<p>@twerkitout7 lol. For what it’s worth, @BollingerBro probably has some truths to his caveats. Columbia is known to have harsher academic standards than its counterparts who were recently accused of grade-inflation. But always take opinions with a grain of salt. CU may be home for some (like my interviewer who is a 3rd generation Lion), and just a school for others. You never know!</p>
<p>I worry about some of the things that @BollingerBro wrote. I do recall that many people told me who went there years ago that it was very stressful. In fact one person had a roommate that transferred out and ended up at another school. These people went years ago though. I would have thought the atmosphere would have changed. It was cut-throat then. @BollingerBro, are you talking about recent experiences that you have heard about or from years ago? Back then the school had a harsh curve and it was very much a stressful place. Most people didn’t get to experience as much of NYC as they would have liked due to the workload, whereas their friends in HPY were having a great college experience. Is this still the experience over there?</p>
<p>Here’s the deal from a recent grad of Columbia College. Put simply, Columbia was an incredible experience. Far more enriching than I ever anticipated when I applied. The core was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn. No college – Ivy or elsewhere – offers the well rounded foundation that Columbia provides. Some schools might claim to do so, but trust me, they aren’t in the same league as Columbia. I have friends who attended all of the top schools. No one comes close. The core is only the start. The opportunities beyond the core are limitless. I dual majored in economics and math. The education that I received was rock solid And the profs, for the most part, were exceptional. As for the social scene, it was phenomenal. The people I met were incredibly supportive, friendly and fun-loving. During my 4 years at Columbia, we alternated from socializing on the campus (which is a jewel in N.Y.) to taking advantage of the City, including the neighborhoods, museums, parks, etc. Never tired of the envions. The students come from all of the world and enrich the college with diverse perspectives and animated experiences. The academics are serious, but, hey, that’s one of the reasons I selected Columbia over Yale, Brown and Penn – I wanted the challenge. But, don’t get me wrong, the academics are not cut-throat. In every course each semester I closely worked with classmates to cross learn together. It was an incredibly collaborative experience. Without exception, when I asked for support, I received support (sometimes too much support). Lastly, one of the prior postings lamented about the bureaucracy. To be honest, the bureaucracy can be a tad trying from time to time. The bursar, the housing office, financial aide, etc. But, probably no worse than most other places. And a lot better than some of the bureaucracies that I’ve faced when I tried to reverse a credit charge or activate my Dell warranty. All in all, Columbia was truly incredible. Again, there’s no place anywhere like it. If your hear is set on it, follow your heart You won’t regret it. </p>
<p>Do you guys think it’s bad that I didn’t mention the Core in my why Columbia essay? 
</p>
<p>I don’t think so @sparkl3 . It may even be to ur advantage bc so many ppl are going to write about the core so your app sets you apart from the #basics. </p>
<p>Thanks so much for sharing your experience, Plato23. My son was able to visit SEAS in October and was blown away by it. It is heartening to hear that your true life experience mirrors his initial impression.</p>
<p>Hey guys! I’m new to cc but im an engineer in columbia’s class of 2017…a couple of my friends are applying and they’re big users of this. I think you guys need to relax! believe in what you’ve done and think about what you can do!</p>
<p>im an indian guy from connecticut
sat: 2300
took 5 APs my junior yr and got one 5 (spanish)
ECs were soccer, student government and fbla
and I probably wasn’t even in the top 10 of my class of 40 (granted the class was pretty high-achieving)</p>
<p>so at best all the expected stuff was mediocore or on par with the other applicants, but what made me different (i’ve talked to my admissions officer about this) was that my passion came through. my grades weren’t the best but I kept challenging myself! i took 5 APs my senior year and I aimed for breadth even though i went to a stem high school.
my passion is spanish and its been ever since my AP teacher inspired me to read don quixote. from there i began finding professors to discuss the book with and i developed a curriculum in my school to help introduce more pieces of literature into earlier levels of language classes.</p>
<p>the bottom line is that i pursued what i loved and i made this apparent in my essays and interviews- i didn’t take the highest level of calc offered in my school or compete in the intel science fair, instead my platform when applying was that i’d use my stem background i gained from my stem high school to impact hispanic and latino communities both locally and globally</p>
<p>i probably wasn’t the best applicant but thats okay, i got here and im glad I did… college is fun! you can really make a difference and that’s what its all about right?</p>
<p>remember why you’re applying to wherever you do apply and be passionate…it sounds corny, but its the truth. Colleges need humans who can think and empathize, not just robots who can only do</p>
<p>@myhomeColumbia thanks for your perspective. Do you find what BollingerBro said to be true? (I don’t see these posts anymore so it looks like the posts from BollingerBro was deleted?) Do you find that Columbia has very harsh academic standards, which you would view as unfair? Do you find that the professors don’t care about the students? What about the stress level? Of course, all Ivies are stressful, but do you find that it is more stressful than what you would have expected coming in?</p>
<p>Columbia’s not easy and it sucks sometimes. That being said, it’s not more stressful than I thought it would be and I am close with a few professors. You’re not going to have all of your professors baby you and care about you but if you make the effort in a couple of classes you truly enjoy, the professor will see that. At the end of the day, you have to remember Columbia is a top institution and you have to deal with their way of life for 4 years until you can make it out on your own. It’s always worth it. The things to do here are incredible and the connections you can make are priceless.</p>
<p>As a parent of a CC student, I understand what most of you – and particularly the parents – are going through. In many cases, you’re probably gyrating from excitement to nervousness and feeling everything in between I wish you all the best of luck, and as so many sages have said on this website, you can find success and happiness wherever you go and whatever you do. I can affirm that Columbia University is no exception. My son, who started two years ago, has had wonderful experience. He has great friends and an active social life, which has imbued a very strong school spirit. He spends most of his time on campus, but does venture into the rest of the city occasionally. He works pretty hard (or at least he says so), but as the earlier commentator pointed out, that’s expected, I guess. He reports that he’s really appreciating the academics. For someone who’s first love in high school was sports, Columbia has really done an incredible job in whetting his intellectual curiosity in many areas. According to what he tells me, if he had to do it all over again, he wouldn’t consider wanting to go anywhere else. Whether you are applying to Columbia or someplace else, good luck. </p>
<p>thanks suneye! that is very helpful feedback.</p>
<p>is anybody else super duper nervous? columbia has been my dream school since the beginning of high school and I feel like I’ve thrown all of my chances away because of my test scores. I really wish they weren’t so keen on those. Praying they keep their word on a “holistic approach.” :-S </p>
<p>@funnymetaphor
Yes I’m super nervous as well. I can’t stop thinking about getting rejected and it’s getting in the way of my schoolwork. </p>
<p>@ilovethecity I know. I just feel like I wasted all of my time for something that’s ultimately going to depress me. Have you ever heard of any non-URMs with subpar test scores?</p>
<p>@funnymetaphor I’m definitely nervous about it too, but please don’t let it affect you to the point of detriment in your schoolwork! Just remember, Columbia may be an awesome school, but it’s A school, not THE school; if you don’t get in there, chances are that there’s somewhere else that’s a better fit for you, and that it’s Columbia’s loss anyway. I really hope this works out for you as well, but if it doesn’t, remember that it’s not any reflection on you!! :)</p>
<p>@naoman16 you put a smile on my face! thank you for your counsel! best of luck you to you :)</p>
<p>I had my interview today, by the way! The interviewer was extremely pleasant, and we had a nice conversation for over an hour and a half. For those of you who are extremely nervous about yours like I was, don’t be; it can’t truly make or break your admissions decision unless you REALLY screw up (and I’m talking about you cursing at your interviewer, being blatantly rude, not even showing up, that type of thing 
). Plus, it was honestly really helpful in humanizing the university for me, since you get to meet and speak with someone who went there and realize that they’re just a normal person like anyone else. I know a lot of people will talk about how they discussed something like 15th century Spanish political science, or the differences between Middle English versus Old English, etc., but my interviewer and I didn’t really talk about anything like that, and the interview was still perfectly pleasant; it really was just a way for Columbia and I to get to know each other better. So, I won’t say don’t worry, because I know most of you who have an interview scheduled WILL worry anyway lol, but just…don’t lose sleep over it, you know? ;)</p>
<p>@funnymetaphor Haha, glad I could help! </p>
<p>How does Columbia notify you? Is it on the website to “track the application”? </p>
<p>It’ll be on the portal</p>