<p>To all ED Acceptees: CONGRATULATONS! I haven't been on this board for a while, but my son is a CC 2009 who got his ED acceptance by e-mail exactly one year ago today, so I was thinking of all of you today. My son is a probable Poli Sci major living in Carmen who absolutely loves Columbia! He loves the high energy climate, and has found his peers to be very friendly, supportive and non-competitive. He has an internship in International Finance with JP Morgan Chase, is involved in theatre (has done 1 show so far and is doing the Varsity Show this spring),is active in several campus clubs, and has made made many wonderful friends, several of whom he went to San Diego with over Election Day weekend). He's finding his classes challenging, and has a tremendous amount of work. Like most of you, he's a bright student who never had to work terribly hard to get good grades, but at Columbia he's been putting in many hours at Butler Library (at least that's what he tells me and his dad-lol), and over Thanksgiving Break at home spent many hours reading, studying, and working on a paper. His advice-pace yourself, establish a study routine early on and ask for help early if you need it-don't get behind and try to catch up-it won't work, according to him. He, too, finds the food at John Jay repulsive, but recently he's started eating at the Barnard cafeteria (they accept the CU meal card), and finds the food and the ambience much better. GOOD LUCK to you, and I hope you're all as happy at Columbia as my son is!!</p>
<p>Hope you don't mind me piggy-backing, but I also wanted to add a congratulations and a welcome! (With all the consoling and advising of those who were disappointed, we can't neglect to celebrate those who did pass through the gauntlet and get into their first choice school.) CONGRATULATIONS!</p>
<p>My son is a sophomore and still is having an excellent experience at Columbia, having a lot of fun, enjoying its intensity even as he complains about how much work he has to do. I'd add to the advice: although you are the kind of students who took the heaviest load in high school, avoid the temptation to overload yourself with units the first semester. That's when you will want to be checking out the different clubs and activities, as well as exploring New York City if it is new to you. And, if you're from California, listen to your mother when she tells you that the winter coat you picked out will not be warm enough...:) Good luck! Hope (and expect) you will thrive!</p>
<p>Okay, I'll join in, too. S is a soph, ED 2 years ago. Loves it to bits. Lived in JJ his frosh year, made fantastic friends there (don't worry about it being less social), and also met his girlfriend there.</p>
<p>Today is his birthday, and he and gf will spend it skating at Rockefeller Center. Where else can you do that?</p>
<p>congrats to all.</p>
<p>Let me say congrats to y'all, since this seems to be the piggybacking thread. The hardest part (getting in) is over with. You all will have a great time.</p>
<p>sac/columbiamom--Are your kids really working <em>that</em> hard? More work seems to be talked about than what actually gets done :)</p>
<p>lol. My kid's taking a lot of quantitative classes (including physics) which are the type with a steady stream of heavy-duty problem sets, so it's harder to slack off. I've seen the CULPA reviews for some of those classes, so I believe him when he tells me how much time some of those problems take. He tells me he reads the books for CC, but I don't quiz him on them.:) He also plays hard. He's in a couple of music groups, a frat, bartends. My sense is that, unlike me in college, he doesn't waste much time. He probably also doesn't do laundry as often.</p>