<p>A few years ago, we arrived at Columbia for the first time expecting the worst: indifferent staff, rude NYC students. Surprisingly, the staff and students were both incredibly gracious and accommodating. Contrary to our expectations, merely asking directions caused both staff and students to go out of their way to show us the building we were seeking.</p>
<p>It's unfortunate, but one's impression of the school can be heavily influenced by a few people. At one Ivy, our tour guide was a real dimwit. At another, we found staff and students to range from indifferent to downright rude. I'm sure neither experience reflected the true experience at those campuses, but it can be very off-putting. My advice for admissions directors would be to spend a few less dollars on brochures and a few more on getting the best guides possible, training them well, and evaluating them to be sure they are enthusiastic, articulate, and can answer most common questions. Needless to say, the admissions staff should be friendly and helpful, too; at more than one school, we got the impression when we asked a question that we were interrupting an important activity (like drinking coffee!); these people need to operate in a sales/customer service mode, not like motor vehicle bureau functionaries.</p>
<p>What I remember about the student tour leader at Columbia is her answer to my question about how she would describe Columbia: "intellectually stimulating." Most places, the answer was "fun" or "good". That said, you obviously can't make a decision based on tour guides and admissions offices. Yale admissions was a disaster -- forgot their own schedule, kept everyone waiting more than twenty minutes, at which point a completely unapologetic former football player showed up to tell us how hard Yale is to get into. At Brown, team-members of our tour guide thought it would be funny to lie down on the path in front of the tour, leaving the whole group of parents and potential students to step over them. The tour guide just shrugged and said these were some of his friends. At Columbia, the admissions presentation was fine, emphasizing that students should really decide whether or not they like a core curriculum, a statement with which I completely agree. Not everyone has to like it, but everyone who applies to Columbia should know that it really is a central part of the experience. I found the room almost unbearably overheated. Guess we could have elminated it based on that.
Glad we didn't, cause my son has come back from his first semester there convinced he made the right choice.</p>
<p>All the negative comments about the admissions office(rs)...I totally agree! I visited HYP (no S, since we're from cali), MIT, and columbia w/ two friends last summer, and I have to say that my least favorite info session was Columbia's. The lady that gave the talk was so incredibly presumptious. She kept on emphasizing "learning...value of education...blah blah" and didn't tell us any of the practical stuff until like, the last five minutes. At one point, she starting talking about how we were all "bright and motivated" students who would never sleep in our spare time. Then she asked us what we did in our spare time, and called on me first, and I was like..."um, sleep?" After looking very taken back (and slightly offended), she proceeded to call on the other prospective students who answered "write poetry" or "play violin" or whatever. I was thinking the whole time, are you kidding me? Extracurriculars hardly count as spare time. In fact, most students in this room probably don't have spare time. and if they did, I'm sure that most of them would choose to sleep! (a very rare and valuable commodity, mind you).</p>
<p>haha, sorry for that rant. I just had to get it out of my system. The info session reeked of self-presumption and haughty intellecualism...but then our quirky, unassuming tour guide more than made up for the admin lady and restored Columbia to my good graces.</p>
<p>hahaha, i wish i could've been there to see her face when you said "sleep." yeah, sleep is definitely one thing i could use a lot more of these days. is it the same lady who talks every time? mine was short and had dark curly hair, i remember, and was kind of old. </p>
<p>when she went around the room, though, she asked us what our prospective majors would be, and mostly everyone said "pre-med." the remaining ones were "pre-law." (i don't fall into either one of those categories.)</p>
<p>but i don't think she was stuffy or overbearing. she did bring out relevant points throughout her talk, and advised us on how to apply, what they look for in the "why columbia" question. additionally, two students (one from CC and one from Fu) were bought in, and that was extremely helpful. they weren't arrogant, just down-to-earth and answered even weird questions from the audience.</p>
<p>I don't sleep in my spare time, I sleep in my sleep time.</p>
<p>The bit about all the doctors and lawyers is funny though. Sounds like too many people don't know how to have fun or do what they want to. I hope that's not representative of the student body.</p>
<p>About Columbia students not being up there with HPYS, doesn't Columbia have the third highest number of students who go on to earn Nobel prizes, only behind Chicago and Oxford?</p>
<p>hmm i hope sempi or w/e gets into like 4 good schools..chooses the wrong one..then goest hrough hell in college..and think that his whole life..he shoulda gone to columbia..he shoulda applied...Bleh..hehe..i dont knwo why i said that:</p>
<p>I was pretty bummed out...Columbia has a good linguistics programme, but unfortunately vritually no sociolinguistics (I am looking fr graduate programmes) that was the only reason for me to exclude it from further research...though NY seems to be screaming at me "come hither, come hither, screw sociolinguistics"...sigh...</p>
<p>I was greeted by a fairly obnoxious admissions representative when I went to visit for the first time. The programs he described were good, but his tone was very condescending. Our tour guide wasn't great either. She knew where everything was, but she wasn't great at explaining everything. Not a great start. I however, seemed to find something about the character of the campus and the general atmosphere. </p>
<p>I took a summer program there and loved it. It really helped change my mind about the school. After meeting the admissions rep from my area, the school became much more enticing. I met with my college counselor, a former Columbia student and adcom, and after a lot of discussion, decided I would apply ED. I could not be happier with where I am going to be attending school next year. It all depends on your personal reaction to the campus in general, not just one or two bad people.</p>
<p>birdofprey, i doubt everyone's premed/prelaw. the student body actually seems really hip and with it. columbia's not the type of school where students just roll out of bed in the morning (for the most part, anyway, i think) --they seem stylish and cool... not like stuffy nerds.</p>
<p>I pretty much just roll out of bed in the morning. I hope that the amount of time you spend on your hair is not directly proportional to your coolness. I'm not necessarily un-stylish, I just find most fashion silly and frivolous.</p>
<p>hmmm when I moved to Cali I realized that the rushed nature of NY precludes anyone from actually enjoying what they do (at least for me) indeed, I was much more happy in a cali atmosphere and did much better in school</p>