<p>I'm seriously considering applying and would like to know as much as possible about the school...</p>
<p>My daughter just finished her freshman year....she loved the classes, the campus, and the city. She did have a real pain for a roommate, however. This coming year she will have a new roommate and live in a different dorm.</p>
<p>the bureaucracy is insane!</p>
<p>What bureaucracy are you referring to?</p>
<p>registrar, bursar, financial aid ....take your pick</p>
<p>I thought the financial aid was pretty great/generous?</p>
<p>but actually dealing with the administrative staff is a nightmare in most of these departments. You can tack on the core office to that as well.</p>
<p>(1) Their career office's outreach and abilities for non-business jobs (i.e. nonprofit, energy industry, retail, even journalism) isn't as good as I would have liked. They have a bunch of workshops on things like resumes and interview skills but the availability of the professionals to actually sit down and talk to you about your plans, goals, etc is limited - there's just not enough of them to go around, and their time is booked weeks in advance.</p>
<p>(2) The student services departments are managed by people whose first commitment is to the bottom line rather than to maximizing the amount of service provided to students. There are exceptions to this - i.e., undergrad housing is essentially run by someone who genuinely cares deeply about helping students, Joyce Jackson. But by and large some of these "higher education professionals" have just given up - they don't care anymore, they just want their pastry.</p>
<p>(3) The university's central leadership, particularly President Bollinger but also his lieutenants, are basically nowhere to be seen on campus. They don't influence you in any way, they're never around just talking and hanging out, you get the impression they don't like students. Bollinger is a tremendous teacher and legal scholar and his Free Speech class is brilliant, but he is not much for face time.</p>
<p>Haven't been to the school yet and I can already say that the red tape (phone wise) is a wee bit insane. I've called about my UNI this morning only to get bounced around from CUIT to the Student help line (With a lady with a SEVERE attitude problem- I didn't kill your puppy, Jolene. Sheesh) who rudely sends me to the registrar's office who send me back to the Student help line (Boy did Jolene love that) who sends me back to them, who send me back to CUIT who auto-forward me to student services at which point I just hung up. 7$ worth of international phone calls poorer and with no added information. </p>
<p>Sigh....</p>
<p>ha ha what a nightmare
Now I'm not gonig to telephone.</p>
<p>Bollinger does remind me of champagne btw...</p>
<p>The girls</p>
<p>alumni like Columbia2002</p>
<p>What about the people in Center for Student Advising?</p>
<p>
[quote]
Haven't been to the school yet and I can already say that the red tape (phone wise) is a wee bit insane. I've called about my UNI this morning only to get bounced around from CUIT to the Student help line (With a lady with a SEVERE attitude problem- I didn't kill your puppy, Jolene. Sheesh) who rudely sends me to the registrar's office who send me back to the Student help line (Boy did Jolene love that) who sends me back to them, who send me back to CUIT who auto-forward me to student services at which point I just hung up. 7$ worth of international phone calls poorer and with no added information.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>This is exactly the type of red tape that you deal with at Columbia. The "customer service" is like some big company with poorly trained call centers in India.</p>
<p>No toll-free phone number really irritated me as I would be bounced around and put on hold. In 2007, the financial aid was not good, but this year it improved greatly. I also don't think the website is that friendly....remember, I'm a parent.</p>
<p>Financial aid increased but so did the cost of attendance.</p>
<p>well the cost of attendance increases always increases and not only at columbia</p>
<p>yeah is student advising also that horrible?</p>
<p>It depends on which adviser you get. I was very lucky and got dean Hemphill. She’s helpful, nice, and I’ve seen her about 8 times so far (I’m a transfer). If she doesn’t know about something she’ll refer you with everything from a number to a map. I’ve heard some horror stories though.</p>
<p>After a year here I have to say that aside from the initial social cluster and music hum (oh how i loathe music hum) there’s not much to hate.</p>
<p>I think the meal plan is a bit of a crook. The food is nice but damn expensive averaging like 10$ a meal- WITH a plan.</p>
<p>Oh and Hamilton is too crowded during peak hours. And one elevator for approx. 400 freshmen on 7 floors is just ridiculous. There are other buildings around for Pete’s sake.</p>
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<p>F U</p>
<p>10 char</p>