<p>I'm just curious what different like about Columbia's campus.</p>
<p>Not gonna lie, personally, although Columbia has NYC, i feel that Columbia's campus is a little too small for my taste.</p>
<p>anyone?</p>
<p>some people like small places</p>
<p>What I heard at Colmbia's Convocation last week from one of the esteemed speakers, was that NYC serves as Columbia's "expanded campus". </p>
<p>The fact that you step out of your dorm right into the center of the campus has its advantages for a first year student who is brand new to NYC. I got the sense from my daughter that there was an immediate sense of familiarity and she liked getting to where she needed to be pretty quickly. Again, she is very far from home and I think to her, "small" seemed comforting.</p>
<p>I'm a first-year student at Columbia, and the campus is amazing! I honestly think that the campus's size (GIGANTIC for Manhattan but small compared to other large universities) definitely works in Columbia's favor because it really mixes different students studying different disciplines nicely. For example, I was sitting on the Low Library steps the other day and I see to my left at first a couple taking pictures of the campus, with looks of astonishment on their faces. Then I look in front of me and see a computer science student typing on his laptop. To my right is a girl silently reciting lines and making hand gestures for her drama class. As I walk back to my dorm, someone calls my name and it is none other than my academic advisor! Overall, the campus gives the school an amazingly integrated feel that no other campus I've been to can mimic.</p>
<p>When I visited, I thought the size of the campus was perfect for it's location. I liked how I could walk from end to end with ease, but then I could exit the campus, hop on the subway, and go where ever I needed to go (which was the east side at the time). I may sound a bit gushy, but I just thought it was a perfect fit for me when I visited. Even though it was raining and my umbrella was totally broken (the wind had broken 3/6 of the pegs earlier in the day), I just had a great time exploring the campus.</p>
<p>The buildings were beautiful, the study room in Low was great (my sister goes to their grad school so I nabbed her BF's temp ID [he goes to Mt. Sinai med]), and I just got that "this is MY school" feeling after visiting.</p>
<p>When I visited, I really liked the campus. Although it's not big enough to get lost (which is good because I don't have a great sense of direction), I totally forgot that I was in the city. Good luck to everyone else who's applying, I hope I get in too.</p>
<p>its the best of both worlds: beautiful enclosed main campus, but you step out the gates and you're smack in the middle of the best city in the world!</p>
<p>When my S and I first visited, he felt he had a "Hogwarts" moment, because from the outside, you really don't know you're right next to the campus, but then you find a gate, step through, and the whole thing appears before you. He was entranced the second he experienced that, and decided that this was where he wanted to be.</p>
<p>Plus Columbia has beautiful classical architecture (as opposed to gothic architecture at a lot of other schools). I liked the enclosed campus in the big city, and my mom's jaw dropped when she saw the number of trees and the amount of green on campus. It's an urban school, but you can get away from the city on campus. It just clicked with me.</p>
<p>I think I was also surprised about the number of trees on campus. The campus does not look like you are in New York city. It is amazing how Columbia produces so many great research with such small space.</p>
<p>Having spent time on California campuses, where it can be a 20 minute trot from one corner to the other, or you need a bike to get around, my son loves the Columbia campus, where nothing is more than about five minutes away. His first year, he could practically roll out of bed and into class in ten minutes flat.</p>
<p>He also likes the feeling it gives as a haven from the city just outside the gates. As he puts it, when you're up for dealing with the hustle and bustle, it's out there for you. But when you feel like getting away from it, you can just hole up on campus and there's plenty to do there, too. The campus is one of the things he likes best about Columbia.</p>
<p>It's where Peter Parker met Mary Jane!</p>
<p>It is truly a thing of awe when I wake up every morning during the school year and when I walk outside my dorm, I can see Low Library and Butler Library and the South Lawns. You are completely taken out of New York City, but at the same time you know that if you walk 1 avenue in either direction, you are smack dab in the middle of the most bustling city in the United States. There is absolutely nothing like the campus of Columbia.</p>
<p>The Columbia campus seems a little too small for my taste. However, I still think it's gorgeous and the buildings have a beautiful classical feel.</p>
<p>small campus is good for someone thats used to waking up 10 min before class starts. like.. me</p>
<p>Columbia's campus is the most beautiful urban campus in America. Compared to other urban campuses like Berkeley and the University of Chicago, Columbia is just gorgeous in every respect. Personally, I like having everything centrally located on one campus. In other words, I like seeing the professional schools and graduate schools on the same campus as the undergraduate school. Columbia's medical school is in Washington Heights which is a way's away from the undergraduate campus in Morningside Heights. I think Columbia also has other facilities that are located in other parts of the city.</p>
<p>it's a spectacular neo-classical work. Easily my favorite college campus in America. I loved the campus, and it almost drove me to go there (though ultimately I didn't want to do undergrad in NYC)</p>
<p>But how about dorm? It does not looks like fancy just like other ivy.</p>
<p>the dorms look just as nice if not better than any other ivy. i should correct myself though. i don't remember which dorm it was (to the right of the library maybe?) but it was built to be torn down but never was, just looks more like an apartment building.</p>
<p>although i will admit yale probably does have the nicest dorms of any ivy.</p>
<p>Less-than-spectacular dorms are a blessing in disguise. The less you like it, the more time you'll be spending out of it, socializing, debating, learning, doing extracurruciulars, or in Columbia's case, exploring NYC!!</p>