skyhawkk08

What is the Social Life at Columbia like? I've heard from various people that students at Columbia are "socially agressive, not there to make friends and just get there business done." How much of this is truth? Also, how much is actually getting to know people and hanging out vs. going to a bar and getting wasted on friday. What is the typical Friday or Saturday night like?

dpa38d2u

friday and weekends are mostly out to bars; theres not much to do on campus

College Grad

I think Columbia has a thriving social scene on campus. There are many ways to get to meet people, starting off with orientation. I was an RA for two years and one of my principal jobs was to bring the suitemates together. I organized intramural basketball and volleyball, which was a blast! During the week, there are many functions on campus that will also allow you to meet and interact with students. Of course, IMHO the best way to improve your social life would be to join clubs, etc and get active on campus.

As far as students being "socially aggressive," I don't believe that is really true. Sure, there are intense folks on campus, but most of my friends and many people I knew were laid back just like myself.

Ultimately, your experience will be determined by YOU. If you are the type of person who gets intimidated by meeting people and getting involved, then you will probably struggle to have an enjoyable social experience.

slipper1234

Its OKAY. Its not a true campus based social experience like most of the other Ivies, but its no NYU either.

StolzerPilz

can anyone tell me about the dancing scene at columbia? are there salsa dancers?

lynda

more like thursday friday and saturday.
sunday alot of people choose to stay sober since monday's a school day and even though we got some crazy party type people, this is still an academic oriented institution..

biggyboy

lol where did this come from?

Columbia2002

There's nothing "typical." That's the thing about Columbia.

StolzerPilz

@ biggyboy:
it's just a hobby of mine.. and i wish there were people to share my interests?? lol

ThatsFunny

there's a latin dance group called "Sabor" and they do salsa, meringue, etc.

Denzera

the dance team has instruction classes with all kinds of dance. I got talked into learning tango last spring, for example.

Layla121986

In my first few weeks here, somebody told me "Enjoy the weekends now. Once classes really get going, you will almost never get to go out." He was right. I use weekends to study and sleep. FYI--I'm a sophomore in SEAS and taking 6 classes and I bit off more than I could chew.

slipper1234

VERY community driven party/ social Ivies: Princeton, Dartmouth
Lots of partying, less community: Penn, Brown
Parties on the weekends but not everyone hangs out: Yale, Cornell
Somewhat social Ivy but cliquey: Harvard
More small group based social experience/ bar scene: Columbia

christina011889

hahah thats so funny! i love slipper1234's comment! i'm applying to penn woo party!

Denzera

uh, yeah. "woo party".

most everyone at columbia has a social life. anyone who wants to find a party can find one. the difference is that they are smaller and there's more of them - i've only seen one party in my time there that was Animal House / Old School sized, and that was a halloween party that took over an entire dorm and caused not just the cops but the fire dept to show up (at 4am, mind you). most parties are smaller, cozier affairs, where your friends' friends bring their friends and you try to not get busted by an RA. some buildings (and RAs) are more conducive to it than others.

most people's social lives are very custom-tailored and personal, there's no "typical party scene" or circuit that everyone-who's-anyone goes to. you get friends and you hang out with them. pretty basic really.