<p>My daughter is looking for quirky, fun students who are a little different, perhaps dress creatively, and are as intensely interested in world politics and the arts as she is. She just visited Wesleyan U., which was an absolute fit socially. </p>
<p>Are there the same kinds of people at Columbia? She met some very nice students during the two days she visited, but she didnt see any artsy looking kids, dancing in the quad, or other creative things going on. Also, almost no one has tried to answer someone elses questions about theater at Columbia in these forums. This worries me since my daughter is interested in theater and vocal performance/music (as well as English and International Relations). By the way, she loved the campus, the core and the classes she visited. But, before she says yes, is Columbia the right school for her? Is it too engineering/pre-professional?</p>
<p>I would say, that Columbia is "quirkiness challenged". Every year about this time of year, the frisbee throwers come out of hiding and there are some half-hearted attempts at Ultimate in front of the steps of Butler. But, the constant demand to not call attention to yourself in the big City, and the ever present call to "be someplace in ten minutes" are barriers to quirkiness.</p>
<p>Having had a kid in each school, I don't think the difference is as big as JW says. My S, a freshman at Columbia, sure isn't worried about "calling attention to himself" or not. I don't think his friends are as outwardly "quirky" as D (Wes grad)'s friends, but they are definitely extremely individualist. I haven't met the oft-refered to "have to dress in black because i'm in Manhattan types" at all. (S and girlfriend spent Saturday evening riding on the Staten Island Ferry, definitely not club types!) I'm not sure what the call to be someplace in ten minutes refers to, so I can't comment on that.</p>
<p>I totally love both of these schools. when my S was considering Columbia, big sis gave it the stamp of approval; there are a lot of Ivy and Ivy level schools which she wouldn't have. And he looked very hard at Wes, but was looking for a somewhat larger place (and also loved the Core.)</p>
<p>I don't know anything about theater at either school, so I can't comment on that.</p>
<p>Thanks to both posters. I would think she can make do with individualists rather than quirkies.
Why is there a "constant demand to not call attention to yourself in the big City"? I'm surprised.</p>
<p>Has she tried to get in contact with any students involved in singing/theater groups? I know there are a lot of different groups and she might find e-mail addresses on the websites. She might also go on to some of the live journal communities. One of my gripes about Columbia is that their central listing of events does not include enough of the student events that I know are happening all the time. When I mentioned this to my son who, like Garland's is a first year there, he said that he didn't see how they could do it when on any given weekend night there might be four different student groups performing.</p>
<p>I can't really answer the quirky question. I'd describe my kid as involved in the arts (music) but not particularly quirky. (I'm actually a little disappointed he isn't quirkier, but maybe he'll grow into it.:) I do think that, although there are many students who will head on to a profession, and obviously there is an engineering school, the core discourages those who are only just head-down next stop business or dentistry or Silicon Valley types. This was one reason why he chose it over Stanford, for example.</p>
<pre><code>I think a big difference between a school the size of Columbia and an LAC is that I don't sense that there is any one campus culture at Columbia. This was one of the reasons our son ruled out applying to an LAC, because while it is great to find one where the campus culture fits, it seemed that it might be miserable if you ended up at one that didn't. At a university, though it might take longer to connect with your group, it seems unlikely that you wouldn't find other people like you -- or interesting to you -- at some point through the activities you involve yourself in.
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<p>If Wesleyan was a perfect fit socially, your d will be able to find kindred spirits at Columbia, although I think it's safe to say that the population there is more diverse in terms of having sizable groups of pre-professional and engineering types in ADDITION to quirky theater types.</p>
<p>Re: vocal performance, I've reviewed collegiate a cappella albums for several years in addition to judging in the national tournament. Columbia's got some very good groups, and I'd say the overall level is a little higher than Wesleyan (which does have great opportunities too). </p>
<p>That doesn't mean, of course, that she should turn down Wesleyan for Columbia, but I do think that she shouldn't be concerned about being surrounded by Wall Street types or something if she chooses Columbia.</p>
<p>Pardusmi - I was referring to just ordinary street attitude. Here are some very simple tests that can be performed at any college in the country at any time. Walk outside your dorm or the main quad--anywhere you're apt to pass people coming the other way. Do passersby avoid casual eye contact with you? Even the people you know? Do they wear the hood of their sweatshirts pulled over their heads--even on sunny days? Do they carry their i-Pods even on short hops to the grocery store for milk? I would say, all these things indicate a certain fearfulness of getting "too involved", being made late, or of being singled out in some way.</p>
<p>JW: I'm not sure you can make a test like that mean anything. I've walked across a lot of college campuses in my time (most recently Wesleyan and Columbia) and I don't remember ever noticing anyone behaving in the way you describe.</p>