Renaissance College Road Trip

Flickr Video

Columbia University is located smack dab in the middle of a neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan called Morningside Heights. In fact, in some ways it is Morningside Heights as it is on of the top three land owners in the city (Catholic church and the state of NY are the others!). You emerge out of the 1/9 subway at 116^th Street and you have to step lively into the hustle and bustle of the big city. Once you enter the campus gates, things slow down a little and the place looks like any other college campus with quads of grass, you are surrounded by a square of buildings. Well, it is a SUPERSIZED “any other campus”. What immediately catches your eye is a massive staircase and a VERY LARGE domed building. Between you and the door is Alma Mater a majestic sculpture that is in any movie that has Columbia in it. I headed past Alma for the admissions tour. The crowd of people in the room was incredibly diverse. I was the only person from New England and students and families had traveled from China, Mexico, Chicago, Oregon and Arizona for the tour.

Columbia is considered an Ivy League School and is Very Highly Selective. 25,000 applied last year and 9% were admitted. Nearly 50% of admitted students scored between 1400 and 1540 on the math and critical reading sections of the SAT! In addition to that students are the top 10% of their class or have the top GPAs in their schools’ grade distribution. Students apply to either Columbia College or the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

The admissions officer, Diane McCoy had worked in admissions at Columbia for nearly 30 years. She admitted that there was no need to convince that Columbia was the place for you, but she wanted to talk about opportunities at the school and the admissions process. Around 4,100 students are in Columbia College and 1,400 are in The Fu Foundation of Engineering and Science. More than 25,000 students at Columbia University are graduate students working on Masters and PhDs.

Basically, Diane McCoy said that students need to demonstrate who they are as students and make clear why they feel that they want Columbia specifically “Columbia, Columbia, I love you!” were her words. The Common Application is not accepted. So, it is important that students know what is offered at Columbia specifically. 500 students sent essay with the WRONG NAME to Columbia – Uggh. She also said students should take the interview if they are offered one, refusing the interview doesn’t look so good!

Students must take a Core Curriculum (and 2 semesters of P.E.) – books from what is called the Western Canon (sometimes called Dead White Males because they are all dead, white and male…). Everyone reads The Iliad and The Odyssey and there is a common experience for all the students in Columbia College. The idea is that students gain a sense of the texts that underline the philosophical basis for politics, ethics, science and education in our society. Science and Engineering students take ½ of the Core Curriculum.

Financial Aid is Need Based. Students must fill out the FAFSA and CSS Profile. Tuition is over $50,000 a year! Families that make under $60,000 a year will be funded for all four years with the expectation that they will have work study and summer work. NO LOANS!!! Families that earn $60,000 to $100,000 expect to pay a percentage of their tuition. $100,000 may have access to low interest loans. There is a National Opportunity Program for low income students who demonstrate potential that provides summer support and 5 years of financing for school.