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FactsSlang
- “The class is taught by a graduate student.” - To your mother, this means that a TA or teaching assistant is teaching your class. To you, it means that someone who’s quite close to your age will be responsible for instructing you and grading you.
- CC - Contemporary Civilizations— the required political- and philosophical-thought course for second-year students.
- Courseworks at Columbia - An online chat room where the faculty posts syllabi and students can learn about assignments and grades. To access it, go to www.columbia.edu and then double click on “Courses.”
- CULPA - This is the online resource for students wishing to glean what others think about professors at Columbia. Just type www.culpa.info, and you’ll find out whether your teacher has the elusive golden nugget rating.
- Hammie’s - Hamilton Deli on 116th Street and Amsterdam, producers of all kinds of hangover-curing hoagies. They deliver.
- Jay - John Jay is the dormitory, and its dining hall has the same name. But to all, it’s Jay and if you ask your Carman suitemates if they want to go to Jay at 6 p.m., they’ll know you mean to have dinner, not just kick it in the lounge.
- Lit Hum - Literature Humanities; everybody, even the freshmen, enjoy this required first-year literature course called Lit Hum.
- Lutomski - Rob Lutomski is in fact a real person, and is even spotted frequently on campus. But most CU students know him as the man who controls their fate—their housing fate that is. We usually only see him once a year, during the 10 minutes that we select our room. But wielding that red pen, he might as well be God.
- Star-sixing - The ROLM phone system is the cornerstone of Columbia culture. Star-six is the pivotal ROLM command. It stops the message you’re listening to in the middle and then deletes it. Comes in handy when you receive approximately one broadcast message a night from the University.
Things I Wish I Knew Before Coming To School
- Although there are two no-charge Citibank ATMs in Lerner Hall, the lines are excruciatingly long on Thursday afternoons and Friday nights. Get your cash ahead of time or be prepared for a long wait.
- Financial aid is readily available for those who need it. While an application process is required, it’s rather simple to get some extra help from the oft-generous Columbia offices.
- That Columbia is an intimidating place. A lot of kids have a hard time settling in at Columbia because there’s a feeling that everyone else knows what’s going on when you don’t. It’s a lie—nobody knows what’s going on at Columbia, everyone just makes it up.
- That New York is absolutely the most expensive place you could ever go to college, and fun has a pretty big price tag. Flip some extra burgers before the summer ends; you’ll need some cash lying around.
- That the Core curriculum took as much time as it did, and that it was worth every second. You will spend two years fulfilling your core requirements, but you’ll be a better person when you’re done. And a lot smarter.
- That you can really do whatever you want at Columbia and New York, and as long as it’s not illegal, you can probably get away with it.
- The Media Center in Butler Library is packed during midterms and finals. Reserve course materials are easy to come by at any other time of the semester, but not at finals time. If you need to watch a film for a class or read a book on reserve, make sure you give yourself enough time to access necessary materials. Waiting until the last minute is never a good idea during crunch time—procrastination is not an original idea.
- While Columbia is a safe place to live and go to school, it is important to let people know where you will be. Let a friend know if you will be staying out all night. While this may sound silly, it’s good to know that someone will know if you are missing.
- While Columbia is good about accepting up to 60 transferable credits, the administration is very picky about what classes live up to “Columbia Standards.” Double check with advisers to make sure that your transferable math and humanities classes fill Columbia’s specific needs. You don’t want to find out at the last minute that the Renaissance Art class that you took at another college is not considered to be good enough.
Tips to Succeed
- Be who you are, and trust that you will find people that you like and who like you. It won’t happen overnight, but it will happen—there are all kinds of people at Columbia.
- Do not wait until the last semester of your senior year to take all of your difficult classes. While some participate in the graduation events with one class left to go, there is something far more fulfilling about walking with your class knowing that you are a free (well, probably not debt-free) citizen.
- Don’t be afraid to march into any administrator’s office if you need help or guidance. Nobody will ask you if you’re doing okay, but they will stand up and listen if you shout that you need help, whether it’s with academics, your personal health, your roommate or your mother.
- Explore. The more adventurous you are at Columbia and New York, the more little and big gems you’ll discover. The city contains lots of thrills and charms, all waiting to be stumbled upon by you.
- Study what you want and how you want. Columbia isn’t really a grade-grubbing place, especially compared to Harvard or Princeton, but you may sense occassionally that everyone around you is stressing out constantly and studying all the time. The less you pressure yourself, the better you’ll do. Most Columbia kids will say that they are in the library working on their thesis or studying for finals because they like the subject they’re working on, not just because they have to.
- Utilize the campus tutorial services before you actually need them.
Urban Legends
- “Barnard to bed, Columbia to wed.” You’ll have to come test-drive that one yourself.
- Probably the biggest rumor is that it’s in Harlem and it’s dangerous. Columbia does border on Harlem, but it’s in a separate neighborhood. Furthermore, Harlem is a safe neighborhood—there are a lot of families there, as well as current Columbia students who’ve spilt over into slightly less expensive housing. Acting like a snotty Ivy League kid won’t make you friends in any neighborhood, but common courtesy and human respect will guarantee your safety.
- The Alma Mater statue in front of Low Library doubles as a mythical matchmaker. It is rumored that the first boy to spot the owl hidden within her robes will be valedictorian and the girl who finds it will marry him. Of course, this is an antiquated and sexist tradition, especially since many valedictorians are women, but members of the lonely-hearts club seek out this elusive owl anyway.
Traditions
- At midnight, the night before finals begin, you can hear Columbia students lean out their windows and scream at the top of their lungs. To some, it’s a stress reliever, to others, it’s an unpleasant sleep disturbance.
School Spirit
Students are often very proud of going to such a well-respected university, but you won’t hear anyone screaming “Go Fighting Lions” on game day. It’s an intellectual spirit, not necessarily an athletic one.
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