Colleges
Columbia University
Columbia University |
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location | students | adm. | int’l. | fresh | grad | GPA | ACT | SAT | TOEFL |
New York, NY | 8,832 | 4% | 18% | 98% | 88% | 4.2 | 34 | 1520 | 105 |
Columbia University is a private institution that was founded in 1754 and is one of the world’s most important centers of research and at the same time a distinctive and distinguished learning environment for undergraduates and graduate students in many scholarly and professional fields. Its main 36-acre campus is located in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, situated in the Morningside Heights neighborhood. The Columbia University Medical Center – home to the medical, nursing, dental and public health faculties – is located in northern Manhattan in the Washington Heights neighborhood. Columbia offers a range of student activities, including 28 Greek chapters. More than 90% of students live on campus. Columbia is affiliated with Barnard College for women, the Union Theological Seminary, and the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.
Academics
Columbia University offers an outstanding and comprehensive array of academic programs. These include three undergraduate schools, thirteen graduate and professional schools, a world-renowned medical center, four affiliated colleges and seminaries, twenty-five libraries, and more than one hundred research centers and institutes. The renowned Core Curriculum unites all Columbia undergraduates by providing a common foundation in literature, philosophy, science, art, history and music, and caps classes at 22 students to afford close interaction with Columbia’s faculty. The student-faculty ratio at Columbia University is 6:1, and the school has 81.5 percent of its classes with fewer than 20. Popular majors include: Social Sciences, Engineering, Computer and Information Sciences, and Mathematics.
Special Highlights
Science as Startup. Columbia’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences is partnering across the university and beyond to commit our world-class resources to urgent, global challenges in climate, health, and innovation. The scale and urgency of these global challenges requires a new model of engagement, one that accelerates discovery and innovation and leads to public and private sector solutions. Science as Startup takes cues from the entrepreneurial startup culture to spur knowledge creation and to build institutions that translates this knowledge to action.
Film Programs. The School of the Arts’ Film Programs are populated by the top students from around the world and its halls are an intersection of cutting-edge creativity, intellectual rigor and hands-on practicality. With a faculty of esteemed professionals, the Film MFA programs are among the world’s premiere training grounds for young filmmakers. Their thesis short films, feature screenplays and teleplays are showcased each year at the Columbia University Film Festival.
School Mission & Unique Qualities
Columbia University was founded in 1754 as King’s College by royal charter of King George II of England. It is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York and the fifth oldest in the United States. The architectural centerpiece of the campus is Low Memorial Library. Built in the Roman classical style, it appears in the New York City Register of Historic Places. Columbia has two facilities outside of Manhattan. Nevis Laboratories is Columbia’s primary center for the study of high-energy experimental particle and nuclear physics, and the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, a leading research institution focusing on global climate change, earthquakes, volcanoes, nonrenewable resources, and environmental hazards. As the birthplace of FM radio, the fields of genetics and anthropology, the nation’s oldest literary magazine, and first Black student advocacy group on a multi-racial campus, Columbia has carried on a tradition of both social and scientific innovation for over 250 years.
Student Reviews…
“I really feel included as a member of the Columbia family! There are numerous useful resources for you to explore, on-campus job opportunities, and concern for student safety. The curriculum is intense and you’ll find yourself spending many nights studying.”