<p>I’m looking to be a Physics major and do pre-med. I love Columbia but am unsure about how strict its core is. I know that some Ivies like Brown have an open curriculum but Columbia’s website doesn’t seem to have too much info on the subject. Is CC’s core straining esp. for what I want to do in college? Thanks for advice.</p>
<p>Yes it is restrictive … the point of the core is that all Columbia College students take a common set of courses … here is a link describing the core … [The</a> Core Curriculum](<a href=“http://www.college.columbia.edu/core/]The”>The Core Curriculum) … few colleges have a similar set-up … it’s one of the major defining characteristics of Columbia College. Brown and Amherst are a couple of the few schools that place no (very few?) requirements on what courses students take. Most schools have distribution requirements requiring some courses in many areas of study but allowing the student to fulfill these requirements in many-many different ways.</p>
<p>In terms of strictness, if you are in the college, you will not get your degree until you complete all of the Core. Period. No exceptions. Now in terms of your majors/pre-professional choices, it is very possible but it will take a LOT of planning and diligence on your part. One of my friends is a Bio major and pre-med and she has literally planned her courses for the next 3 years. So if you are a great planner/organizer and are willing to develop strong relationships with your advisers, you should be fine.</p>
<p>The core is the following:
Lit Hum x2, Contemporary Civilizations x2, Music Hum, Art Hum, Frontiers of Science, UWriting, Foreign Language Requirement (which can be waived using AP), Global Core x2 (which can count for your major if you’re humanities/social sciences), Science Requirement x2 (easily satisfied by physics majors), 2 semesters of PE + swim test</p>
<p>It’s quite easy to get a major + concentration, noticeably harder to double major (you have to take 5 classes every semester and skip electives, but a lot of people do that anyways). Also it’s probable that your core GPA will be higher than your STEM GPA (even if you get killed in UWriting, music and art hum compensate).</p>
<p>Some take core classes like art and music during the summer to get them out of the way and make room for more of what they want to study.</p>