Columbia University in the City of New York Top Questions

What do you consider the worst thing about your school? Why?

Marco

Cost.

Lisa

It's expensive to live in New York City.

Olga

The sence of constant competition which stimulates the surpass of your own limits and shows that everything is possible, even though students should sacrifice sleep or personal time in order to present their best results.

Henry

As a freshman student, its easy to get lost in the sea of possibilities and the freshman residence set-up makes it somewhat difficult to expand your network and meet others.

Nikita

Some of the lectures are very boring and confusing because the professors are not the best for that course.

Alejandro

Columbia?s location is both a blessing and a curse. I often find myself weighing the values of studying an extra two hours of chemistry or looking to take advantage of the city by indulging an ice skating session in Central Park. Debacles like this one, however, are easily circumvented by sticking to the same smart, responsible study habits that got me there in the first place. The buzz of the city is a real treat that I eulogize as a beach-town California kid, but it?s also one to warily balance and avoid from being too side-tracked.

Julia

There are very few things I dislike about Columbia. However, I sometimes feel a little lost in the big sea that is the university. Having come from a small class of 108 in high school, I never really thought about what it would be like to go to school with people I didn't know. During my first semester, I had a lot of trouble with the anonymity of such a large community. I think Columbia could do a better job with making the community feel tighter.

ADEL

surely , i can not find every thing i want . the life will not give all , but if you work hard you will get that without other . So i can not tell you about specific thing i did not like it . The life has every thing .

Matthew

Columbia has pushed me to the point where I no longer enjoy learning and dread classes in subjects that I enjoyed in high school,

Harrison

There is no school spirit or support of the athletic teams. Everyone is wrapped up in the city and school.

Brittany

The amount of classes that Columbia wants its students to take every semester. Penn does not allow their students to take more than 4 first semester freshman year, while I took 6. Some people even take 7 or 8 and 7 classes a semester is required for some majors like Biomedical Engineering.

Gabriel

Sometimes, the bureaucracy can be intimidating and frusrtrating.

Alexander

How much people freak out about grades.

Crystal

Likely due to the school's location in New York City, there is no cohesive community on campus.

Lauren

I have the unique experience of being part of the Combined Plan Program, where I studied 3 years at Brandeis University for a BA in Studio Art, and now two years at Columbia for a BS in Civil Engineering...I don't feel they made an effort to make us a part of the Columbia Community. We lived in an off campus dorm last year and were not kept in the loop about things going on on campus.

Jennifer

Racial diversit is lacking. THey trick you with the on campus visits when you first get in.

Alexis

The level of stress that comes from the amount of work you have.

Esther

There's not a huge sense of school spirit or loyalty from alumni to the school.

Alice

No school spirit; small cliques although not very evident (unlike high school)