Hey guys! Was wondering how hard the core curriculum is, especially with literature humanities and university writing. Can I get by with sparknotes (majoring in the sciences, not good with the classes), and what kind of an effect will the core have on my GPA?
If your goal is to get by with Sparknotes then perhaps Columbia isn’t the right fit for you.
If you are just looking to pass spark notes can get you there but you aren’t going to be able to do well at all with that level of commitment. The amount of reading assigned is huge and there are writings due very frequently with the core classes. There really are a lot of humanities classes in the core–not just lit so if you are really a math/science person with no interest in lit, gov’t, history, arts, etc this is probably not the school for you. There is no grade inflation and the majority of your peers will care as much about the core as their major.
Columbia puts such an emphasis on their core curriculum that you really wouldn’t be able to succeed unless you were truly passionate about the subjects. I would suggest applying to other schools that don’t have such a strong liberal arts foundation.