Columbia University in the City of New York Top Questions

What are the academics like at your school?

Zach

excellent

Duo

The academics at Columbia are challenging, but definitely doable. Classes are generally graded on a curve, and sometimes curves are very generous. What it all comes down to, however, is hard-work; even the brightest must study in order to maintain a good standing. Course difficulty also correspond with particular departments and majors; computer science and various fields of engineering, for example, are comparatively hard majors, and, as a result, the average GPA in these fields may be lower than a student majoring in Art History, for example.

Elaine

Columbia's academics are very strong. Many of the intro classes are lecture based, but there are recitation sections that have only around 20 people. Also, professors always have office hours. I was actually surprised that some of my lecture professors knew my name, where I liked to sit, and what grade I had. Students study quite a lot. The main library is often full, but there are many other places to study. The academics are definitely geared towards learning for its own sake. The core requirements give you a wide range of knowledge. A well-rounded education is really emphasized, even in the engineering school.

Wenjun

1. The graduate school divides all the students into small groups consisting 8-12 people. Professors always know you well and they respect everybody's interests. 2. My personal favourite course is the software course. You can learn really fast due to the help of well-organized classes and assignments. Teachers are always patient and willing to teach you everything they know. 3. You can always choose courses from other school.

f

A Columbia undergraduate education is truly priceless. I'm not just memorizing facts and verbally vomiting answers on exams, but I'm actually absorbing material, thinking deeply, and learning. The core curriculum is amazing. It consists of: -literature humanities (lit hum): sampling of best works of western literature for freshmen -CC (contemporary civilization): sampling of best works of philosophy for sophomores -frontiers of science: sampling of science fields for freshmen -university writing: writing boot camp for freshmen -art humanities (art hum): sampling of best works of western art -music humanities (music hum): sampling of best works of western music -global core: anything not western -science requirement: straightforward -PE and swim test: lol.

Shruti

The students are top-notch, so you have to be really top-notch to get noticed, especially in the giant lecture classes. It's easier to be known in the smaller seminar classes with few students. Students are always studying but have healthy social lives too. Intellectual conversations are frequent; competition is heavy. Most students attend office hours - you'll need that to get your way through class. Education is geared towards learning. Every opportunity you could want is here, but you'll have to find it and work for it.

Matthew

I tend to believe that Columbia offers the most challenging academic program of any school in the nation. I have friends at top schools all over the country, and no one's workload compares to mine. The reason for this starts with the Core. Every undergraduate is required to take a number of classes specializing in Western civilization, aimed at making students well-rounded intellectuals. The classes include Masterpieces of Western Literature, Contemporary Western Civilization, Masterpieces of Western Music, Masterpieces of Western Art, University Writing, Frontiers of Science, and Global Core (classes outside of the Western realm). These classes are capped at roughly 20 students, and are each a healthy amount of work. Most students who come to Columbia want to do the Core, and it is extremely rewarding. That being said, if you have no interest in doing it, you will hate your life, and I advise you to look at Brown or some other school that has no requirements. Most students spend their first two years completing the Core, and then they choose a major. The most popular departments here are Economics, Political Science, History, and Psychology. Often it seems like everyone is majoring in Econ! I started off as a Political Science major, but after taking a class with Eric Foner, I switched to History. The History department here is tremendous, boasting such luminaries as Foner, Barbara Fields, Ken Jackson, Alan Brinkley, Rashid Khalidi, and Richard Billows. American history is the most popular specialization, and the 19th and 20th century programs are the best. Since most classes here are small, most of the professors will learn their students' names (especially in Core classes). Most of the professors are approachable, and many are willing to help you with whatever you need. They all live in the city, so it is never hard to meet up with them if you need something. Because this school is, at its core, a liberal arts college, classes are not geared necessarily towards finding a job. That being said, it is not hard to get a job after college. Most people I know plan on going into the financial industry, and major investment banks and firms are always on campus recruiting. Surprisingly, you don't have to be an Econ major to work for them, but many people here are. Past that, a number of students are pre-law (like myself) and pre-med, and virtually everyone gets into top ranked programs across the country upon graduation.

Simon

Columbia's academic reputation stands for itself, I think, in terms of our world-class faculty and successful alumni. On a personal note, though, I love my professors. They will rarely reach out to you as a student first, but they're extremely warm and responsive when you make the first effort to meet them and to ask your questions. They're there for recommendations, office hours, questions about the material, life advice, or just to chat. I've even been to some professors' apartments for dinner! There's nothing like the feeling of being able to spend quality time with these people who have published and who know so much.

Jesse

From what I gauge, academics are generally a student's first priority here. Our largest library is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and there are always people writing, sleeping, eating, or often - literally - living there. The Core is Columbia's academic hallmark. It's difficult to estimate students' overall opinion of the Core. It constitutes such a major courseload (roughly 1/3 of your classes here) so that you are bound to have the world's most pretentious, esoteric, grad student for a teacher in what has to be the University's worst discussion section at some point in your Core experience, but the opposite is equally possible. Overall, people seem to love academics for academics sake.

Phillip

Academics are difficult, really difficult. If you've gotten into Columbia, it's nothing you can't handle, but expect to be logging plenty of hours each night. You'll be okay as long as you keep up with your work. Plan it out, because the only time you'll find yourself really screwed is if you procrastinate too much and fall behind. Columbia College (humanities) students have to read an absolutely ridiculous amount of literature in a matter of days and write papers constantly, while SEAS (engineering)students like myself breathe problem sets and midterms in classes like physics, calculus, and chemistry. Don't try to take more than five classes unless you absolutely have to. It can be rough at times, but if you keep up you'll survive and learn a lot.

sam

my first class dean, i just learned, is being charged with some kind of fraud for acting as the head of financial aid while also being paid as a consultant for an independent company that provides loans (which he encouraged students to buy...look up david charlow if you want to know more). he was totally unhelpful (columbia grad, i guess that's how he got the job) but wasn't fired until after the indictment...my next dean was very nice, but i've only met her once... i started school as a physics major. my first year i focused on physics and math classes, and it was terrible - these classes, especially at the beginning, are large (50-150 person) lectures. i'm 100{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} sure that no one in the physics or math departments knows my name - i didn't try to cultivate those relationships, but neither did they. i left after my first year, and was seriously considering transferring to a smaller school. instead i came back a year later and decided to stop taking that kind of classes. that was a great decision for me - i ended up being a visual art major, math minor. i know most of the visual arts faculty well (i have their phone numbers, and they are interested in my life after graduation). the math minor is a joke, 6 semester classes...anyone could do it. overall, i have definitely gotten a good education from columbia...i feel totally confident talking about whatever is being talked about, and i definitely didn't before college. i also know that columbia gave me a much better education than i could have gotten at the state school near my house. in retrospect, though, i think i might have been happier (i.e. able to stick with the physics major) at a smaller school. it's also important to note that the school makes it hard to get great grades, but extremely easy to get something like a B average. they'll never publish the mean GPA, but i would guess it's around 3.2...you won't fail classes unless you do ZERO work. my freshman physics classes were curved to an A- (!), my 35{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} on the finals got me A's, and i doubt that anyone failed.

Alex

Obviously academics at Columbia are top notch. They do a great job of hiring amazing and experienced professors and keeping the class sizes as small as possible. Class size and attention from the teacher really depends on your major. For Econ and PolySci majors, the majority of their classes will be in a lecture hall with over 100 other students and multiple TA's. For Language or English majors, the majority of their classes will be reasonably sized (less than 20), with no TA's. And generally for all students the class sizes get smaller when you start to take very specific classes for your major, usually during Junior and Senior years. In smaller classes, the teacher will definitely know your name, in lecture classes probably not. BUT, every teacher is willing to know your name and its your choice what kind of relationship you want to have with them. My favorite class has been Contemporary Civilizations (CC for short), which is one of the Core Requirements and is philosophy based. I didn't expect to enjoy this class at all, but it actually changed my life. Reading Plato, Aristotle, Locke, Nietzsche and other great thinkers enabled me to secure my floating thoughts of how the world worked or was suppose to work into my own personal structured beliefs and opinions. I was lucky enough to have an amazing teacher who really went out of her way to help me understand all the concepts and make sure my writing on them was up to par. The Core is definitely something students may be really interested in when they apply to Columbia but quickly realize how they really feel about it once they start taking it. On the whole, the majority opinion on the Core seems to be that students have a great appreciation for it and think its a great idea, but actually daily dread going to the classes. Some of the Core can definitely be eye-opening, and some can simply be another requirement for graduation. My least favorite class was Statistics, but thats only because I'm not a math person and found it very difficult. It took a lot of studying and a lot of work to get through it. All Columbia students are used to work, though, and tend to spend hours everyday studying. There's always a balance ofcourse just like any every other school. We have students who spend their week nights in the library til the wee hours of the morning or even do multiple all-nighters a week, and then there are those go a day or two a week without doing any work and still happen to do well. Students definitely participate in class. Usually theres always three or four that participate the most, but teachers really encourage it so you'll hear from every student a couple of times, and its definitely a very open atmosphere for discussion. Even more important than class discussions are the talks you have outside of class. I have without a doubt learned more from talking with my friends than I have in a classroom. We do have intellectual conversations about concepts we studied in class or current events, especially the upcoming election, and you can always count on hearing the SEAS students rambling off Calc equations to each other over dinner. But students are also silly and immature, down to earth and friendly, and any subject is fair game. Pop culture is definitely a huge topic that comes up all time since we're always bombarded with celebrity and entertainment news every where we go in this country. As a Psychology major I've only taken lecture course so far that have ranged from 200 students to 25. I've made the effort to get to know the professors and what they're looking for in a student, and they have in turn gotten to know me. I've really benfitted from having relationships with my teachers because its reveals more about the class that way. The subject of psychology is really interesting, though strenuous at times with a lot of memorization, and all of my professors so far have been visibly excited by the subject they were teaching. I highly recommend an intro psych class to everyone because you'll learn so much about how the human mind works! In my experience, professors are not concerned with your vague future job but are VERY concerned with your knowledge of the material they are presenting you. Professors know that they have students who just went to Columbia so they could own a Fortune 500 company someday, but they don't teach towards them, rather they teach for the students who are there to learn and to expand their minds. This style of teaching helps both types of students and is very rewarding.

Brooke

The Core STINKS. If you're not sure want to study or you're only interested in one thing, this is not the school for you. The Core takes up a ridiculous amount of your time and courses. If you're undecided about your major, it is difficult to explore majors your first two years because they encourage you (or require that you) fulfill as many requirements as possible, therefore taking up all your hours. The Core also makes it difficult to study abroad especially if you are a double or triple major, though it can be done. There is almost no AP or high school credit, except for language. Professors are pretty good. Because of the great number of Core classes, there are many TAs, who are often great. On any given day, the top specialist in the world (who is probaly affiliated with Columbia) gives an open speech on campus. It's easy to get good grades. It's difficult to get great grades. Teachers usually place a lot of weight on finals, which is great if you've been slacking off all semester (or bad if you decide to sit on the beautiful quad during the first hot days of summer and still not catch up). Students take their work very seriously at Columbia and are always in the library. There is definitely competition in the air, but it is not overbearing.

Catherine

Students at Columbia seem to make a huge deal about how much work they do (again, comparatively to Duke) but I haven't found the workload to be overwhelming, particularly because undergraduate classes here are quite large and it's much easier to skim or skip readings that you aren't being tested on or asked to write about. I would say though that Columbia is much more intellectual than pre-professional, which was very important to me in choosing between academic environments.

Shelby

As far as academics go, Columbia is challenging, but (like Harvard, Yale, Brown, etc.) getting in is almost the hardest part. Because people here are so motivated, everyone seems to do well enough, although it can get a little hectic around mid-terms and finals. People also aren't too competitive, and I've found it very easy to form cooperative study groups. A good thing about a school like Columbia is that students are very driven, and so the institutional culture brings about the best in you. Professors in seminars are very accessible (about two thirds of your classes will be on this scale), while TAs take the lead in large lectures (my TAs have been fabulous, though, and it's much easier to ask dumb questions to a grad student when you're feeling confused). Before you apply, know that the Core is a big deal here-- some students don't take that into account and find themselves overwhelmed by the requirements. In general, Core classes (most of which are fantastic) will take up one third of your classes, most of those occurring within the first two years.

Sarah

The Core Curriculum, much like the campus, is distinctive and amazing, but not for everyone. The classes are small, most teachers are great (in my experience, anyway--but I've had some life-changing profs, so maybe I'm biased), and you will be highly fluent in Western culture after taking them. They'll amount to about 25-33{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of your course work, so don't come to Columbia if you want to choose every course yourself. I came here because of the Core, and it hasn't disappointed me at all. Some texts were challenging, but I adored most of them right away, and I feel so comfortable analyzing any work of scholarship now (reading all of The Wealth of Nations will do that to a person). Core classes also allow for some nice bonding; I really like the perspectives that students from different majors bring to discussion, and it's nice to know that my friends and I are going through similar academic experiences, at least for the first two years. Beyond the Core, Columbia excels in just about every discipline, and there are plenty of star professors to go around. I've generally stuck to the humanities, where classes tend to be small, so I'm on great terms with my professors and have really bonded with some of them. That also means I've been able to avoid TA's, but I've heard they're not bad, and they generally are used to supplement large lecture courses. (From what I've heard, Columbia doesn't rely on its TA's to the extent that Harvard does.) I highly recommend Columbia for anything in the humanities and social sciences (I don't know as much about the sciences, but my friends who are so inclined seem content with their experience at CU).

Nicholas

Sometimes I get the notion that Columbia isn't a place to challenge yourself, but a place to improve what you already know. "Did you take AP chemistry? Take basic level chemistry again, throw the curve." But maybe I'm just bitter. The academics are rigorous, and they certainly do permeate the social atmosphere. I should mention that at Columbia, we have a set of classes everyone (in Columbia College) takes, simply called the Core Curriculum. There's been a bunch of controversy around what should and shouldn't be taught to the general student body, and at the moment they're testing out a broad-spectrum lecture/seminar about current topics in the scientific world. I don't have a major yet, and I'm a little reluctant to decide. A lot of kids know what they want to do the minute they get here, and they blow through the required classes with gusto. That seems to be the norm, but I could be wrong.

Toby

Overrated-- I've attended two other colleges, and the classes are either the same or slightly less rigorous. Getting in the A range in a social science/humanities class is easy; can't say anything about the sciences. Most professors are decent folk who are trying to spend as little time as possible on the class so as to get back to research (can't blame them).

Nicolas

Academics can be hit or miss at Columbia, especially with the Core classes. What's great about the Core, however, is that class sizes are capped at 22, and even as low as 12 for some. This means that you can really get to know your professor if you get a good one, but it also means you can get stuck with an obnoxious grad student who doesn't really want to be teaching the class. Columbia's Core is notoriously difficult and all students moan and groan about it, but ultimately, it's what unifies us; we're all in the same boat, reading Plato for that horrible final. Education is definitely geared towards bettering the individual and offering a well-rounded liberal arts education, but for those who want to buffer their resumes, there are plenty of opportunities.

gabby

i think that overall professors really care about the students and what they are teaching. professors feel blessed to be teaching this community. i think sometimes the undergrads dont realize how fortunate they are to be here and could take more advantage of the opportunity

Aasha

At Columbia, the quality of your education depends on your department. It can be phenomenal like in the econ dept where you'll be taught be Nobel Prize Winners or it can make you want to kill yourself like in chemical engineering for instance where the teachers are too smart to make sense to undergrads. Columbia has a core curriculum which creates a nice balance on campus. There are a lot of differences between the liberal arts college and the engineering school, including the core, class size, student competitiveness, and teacher interaction. In the engineering school, you'll really only have meaningful contact with a professor if you do research with him or her. It's also more competitive and engineers spend A LOT more time studying consistently throughout the year, as opposed to the college students who write a paper or 2 and have a final. Columbia focuses a lot on finance and the majority of students, regardless of major, go into some sort of finance--the career center is really helpful for that, but if you're not into finance you're basically on your own.

Leah

great size classes, great relationship with the professors, has really interesting kinds of classes, I take most of my classes at Barnard, the women's college associated with Columbia but the classes I've taken at Columbia in my major were great - small seminars and great conversation, the professors generally treat the students like their peers, respect them and their opinions

Harper

My professors know my name, my majors, my interests, they are supportive and fantastic, students have intellectual conversations outside of class. some students are competitive with each other, but these are mostly premeds.

Bruna

Classes at Columbia are smaller than at most schools (from the impression I get from talking to my friends). My freshman year, I had the opportunity to be in classes with fewer than 20 people in them. I think that's very unique. However, kids are very competitive and sometimes the atmosphere of the classroom feels a bit more like an arena for econ majors to show off than a place that I feel the most comfortable voicing my actual opinions and asking questions about what I want to learn about. The core has some really great qualities, but it's not why I came to Columbia. I think Lit Hum and CC are interesting classes but a lot of core classes can either be really bad or really good just depending on what teacher you get. Also, the structure is such that we read so much in such a short spand of time that I never absorb what I'm reading even if I'm interested in it. So I like the idea of the core, but I'd like to radically restructure it. On the plus side of that, Columbia is to a certain extent open to student opinion on the core and does respond to our feedback on these issues.

Ryan

The core curriculum is great, as are most of the professors that I have had. I've focused on history, which is one of the best departments at the university, let alone, in the world. Class participation is common, all Columbia students tend to have some sort of an opinion, but it is accepting. I have found that everywhere is a classroom, with discussions from class coming up in contexts outside of school. I've kept in touch with many of my professors and teaching assistants, who have helped me along the way.

Chris

Biomedical engineering is a relatively new field, so the professors are always trying to improve it. all of the professors ive had at least recognize my face if they don't know my name, but i think that's more because i make the effort to get to know them. i try to go to office hours for each professor at least once, and i feel that all my professors are really willing to help.

Pauline

The professors are in general good, except in math. TERRIBLE. They expect you to be as math-loving as they are. And they just can't conceive the fact that not everyone understands math on their first try. Otherwise, i love columbia! I also had one very bad experience with an English feminist teacher. to her, all men were evil. I simply did not agree and ended up not doing so well in her class. But she got so many complaints from students that i dought she'll be teaching first year english any time soon!

Leah

I've developed relatively close relationships with my professors and discussion leaders. Most of the classes are under 20 students and the TA's for the larger lectures are really helpful and informative. You NEED to participate in seminar classes. Don't come to Columbia if you just want to sit in the background, voicing your opinion and engaging in discussion is a big part of classes here.

kelly

One of the things I value the most at Columbia is the willingness of the professors or the TAs to help. I not yet taken a class where there has not been someone who can help me if I need it. I think that most of the professors genuinely care about the students and it shows through their efforts.

Cameron

Columbia isn't that great of an education. If you get a scholarship to a school TAKE IT. don't go here because you think you'll get an "Ivy League Education." Alot of my friends feel lke they learned more in high school. I am not challenged here. Expectations are low.

Andy

I love all of my classes even if they do not relate to my major or the core.

Leila

The education at Columbia is what you make it of it. I know plenty of seniors (and even juniors) who have jobs lined up for them already once they graduate because of the networking and experience they have come across because of their hard work at Columbia. I also have upperclassmen friends who have enjoyed learning for its own sake and plan to take a year or two off to figure things out after graduation before settling down to work full time. Almost all students, however, are responsible about their classwork and study appropriately.

Sarah

Hard. I don't care what you heard...that Ivy's are hard to get into, but once you get there it's a breeze. Whoever told you that is a LIAR. You will get an awesome education as long as you put the work in. There is no half-assing any of it. You need to study, you need to read, and contrary to popular belief, you need to go to class and pull an occasional all-nighter. Find something you like and major in it (it doesn't matter what it is as long as you like it), get an internship, and find time to have fun once in a while.

Alison

The Core Curriculum is what CU is most famous for. You will receive a well rounded education before leaving here. Classes are not social and very competitive. Professors are very friendly and are more than willing to meet and write recs outside of class. The education is not professionally based. The major options are limited and to not encourage careers right after school - except engineers.

Julie

Columbia students frequently have intellectual conversations outside of classes and I have found multiple teachers that have taken a vested interest in their students outside of the classroom and taken the time to learn my name and others'. I can not say I spend time with professors outside of the classroom. I frequently feel that it is detrimental that classes at Columbia are focused on learning for learning's sake rather than learning in order to prepare students for jobs and the real world. To elaborate, that feeling stems from the fact that Columbia has an extensive amount of required classes which I find pedantic and absurd when they do not relate to one's specific interests and won't serve to better one's position in the work field after college.

Michelle

Engineering classes are large and most professors do not know your name until you take more major-specific classes starting junior and senior year. However, if you make the effort to talk to a professor, he or she will remember your name. Students study a lot, and tend to go to the undergraduate library all of the time. Some students are competitive, while others are not. Most favorite class was Contemporary Civilization. I think Columbia's academic requirements are great, they really open you up to different areas of academia. Majors in the engineering school are more geared towards getting a job and majors in the college are more for learning for its own sake.

Katherine

tough.

Andy

Professors do not know most of our names. Students always have intellectual conversations, I definitely feel the difference when I go home and try to hold a conversation with someone who just cant do it. Being in the Joint program I get a different view of the academic requirements for graduation, i think there are too many and it doesnt give you any room to take classes outside of your major.

Anastasia

Academics vary widely by department, and by school (since Columbia students can also take Barnard classes and sometimes classes at the various graduate schools). For example, in my tiny creative writing department, professors and students are on an easy first name basis with each other and contact each other regularly inside and outside of class. This is not true everywhere though, there are tons of huge lectures here and sometimes you'll never speak to the professor. It's important to note that the vast majority of the core classes are taught seminar style, which means you will have an opportunity to speak in class and you will hone the skills needed to think on your feet and analyze another's student's argument. This is valuable and should not be overlooked. Students vary about as widely as the classes do. I wouldn't say there aren't super competitive people, or those who insist on speaking constantly and loudly in class, but they're usually just begging for an A. There are plenty of gradations of commitment and interest, so students of any type as long as they're able to handle the academic rigor will do okay and find similar peers. This is definitely an "education for it's own sake" kind of school. Degrees here are rather specifically not in any practical arena (we don't have "business", "marketing", or "journalism"), Columbia is all about gaining knowledge and learning how to learn.

abby

Most classes are great.. where is the inflation Harvard students get though? Everyone complains that the grading system is quite unfortunate.

Allie

As I said before, the courseload is beyond ridiculous. The amount of reading is mindblowing and I am sure most of the professors could not even do it. Ya they could probably finish the readings for their individual class. But if they took an entire semester worth of classes and tried to keep up on the readings in every class simultaneously they would realize they are completely out of line with what they assign. No wonder Columbia used to have one of the highest suicide rates. And the core, is completely too big. It is more credits than most of the majors and the teachers expect more in Core classes than the major requirements. Not to mention since we have no choice in the classes it makes them that much crappier. The reading for these classes is beyond insane and there are way too many classes. The language requirement of 2 years is completely reidiculous and they manage to make the easiest subjects impossible.

Andy

Gooood - the core is hard but like makes you, I don't know, like you can say you've read a lot of stuff. Classes are good, but undergrads should not be able to talk.

Marisa

Class size depends on what kind of class you take. Core classes are usually smaller (about 20 people) in order to stimulate discussion. Lecture classes are often much larger (ranging form 60 to 150ish). I personally enjoy the lectures better since I hate to speak in class. My favorite class right now is hands down 20th century art. Not only is the material intellectual stimulating and interesting, but the professor is a phenomenal speaker and effective lecturer.

Liz

Challenging. Professors do know my name. Good variety of classes.

Christina

Classes can be large or small and intimate. It can be hard to make connections with professors.

Sarah

Academics at Columbia are great-professors do know your name, even if it is a large lecture they will learn your name if you go to their office hours once. Students do study a lot, it is often hard to find a spot in Butler Library at times of exams. Students are pretty competitive, but it depends on the class and on the year (freshman vs. senior). Columbia requirements are overall good.

Margot

The majority of my classes have been science lectures, so they haven't been small. However, all sections break down once a week with a TA and lectures are all done by professors. My core classes have been great; the teachers are from different departments and bring their own take on classic books. It's also great that all the other freshman and/or sophomores are reading the same things and going through the same class intensity.

Abbey

There is a lot of work. Period. It is Columbia and the Ivy League, and some studying must be done in order to do well.

CJ

Can't really get much better than an Ivy school in the City. Sometimes the Core Curriculum can seem very Euro-centric.

Lee

ACADEMICS AT COLUMBIA= CORE CURRICULUM. If you don't like writing papers and speaking in class and reading then this is probably not the school for you. CC and Lit Hum can be amazing if you have a great teacher. Students aren't amazingly competitive, but they can be in certain majors (not to the point of stealing books or anything as i've heard of in other schools). Education is geared toward getting the best liberal arts education with the notion that there is a core of knowledge that every undergrad should amass; they believe that you can worry about getting a job later, just learn how to think now.