Columbia or NYU?

viva_sweet_love
Sun, 16 Dec 2007 13:35:42 +0000

A history test here at Columbia isn’t a reeling off of names and places and dates, at least from what I have experienced. It’s also not going to be rote memorization for multiple choice and fill ins. Every assignment I have had so far in my history classes at Columbia involves writing. An assignment usually consists of a careful analysis of the material with which you’ve been presented during the semester. You are asked to make some sort of synthesis, draw parallels between different times, places, and movements, track ideas and how they change over time, analyze trends/patterns/reversals, identify turning points, and perhaps conjecture what direction something will take in the future.

For one of my history classes I have read about 10 books and a dozen articles, and the final exam is a series of essay questions which asks you to draw upon those materials to do all of the things I just mentioned. This type of assignment challenges you but more importantly, you are allowed to show what you know- not be tricked into memorizing an obscure fact on the bottom of page 72. History here allows you to tackle the ideas which you find most compelling. Original perspectives are welcomed, but any idea you throw out there must be accompanied with proper support and style. I can already see how the classes compel you to develop precision and sophistication of an argument.

Excuse me while I get back to my paper!