<p>Anti-intellect, I transferred from Columbia (College) to Dartmouth.</p>
<p>I have to agree 100% w/ soulofheaven's post. That was absolutely my experience in every single dorm that I lived in. A number of spoiled, selfish people who don't get the golden rule.</p>
<p>Jesus, now I am becoming upset. I was accepted ED and I have wanted to go for the longest time, but I have a very low tolerance for disrespectful and arrogant people. I mean, I assumed, naturally, that there was going to be a good amount of people who think their s**t doesn't stink, but it sounds as if the situation is horrible...</p>
<p>There are people like that at every college. And, it isn't everyone at Columbia. Just a minority of people who ruin it for everyone.</p>
<p>I don't know I think I found more at Columbia than most places...Even thinking about these pretentious kids makes me shirk.</p>
<p>Look, as for everything else, your right is that you have a choice. Always. That is your last right.</p>
<p>To complain about it, to focus on the negative people, to make sweeping generalizations is not only an inaccurate choice, but it also amounts to YOU ruining it for YOURSELF. Just like the weather is never "bad:" it's only your point of view.</p>
<p>You are living in NYC. You have millions of people surrounding you. You have a choice to be alone if you want, you can find good restaurants, meet non-Columbia people, you can sketch, write, think, watch movies...... the list goes on!</p>
<p>There is not one person who can be purely labeled as pseudo-intellectual. Why, instead of moaning and whining, and feeling sorry for yourself (a person who has never made a pretentious mistake,) find a solution? Perhaps instead of labeling them, perhaps you can see them as insecure, for they are alone in a school where they are no longer the "big fishes," where mistakes actually matter. </p>
<p>So, you can't find one person? If you choose not to believe the problem is you, you can always observe these people from a distance, and then <em>pursue your own passions</em> outside of people. </p>
<p>You have unlimited resources. Your environment is not your unhappiness. Please wake up.</p>
<p>I attended Dartmouth, and though I thought the frat scene there was too prevalent, I appreciated the down-to-earth nature of the student body. Though students there were no doubt just as smart as those who got into Columbia, there was certainly no overwhelming need to show off one's intellectual superiority.</p>
<p>This fits into the look before you leap category. There are universities with very smart people who are not necessarily intellectual. But, if you choose a university -- like Chicago, or Columbia, or Reed -- where the curriculum is based on small-class discussions of the Great Books with fellow first years, or sophomores, it seems likely to me that a significant portion of your classmates will be those who believe they would enjoy intellectual discussions of literature and philosophy, art and music. If you choose a college where the largest major is history, and there's the lingering reputation (whether up to date or not) of political activism, and it's known as a breeding ground for journalists, you can probably expect that some portion of your fellow classmates will want to engage in political discussions. Given that, there are certainly ways to find people at Columbia who have other interests as well.</p>