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[quote]
Two streets up and you're in Spanish Harlem- I'd love to see you have a conversation about Plato and sip lattees there.
[/quote]
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<p>This is a misconception; Spanish Harlem is actually on the East Side (Columbia is on the West). It is true that there's a rather shabby mostly Hispanic neighborhood a few blocks down Amsterdam, and that the projects are just a few blocks north, though. Interestingly enough, there is a really hip new coffeehouse/bar (Sip) in the Hispanic neighborhood and a Dunkin Donuts that certainly sells lattes across from the Grant Houses to the north. Still no signs Plato is being discussed there, though- but nor for that matter very often in the cafes of Morningside Heights itself.</p>
<p>though this is a very silly and ridiculous thread i will chime in on two points....</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The New York City that is in the brochoures absolutely exists! The area directly surrounding Columbia might not be the best but wake up, thats reality....some people are poor and need a place to live and they arent all murderous thugs either that is extremely immature to say and also has very racist underpinnings. I have lived in NYC (Manhattan) for the past 21 years and I think there is no other place like it in the world like it and its a GREAT city and I think thats a good reason to want to go to columbia...it shouldnt be your first reason but its a good one. </p></li>
<li><p>No Pain No Gain....why are you giving halopeno2 the time of day? If as you said you have nothing to prove to him then y do you continue arguing with him. He has never attended columbia and has lived in the city for such a short time that his opinion really does not matter. As for Columbia2002 I have noticed that he can come off as mean but he is quite honest for the most part....also his opinion is at least relevant here since he graduated columbia unlike halopeno2 who shouldnt even be on this board.</p></li>
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<p>Sorry to jump into the middle of this heated debate, but I have a question for columbia2007.</p>
<p>Do you have any reason that you'd like to go to an Ivy League school beyond the fact that it's an Ivy League school? What originally drew you to these schools? Did you research every possible school and decide that these, above all else, were the best overall fit for you?</p>
<p>
[quote]
Shraf, why do you discount my opinion?
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<p>u r not answering the question
u do not go to columbia nor r u affiliated with it in any way
doesnt seem like u have any reason to be on this board in the role that you have taken up
your tone has a hint of jealousy</p>
<p>
[quote]
Do you have any reason that you'd like to go to an Ivy League school beyond the fact that it's an Ivy League school? What originally drew you to these schools? Did you research every possible school and decide that these, above all else, were the best overall fit for you?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Actually I think one of the things that originally attracted me to Columbia was that it didn't feel as cloistered or "exclusive" as some Ivy League schools Princeton or Yale. I'm from Boston and Harvard has always been held up as the "ultimate" university to me...Columbia was in a larger, different city that would allow me to become independent and it offered the Core, something which only Chicago can really compete with it for. Indeed I had looked at Chicago, as well as other non-Ivy schools like Georgetown, Wesleyan, and Tufts. Obviously I did not research every school, but things like the academic experience and an urban location made certain places stand out, the latter reason being why I never considered rural LACs like Amherst or Colgate.</p>