Campus:
Very stone-and-marble campus. It was a bit cold, but that's coming from me who's looking for warm lighting and lots of trees in a college campus. The low memorial library had a really nice, old money vibe with a very high ceiling. The cobblestone walkways were so cute and I could definitely understand loving it there! I personally just wouldn't feel at home at Columbia. My dad and I went to Joe's coffee shop after our tour and usually, one would expect dark lighting and wood, chalkboards and jazz music in a college coffee shop. This one was quite different. It had a lot of metal and white around, alternative music playing (The Shins, to be specific). it was very modern and cool but again, personally I would want to study in somewhere for warm and comforting. That being said, all the Columbia students studying there seemed to really enjoy it!
Info sesh:
It was very very interesting! I've been to quite a few info sessions (Muhlenburg, Lafayette, Princeton, Johns Hopkins, and Franklin&Marshall) and this was definitely up there with the most engaging. They stressed a few main things, One, the two things you absolutely need to attend and enjoy Columbia is 1) a love for reading and 2) a love of an urban environment. They talked about how much the core curriculum was valued and again, contained lots and lots of books!! They said you might end up reading more in your first year than other college students read in their full four years. They stressed how awesome it is to live in New York as a Columbia student because of all the opportunities made available to you. Tickets to museums and shows, hands on experiences for classes. It really is the cultural capital of the world, and they let Columbia students take advantage of that.
Tour:
My tour guide was so sweet. She was this tiny Asian girl with a huge, loud voice and a British accent. She was so awesome and of course she shared the fact that when Gossip Girl came to Columbia to film, the called it Yale and got kicked out. And when they went to Yale to film, they called it Columbia and also got kicked out. She showed us one of the libraries and the names of all these dead white men inscribed on the outside, and that years ago, a bunch of students climbed up there and put names of women, African Americans, Hispanics up there.Now there are screens covering them and whenever people ask if their for the birds, they have to say, no they are for the students.
Overall, I just realized Columbia was for a very specific person and that person is not me. A very academically oriented person would love it there, someone who is going to college for an education first and a social life second. I absolutely love to learn and read and have a huge intellectual curiosity, but not at the level Columbia is looking for. It was definitely a great experience though and i could totally see how people would love it there! I mean, a college campus in the middle of NYC is pretty dreamy.
Well, ta ta for now
-Molly
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