Columbia College Chicago Top Questions

I think a lot of people would refer to students at Columbia College as Hipsters, or "Art Kids," which i guess in some respect it is true. I would classify the major of the kids here as those. Everyone marches to their own drum here.

Our school is very much divided by departmental stereotypes. We have a nerdy AV & Grapic Design department, a partying music and theatre department, and a druggie film department. However, those people who fulfill those stereotypes don't tend to excell as much as those who don't. There are plenty of hardworking Columia students who are more than willing and able to succeed in multiple aspects of their career path.

At Columbia, the biggest stereotype is probably the hipsters and really over the top artsy and theatrical people. Everyone at the school wants to be famous. We have a lot of stereotypes depending on what major the students are in. We definitely do not have any jocks or frat kids but stoners, hipsters, and arts kids make up the population of this school.

Hipsters! Abstract-thinking, overly-artistic hipsters. And yes, there are some here, but there are also people here who are almost too normal and seem to belong to a state university. But when we poke fun at ourselves, the joke is definitely that we're super-art-school hipsters.

The stereotype of Columbia students is that we're all a bunch of hipsters and art kids with whacky colored hair who chain smoke away all our parents' money. Of course, a large percentage of Columbia is like this, but being a typical art kid is by no means necessary to "fit in" or to find a great group of friends. Our school's population is so diverse, you find all different types of people here, so it's hard to say that any one specific stereotype is accurate.

Students are stereotyped as "Artsy" and creative. And this stereotype is very true. Columbia College students are all different and have creative minds. No student is the same as the other. And even better, it is a very accepting and networking community.

The stereotype at my school would be considered "hipster."

Columbia College Chicago is a college that is completely unique. Learning is focused more on the networking, and how you might use a class in your professional career. The college has definitely taken a new twist on liberal arts education. The most unique thing about Columbia College Chicago are the students themselves. When you think of an arts school, you might have images of kids wearing paint splattered clothes, and people with an interesting sense of style. I love that even though art school students are often labeled as "hipsters", students on campus do not always fit that mold. We are kids that have a passion for what we are going to school for. We live what we love. If that makes us "hipster" or "art school freaks", then I will gladly wear that stereotype.

I lot of people stereo type students that go to Columbia as hipsters, artsy and free spirited. Although it is not nice to label people before you even know them, for the most part, those three stereo types are true. However, I have heard people stereo type people that do to Columbia as druggies which is false because not everyone who is creative is on drug and not everyone that goes to Columbia does drugs either!

Columbia is an urban arts and media school that attracts all types of students. A general image of my peers is that we are open-minded, right-brained, movers and shakers who express themselves in unique (and sometimes absurd) ways. To an extent, this is true. In my experience, a majority of students embrace diversity in all forms and attempt to create something that has not been done before, regardless of their major. However many students do not identify with the traditional image of an artist. To create modern day entertainment, it takes an array of people and personalities. Columbia is a place for these students to gather. You do not need to spend your days painting your soul on canvas while listening to smooth jazz and sipping your green tea to create something unconventional and conceptually dynamic (and if that is your creative process, you'll fit in too!).