<p>You are not convinced. That is fine. But this is a public thread, so the goal, as I have stated, is not to convince you, but to convince other people by laying to waste your claims (that are based on speculation and hearsay than actual evidence) that Columbia doesn’t have a culture built on “the individual personalities of the men and women who make up that university.” First this idea is vague. So vague it refers to almost every university. But let us suppose it is true, and something is weird about Columbia in the city. I get that sense because I was skeptical of the city when I first applied too. You see, a lot of people said things about Columbia before I applied and even after that made me not really consider it as an option; to be honest I only applied because I had made a bet with my dad when I was 13 that I wanted him to help pay for a school ‘like Columbia.’ Silly, right?</p>
<p>I wanted a very small undergraduate experience, where the emphasis would be on the learning community. But I got into Columbia, and began to be intrigued more and more. Ultimately, I only decided to attend Columbia on a single condition - if Columbia was located in some remote town, did I like the pedagogical structures, the personality of students and the accessibility of professors enough to make me want to go there over any other school. I decided to go to Columbia despite its location. Because honestly I had the most incredible visit there; it truly upended my expectations of what college was, and I saw nothing that would tell me that the city was somehow a detraction from the experience. I decided to attend because the professors I visited were more engaged with teaching undergraduates than I found at small LACs (at least in my area of interest); the people I visited were more willing to take time out of their day to show me around and talk to me than any other school I visited; the culture seemed friendly, certainly aided by the fact it was 80 degrees in April; but it was really obvious that I felt at home there. That the learning community I wanted just happened to be in the largest city in the country was a shock, so much so that it took my mom to tell me - “throughout this process I have never seen you more happy than when you came back from Columbia.”</p>
<p>It is for that reason that I encourage you, even if you despise me and hate my guts, to at least visit Columbia for yourself. And most preferably, over taking a tour or listening to an admissions officer, do a visit where you get to chat with undergraduates - a lunch visit is pretty good, and eventually I highly suggest staying over night if you can. And this is an advice to you, or anyone else riding along on this thread.</p>