Columbia University Visit Report by Hatoyama

Visit Activities:

Classroom Visit: Yes - I got to sit in on one of the most boring seminar classes — dubbed "Dinosaur," and part of the Core Curriculum. But it was just part of life, I guess.

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Campus:

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I hung out with a few Columbia students and they were all very sociable and interesting. Then again, I'm used to "city" people, so a Midwesterner's opinion may be different.

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Again, very approachable people. I can't comment much on the notorious "red tape" covering the administration, but the staff I met were all pleasant.

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The campus looks like a "real" college campus plopped in the middle of the forests, say, Connecticut. But the buildings are closer together, and if you walk a block east or west, you're

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Aren't all colleges just a tad dingy? But the athletics complex didn't even have that funky smell! Everything was quite clean.

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Nothing to complain about, nothing to write home about.

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It's New York, but to get into all the dorms, libraries, athletics center, you have to swipe your Columbia ID. I felt very safe at all times.

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Off-Campus:

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Please, it's New York City! Morningside Heights is a cute little neighborhood and all up and down Broadway are nice shops and cafés.

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Again, it's New York, perhaps the greatest city in the world!

Campus Visit Notes for Columbia University

Visit Description:

I found very little to complain about at Columbia. Sure, the food wasn't gourmet, and a few blocks to the northeast it can get a little sketchy 9PM onwards, but really — it's a great university. Among the things I liked most were the beautiful campus, the genuinely friendly and interesting people, and the fact that it's in New York.