's VERY easy to go off the deep end. By all means, go nuts during orientation and the first week or so of classes, but once things get serious, you need to get serious with them. Just for the first semester. Until you know what you're dealing with and how prepared you are to meet the challenge, you gotta go conservative. A big mistake I made, not even an academic one, was signing up for too many clubs during orientation. I was like a kid in a candy store. Limit yourself to 3 activities tops (preferably including something athletic to keep you healthy and focused), and prioritize sleep and coursework ahead of those activities. You'll have plenty of time for drinking to excess once you've adjusted.</p>
<p>3) Valuing the education you're inflicting upon yourself. Many kids at Columbia are not paying for their education, and so they don't understand how much money is being thrown at them. Fortunately or unfortunately depending on your point of view, I was one of the few who had to earn basically every penny that was spent on me (for the first 2 years, after which my dad had an income again). I had spent two years before college working a full-time job, and had saved up a ton in order to pay for the place. And every month, I wrote a check for (back then) ~$3700 of my hard-earned money, and mailed it away. Let me tell you, nothing will motivate you more to go to classes and take stuff seriously. When you're laying there in bed wondering why in god's name you should get up for that 9am class (or in my case, the 10:30 class), you can consider "hmm, I could go to class... or I could basically take $80 down on the street and burn it. Yikes. Maybe I'll just, uh, go to class but not shower this morning." Knowing how much is being spent for you to have the privilege of studying at Columbia is important, as it keeps you grounded. It'll be a while in your career before you'll have the money to pay for a place like Columbia by yourself. Remember this when you're debating your day-to-day life decisions.</p>
<p>That's all I can tell ya. Organize yourself, play it safe your first semester, and stay humble and hardworking by thinking about the money you're spending. The academics can pretty much take care of themselves if you can do all that.</p>