<p>I have a quick question/observation. I spent the last week hanging out at Columbia with many of my friends from prep school. It was awkward with some of them because NYC seems to really be able to separate people by income because of the many options that the city provides. For example, one friend (a multimillionaire) didn’t want to go to the same places my other friend (full FA) wanted to go to. And the full FA kid couldn’t afford the places my rich friend wanted to go to. </p>
<p>This <em>seemed</em> to be the pattern of the campus (Rich kids with Rich kids and vice versa). This was different from prep school and, from what my friends say, Brown/Dartmouth/UVA/etc where for the most part everyone, regardless of money, only had access to the same relatively inexpensive parties and restaurants, although that is not to say you can’t tell who comes from morney or not.</p>
<p>Is this a correct assessment of Columbia/city schools? Are do the classes mingle more than an outsider can tell? We all know NYC is expensive but it would suck to not go to a school where the campus culture is self segregating.</p>
<p>Edit: My last sentence should read “it would suck to go to a school where the campus culture is self segregating.” …And I put had where I meant has somewhere in there. Thanks for any answers!</p>
<p>I’d say don’t generalize. I went to a Columbia peer school and my large circle of friends had very wealthy people to full FA types. We mingled freely. Sure, one kid might go with his family on Spring Break to Europe while some others stayed on campus – but so what? It’s really the individuals. There’s bound to be some sort of cultural differences but I wouldn’t fixate on it.</p>
<p>i think your experience has too many particularities that make it hard - i mean the difference between the multimillionaire and the kid on FA is stark. but folks like me that were on FA - we are a diverse bunch, and most of us made it through and found friends of various backgrounds. in fact i found that despite the fact i was living off the extras from my finaid grant i tended to be far more ‘generous’ than my friends whose parents definitely had money. i think it is important in all friendships that folks be willing to compromise and everyone gets to take their turn setting the agenda for what to do.</p>
<p>i think one thing that helped me get through my time in school (and this was something i affirmed in trips to friends who went to other ivies) is that no matter where you go folks always are stingy when it comes to splitting the check (and i know this is a problem at brown and other places because i’ve experienced it). in the name of avoiding the rather nasty confrontations that occur, if you feel you are able, always dump a few more bucks in. it is something that i continue to do today because it still is a problem in young adulthood. folks take finances personally and guard their money, even if they have wealth. and you could be eating at a hot dog place and you’ll be surprised how surprisingly the check always comes short. i think this is really more of a statement about people being self-interested and not thinking about the group, and this is a problem that you’d find even if everyone had the same amount of money.</p>
<p>Wow, that makes a lot of sense. I truly apologize if I offended anyone by generalizing. I just had the idea that on the weekends the rich kids would go to the fancy clubs while the not-so-rich kids would go hang out around campus or catch a movie. Whereas at Dartmouth, I’ve heard everyone goes to the same frats. Thanks for sort of clearing that up, and if anyone has a different opinion it would be appreciated.</p>
<p>Personally, even if I was a rich kid I would hang out around campus and watch a movie. And I know many rich people that lead rather mediocre lives. For most kids, they’re either born with wealthy parents or not. But how they use their parents’ wealth is really more of a personal choice, in my opinion. And I think admissionsgeek made a stellar point about being generous with your money.</p>
<p>I do not think you will be able to find a college that provides FA for clubbing. I think you will find that college kids with money don’t race out to all the expensive clubs every Thursday and Friday night. There are plenty of West Side dives that fill up with college coeds.</p>
<p>That makes sense and I want to clarify that I wasn’t expecting Columbia (or any college) to provide money for clubbing and I know that non rich kids have plenty of of options for fun in NY. I was more asking about the campus community and if the many venues that NY provides causes people not to mingle because rich kids go to a certain type of place and poor kids go to another. I’ve since got some very good answers that have me leaning toward chalking it up as a non issue.</p>
<p>So you went to prep school…and didn’t notice any social stratification due to income? That’s surprising. Regardless, I don’t whether you and your friends are current Columbia students or just prospies; it’s not clear from your post. Finally, Columbia students generally consider it to be a very diverse environment (unless they study sociology in which case they realize that the vast majority of students come from the upper-middle classes). There’s St. A’s, and obviously some people have more money than others, but social life doesn’t seem to be controlled by parental income. We consider ourselves egalitarian, in contrast to Princeton, which we believe is full of elitism and harsh income stratification (see this WikiCU page: [Princeton</a> University - WikiCU, the Columbia University wiki encyclopedia](<a href=“http://www.wikicu.com/Princeton]Princeton”>Princeton University - WikiCU, the Columbia University wiki encyclopedia) or come to Orgo Night). Columbians tend to be highly self-critical and susceptible to guilt that they are so privileged. Those who flaunt their wealth are few and far between; the vast majority of students feel uncomfortable with that.</p>
<p>lol I’m a senior at boarding school and clearly some people have more money than others, but when you’re in the middle of nowhere it doesn’t matter very much because the only available fun is relatively cheap. My friends are Columbia freshman and I was visiting them. I’m sure most people at Columbia are not elitist pricks who consciously don’t hang out with poor people (unlike Princeton?); I was just afraid that because NY is so full of opportunities the richer kids might pursue fun outside of most people’s income. I’m getting the sense from these replies that this is not the case, however.</p>
<p>…And sorry about generalizing Princeton kids. I know they’re not all elitist pricks.</p>
<p>I don’t think that the campus is stratified along divisions of wealth. Then again, most of my friends are middle class, with a few who have financial aid. I don’t know if this means anything, but I know very few people who are extremely wealthy. However, you should read up on Operation Ivy League. Harrison David would probably be upper middle class, Stefan Vincenzo is poor (Gates scholarship), and Michael Wymbs is loaded. I don’t know how good friends they were as much as business partners but I wouldn’t say money plays a large role in most people’s social lives.</p>
<p>However, the international students are extremely wealthy. I think Columbia tends to court well-off students from Nigeria, Pakistan, India, Hong Kong, Singapore, etc. These students, most probably due to cultural reasons, tend to stick together and do club and eat at places that I can’t afford. </p>
<p>However, I’d say most students are middle class and very wealthy students hang out with themselves. There are a number of students whose parents have bought residences around Columbia so they would probably be excluded from the residential experience. Logically, your argument does make sense: if you’re in the middle of nowhere and there are only 2 bars, then most everyone will frequent those locations. Once you have more choice, there will be increased stratification.</p>
<p>Also, just adding that there are few very wealthy people at Columbia who are American. The Rockefellers and Kennedys don’t send their children to Columbia. </p>
<p>Columbia has a small undergraduate body and I don’t think wealthy American students want to exclusively hang out with a tiny subsection of a smallish class.</p>
<p>Beard Tax, your answer makes a lot of sense because my wealthy friend is international! My perception of Columbia was probably skewed because we hung out with many of his friends who were also international. Thanks!</p>