<p>Hey guys, as a current science student, I'm very familiar with science research at Columbia. While Columbia is a bastion of the classical liberal arts education, it is also a science powerhouse, with ~90 Nobel prizes affiliated with Columbia. If anyone has questions about research or specific departments, feel free to ask!</p>
<p>A few points to consider: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>Students can and are encouraged to start research as soon as you arrive. There are even programs to get your feet wet if you've never done research before! See Frontiers</a> of Science?Trying Out Research (FOSTOR) | Columbia College</p></li>
<li><p>Overall student to faculty ratio at Columbia is less than 6:1, and in the sciences it is closer to 2:1. Not only do I get more individual attention in class, but the small classes allows professors to get so personally know me, easily leading to research opportunities and letters of recommendation. All my research experiences I have was through just talking to professors during office hours, you will be surprised at how much they are interested in you!</p></li>
<li><p>One of the best undergrad biology research programs in the world is Columbia's SURF program, where last summer Nobel laureate Eric Kandel mentors three undergrads in his lab at our med school. See [SURF[/url</a>]</p></li>
</ul>
<p>There are also many other Columbia-specific research programs, for example from just poking around the Columbia website, I found:
The chemistry department has a summer research program:
[url=<a href="http://www.columbia.edu/cu/chemistry/undergrad/REU/%5DNSF">http://www.columbia.edu/cu/chemistry/undergrad/REU/]NSF</a> REU Program](<a href="http://www.columbia.edu/cu/biology/ug/surf/index.html%5DSURF%5B/url">http://www.columbia.edu/cu/biology/ug/surf/index.html)
As does Nevis lab, Columbia's high energy physics lab in the Palisades:
Nevis</a> Labs REU Program
There is also one for nanotechnology/materials science:
Research</a> Experiences for Undergraduates in Nanotechnology :: Columbia NSEC
And in the school of engineering:
Undergraduate</a> Research Involvement Program | The Fu Foundation School of Engineering & Applied Science - Columbia University</p>
<ul>
<li>The core curriculum is something that scientists will got get at any other institution. Not only will you graduate a much more well rounded student by reading and thinking about great humanistic questions that have shaped our civilization, but it is also directly beneficial to you as I've found that my writing skills have been greatly improved after having gone through the literary bootcamp that is the core. What's also awesome is that while there are a large number of required courses, it is carefully designed so that you will not be constrained to take lots of courses in your major, leaving you plenty of time to do research at the same time.</li>
</ul>