<p>my daughter got accepted and will room at columbia. how strict are the curfews, etc? and what is everyone's overall opinion of that program?</p>
<p>I am really desperate for some info on the summer program, as in, did you find it beneficial, how helpful did you think it was for admissions into college, as well as, do you know how selective admission into the program is? I would appreciate any input. It looks like everyone has an opinion on many of the other programs and noone is posting anything about columbia.</p>
<p>I did the summer program last year at Columbia (College prep') and will probably participate this year again. I didn't live on campus so I can't tell you anything about the residential experience. Yet, I loved all the classes and found them challenging particularly the foundations of mathematics course and the expository writing class. I don't think it is helpful for admission to Columbia College, but it does give you a glimpse of what studying at Columbia is like.</p>
<p>i really appreciate your input. thank you.</p>
<p>I did the high school program last year for biomedical engineering and the chemistry one the year before. it is pretty selective, with about 2/3 admitted. The hours are quite lenient. You have class from 10-12 and 2:30-4:30 monday through thursday. On sun-thurs the curfew is 11:00 and fri and sat it is 12:00. Before then, you can go anywhere you want alone or with friends, but they recommend not leaving manhattan. fri, sat, and sun are open to do what ever you want. they have organized trip to broadway shows, I saw wicked my first year, and to coney island, chelsea piers, etc, but they are by no means mandatory. girls live in suites, most likely in a single room, with about 10 other single rooms and 2 resident advisors (college students) and these rooms are centered around a large common room with tv and kitchenette. I found the classes very helpful, as I was taught by one professor and 3 grad students in both cases, and was able to use all the lab facilities. It's great at the end bc they write each student a letter of recommendation as opposed to giving them a grade andyou can then send this to colleges. some classes are better than others so let me know what class she is planning on taking. Also, be prepared to give at least $600 spending money...the website is not joking. being in ny for a month, especially when you have so much free time, you will spend a lot of money. Feel free to PM me if you or your D have any more questions..I will answer anything I can</p>
<p>You mean there is no supervision for minors since most of the high school students are under 18 and they are free to go where ever they want even outside campus?</p>
<p>yes you are free to do whatever so long as you are back in your suite by 11:00 or 12:00 depending on the day of the week</p>
<p>I was a commuter student last year in the mat. sci and nanotech class, and so were most of the students in that class. But it was very fun, for both commuters and non-commuters. I loved that class and the laid back approach they took to learning (No tests and lots of hands on stuff). It was fun playing ultimate frisbee, walking in the streets near Columbia and exploring restaurants. And I got to learn how to get around the subway system. Oh, and the people were great. All very talented, intelligent, and it really humbled me, because these kids were smarter than the smartest kids in my high school, and my high school has many top students. It was great being exposed to the people from the foreign nations and working with them on labs or just talking to them. They're really a lot like Americans teens, except with cooler accents and obviously a lot smarter than the average teen.
As for helping in college admissions, it may help with getting into Columbia, but I'm not sure. The professor wrote us all recommendation letters, and if I had applied to Columbia, I would have used it. I do know that at least one kid in the program got into Columbia, but he had amazing stats to begin with. But I think everyone there is going to good colleges.</p>
<p>just as a note...there are not mostly communter students, as there were only 4 in my class of 22 and somewhere around 600 live in the dorms. It is extremely diverse, as in my suites in thepast two years I have had girls from canada, brazil, turkey, uk, china, and japan. As far as the recommendations go with helping to get in, I had two amazing recs and was rejected from columbia, but that was probably for reasons other than ones to get into on this thread. But at least 8 or so people I knew from the program were accepted and/or attending columbia, and I'm sure many others were, but those were the ones that I hung out with most. Also, it is about split between junior and seniors, as there are barely any residential sophmores and no freshman.</p>