<p>I would say that whoever wrote those comments just wasn't suited to the school. It's unfortunate that instead of recognizing that and transferring, said individual wasted their time writing that crap.</p>
<p>Yes, the Columbia bureaucracy is notorious for being a monstrous, unsympathetic, unhelpful pain in the ass. The system is very deeply flawed. However, all of the administrators individually are not out to get the students. I can see how your experience with just a few that are can really color your perception (I would pay money to never have to speak to the Barnard gym coordinator, for instance, and just forget the Hartley desk), but there are plenty of people who will at least <em>try</em> to do something to help you. It is possible to circumvent the more evil administrators by taking other routes. So to sum up, I agree that the administration is extremely frustrating. It won't, however, ruin your experience unless you let it.</p>
<p>The other comments are just stupid. Aesthetically displeasing? I suppose if you, like the person who wrote this, walk around with contempt and loathing clouding your vision, you might not noticed the light of the setting sun reflecting off of Low, or the glow of the lights from Butler's windows at night. Trust me, the campus is not aesthetically displeasing. Maybe it didn't suit this person's taste or something. :/</p>
<p>I don't know about everyone else, but I've never felt unsafe on campus. Sure, it's not a sterilized bubble where none but the chosen people can enter, but I think having a campus where we'd have to do like a retinal scan to get in would be slightly annoying. Really, of course you can't walk around drunkenly counting your wad of $100 bills at 4am. But generally if you have any common sense whatsoever, you should be able to feel safe on campus, what with the guards at the entrances and having to swipe into the buildings. Also, if anyone tries to tell you that Columbia "borders on suuuch dangerous neighborhoods" or "is practically, like, in HARLEM," feel free to laugh at them. Columbia is not located in a particularly dangerous place, is just that, as in most cities, you don't want to walk in a deserted area alone at night. Again, a little common sense goes a long way. As for sexual harassment and stuff not being investigated, I don't know about the past or campus security, but health services takes it quite seriously and there are procedures in place to deal with that.</p>
<p>The part about academics is bull. I had never heard such a ridiculous thing...until I got to the part about how "students tend to be isolated, depressed, and defeated, and mask insecurities by becoming snobbish and form cliques." Seems like the person who wrote this was extrapolating their own misery to include everyone else. I haven't yet met anyone who's "cold, uncaring, and disillusioned." Columbia, like anywhere else, won't make you happy unless you put some effort into it. That's life, and if you ask me this person needs to suck it up and deal.</p>