<p>Hi everyone! So, I'm a high school junior looking at colleges. Currently, my top school is Columbia. I visited the campus over break, and found that I loved the place (the library was spectacular) and also felt more comfortable with the surrounding environment than I expected. I originally looked at Columbia for it's astrophysics program, because it has one of the few good ones in the country. I found that the environment is to my liking, almost like you see in the movies, with crazy math problems on chalkboards and empty pizza boxes everywhere. I was just wondering what everyone's experiences have been with this school. Of course, I know it's an amazing school, and I also know it's extremely competitive. Before I get serious with the application process, I wanted a first hand experience. Thanks so much!</p>
<p>Columbia can provide the finest educational preparation in the world. As I recall the Physics Building is a national landmark because of the Manhattan Project. The Contemporary Civilization Core is great.</p>
<p>Did you want to know anything specifically? I get the same question about my alma mater (Spelman College; I am a graduate student at Columbia) and it’s very difficult to answer. There are many things that make up a “college experience.” It’s easier if you have specific questions or wonders.</p>
<p>My husband and I attended the university in the 1970s. The neighborhood has transformed, the city has changed, and the undergraduate colleges have become much more selective, but the university remains unbeatable for undergraduate education if you want to be in NYC. You won’t have a lot of the traditional campus experiences that you might get elsewhere, but you have the world’s greatest city (or, at the very least, a strong contender for that title) as your campus. The city was grittier and more dangerous when I arrived as a seventeen-year-old, but it was also more affordable for a young person. You will have to consider that, when calculating the cost of attendance: there are no savings to be realized by moving out of the dormitories. My husband has said that his rejection from Harvard was one of the best things that happened to him, because he feels the undergraduate education at Columbia was superior.</p>
<p>DS is starting there in the fall. You haven’t mentioned finances, but they do very well in providing need-based aid. It’s cheaper for him to go to Columbia than to go to our state flagship (although probably even when figuring in all the transportation costs).</p>
<p>Look into Cornell for its astrophysics program its truly amazing as well.</p>
<p>There is a Columbia forum to browse:
<a href=“Columbia University - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/columbia-university/</a></p>
<p>Columbia is simply put, among the finest undergraduate educational institutions in the WORLD.</p>
<p>While Columbia is indeed, one of the top colleges in the world, I am personally not a fan of urban campuses for undergrad – grad school is a whole different story. </p>
<p>Several happy Columbia alumni, including corporate CEOs, Nobel winners and a pro athlete or two, would disagree with you. Sounds like you never had a beer in the basement of John Jay Hall, or at the West End bar across the street. Never played Frisbee on South Field, did you? LOL.</p>
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<p>Actually, there are thousands* of folks who would disagree with me. And I have no problem with that, since my personal opinion is just that.</p>
<p>*Otherwise, urban campuses such as NYU, BU, George Washington, et al, would not exist.</p>
<p>I think that to go to Columbia as a 17 or 18 yr old, you need to want and feel comfortable in a truly urban environment. You also have to take into account that taking advantage of all that NYC has to offer involves money, probably more money than you would spend in almost any other location. Even taking student discounts into account. </p>
<p>For my S, coming from a semi-rural small town, it was too hardcore urban when he was looking for an undergraduate school. And we knew that he would have very little spending money. He didn’t apply to C, and chose Dartmouth instead. By the time graduate school rolled around, he was more sophisticated, having lived in Paris, DC, and Lyons, and he loved Columbia and NYC, leaving it only reluctantly now. On the other hand, a friend’s son, who had always lived in suburban environments, liked D, but when it came down to it he really wanted an urban environment and chose to go to C, where he has been very happy. (He also has family in NYC, which may help.)</p>
<p>Morningside Heights is MUCH safer than it was in the 70s and early 80s, no doubt. </p>
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<p>It was pretty safe back then for this kid who grew up there in the 70s-80s, now it’s ridiculously boring/no grit/safe :)</p>
<p>To answer the OP, one thing that gets kids excited or completely turns them off is the Core. How do you feel about that?</p>