<p>So I have been accepted ED and I am ecstatic!! </p>
<p>Just curious, how is the workload at Columbia? Lots of all-nighters? </p>
<p>Is it hard to maintain high grades?</p>
<p>and </p>
<p>How is the social life? Is it easy to balance social + academic life?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>I write this at 5am during finals week, but that’s because i’m a dumb fool.</p>
<p>I will write about all of this more extensively in the near future (promise!), but in short, not outstandingly hard. I know many people who are taking 6 classes and it isn’t impossible. The only all nighters I’ve heard about are from mismanaged time. I think that is the key at any college: time management. If you are used to working a ton in high school, it is probably an easy transition. EDIT: okay when I say work a ton, I mean REALLY work a lot at one of the top schools. Those people find it easier than high school. There isn’t anyone struggling though. We all kind of help each other which is really cute…</p>
<p>Very easy to balance. Both are vibrant and thriving because of our amazing location.</p>
<p>welcome to Columbia!</p>
<p>Thanks! please do 
and if more current Columbians can contribute that would be awesome</p>
<p>@Fastfood15
Just curious, what’s your alma mater? Did you attend a rigorous high school and thus find the transition easy?</p>
<p>I agree with my fellow COlumbian that the workload is totally manageable as long as you have a good work ethic, but that doesn’t mean that you’re bogged down almost ever. There is plenty of time for study breaks, going out, and doing a whole bunch of other stuff.</p>
<p>However, on the other hand, remember that you will be taking a lot of required courses in the Core. A lot of students coming to Columbia are used to getting straight A’s in high school; I was one of them. With these core courses, there’s an interesting policy, that to some would be considered advantageous and to others interesting.</p>
<p>Only 25% of the class can receive A’s, but a lot of instructors, from what I have heard, start out the class by saying, “None of you will be receiving A’s this semester.” I know they shouldn’t be, but what can I say… One of my friends said that her teacher said that if C is average, B is average, and A is stellar, then most people will be getting B’s. On the other hand, there is also a policy in which a teacher must petition to give a C. So pretty much, I guess you can say you’ll at least have a B when it comes to Core courses… what type of B I guess is up to you.</p>
<p>pwoods,
My high school was probably above average relative to the nation, but pretty bad compared to kids here. I took everything step by step and it has worked out so far. Must be all of that natural genius… :p</p>
<p>Thanks. What’s your opinion on grades Fastfood15? I’m aiming to get hopefully higher than a 3.7 in Columbia. (got a 3.98 in ib) is it possible??</p>
<p>sure. anything is possible. Our valedictorian a few years ago graduated with a 4.2. </p>
<p>It all depends on how much work you are willing to put into academics. There are a lot of other important things in college that do not affect your gpa.</p>
<p>Do you get a lot of sleep?</p>
<p>Are weekdays all dedicated to school work or is it possible to have fun everyday? (or do something besides study)</p>
<p>depends. I am a bad person to ask about that though. I tend to have outrageous sleeping habits…</p>
<p>I have an essay due at Noon tomorrow. I’m just getting started. (my fault…) Sleep and fun? Usually, yes plenty. tonight, hell no.</p>
<p>Hope you did well on the essay Fastfood15!</p>
<p>I also am interested on how much workload there is at Columbia. I will be attending in Spring and worry that the load of work will become a health burden. (Rely on “fastfood” b/c of the lack of time to cook lol). Do most students eat out or cook at Columbia from your experiences?</p>
<p>*I know its a strange question, but important to me!</p>
<p>good luck cooking in a microwave as a freshman.</p>
<p>Fast food does not really exist here, unless you count deli food. </p>
<p>There is plenty of time to eat healthy. Milano has a ton of healthy food, but it gets expensive. I wouldn’t count on being able to cook your own food, but it is not hard to stay healthy.</p>
<p>Procrastinating during finals week so I thought I’d drop back in here…</p>
<p>Sleep:
It all depends on your courseload and time management. SEAS kids have more work, in general, but if you’re intent on reading ALL of the core books, I’d imagine that’s a bit of work too. Freshman year is much much easier than sophomore year. If you can manage your time well and you’re from a rigorous background, it isn’t too hard. I was active in 2 clubs and still managed to sleep 12+ hours a day last year. This year, I’m alot busier but still sleep.</p>
<p>Workload:
I’ve taken 6 classes 2 of my 3 semesters here. No big deal… you just need to accept that you need to learn how to plan out your work. </p>
<p>Social life:
I go out 2 or so nights a weekend (out of thurs/fri/sat/sometimes sun). On a busy non-finals week, I’ll still go out 1 night. With enough coffee/enough academic apathy, you can carry on an almost-state-school social life…</p>
<p>don’t most students that get financial aid have jobs that require 10-15 hrs per week?</p>
<p>^ A pretty typical schedule is: work starts sometime on Sunday, usually evening / afternoon, at night for procrastinators. Monday through to Thursday is pretty damn hectic, between going to events on campus, scrambling to classes, getting problem sets and papers in, doing reading, club meetings, getting some work done for round the year internship or campus job plus more. Friday is either a few intense classes (like orgo lab or language classes) or spend 8 hours at work during the day. Most people between thursday,friday and saturday will chose one or two nights to go out and study the other one or two. It’s very rare that people give up all three or party it up all three. The standard is to pick two of those nights, and do academic work the other one. Saturday during the day is usually quite a bit of chilling, unless people opt to relax on Sunday or Friday. There’s a lot of freedom to rehash this schedule and a ton of variance with how much work people receive. I know very organized students in easy majors who become knee deep in 4-5 activities and still have a social life outside. I know some seas kids who simply have to bust their asses to do well in classes. Most people is somewhere in between, dedicated to 2-3 activities (by Junior year), ~5 classes, social life, exercise time, intern / campus job time.</p>
<p>I will graduate having never taken a single Friday class, like ever.</p>
<p>If there are any transfers currently attending @ columbia on CC, how was the transition? Did you have to take many of the core classes? That’s my main concern if I do get accepted, that I may have to take a lot of core classes because my general ed classes may or may not transfer over.</p>
<p>can somebody please explain to me what “CORE” is and if its generally favored by students or not? </p>
<p>Also, is it true that students really get the best of both the college experience and the city life? Or do students rarely actually leave campus to have fun? </p>
<p>In other words, are there actual advantages of being in NYC? I always hear how being in NYC, Columbia offers more opportunities and fun. Any specific instances?</p>
<p>The Core Curriculum is one of the main principles of Columbia…it is a set of required courses all students must take. It’s somewhat less stringent for SEAS than CC.</p>
<p>If you don’t know what the Core is, I hope you did not apply ED.</p>
<p>we really do enjoy the benefits of NYC. From the culture, the food, the entertainment to the academic resources, NYC is the by far the best college town. </p>
<p>If you want the ra-ra frat scene, then there are better places to look. But because you’re going to an ivy league school, I’m assuming that it’s not of the highest importance.</p>