Which non-HYP would be best for me?

Colleges & Universities A-Z Columbia University
21

<p>I did the research, Harvard at 1664 is far larger than Columbia’s class. And Columbia is comparable to Princeton and Yale, and mind you both of those two are in the process of expanding their class sizes to be far larger than Columbia.</p>

<p>As someone heavily involved in campus, I never saw the city as competing with my attention, nor the primary source of my entertainment. I did, however, use the city to my advantage. Whether that meant going to clubs on the weekend, using money that each suite gets to attend the Opera, or treating the Met as my ideal first date location. I figured out a way to use the city. I mean it is probably only odd that my Fraternity had a formal at a cool lounge instead of some smelly frat house. What a horrible nontraditional college experience! </p>

<p>Though seriously, most of my friends were involved on campus in some capacity. I lived in Lerner Hall, worked with various groups. It was my home. Of the folks I knew from class that were not necessarily involved, I would still see them out at parties and enjoying themselves. I can only deduce that everyone at Columbia knew how to have a good time from my experience; which is why I get sad when folks say otherwise on this board. Not because I think they are telling the truth, but because I don’t think they are trying hard enough.</p>

22

<p>I don’t know. I’ve hung out at Columbia a few times. I think the students seem to like it but I don;t know if the majority love it. I think NYC looks “exciting” to high school students who might not fully be aware what they are getting into. I know I wasn’t aware of this when I applied to the school and almost attended. Columbia definitely has some community but it isn’t close to what I’ve experienced at Brown, let alone what I’ve experienced at Princeton and Dartmouth.</p>

23

<p>Harvard has 6,600 undergrads. Princeton has 5,100. Yale has 5,300.
Columbia has 7,200.
Granted, I’m too lazy to look it up for real (I just looked at wiki). Illuminate me if you have anything that proves otherwise.</p>

<p>Pwoods, if you were to somehow have any idea about what you are talking, I would be utterly baffled. Because you sound like a judgmental jack***. </p>

<p>Anyways, I read this
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/columbia-university/1041703-4-years-later-reflections-columbia-college-senior.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/columbia-university/1041703-4-years-later-reflections-columbia-college-senior.html&lt;/a&gt;
What do you think about it? Frankly that’s my biggest fear about columbia.</p>

24

<p>BTW I read your reply. It doesnt alleviate my concerns too much. Could you elaborate on how CAMPUS life is. Or is there no campus life?</p>

25

<p>Columbia has 3 undergraduate colleges, one is a non-traditional school for students that have taken multiple years off from high school or previous college work and want to either part-time or fulltime go to school.</p>

<p>it is similar to programs at harvard, yale and brown. but unlike harvard, yale and brown, the school of general studies is a fully-fledged college of its own with its own resources and for a long time its own faculty until the early 90s when Columbia got rid of special faculties for the college and general studies. approximately 1200-2000 (at any given time it fluctuates, in 2010 it was 2000 students) students are housed in the school of general studies. which although is an ‘ivy league’ school, it is not usually considered a peer of yale college, harvard college, etc., as columbia college and seas as a single unit are considered. currently the target is for columbia college and seas combined to house about 5700 undergraduates and it is unclear when it may or may not increase that number. for example though, in 2008, the year i graduated, it was 5708 students. according to information about expansion of classes - by 2012 Princeton will be at 5500 undergraduates, and by 2015, Yale will be at about 6000 undergraduates as they are in the midst of increasing their class size. each is relatively similar though when you break it down to individual class sizes. *correction Princeton is topping out at 5200.</p>

<p>perhaps you shouldn’t apply then, that is fine with me, i’ve gone above and beyond what most people would do to help you out here. capitalizing CAMPUS doesn’t change or alter what i am going to say about campus life. or the fact that i have written about it extensively in the past.</p>

<p>there is a campus, you live on campus for all 4 years (or at least 95% of students do), there are over 350 student activities, another 31 varsity sports, another 50 club sports. Lerner Hall is located right on campus, and by my estimates it puts on 7000 unique events every single year. columbia has the second oldest college television station in the country, one of the oldest radio stations, an acclaimed independent newspaper. all students live within a 15 min walk of the main part of campus, and therefore feasibly could be very connected to campus. places such as the main library, and all student lounges are open 24h/7 days a week for use. most other campus buildings are open until 1 or 2pm, later at times on the weekend. the campus extends into the neighborhood and therefore comes along with the 10 or so bars, 40+ restaurants, 3 late night super markets and other stores that are within minutes walk. most professors live around, so you may see them often. simply because of how compact campus is, it isn’t uncommon to run into dozens of people while you are making an unceremonious walk of shame home. i used to leave 40 min early for class just to get there 10 minutes late, after running into a lot of folks.</p>

<p>if you chose to become involved in campus activities, you could take on leadership positions, at which point you may have meetings most days of the week because columbia has a very late night culture about it, some of my meetings were not until midnight, and it wasn’t uncommon to stay up late oscillating between homework and prepping for an event you were hosting. the more involved you become the more connected you can be with alumni/ae that come to campus often and mentor students regularly; or to be invited to the houses of various alums in the city that host events at their homes.</p>

26

<p>^Really, why try to convince this person about Columbia? There are thousands of applicants out there who have dreamed of attending Columbia for YEARS and don’t need any convincing - they’ve done their research and discovered that it is the ideal school for them. Why create more competition for the people who adore Columbia for WHAT IT IS and will do well there? I don’t even know why this person bothered posting on a Columbia University board, since they’ve accused you guys of all being “Columbia lovers” - DUH.</p>

27

<p>You accuse me of calling you guys Columbia lovers as if it’s a derogatory term. Get over yourself.
I’ve heard conflicting things on social life, that’s why I’m asking the questions. Btw naimikt, this is research. “Doing my research” would entail asking alumni for clarification on certain issues.</p>

<p>By my understanding from what you and truazn have said, admissionsgeek, Columbia is a place wher eyou need to put yourself out there, and very individualistic. And frankly, I’m looking for a university that will make me feel at home. I don’t think Columbia will do that for me. So Columbia’s crossed off. It’s simply not for me, I want to go to college, not be an NYC pre-professional.</p>

<p>Consider this thread closed.</p>

28

<p>i am not here to convince bzva - in fact hopeless is a better word for him/her.</p>

<p>but i would like to dispel the rumor that columbia does not coddle students. sure it doesn’t baby them the way you are in LACs and such. but like any top flight school it has tons of resources geared toward making you adjust to life, feel like you are part of a campus etc.</p>

<p>how about you visit and then cross off columbia? that is the more ‘rational’ manner to go about college choice.</p>

<p>and ultimately anyone going to college has to ask themselves the question - why? what is the purpose in going to college? what am i hoping to get out of it? especially an education that begins to cost upwards of 200,000$ for a family. at times we must sacrifice immediate goals and desires for long term ones and vice versa. in this regard seeking something that is different, unfamiliar or nontraditional might be an advantage. unless you seriously engage with the question of what you want your experience to be like, and seek to truly learn as much as you can about things, you are just going to make an uninformed decision. perhaps you will get lucky and things will work out, but my experience is that is not the case.</p>

<p>the most prepared tend to be the most able to understand and contextualize their experience.</p>

29

<p>Admissionsgeek, if you think I’m visiting every school before I cross them off, you must be even stupider than I thought.
I have read the reviews, boards, and information that Columbia has sent me. And honestly, you may think you’re a very persuasive speaker, but you actually are useless to my college search.
You are avoiding my primary concern, which isn’t about traditionalism vs nontraditionalism or the purpose of college.
My concern with this thread was that Columbia isn’t where I want to spend 4 years of my life.
I don’t feel the need to justify myself for you because I don’t care what you have to say at this point. You have said your piece and I have used your advice. Unfortunately, I consider your argument to be weak and you to be a nasty, rude, and aggressive New Yorker. If I turn into you, I would commit suicide. If you are a self-declared Columbia lover, I want to hate Columbia.
And what gives you the right to judge me and condescend? You don’t know me.</p>

<p>BTW If you think your opinions of making people like Columbia, think again. You are extremely egotistical and have a repulsive online personality. Maybe it’s the Ivy mentality. Or maybe you are just a jerk. But either way you should be hired as a recruiter for other universities to “vouch” for Columbia, because you did a really good job of making me NOT want to apply.</p>

<p>Please don’t reply to this comment, I would rather sandpaper my own balls than read another one of your douchy posts.</p>

30

<p>What gives you the right to condescend to me? </p>

<p>Your concern was - which non-HYP would be best for me. Your conclusion is that Columbia is not the school for you. I think that conclusion is hasty (it indicates in a sense that you might not be a real student seeking advice, perhaps), and I hope that if you are a student you reconsider.</p>

<p>Columbia isn’t a school that is given justice online, especially on CC. It is something very different when you walk through the gates at 116th street, and hang out on campus. It is a pretty powerful experience. It is special.</p>

<p>Good luck on your college search. I really can’t wait to hear about your trip to visit Columbia.</p>

31

<p>Also - elsewhere you have cited the Gourman Report as a source to champion what are the best IR majors. </p>

<p>The last year of the Gourman Report was 1997. How relevant do you think that ranking list might be? In the 13 years since entire fields have emerged that never existed.</p>

32

<p>For 1: I hope the visit is better than this conversation.
2: I just copied what someone told me in an earlier thread. I’m not aware that the last year was 1997. Do you have any proof?</p>

<p>As for non-Ivy HYPs, community and acceptance are the most important factors for me when evaluating campus life. For example, I visited William and Mary a few weeks ago (my brother goes there, and I visited him for a weekend). There definitely isn’t a lot to do off campus like on Columbia, but the overall vibe is warm and accepting. The doors to all of the apartments and dorms are wide open, and people are always willing to make time to meet someone new. The only person I met who was unpleasant was one frat kid who wanted to start a fight with me because he thought I was a racist (he was drunk).
I want a college experience similar to that: A college whose social life isn;t based on the surrounding city, but on the individual personalities of the men and women who make up that university.
I’m not convinced that Columbia will be able to offer that to me. I wouldn’t call that coddling, though. I would call it community and fraternity.</p>

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<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/tufts-university/242345-tufts-undergrad-ir-ranked-1-a.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/tufts-university/242345-tufts-undergrad-ir-ranked-1-a.html&lt;/a&gt;
According to that guy, it has been made as recently as 2006.</p>

34

<p>[Gourman</a> Report - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gourman_Report]Gourman”>Gourman Report - Wikipedia)
[Amazon.com:</a> Princeton Review: Gourman Report of Undergraduate Programs, 10th Edition: A Rating of Undergraduate Programs in American and International Universities … in American and International Universities) (9780679777809): Jack Gourman: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Princeton-Review-Undergraduate-International-Universities/dp/0679777806/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1285326928&sr=1-1]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Princeton-Review-Undergraduate-International-Universities/dp/0679777806/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1285326928&sr=1-1)</p>

<p>Published December 1997.</p>

35

<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>

36

<p>What you just said makes no sense.</p>

<p>And dont get ahead of yourself, the only think you have laid waste to is everyone’s perception of your personality.</p>

37

<p>Ha explain how that one makes sense? Seriously, I’m beside myself trying to figure it out.</p>

38

<p>lol bzva at least explain how it makes no sense. otherwise you leave the impression that you just didn’t put it in any effort trying to understand it.</p>

<p>anyway, this whole thread is silly. whether a college is a member of a specific athletic conference should not be a criterion for college selection. at all. instead, try thinking about which colleges you actually like and which colleges have the best “international relations” programs, rather than which colleges will make you feel the best about yourself and make people most impressed.</p>

39

<p>What confuses me most is the inference that the OP doesn’t care about “community” at HYP, but is hypersensitive about “community” at other potential destinations. My younger son picked Columbia in large part because of the sense of community he perceived at Columbia relative to other universities, including HYP (and the lunch visit helped cement that perception, admissionsgeek).</p>

40

<p>What are you talking about, Pbr? 1st, may I ask why your name is the same of a cheap, hipster beer brand?
Also I have the same complaint about Harvard. But Yale and Princeton (and Dartmouth, and brown for that matter) all have good communities and united feel. Of course, I haven’t experienced this myself, I can only go by what I have read time after time in these forums.
Plus this thread EXCLUDES HYP. I am only talking about non HYP. I’ve heard about HYP before.</p>

<p>And the reason I’m discounting admissionsgeek is because what he said is so general and so unhelpful. For example, in his last post take away the word “Columbia”, and is there any way that you can tell what he is talking about?
He is being very general and cliche in his description of the school, something I could have found out without directly asking anyone.</p>