Hi, I’ve just applied to this program and I’d like to know more about it. Do you actually learn or is it just a social scene? Do you get ample free time in the city? What do you do after class hours? Most of all, is it worth the $10000 price?
Hi, I did the program last year (summer 2015)! I’ll try to answer your questions based on what I personally experienced/observed. 
As far as actual learning vs. social scene is concerned, it’s pretty much a mix of both. If you search past forums about this on CC, you’ll see various opinions, of both positive and negative viewpoints. Some people found the classes were too large to allow for a beneficial learning experience. Some people had small, intimate classes which allowed for great personal connections with the professors and fellow students. I was in one of the latter types of classes. I took a science class, with somewhere between 20-30 people. The class style was a mix of labs and lectures. Personally, I didn’t learn much from the lectures (it was difficult material that I had no experience with and half the time I had no idea what was going on). But the lectures were cool in that we oftentimes had other professors/researchers come visit us, which gave people the opportunity to form connections, etc. Probably the most amazing part of the course was the labs, though. The labs were simply amazing. It’s almost a year later and I’m finding that the stuff I learned continues to help me, even now. I do feel like I was adequately challenged in this course. Sometimes I would have to do extra research outside of class to make up for the lecture material I didn’t understand. It wasn’t anything too crazy; it was enough to make me feel frustrated at times but never too much that I felt hopeless/like giving up. And, to top it all off, at the end of the course I received a highly personalized letter of recommendation.
So, to sum this up: the amount/intensity of the learning really depends on the course you’re taking. Generally speaking, smaller size classes = better learning experience. Classes that are smaller tend to be the more specialized classes, because they’re the types of courses where you really need an interest in the material (such as many of the science classes). You won’t have someone taking some physics or engineering course if their only goal for the program is to party. These types of people tend to gravitate more towards the courses like creative writing or business. But that’s not to say you won’t have a good experience in a business/writing class. From what I’ve seen, these just tend to be the courses where you’re more likely to have a negative experience due to the large class sizes/attitudes of other students.
The first day you’re there as well as the morning of the second day are extremely structured. You’re going to get a lot of people talking to you about rules, dorm info, etc. and then an orientation meeting about classes/other important things. The rules are important. Make sure you follow the rules.
You’ll basically get a lot of maps you’ll never use, flyers that will stay at the bottom of your bag for the entire program, and packets upon packets of random information. Probably the only useful thing you’ll get is a campus map. I’d suggest taking a photo of it so it’s on your phone for easy access.
Once that’s over, pretty much all of the remaining activities are optional.
Here’s a typical weekday’s schedule;
- You wake up in the morning, at whatever time. The majority of classes start at 10:10 a.m., but there are a few classes that do start earlier. You can go for breakfast if you like (served at Lerner, like all meals), but you don’t have to. I used to just wake up and go straight to class.
- You’re in class until 12:00 p.m. (again, could be later for some). At this point you get a break for lunch. You could go to Lerner, or off-campus to eat. You’ve already paid for Lerner food as part of the program tuition, so it’s a pretty good option if you don’t want to spend any more money. Most of the time I ate at Lerner, but some days my friends and I would go someplace off-campus (within a short walking distance).
- You have to be back in class around 2:00 p.m. You’ll be there until about 4:00 p.m.
- And then after that, you’re free! Just make sure you’re back in your dorm by curfew. Seriously. They are so incredibly strict about curfew, which can be a bit intimidating since they’re so chill and carefree about everything else.
On weekends it’s a bit different. You have the whole day free to do whatever. And curfew is also an hour later than it normally is. Just know that on weekends Lerner isn’t open, so you HAVE to get all your food off-campus. Spend wisely! There’s all the typical places like Chipotle, but I found that some of the best food I had was at these random restaurants I discovered when walking through the city with my friends.
So, to answer your questions directly, YES, you get so much free time in the city! It can be a little intimidating at first, so make sure you go around with a group while you’re first beginning to explore. Preferably have someone in your group who’s familiar with the subway, or at least someone who knows how to make sense of subway maps. Later in the program, once you’re more comfortable, it’s chill to go out with maybe just one or two other friends sometimes. Just never go out alone. Ever. Even when I was with big groups of people, it wasn’t uncommon to come across a bit of street harassment. I grew up in a city, so this wasn’t a big problem for me, but I know that it was unsettling for some people. They try to teach you a bit about street smarts at orientation, but that isn’t really something you can learn in a day, so try and keep other people with you at all times for this reason (especially at night).
Basically, the amount of freedom they give you is unreal. You can go wherever, do whatever, as long as you don’t break the rules (or, at least, as long as they don’t find out you’re breaking the rules…). You can do all the typical tourist-y stuff if that’s your thing. Popular places to go are Rockefeller, Top of the Rock, Empire Hotel (for all those Gossip Girl fans), Highline, etc. If you’re into shopping, there SoHo and Fifth Ave. There’s also some cool vintage places like Chelsea Market, so don’t be afraid to explore! There’s lots of amazing things to do in New York. I remember my friends and I spent some time just writing down all the events we wanted to do and places we wanted to go. We didn’t even end up doing half of them lol. So, try not to plan too much in advance, just see where the city life takes you.
However, if this freedom to do whatever you want is too overwhelming, they do have the option for structured outings. These are great if you’re having trouble making friends to go out with, or even if you want to do something cool with the people you’ve already befriended. There’s concerts, shopping trips, etc. There’s even a few travel trips (some overnight) to visit cities nearby/tour college campuses. All are really great opportunities, so be sure to take advantage of them if they interest you!
Oh, and of course, Columbia’s campus is great to explore. If tourists/large amounts of people walking around all the time annoy you, there’s certain buildings that can only be accessed if you have a Columbia card, so use that to your advantage! There’s all sorts of libraries and amazing buildings, etc. You step inside and it’s like you’re in a whole other world. I spent so many hours exploring the campus and I don’t regret a second of it. Even now, I still miss the campus like crazy. It becomes like something of a second home.
Aaand I wrote so much it can’t even fit in one post. I’ll continue in the next…
Now, for your final question… Is it worth the money?
Outright, let me just say that if this program is a significant financial burden to your family, it is NOT worth it. If your family can afford it, then the worth of the program depends on what you were hoping to gain. This is not a prestigious program, so if that’s what you’re looking for then it’s not worth it. If you’re /only/ looking for a great learning experience, then it’s not worth it. The learning and studies do play a part, but they aren’t what makes the program totally and completely worth it. In my opinion, it was mainly worth it for the experiences;
- I gained a lot of insight into college life, as well as the college process (they had a couple of great seminars about essay writing, etc). A lot of my friends in high school sometimes freak out thinking about college and how life is going to be. Doing the program, you’ve already got a bit of headstart into the whole thing, which is pretty cool. While your friends are worrying about “How am I going to live in a dorm?” and “How will I make friends?” and “What am I supposed to take with me?”, you’re kinda just sitting there like “…Been there, done that.” Rather than spend time worrying about all that stuff, you can now focus more of your mental energy on just the application process, which is nice. It spares you a lot of the anxiety.
- I learned how to live on my own, which was pretty crazy. I had to do my own laundry (yikes), walk to the store by myself and buy my own medicine (unfortunately I got sick while I was there), budget my own money (very hard to do in New York), make my own decisions about diet/food (lol I did not do a good job of that), figure out my own way when I was lost in the city (or just end up calling an Uber haha), and so much more.
- I made so many great friends. There’s a bunch I still talk to today, and then there’s some I’ve fallen out of touch with. But the experiences I had with them and the time we shared really had an impact on my character/personality. I definitely changed for the better.
- Time management skills! This entire program is a huge test of your time management skills. You think 3 weeks is a lot of time, but it goes by so fast. You have to learn to balance your social time with schoolwork. I usually just rushed to do my work directly after class let out, so that way I would have the entire rest of the evening free to spend time with friends. One time, there was this day before I had to give a presentation in class. My friends all wanted to go out in the evening to this super cool event, and I desperately wanted to go with them. I worked nonstop on the presentation during lunch so that way I could be free to go out with them in the evening. On the other hand, one of my other friends had a bunch of work as well, but she hadn’t finished it in advance like I had. So, she chose to stay in the dorm that night and finish it instead of going out with us. These are pretty typical situations you’ll be faced with in college, so it was cool to get exposure to this sort of stuff beforehand.
- Connections. Depending on what class you take, you can make connections with various professors and researchers. I know one kid who is going this summer to do research with a professor he met during the program last summer.
- Learning more about yourself. It sounds cheesy, but it’s true. I’ve been to New York a couple of times, but this was totally different than going for some vacation. You’re thrown into an unfamiliar city on an unfamiliar campus with a bunch of unfamiliar people where you’ll be spending your time for the next 3 weeks. Your whole sleeping pattern will be thrown out of whack. You will have to learn how to live with a bunch of other people, sometimes even sharing a bathroom. You will curse the quality of that terrible AC in your room when you’re slowly boiling to death. Your friend will accidentally make you take the wrong subway - 3 times in a row. You will end up 5 blocks away from campus in the pouring rain (…without an umbrella). You will stub your toe 5000 times on that crappy chair in your dorm room.
You’ll find yourself in all sorts of unfamiliar situations, where you’ll really get a chance to learn about the type of person you are.
I can’t believe I just wrote this much, but I hope you find it of use. Good luck!
@goldnotes thanks so much for your detailed reply! It was very helpful and I will definitely be taking your advice into account
Dude you were an awesome helpful ninja 
AND Thanks a lot! really a lot