<p>I'm deciding between Duke and Columbia, and I didn't want to start another Columbia vs. X thread because it already exists on the Duke board, and plus they're a little lame. But anyway, a question for anyone who is some experience with Columbia-What's the quality of life for undergrads at Columbia? I hear a lot of emphasis is placed on the Grad level, even more so than at other research universities. Also, is there much of a community at Columbia? I know Duke, and a community definitely exists there-from tenting to dorm life. I know they are two VERY different schools, but is undergrad life at Columbia so poor that I should disregard the school? I like Columbia's approach to education (core, etc), plus I know and like the city, but I'm just afraid that going to Columbia will just be like taking classes and living in New York rather than GOING to college, and having that "college experience." (Of course Columbia is a college and going there would obviously be an experience, but you know what I mean) Any thoughts?</p>
<p>What the hell is "the college experience"?!!? I just don't understand. Everybody talks about it, but I have no idea what it is, and I doubt the people who use it know what it is, either. You need to define it. I want to see what you'd come up with.</p>
<p>You don't know what I'm talking about? Community, spirit, stuff like that. Columbia's alumni giving rate is very low among other prestigious universities. I think that would be a function of/comment on Columbia's "college experience." That's what I want to know-why. Like I said, I know one will have some sort of experience at Columbia. But will one look back on Columbia fondly, or the city fondly? Don't intellectualize the f-ing question...you know what I'm talking about.</p>
<p>I really don't know what you mean by college experience. Do you mean parties and drinking and rituals and frats? Do you mean museum visits, concert going, coffee shop frequenting? I assume you don't mean academics. College experience means different things to different people. Columbia definitely offers a lot of the second question if you want it. But Columbia does have drinking and frats and things, too, if you want them, and you won't have to worry about finding close friends. Going to Columbia is much different for me than going to NYU or any other college in the city. So it's not like living in the city and taking classes. There is a Columbia community without a doubt, and you would be a part of it. I don't know how you could ever call undergraduate life at one of the greatest schools in the country and in the world and in one of the greatest cities in the world "poor."</p>
<p>Jamishmo -- Don't take offense. I think people just get tired of answering this question. If you scroll down in the threads you'll find a discussion about the undergrad experience and social life in many of them.
I'm not sure what the alumni giving rate indicates, other than how effective the fundraising effort is at any given university. I don't think it reflects much beyond that.
If, by "college experience" you mean a big Greek scene and a big rah-rah factor around sports, Duke is your place. Obviously, Columbia has frats and sports, but that is not the main focus of undergrad life. Beyond that, Columbia has four years of campus housing, so you will have dorm life. It has tons of student groups and things happening on campus as well as off. So, it would not be like just having an apartment and going to classes.
I hope you can visit both places and talk to LOTS of students. These campus cultures are so different that I can't really see them being equally appealing to any one person. It really just comes down to you.</p>
<p>Thanks. I just wanted some reassurance that Columbia does indeed have some sort of community, albeit smaller than Duke's.</p>
<p>i am a columbia alum and i can tell you that you will not have the typical college experience at columbia. it will be different from other ivies and other schools like duke. people who go to columbia either enjoy the city for what it offers or they feel cheated regarding the "college experience" thing. during my 4 yrs, i felt BOTH. there were times when i loved being there and times when i thought i had made a huge mistake. it is not for everyone. columbia is a great school and it offers a unique experience. is it for you? only you can answer that question. good luck!</p>
<p>Interesting post, fairburn. I wonder whether students at rural colleges, snowed in for the winter, or tired of seeing the same faces every day, ever also have times when they think they've made a huge mistake. And other times when they love it. I wonder whether these days colleges are so difficult to get into, and cost so much, that students enter expecting to love every minute. And, of course, they are still 18 to 21 years old and swinging from one mood to the next from one minute to the next. Just a thought.</p>
<p>I do agree with you though, that every school offers its own opportunities, and figuring out where you are most likely to seize them is what it's all about. The tricky part is figuring out whether the place that appeals to you at age 17 or 18, is the place that will appeal to you when you are 21 or 22.</p>
<p>krikey there's a lot of defensive people on this board ...</p>
<p>I go to a rural school but when I visited Columbia (and from talking to people there), the social scene focused on NYC and not the school. I'm sure you would have a great time but you will remember those good times associated with the city and not necessarily the school. It's not necessarily a bad thing. It's just different. And evidenced by the rather inflammatory posts here, you likely won't have your traditional "college experience."</p>
<p>sac:
I see and meet new faces all the time and am rarely bored. Restaurants aren't as nice as in the city and I don't have a million bars and clubs to choose from, but I've had a blast and don't regret it.</p>
<p>Great, Shizz. Glad you found a place you love.</p>
<p>How can you not associate the good times with the school if the reason you are even in the city is because of the school?</p>
<p>I transferred from Columbia to Dartmouth, and my rationale was 100% based on a lack of community at Columbia. I think, personally, it was the best decision I have ever made.</p>
<p>In my humble opinion, if you feel a little bit nervous about going to Columbia then don't go. I always felt that Columbia was a place full of self-selected students who wanted to integrate the city into their education and don't really need the traditional college life. Not everyone wants this sort of education. It's definitely not the traditional college experience. If you want the traditional college experience, than you might regret going to a college that does not really have one. You'll meet people at other colleges too. You'll have opportunities at other colleges. You need to find the best fit for you and if Columbia doesn't feel right, then it doesn't. For me, the opportunities at Columbia are boundless in what I'm interested in, and I've spent most of my high school career trying to avoid "traditional" high school events such as prom and our big spirit rallies...but to each his (or her) own.</p>
<p>hahah don't get me started on prom. . . . I'm the same way.</p>
<p>I just got back from columbia, and I didnt sense this lack of community at all. It had a very centralized campus with people just crawling all over the place. It wasnt like people were 24/7 in nyc, it seemed like most of the people most of the time were just layin around on the fields or on the steps, studyin, talkin, relaxin, or playin frisbee. I just didnt feel this lack of community everybody is talkin about. Also, I felt like if I wanted I could spend all my time on campus and not set foot in the amazin city and still have fun, which i prolly wouldnt but the option is there. Everybody seemed happy in an open diverse central community right in the middle of the best city in the world.</p>
<p>I completely agree. It seems like most of the people who talk about the lack of a traditional undergrad experience at Columbia aren't current students. I'm not really even sure what exactly the "traditional undergrad experience" means. It seems as ambiguous as the "moral values" that supposedly determined the result of the last presidential election.</p>
<p>very well said im glad someone agrees did u enroll there already</p>
<p>the freshman are surely more cohesive at columbia, but as soon as your hit the upper years, everyone diverges into their own little nyc niche. Its a much more dissociated campus than you think, students live everywhere and of all the ivy's, columbia has the least on-campus presence, namely because it has even a better campus in the form of nyc. At yale, the residential college system makes everyone coherent, students identify with their college, live together for four years, do IM's together, whatnot. </p>
<p>Just think about the size of the campus at columbia and the size of the yale campus. Columbia is MUCH smaller in terms of campus yet has many more students. Where do you think all those students were? Not on the quad. Columbia's deceiving in that way, because you go the morningside heights quad and you see all these students bustling about, what you don't realize is that its such a small fraction of students (just think how morningside houses CC, SEAS, Law, Business, most of GSAS - realize that you probably didn't even see mostly undergraduates there).</p>
<p>sorry, that post should have been on the columbia v yale thread</p>
<p>Traditional college experience = lots of frat parties </p>
<p>atleast thats what I'll define it as for my convenience</p>
<p>but Columbia really had no lack of parties from what i heard on my viistations</p>