Columbia University Visit Report by skipsmom

Visit Activities:

Admissions Interview: No - Not applicable

Information Session: Yes - Standing room only---very overcrowded, large lecture hall behind the dome and difficult to hear. Student presenter boring, no info that isn't better presented on the website. Two thumbs down!

Campus Tour: Yes - Midwest giggly girl very full of herself. Hard to hear. Boring.

Classroom Visit: No - Not applicable

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Campus:

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Good; son met one person in a group of bullhorns and activity (which guide attempted to talk over, unsuccessfully). Student described leadership group activities to son, suggested he look into it.

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The people who checked us in at the Low Library let us leave our luggage in an empty room there while we toured the campus. (We'd come in directly from the airport.)

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Just awful. They should be ashamed that the campus is so dirty. Has a weird, post-apocalyptic vibe that is most unpleasant.

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This has got to be the dirtiest college campus in America, and the buildings are poorly maintained. The window frames were all peeling paint and there was trash on the ground. Gym is pathetic.

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We were not allowed to see a dormitory. Had we known this we would have even toured the campus. Very wary of this as boarding schl tours revealed some Dickensian rooms.

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The area is horrible in one direction, fine in another. We love NYC, so no worries there.

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Ick.

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Off-Campus:

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Okay in one direction, not okay in another.

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Son would love to go to college in NYC, and we're hoping we like NYU better.

Campus Visit Notes for Columbia University

Visit Description:

This was a very disappointing, but illuminating, visit for our son and for us. The shabbiness of the school and grounds, the extreme dullness of the presentation at the information session (I finally pulled out a crossword puzzle as I couldn't hear a thing), the monumental self-involvement of the tour guide.... I hope our son doesn't apply to Columbia.

But, that's what the look-see visits are designed to do: weed out.

Hotel/Lodging Recommendations or Comments:

Grand Hyatt at Grand Central Station, 42nd and Park. Great hotel, Priceline bid at $137 per night, much nicer stay than our recent week at the W a few months ago.

Dining/Restaurant Recommendations or Comments:

Re-visited favorite restaurant Angus McIndoe's otherwise stuck to Cafe Metro types. Manhattan Sky at Hyatt is wonderful all windows,elevated above street level----good food, too, but pricey!

Other Comments (Transportation, local attractions, parking, etc.):

We used trains (to NJ) and mostly taxis. Flew into Newark which was supremely inconvenient when NYU/Tisch suddenly realized 2/16 was a holiday and postponed our info session to 2/17.