I just entered my senior year in high school, and I really like Columbia. I think it is a good school for me due to the strong academics and urban location, which are two qualities I really needed in a college. However, my family will not be able to get out east (I’m from Illinois) to visit, so I wanted to see what the campus, area, and life is like there. I realize that acceptance into any Ivy is slim, but I don’t even want to waste my money on applying if it wouldn’t be a good fit just so I can brag about an Ivy League School. So what are the athletics like? Are the students friendly? Is there any type of party scene? (Partying is definitely not a main priority of mine, but it would be nice to have the option once in a while) Are the students really into school pride? Here’s some more info on me, if anyone would like to give me some tips on applying, essays, or let me know if I have a shot, I know these schools can be wild cards.
-All honors classes
-Taken AP US History, AP Gov, and AP Lang (done well on all AP tests), currently taking AP Physics, AP Bio, AP Spanish, AP Psych, and AP BC Calc
-ACT: 33 (taken it twice and gotten this both times, trying to get it up a point or two in September)
-GPA: 3.99 unweighted
-played violin for 9 years
-Hospital Volunteer (4 years)
-Key Club (4 years, member at large junior year, treasurer senior year)
-JV Tennis (Soph year, then I got a job and began working so I couldn’t be involved in a sport)
-Speech Team (Soph, Jr, and Sr years, Novice mentor my Jr. and Sr. years. Last year I earned a spot on the regional team where I was the regional champion, Team Captain Sr. Year)
-Student Council (Soph, Jr and Sr years, Co-President my sophomore year, then applied for exec board end of Soph year)
-Executive Board (Jr and Sr years, select board composed of 3 juniors and 3 seniors that organize all events and delegate things to other student councils)
-NHS (Jr. and Sr years, elected President for my Senior year)
-Freshman mentor (Jr. Year, program was discontinued for this year)
“School Pride” is different than in the midwest. 1) there are tons of colleges jam packed together on the E coast. 2) even if you’re at an Ivy, bragging about it simply makes you look like a … braggart. It’s not done. Except at school specific events (FB games, etc.).
The athletics are competitive but I don’t get a sense of huge backing of FB. Some area high schools where I live in MI do better than my Ivy alma mater (not CU) did for its football weekends. my buddies and I went b/c we had lots of friends on the team. But they aren’t events like you see at B10 schools. Other teams usually have friends and family backing them and cheering them on.
This spirit is NOTHING compared to the midwest where lots of people have a favorite Big10 team and participates in the various rivalries, whether they attended or not.
The on campus unity or rah-rah spirit is diluted by the proximity of the city. More isolated Ivies like Cornell, Dartmouth, Yale and even to some degree Princeton – have bigger on campus focus – is my opinion.
I am a current student and think T26E4 is quite spot on in his extrapolations. People go to the homecoming game for football but don’t really care that often. Sometimes they go to other school games - I only attended one bball game between Cornell and Columbia but it seemed well attended. I would venture to guess that Ivy-Ivy games are more popular, because of the competitiveness. There is sufficient partying. It’s not a everybody-get-drunk fest except for Bacchanal (spring concert), but every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, there are parties at the frats, and in East Campus/other places with big rooms. You can participate in it as much or as little as you like. I know a girl who went out every weekend night for the first term of freshman year, so.
I think everyone is reasonably nice. However, I don’t know if it’s a NY thing more than a CU thing, few people are going to go out of their way to say hi if they don’t know you after NSOP. After you meet someone, people are reasonably nice. School pride…not too much of a thing. Everyone wears CU stuff, but it’s in poor taste to brag about it unless you’re making fun of Cornell at a game. Plus, NY. No one cares what you do or where you go to school unless you’ve been introduced in a particular context. We have a solid alumni network though. There is a lot to do in NY, so I think it dilutes the school spirit a bit. If you’re more of an independent person, you would probably like it.
i’ve seen one too many people who apply to a college early decision and end up hating it