| Slipper and Matzah- I think you raise a good point, being that the Columbia social scene is more oriented toward small groups, and that is independent of the "emptying effect" of the city. I've never been to a truly large party here; the size of suites and that of the limited number of frats, if anything, dictates against that, and the bar scene mandates it from early on.
This and the seminar style of most core classes, which people take in their early years generally, makes Columbia feel a lot smaller and more intimate than it really is, which is why (in addition to the compact campus) I never got the sense that I was overwhelmed by grad students. Universities seem more intimidating, I think, when they're physically large in addition to the size of their enrollment- Penn and Harvard in particular feel vast, though the latter has the merit of a mediating house system. |