<p>I'm having trouble making my final list of colleges this summer. So far, I'm sure that I'll be applying to 5 colleges already. I need to decide about the last 5 colleges I'll ultimately apply to.</p>
<p>I'm planning to major in Political Science, but I want the flexibility to change that major in case I don't want to study PS after all. My stats are strong, so I'm not worried about that right now.</p>
<p>Here are the questions I need answered (anyone can answer; alumni or current student answers would be amazing):</p>
<ol>
<li>Are students taught by professors or TAs or other?</li>
<li>What is student/faculty ratio?</li>
<li>Sequence of courses in majors?</li>
<li>When do you have to declare major?</li>
<li>How hard is it to change major?</li>
<li>Enough majors to transfer into later?</li>
<li>Graduate school placement rates?</li>
<li>Where do those graduates go?</li>
<li>How many students go on to post-graduate study?</li>
<li>Any special relationships w/ post-grad institutions or medical or law schools?</li>
<li>What is the general atmosphere of the school?</li>
<li>Quality of related majors (sociology, economics, etc.)</li>
<li>Overall school quality?</li>
</ol>
<p>If anyone at Columbia is currently studying Political Science, it would be great to know what you think about the program.</p>
<p>I was also wondering if there is any undergrad Journalism/Communications program @ Columbia.</p>
<p>The answers to most of your questions can be found on collegeboard, the princeton review, or the columbia university website itself. Try to do a little of your own research.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I can’t give you a percentage, but some classes (including the Core) are taught by grad students. That doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re getting a poor education, though, since some grad students turn out to be the best teachers. For large lectures, you usually have the lecturing professors and recitations/discussion sections led by grad student TAs. The professors themselves do hold office hours, though.</p></li>
<li><p>I’m sure the Columbia website boasts about its low student faculty ratio somewhere.</p></li>
<li><p>Google the Columbia poli sci department.</p></li>
<li><p>Second semester sophomore year.</p></li>
<li><p>I’m a rising junior, and so are most of my friends, so we’ve just declared our majors. I don’t really know anyone who’s changed their major except for someone who transferred from SEAS to CC and is now majoring in the humanities (and doesn’t have any scheduling problems). My personal feeling is that it might be a little harder to change majors at Columbia than at other schools because the Core has so many requirements. You might find it difficult to switch majors and graduate on time if you don’t stay on top of the Core. But this is just a guess.</p></li>
<li><p>I don’t quite understand this question. Are you asking if you might transfer to Columbia from another school and keep your major? Well, most likely, yes, although transferring credits might be an issue. Also, if you transfer in, you’ll still have to take all of the Core with a couple of exceptions.</p></li>
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<p>7-9. No idea, but once again, you should be checking individual department websites.</p>
<ol>
<li>Well, undergrads are allowed to take grad classes when they have permission. In the sciences, it’s fairly easy to get research positions in the labs at the medical center and on the Morningside campus. If you’re interested in working with any professor, you can certainly contact them and see what happens, but I don’t think there are any official “special relationships.” That is, going to Columbia undergrad won’t give you a boost in getting into its professional schools.</li>
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<p>11-13. Please do a forum search. We’ve had a lot of threads with these kinds of questions.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I haven’t had courses fully thought by TAs. Most core courses simply have a professor (and sometimes off-screen TAs for grading). Some large poli-scie lectures do have discussion sections afterwards in which the students are subdivided into seminar-sized groups for more in-depth work- those are thought by the TAs.</p></li>
<li><p>I’m sure it’s in a pamphlet somewhere- No idea.</p></li>
<li><p>There’s also a rumored website that ends in ‘.edu’. Very hush-hush; just for those in the know but it will blow your mind.</p></li>
<li><p>Second semester of your sophomore year. It’s very easy- except for a few exceptions that require you to meet with someone from the department it’s done mostly online.</p></li>
<li><p>Not very. Though after two years you should be set on where you’re heading. If you do decide to change majors it’ll probably be before that point.</p></li>
<li><p>Yeahbuwhat?</p></li>
<li><p>Google is your friend. Don’t be afraid of it.</p></li>
<li><p>Well, it is Columbia. Based on your credentials, records and goals; anywhere you want. You’ve got the reputation already.</p></li>
<li><p>2,617.</p></li>
<li><p>They’re fairly detached. You can take some graduate classes in some departments I believe. The Law School, aside from having the most productive library, also has plenty of students offering to tutor you for LSATs and other resources like that.</p></li>
<li><p>Sweet apathy. We love to complain, but we love our school. Oh and hipsters.</p></li>
<li><p>I’m a sociology major (look at me now, ma!) and I love it. GREAT professors. Some opportunities for upperclassmen. The courses aren’t as diverse as I would want but you get to take Barnard socioly classes as well which adds to the pot.</p></li>
<li><p>I’m a fan?</p></li>
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