Columbia University in the City of New York Top Questions

I love all of my classes even if they do not relate to my major or the core.

The education at Columbia is what you make it of it. I know plenty of seniors (and even juniors) who have jobs lined up for them already once they graduate because of the networking and experience they have come across because of their hard work at Columbia. I also have upperclassmen friends who have enjoyed learning for its own sake and plan to take a year or two off to figure things out after graduation before settling down to work full time. Almost all students, however, are responsible about their classwork and study appropriately.

Hard. I don't care what you heard...that Ivy's are hard to get into, but once you get there it's a breeze. Whoever told you that is a LIAR. You will get an awesome education as long as you put the work in. There is no half-assing any of it. You need to study, you need to read, and contrary to popular belief, you need to go to class and pull an occasional all-nighter. Find something you like and major in it (it doesn't matter what it is as long as you like it), get an internship, and find time to have fun once in a while.

The Core Curriculum is what CU is most famous for. You will receive a well rounded education before leaving here. Classes are not social and very competitive. Professors are very friendly and are more than willing to meet and write recs outside of class. The education is not professionally based. The major options are limited and to not encourage careers right after school - except engineers.

Columbia students frequently have intellectual conversations outside of classes and I have found multiple teachers that have taken a vested interest in their students outside of the classroom and taken the time to learn my name and others'. I can not say I spend time with professors outside of the classroom. I frequently feel that it is detrimental that classes at Columbia are focused on learning for learning's sake rather than learning in order to prepare students for jobs and the real world. To elaborate, that feeling stems from the fact that Columbia has an extensive amount of required classes which I find pedantic and absurd when they do not relate to one's specific interests and won't serve to better one's position in the work field after college.

Engineering classes are large and most professors do not know your name until you take more major-specific classes starting junior and senior year. However, if you make the effort to talk to a professor, he or she will remember your name. Students study a lot, and tend to go to the undergraduate library all of the time. Some students are competitive, while others are not. Most favorite class was Contemporary Civilization. I think Columbia's academic requirements are great, they really open you up to different areas of academia. Majors in the engineering school are more geared towards getting a job and majors in the college are more for learning for its own sake.

tough.

Professors do not know most of our names. Students always have intellectual conversations, I definitely feel the difference when I go home and try to hold a conversation with someone who just cant do it. Being in the Joint program I get a different view of the academic requirements for graduation, i think there are too many and it doesnt give you any room to take classes outside of your major.

Academics vary widely by department, and by school (since Columbia students can also take Barnard classes and sometimes classes at the various graduate schools). For example, in my tiny creative writing department, professors and students are on an easy first name basis with each other and contact each other regularly inside and outside of class. This is not true everywhere though, there are tons of huge lectures here and sometimes you'll never speak to the professor. It's important to note that the vast majority of the core classes are taught seminar style, which means you will have an opportunity to speak in class and you will hone the skills needed to think on your feet and analyze another's student's argument. This is valuable and should not be overlooked. Students vary about as widely as the classes do. I wouldn't say there aren't super competitive people, or those who insist on speaking constantly and loudly in class, but they're usually just begging for an A. There are plenty of gradations of commitment and interest, so students of any type as long as they're able to handle the academic rigor will do okay and find similar peers. This is definitely an "education for it's own sake" kind of school. Degrees here are rather specifically not in any practical arena (we don't have "business", "marketing", or "journalism"), Columbia is all about gaining knowledge and learning how to learn.

Most classes are great.. where is the inflation Harvard students get though? Everyone complains that the grading system is quite unfortunate.