Columbia University in the City of New York Top Questions

Largely, yes - albeit the Princeton or Yale bit. I feel Columbia was the first choice of so many of the people I've met here. Also, the campus is huuuuuuuugely Asian.

The first is definitely not true. While the bleachers at the sports games may be pitifully empty, there's still a campus feel. People lounge on the lawns and throw around frisbees on warm days, there's tons of clubs, events, activities in the student center, etc. The other stereotype - we work 24/7. Sadly, about true. We have to work really hard, whether in the College or the School of Engineering. But we get good at making time for friends and fun. The school is indeed extremely liberal, with rallies and protests being pretty frequent. In my first semester at Columbia we had the giant Ahmadinejad (President of Iran) visit and protest, and then hunger strikers on the lawn a few months later. Hunger strikers. Really. Through in a protest for the Jena 6 and a few others in between. But outside from protests people really do good. Groups like the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, Community Impact, do everything from social justice work in Uganda (IVCF) to a great deal of service around New York City.

yes, although (obviously) there is a huge range of students at any school, and people will certainly find other people they like in a group of thousands...i just didn't feel like i fit in with the majority of students.

All of them are accurate, though not as a stereotype. We definitely have students who feel that Columbia was made for them and that they are better than everyone else, but we also most definitely have students who appreciate everything about their Ivy League experience and never take for granted the fact that they made it here. Everyone here has something special about them, usually multiple things, so in that sense a lot of people are over achievers and well-rounded, as well as plain genius. But there's also the slackers, the procrastinaters, and the loners who are wise and already know that its impossible to live up to perfect standards. Negativity is definitely a problem, unfortunately, and its definitely apparent, but it doesn't have to change you or affect you if you don't let it.

Yes haha but Asian and Jewish people are awesome. I grew up thinking that everyone was Roman Catholic, but now I have maybe two Catholic friends.

I definitely don't see Columbia as the most studious ivy, though the core does require a lot of motivation. Cocaine - I guess it depends what people you hang out with, it definitely happens though I'm not sure what to think of the rumor that people use it to study for exams. The most accurate stereotype is probably that Columbia has less of a campus centered social scene because the people who come here love the city and spend a lot of time off campus.

Clearly not for everyone, but I transferred to Columbia from Duke and I have observed that at Columbia people conform much more to that stereotype than students at Duke, where the workload is equally intense.

Although there are a lot of Jewish students, we're not all Jewish. And there are a lot of humble, attractive, poor people. However, we are afraid to go beyond 125th St.

Yes.

Yes.