<p>For current Columbians, just how difficult is the Core? How many hours of work do you average a night?</p>
<p>lots and lots of reading (200+ pages a week for lit hum, and around 125-150 a week for CC). lit hum is physically more, but CC readings can be very dense. you can choose not to do it if you want, like a good number of students. if you opt to do the readings, however, then i would say 2-3 hours of work per night for the typical reader if you read all week long. papers can take a little while (5-10 hours), and reading responses cost you about 30-60 minutes each; your preceptor will determine the frequency of reading responses.</p>
<p>Thanks for the response!
At Columbia, how much work do you have to put in to get A's in your classes? Are there many classes where an A is virtually impossible, and if so, which ones? </p>
<p>Also, how are the professors in terms of accessibility and attention to undergrads?</p>
<p>Blah is correct -- many people choose not to do the readings at all. If you're a semi-decent writer, you can BS your way to a B without reading a thing.</p>
<p>To get an A, you don't necessarily need to read every single thing that is assigned. The papers, responses and exams in most humanities classes at Columbia are about understanding the big picture. It isn't like high school where you have reading quizzes about obsure details. You can do well by skimming most of the works, and then going back and reading certain parts in more detail if you have to write a paper on those aspects.</p>
<p>Difficulty of many of the Core classes is luck of the draw, in terms of getting an easy or hard prof. There are a ton of A's in most classes at Columbia (the average GPA in CC is upwards of 3.5). Some science and engineering classes have relatively hard curves. You can find most of these things out on CULPA.</p>
<p>I always hear people speak of Lit Hum and how wonderful it will be to be able to discuss the classics with their classmates, etc. Yes, it is wonderful; HOWEVER, Lit Hum is only a miniscule (2 semesters of 1 class) part of the Core. There are so many more courses to the Core that you may not like.</p>
<p>Yes, so much of how good your Core experience is depends on the teacher. There are some wonderful ones and some awful ones. Understand that there are NO EASY A's -- they are certainly attainable, but you can't get them by not doing any work. While you may be able to get away with doing little work for a B, you will need to put in lots of effort to get that A.</p>
<p>Actually, the average GPA at Columbia College tends to be around 3.3, especially if you consider science classes which curve around a B or B-.</p>
<p>The accessibility of a professor is sort of a tossup. Some pay tremendous amounts of attention to their undergrads, and some not so much. But you have to understand that they are extremely busy with other things, like research/grad students, etc. This situation is common at virtually every school (except maybe those without grad students). Many core courses, especially lit hum and CC, are lead by preceptors who tend to be graduate students. Don't be dismayed by this, however, because they tend to be surprisingly articulate, well read, eager to teach, and much more accessible than the average professor.</p>