<p>Hi CC,</p>
<p>I've lurked for a while on this site, and it's been supremely helpful. However, the ED deadline is coming up, and I'm deciding between Columbia (obviously) and Penn. Right now, I think I'm leaning towards Columbia, but I wanted to hear some opinions from real Columbia students and alumni.</p>
<p>Is there social life on the campus?</p>
<p>Of course, being in vibrant NYC would mean that lots of people go off campus, and for good reason. However, I've heard from some people that at Columbia, nobody really stays on campus when they have spare time. Obviously I take this with a grain of salt, but I would appreciate it if you guys could set the record straight. What is the social life like on campus?</p>
<p>(I have no problem with going off campus at all, but I don't want a situation where you absolutely have to or risk doing nothing.)</p>
<p>Thanks,
ibojangles</p>
<p>I spent over 80-90% of my social life on campus, absolutely no regrets, most other kids were like me, explore the city when there was something fun and inexpensive to do, other times, lots of dorm parties, club get togethers, hit the bars near campus (much more junior and senior year), play pick up soccer on the lawns, pot lucks, snowball fights, sneak into the columbia tunnels and throw a party there, frat parties here and there. Runs the gamut, campus is vibrant on the weekends, it doesn’t clear out or anything like that, I don’t know how outdated or irrelevant those views are. Maybe that’s a stereotype of other urban schools without campuses, but columbia has a standalone campus and the dorms are well clustered, so you are always bumping into friends and there are always parties to go to. I would often not be able to meet all my social commitments on campus, because on a given thursday or friday or saturday night there was so much to do. (this is how it should be at any college). I made some really close friends who I hung out with every weekend and often during the week as well, and a huge network of people I would see at parties / club meetings / random campus events / classes etc.</p>
<p>^This is a good answer. Nothing really to add.</p>