<p>I just visited Columbia today and it was all fun and good.
But what are any negatives about Columbia--in your opinion?</p>
<p>******<strong><em>8cough8</em></strong></p>
<p>Our administration has the reputation of being uncaring and stingy. I admit to cursing the school’s administration on more than one occasion, but they don’t do anything that I haven’t heard about at other schools. </p>
<p>Sometimes being in the city so much burns me out, but that is completely personal.</p>
<p>There are a few threads along these lines floating around…at least one has a good number of responses, do a search.</p>
<p>The course registration system…
it sucks.
I have been working on it for hours~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p>
<p>^^lol yea i’ve been searching for threads but i want an updated one.</p>
<p>was ranked 2nd most stressful college in the US, by the dailybeast i believe. school spirit is pretty bad(e.g. other than homecoming, pretty much nobody goes to the football games). its cold during the winter. cafeteria food is crap.
other than that i enjoy it a lot.( CC ’ 12)</p>
<p>I’m a grad student so I have a different perspective, but</p>
<p>-The administration sucks (more than my experience at other schools)
-The professors aren’t the best teachers
-It’s kind of a stressful environment - it’s not competitive, but there’s still this tendency to compare yourself to your fellow students. Not to mention that the graduate students here are crazy and seem to think that 24/7 work and being poor are the signs of being a good scholar, and value that over happiness and sanity.</p>
<p>But registration is easy, I don’t understand why people keep having problems with it.</p>
<p>GSAS '13</p>
<p>^It seems some pre-frosh are trying to register before they’re supposed to. “Problems” are to be expected…</p>
<p>my Undergrad dorm has no air conditioning</p>
<p>^Should have chosen Carmen!</p>
<p>I have been reading some reviews that people fill out when they study aboard or do exchange programs with other schools in the US. It seems that the consensus is that Columbia is more “intense” than almost every other school in the world. Most people found that they had less work and a more leisurely atmosphere at other schools. This includes Oxford/Cambridge, Harvard, Princeton, Georgetown, Stanford, etc. </p>
<p>If you don’t like intensity and working your ass off, then you probably will not have a good time.</p>
<p>You are making me nervous fastfood, I am having my first columbia class next week!</p>
<p>I’m a small town girl and I think I’d die being thrust into the City. Plus, I’m not rich enough to afford basic entertainment there.</p>
<p>lol thats what someone i know was telling me.
he says he is dying trying to find entertainment within his budget</p>
<p>The perception that student life is unbearably expensive is misguided. My Columbia son pays for all of his living expenses (except his room and meal plan) from his summer savings and his part-time job in NYC. NYC has everything–both the outrageously expensive and the dirt cheap–and a much greater variety of both than virtually anywhere else. When one burns out on Koronet, one moves on to crack del. And so on. When one burns out on Natty Light… one has another Natty Light!</p>
<p>He’d much rather spend his money on cheap entertainment in NYC than train fare from a suburban or rural campus to gain access to a place like NYC. What’s it cost to ride the train from Princeton and back? The answer: A spicy special and many Natty Lights.</p>
<p>"The perception that student life is unbearably expensive is misguided. "
That’s not the report that I got from my daughter. I guess perceptions differ.</p>
<p>^I agree that perceptions differ. Some perceive that attending college entails frequent access to nightclubs and nice restaurants. Many of those folks (with the requisite wealthy parents) attend places like Columbia (and Barnard, NYU, etc.). Few of them attend Dartmouth, or Williams, or even Princeton (except the truly wealthy, who can afford not only the high-end NYC-or-equivalent lifestyle, but also the transportation costs to access it). Like students at Dartmouth, Williams or Princeton, Columbia students can enjoy life on and around campus without huge expense. Only when one believes that college life requires expensive entertainment does Columbia become relatively expensive. (By the way, the cost of a spicy special at crack del is significantly less than the cost of a celebrity sandwich in Williamstown…)</p>
<p>One of the life lessons that my son is learning is that financial limits prevent one from doing “everything” one’s friends do. A corollary lesson he’s learning is that it’s easier to become close friends with folks who have similar budgetary restraints. These lessons are harder to learn at places where it is difficult to spend money on entertainment.</p>