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Columbia University Visit Report by adman921

Visit to Columbia University in January 2008 by adman921
(Student, HS Class of 2009)
(Member since March 23 2008 with 93 posts)
 
5 of 5 people found this visit report helpful

Visit Activities:


Campus Tour: Yes - It was not an official tour - it was by a student, but he did a pretty good job of covering everything.

Campus:


Friendliness/Courtesy of Students:
3 - Good
3 - Good



Friendliness/Courtesy of Staff:
3 - Good
3 - Good



Appearance of Campus:
4 - Very Good
4 - Very Good



Building/Facilities Maintenance/Cleanliness:
5 - Excellent
5 - Excellent



Dormitories:
4 - Very Good
4 - Very Good



Security/Safety:
4 - Very Good
4 - Very Good



Overall Campus Impression:
5 - Excellent
5 - Excellent


Off-Campus:


Area Immediately Around Campus:
2 - Fair
2 - Fair



City/Town/Community:
4 - Very Good
4 - Very Good
NY! If you go any further up the west side it's kind of dangerous, but you're in New York - just take a ten minute subway right outside of Columbia's gates to anywhere you want to be i

Campus Visit Notes for Columbia University


Visit Description:

My visit was great. However, people need to realize that Columbia is not a typical college.

Right when you step on campus, you feel a sense of maturity as opposed to visiting NYU or other colleges in the area. There is definitely a very cold, intellectual atmosphere which manifests itself throughout the campus. Whether it's in the students, faculty, or even in the appearance of the buildings (lol i swear) you can tell that this college means business. But it's a good thing that's exactly what I'm looking for - a place where I can expand my intellect and expand my thought process.

It would be unfair though to propose that there is no party life and no fun at Columbia. The people I did speak with were great, highly motivated people who I could definitely see myself being good friends with. I also visited the nearby Hillel (which was very nice and big), and it seemed like it had a very active community. My brother went to Columbia and he said that there was plenty of parties and drinking, etc. - so all you cold intellectuals out there who still want a party life...no worries.

While the campus does get some flack for being either small or not nice, I did not see either of those two aspects. I like the campus a lot - it's very centralized and it spans a great amount of land. Also, the architecture is amazing - buildings are beautiful, librarys awesome, and the layout is just very orderly. It looks like a great college campus - but that might be because i'm not so into that whole Maryland campus deal.

I only ate at the kosher caf at Barnard - the food was not good. But again, you're in new york....there's a million places to eat right outside.