I’m a student who’s been accepted Early Decision to Columbia. I want to know-- what is the social atmosphere like? What should I know about what the people here are like? I think of myself as nerdy but laid-back about grades-- will I find people at Columbia too type A? Do people tend to be snobby/ judgmental? Or more laid back? I guess I’m just worried about finding my people; if anybody has personal testimonials, that would be great.
When I went on a tour, most of the students seemed fairly laid back. Obviously, they were extremely passionate about what they are learning and doing at Columbia, but none of them focused on grades and even when I asked about how difficult and stressful the atmosphere was, they seemed to think that it did not even feel as though they had to stress themselves out to get the grades. Also, another important thing to note is that with the core, everyone takes a lot of the same classes, reads the same books, etc. so it seemed like there was a lot of collaboration. Almost everyone does not have classes on Fridays, too.
When I went into the Columbia Visitor Center, the undergrad volunteers were playing on the PS4.
You will find some snobs, like you would at any Ivy, but honestly according to DS, they are fewer and far between. You will definitely find your people. The most common trait among freshmen at Columbia is that they find their peers to be amazing people.
As far as I can tell, you can lead pretty much whatever kind of social life you want. There’s not one type of person that predominates here.