<p>I'm Columbia ED for the class of 2014 and beyond excited about it. But as I've been researching, I've seen a lot of complaints about the social life at Columbia. I'm pretty sure that social life is, at all schools, what you make of it. I have to admit, I absolutely LOVE the minimal greek scene at CU (something I could never imagine myself getting very into) and the possibilities that accompany life in the city.<br>
Can you have a sense of community and meet a lot of people if you set your mind to it and put down your books? I am the type of person who is good at balancing work and play, and I know if I get into Columbia (crossing my fingers) I would definitely make being social, getting involved, and making tons of friends a priority. I am hoping, though, for at least a minimal amount of school pride and friendliness! </p>
<p>Any input from current students?? :)</p>
<p>As a current freshman, I see no difference with the kids here and the ones at my public high school. Everyone is social, but they know when they can have fun and when they have to study. Granted, there are some kids here that like to keep to themselves a bit more, but no one is generally “hostile” to those kids (by “hostile,” i mean that they don’t invade their privacy and don’t try to make them do things they don’t want to; they are respectful).</p>
<p>If you want to be social, you can be social. If you want your privacy, you’ll get that.</p>
<p>read the Helpful Columbia Threads thread that’s pinned to the top of the board. There are a bunch of Social/Campus Life threads in a section there, and they make good reads.</p>
<p>Anecdotally, somewhere around a third of the campus isn’t real interested in being social and spends a huge, huge portion of their time in the library or studying. That leaves two-thirds who want to be social to varying degrees, some extremely (i.e. Greek life, theater types) and some less so. I have no idea what the proportions would be at peer or non-peer schools.</p>
<p>Well, thanks for your input! I will go look at the Helpful Columbia Threads now, for some reason I couldn’t find any before that were what I wanted to know. I’m glad to hear what you both have to say :)</p>