Columbia 1Ls taking questions Forum

[CG614]

This site helped a lot in my decision process, so I would like to help out. The title suggest that multiple 1Ls are taking questions because I anticipate others helping me answer your inquires. Keep in mind, we are only a month or so into class. Fire away.

[AreJay711]

I have this image in my mind of Columbia having more gunners than NYU or others in the T10. Do you think that is accurate or just something associated with Columbia’s biglaw rep?

[CG614]

I have this image in my mind of Columbia having more gunners than NYU or others in the T10. Do you think that is accurate or just something associated with Columbia’s biglaw rep?

I really can't speak to other schools, but I feel like there is not an inordinate amount of gunners here. I mean, there are some, but the vast majority of people are not gunners. I'd go on a limb and say that we have as many gunners as NYU.

[sgtgrumbles]

Did you choose Columbia over NYU? If so, why?

[dissonance1848]

Dig the avatar. Burr'nd, lol.

[CG614]

Did you choose Columbia over NYU? If so, why?

I did choose Columbia over NYU. As to the why, let me start by saying that it was a hard choice for me and I really liked NYU. When it came down to it, I felt more comfortable during my visit to CLS. During the Admitted Student's event at NYU, the students and faculty kept telling us how much more friendly NYU was than CLS. They also took subtle shots at CLS. When I visited CLS, nobody explicitly told me that people were friendly, but I felt like the CLS students seemed much more comfortable with each other. It made the NYU pitch seem fake to me. I don't know if my intuition was correct, but that was how I felt at the time. Also, CLS sent me tons of things in the mail and made me feel wanted. I really never received anything from NYU past the acceptance letter. I'd also be remiss if I didn't say the Ivy League factor played a small role in my decision. Certainly not a decisive part, but it did influence my decision on some level.

For those making the same decision, visit both schools and feel them out. They are both great schools, and will likely put you in a very similar circumstance at graduation. I don't think there is a right answer, in general, but rather you must decide what is right for you. I am happy with my choice, as I like the Morningside area. The Village is great, but I think it would be too big of a distraction for me. There are tons of things to distract you at school itself, I am not sure how I'd fare if there were tons of other distractions as well.

[CG614]

Guess I underestimated the gunners, seeing as someone thought it prudent to create another 1L taking questions thread, even though I expressly invited other 1Ls to take part in this one. There is obvious need for multiple CLS 1L threads at this time. I mean, the questions are pouring in!
/rant

[plenipotentiary]

Guess I underestimated the gunners, seeing as someone thought it prudent to create another 1L taking questions thread, even though I expressly invited other 1Ls to take part in this one. There is obvious need for multiple CLS 1L threads at this time. I mean, the questions are pouring in!
/rant

Eek. Not seeming so friendly now!

[CG614]

Guess I underestimated the gunners, seeing as someone thought it prudent to create another 1L taking questions thread, even though I expressly invited other 1Ls to take part in this one. There is obvious need for multiple CLS 1L threads at this time. I mean, the questions are pouring in!
/rant

Eek. Not seeming so friendly now!

Ha. Let's chalk it up to Monday stress. I do have to say, the couple of gunners that stand out most in my class are REALLY f'in annoying. Not sure how the magnitude of the gunner compares to other schools though.

[beleaguer]

thanks for taking questions!

just a couple:

1. what's your favorite thing/perk about columbia so far?
2. did you apply ED?
3. how often do you/others go downtown?

[CG614]

thanks for taking questions!

just a couple:

1. what's your favorite thing/perk about columbia so far?
2. did you apply ED?
3. how often do you/others go downtown?

1) I really like how there are always options here. I am not sure about the culture at other law schools, but there are events daily, both during lunch and in the evening. On the same token, you are very bogged down with work and it gets frustrating that you can't go to some events that you would like to attend.

2) nope.

3) I would say people go downtown pretty often. Columbia is really close to the 1 and the C/E, so it is really easy to get to the village. Bar Review is sometimes downtown. Either way, you can make time to do things that you want to do.

[beleaguer]

1) I really like how there are always options here. I am not sure about the culture at other law schools, but there are events daily, both during lunch and in the evening. On the same token, you are very bogged down with work and it gets frustrating that you can't go to some events that you would like to attend.

2) nope.

3) I would say people go downtown pretty often. Columbia is really close to the 1 and the C/E, so it is really easy to get to the village. Bar Review is sometimes downtown. Either way, you can make time to do things that you want to do.

thanks for the response! i know you must be busy, but if you have some spare time i just a couple more:

1. i've read somewhere that columbia's administration sucks a little: bureaucracy, unorganized, etc. is that true and has it been an issue?

2. i really like jogging outdoors (i'm a girl) , and would hate to have to start using a treadmill again. however, i visited morningside heights several years ago, and felt the surrounding neighborhoods were a bit unsafe. is it a little risky to walk around alone at night/in the evenings?

3. do you live in university housing? how do you like it?

4. lastly, do you like living in morningside heights, or do you think you'd actually prefer to live downtown bc it has a stronger city feel to it? advantages/disadvantages?


thanks!

[CG614]

1) I really like how there are always options here. I am not sure about the culture at other law schools, but there are events daily, both during lunch and in the evening. On the same token, you are very bogged down with work and it gets frustrating that you can't go to some events that you would like to attend.

2) nope.

3) I would say people go downtown pretty often. Columbia is really close to the 1 and the C/E, so it is really easy to get to the village. Bar Review is sometimes downtown. Either way, you can make time to do things that you want to do.

thanks for the response! i know you must be busy, but if you have some spare time i just a couple more:

1. i've read somewhere that columbia's administration sucks a little: bureaucracy, unorganized, etc. is that true and has it been an issue?

2. i really like jogging outdoors (i'm a girl) , and would hate to have to start using a treadmill again. however, i visited morningside heights several years ago, and felt the surrounding neighborhoods were a bit unsafe. is it a little risky to walk around alone at night/in the evenings?

3. do you live in university housing? how do you like it?

4. lastly, do you like living in morningside heights, or do you think you'd actually prefer to live downtown bc it has a stronger city feel to it? advantages/disadvantages?


thanks!

No problem. Anything to procrastinate from doing my work!

1) I haven't had much interaction with the Admin, but from what I have seen, they have been good. They put on a lot of programs to help 1Ls get acclimated to law school.
2) You can jog in Riverside park, it is a pretty safe and well populated place. I am a 6'3" guy, and from NYC, so I feel pretty comfortable most anywhere. But, I would say that the area is pretty safe. There are things you need to know, like don't walk in morningside park after dark. Or anywhere immediately east of it, for that matter. It is a big city, so just being aware of your surroundings is the best advice one can give. All the girls I know feel very comfortable in this area.
3) I live in law school housing on 115th. I like the location, but UAC housing seems to be the far better deal. A good deal of my friends have much bigger places and pay less. I'd take that trade off for the 4-6 extra blocks they have to walk each day.
4) I actually like Morningside for the reason that you identify as potential pitfalls. It is nice to feel in a neighborhood, but also have the entire city a few subway stops away. I think I'd prefer living here to the village for that fact. That being said, things get insular here and you could easily fall into a pattern where you don't leaving the area. My only advice for that would be to make sure you go somewhere else in the city at least once a week. There is so much to do and see in NYC that you are not getting the full experience if you stay in Jerome Greene Hall 24/7.

Hope that helps. Feel free to ask any more questions, or PM me if you have any specific questions.

[ivantheterbl]

Is it a huge hassle to have a car if you live on campus??

[beleaguer]

1) I really like how there are always options here. I am not sure about the culture at other law schools, but there are events daily, both during lunch and in the evening. On the same token, you are very bogged down with work and it gets frustrating that you can't go to some events that you would like to attend.

2) nope.

3) I would say people go downtown pretty often. Columbia is really close to the 1 and the C/E, so it is really easy to get to the village. Bar Review is sometimes downtown. Either way, you can make time to do things that you want to do.

thanks for the response! i know you must be busy, but if you have some spare time i just a couple more:

1. i've read somewhere that columbia's administration sucks a little: bureaucracy, unorganized, etc. is that true and has it been an issue?

2. i really like jogging outdoors (i'm a girl) , and would hate to have to start using a treadmill again. however, i visited morningside heights several years ago, and felt the surrounding neighborhoods were a bit unsafe. is it a little risky to walk around alone at night/in the evenings?

3. do you live in university housing? how do you like it?

4. lastly, do you like living in morningside heights, or do you think you'd actually prefer to live downtown bc it has a stronger city feel to it? advantages/disadvantages?


thanks!

No problem. Anything to procrastinate from doing my work!

1) I haven't had much interaction with the Admin, but from what I have seen, they have been good. They put on a lot of programs to help 1Ls get acclimated to law school.
2) You can jog in Riverside park, it is a pretty safe and well populated place. I am a 6'3" guy, and from NYC, so I feel pretty comfortable most anywhere. But, I would say that the area is pretty safe. There are things you need to know, like don't walk in morningside park after dark. Or anywhere immediately east of it, for that matter. It is a big city, so just being aware of your surroundings is the best advice one can give. All the girls I know feel very comfortable in this area.
3) I live in law school housing on 115th. I like the location, but UAC housing seems to be the far better deal. A good deal of my friends have much bigger places and pay less. I'd take that trade off for the 4-6 extra blocks they have to walk each day.
4) I actually like Morningside for the reason that you identify as potential pitfalls. It is nice to feel in a neighborhood, but also have the entire city a few subway stops away. I think I'd prefer living here to the village for that fact. That being said, things get insular here and you could easily fall into a pattern where you don't leaving the area. My only advice for that would be to make sure you go somewhere else in the city at least once a week. There is so much to do and see in NYC that you are not getting the full experience if you stay in Jerome Greene Hall 24/7.

Hope that helps. Feel free to ask any more questions, or PM me if you have any specific questions.

thanks!! reallyy helpful. on that note, how many hours a day do you study and what percentage of that is procrastinating? just kidding to the second part.

[CG614]

1) I really like how there are always options here. I am not sure about the culture at other law schools, but there are events daily, both during lunch and in the evening. On the same token, you are very bogged down with work and it gets frustrating that you can't go to some events that you would like to attend.

2) nope.

3) I would say people go downtown pretty often. Columbia is really close to the 1 and the C/E, so it is really easy to get to the village. Bar Review is sometimes downtown. Either way, you can make time to do things that you want to do.

thanks for the response! i know you must be busy, but if you have some spare time i just a couple more:

1. i've read somewhere that columbia's administration sucks a little: bureaucracy, unorganized, etc. is that true and has it been an issue?

2. i really like jogging outdoors (i'm a girl) , and would hate to have to start using a treadmill again. however, i visited morningside heights several years ago, and felt the surrounding neighborhoods were a bit unsafe. is it a little risky to walk around alone at night/in the evenings?

3. do you live in university housing? how do you like it?

4. lastly, do you like living in morningside heights, or do you think you'd actually prefer to live downtown bc it has a stronger city feel to it? advantages/disadvantages?


thanks!

No problem. Anything to procrastinate from doing my work!

1) I haven't had much interaction with the Admin, but from what I have seen, they have been good. They put on a lot of programs to help 1Ls get acclimated to law school.
2) You can jog in Riverside park, it is a pretty safe and well populated place. I am a 6'3" guy, and from NYC, so I feel pretty comfortable most anywhere. But, I would say that the area is pretty safe. There are things you need to know, like don't walk in morningside park after dark. Or anywhere immediately east of it, for that matter. It is a big city, so just being aware of your surroundings is the best advice one can give. All the girls I know feel very comfortable in this area.
3) I live in law school housing on 115th. I like the location, but UAC housing seems to be the far better deal. A good deal of my friends have much bigger places and pay less. I'd take that trade off for the 4-6 extra blocks they have to walk each day.
4) I actually like Morningside for the reason that you identify as potential pitfalls. It is nice to feel in a neighborhood, but also have the entire city a few subway stops away. I think I'd prefer living here to the village for that fact. That being said, things get insular here and you could easily fall into a pattern where you don't leaving the area. My only advice for that would be to make sure you go somewhere else in the city at least once a week. There is so much to do and see in NYC that you are not getting the full experience if you stay in Jerome Greene Hall 24/7.

Hope that helps. Feel free to ask any more questions, or PM me if you have any specific questions.

thanks!! reallyy helpful. on that note, how many hours a day do you study and what percentage of that is procrastinating? just kidding to the second part.

On average, I am studying (mostly reading) about 5-6 hours a day. Throw in 3-4 hours of class. Things are about to pick up though, as now I have to start reviewing things I've already learned, in preparation for finals. Oh, and I suppose I have to make these things called outlines. Still working on getting that started.

[coolymx]

hey, I applied ED to columbia so it's my top choice, but I'm a little intimidated cuz I come from a mediocre undergrad school, so perhaps you can help me out.

How intellectually stimulating (a.k.a. hard to understand) would you say are the courses / profs so far?

How about your peers? Would you say most people go there knowing pretty much what they are doing, or are they going in and actually learning from scratch?


Thanks and good luck preparing your outlines.

[CG614]

hey, I applied ED to columbia so it's my top choice, but I'm a little intimidated cuz I come from a mediocre undergrad school, so perhaps you can help me out.

How intellectually stimulating (a.k.a. hard to understand) would you say are the courses / profs so far?

How about your peers? Would you say most people go there knowing pretty much what they are doing, or are they going in and actually learning from scratch?


Thanks and good luck preparing your outlines.

Most everyone is on the same footing and we all think the next guy knows more than us, but in reality even the people who assert they know what is going on, have no clue. I have found a lot of the course work to be theoretical, but I like that. We don't really learn black letter law, I mean we kind of do, but class time is mostly spent talking about the policy and implications of the law. Seems like you have the capacity, looking at you numbers in your profile, so be confident in your abilities. Good luck!

[coolymx]

hey thanks for the encouragement. I am hoping to make it to columbia for a visit, hopefully next tuesday, but i will have to do some massive juggling aroung my schedule to fit it in.

[beleaguer]

sorry, I know these are REALLY random questions, but I've been reading up a bit on columbia and became curious about a few things. thanks in advance!


1. are classes offered by the dodge fitness gym (i'm thinking free) like yoga or kickboxing? or do they only have legitimate gym classes through the university? if not, I'll be more inclined to look into options external of the university system. I remember reading somewhere that there's a yoga club that offers a weekly class, i think.

2. I also read somewhere that the 115/116th st apartments aren't very modern. what does that mean, exactly? does that mean they're pretty old and dingy? I don't mind smaller sized bedrooms or anything, but I don't want to live in a particularly crappy apartment. :[ I guess I'm pretty much stuck with them, so it's not like I'd look for anything else. I just kind of want to know.

3. are the guys cute? (kidding!) (somewhat. :[)

4. I don't think I can make it to the ASW, but I'll be visiting NYC in january. is there a way I'd still be able to maybe catch a glimpse of UAH housing somehow/sit in on a class?

[dubunamjah]

1. are classes offered by the dodge fitness gym (i'm thinking free) like yoga or kickboxing? or do they only have legitimate gym classes through the university? if not, I'll be more inclined to look into options external of the university system. I remember reading somewhere that there's a yoga club that offers a weekly class, i think.
there's a yoga club that meets every monday, i think, though they stopped meeting for the semester. there's a karate club and so on, but i think the main classes are just gym classes through the university (--LinkRemoved--).

2. I also read somewhere that the 115/116th st apartments aren't very modern. what does that mean, exactly? does that mean they're pretty old and dingy? I don't mind smaller sized bedrooms or anything, but I don't want to live in a particularly crappy apartment. :[ I guess I'm pretty much stuck with them, so it's not like I'd look for anything else. I just kind of want to know.
they're not bad, but they're kind of old, and some feel cramped. some of my friends have seen a cockroach or two in the kitchen, but that's about it (i had a friend who saw a rat in the kitchen at his place in 110/111/112th or so, so cockroaches don't seem so bad haha. the apartments are really close to the law school, though, and my friends have found that VERY convenient.
the newest place that's still "close" would likely be lenfest, but that's really expensive (and the walk uphill seems far sometimes haha)

3. are the guys cute? (kidding!) (somewhat. :[)
it's a law school what do you think
no, but seriously, i don't think i can answer that well haha

4. I don't think I can make it to the ASW, but I'll be visiting NYC in january. is there a way I'd still be able to maybe catch a glimpse of UAH housing somehow/sit in on a class?
you should be able to sit in on a class. as for uah housing, i don't know- if you know anybody who goes, i'd just ask him or her

[JG Hall]

sorry, I know these are REALLY random questions, but I've been reading up a bit on columbia and became curious about a few things. thanks in advance!


1. are classes offered by the dodge fitness gym (i'm thinking free) like yoga or kickboxing? or do they only have legitimate gym classes through the university? if not, I'll be more inclined to look into options external of the university system. I remember reading somewhere that there's a yoga club that offers a weekly class, i think.

2. I also read somewhere that the 115/116th st apartments aren't very modern. what does that mean, exactly? does that mean they're pretty old and dingy? I don't mind smaller sized bedrooms or anything, but I don't want to live in a particularly crappy apartment. :[ I guess I'm pretty much stuck with them, so it's not like I'd look for anything else. I just kind of want to know.

3. are the guys cute? (kidding!) (somewhat. :[)

4. I don't think I can make it to the ASW, but I'll be visiting NYC in january. is there a way I'd still be able to maybe catch a glimpse of UAH housing somehow/sit in on a class?

Just wanted to clarify a few things...

1. There are semester-long university-wide fitness classes offered for like, $150 or something a semester. Or they might be free. Not sure. (--LinkRemoved--) One of my friends took a zumba class, I think. There are also the traditional 1 credit gym classes, and I *think* grad students can cross-register for them, but I don't know anyone who has tried. But I'd recommend going dt for YTTP instead, if you have any budgetary/quality concerns. (http://www.yogatothepeople.com)

2. The 115th apartments are old buildings in the sense that the hardwood floors aren't great, there are no door men, the elevators suck, the paint jobs usually consist of just adding a new layer, and the heaters can be very loud and clinking. However, that being said, this is New York, and there's not *that* much better for the price. (There is better, but I'd recommend not looking in August, as Sep. 1 makes life hyper-competitive.) You can make your apartment nicer; however, make sure you go for the unfurnished UAH apartments. Most CLS super will remove the provided (ugly-ass) furniture if you want, but then you're paying way too much per month to not be using the furniture in a furnished apartment. I would, however, recommend UAH housing for one reason: you can go ages without paying rent before they start to care.

3. Law school guys on the whole aren't a terribly delicious bunch, and anyone who tells you otherwise doesn't have a very discerning eye. This becomes irrelevant after a few weeks to a few months, though, as your taste level warps to fit your surroundings, and people you'd never think twice about a year ago suddenly become appealing. An appalling development, by the way, which much be remedied by as many nights out downtown as possible.

[beleaguer]

hey thanks guys! I really appreciate the answers (especially the input on #3) I never thought to request unfurnished apartments, because I'm from california and would be highly reluctant to buy new furniture just for a couple years. are the supplied furniture really that bad? does unfurnished mean no bed, too?

/starts looking for ikeas in nyc

[Sogui]

Never understood this take on law school guys.

I mean I'm not that attractive but looking back on public school, and even my undergrad at a big party school know for having "hot" undergrads, I think the fact most guys here:

1) Look like men
2) Groom themselves and dress sensibly
3) Are generally well-balanced individuals who are smart enough to recognize offensive behavior (with some acute exceptions here)
4) Are relatively financially secure, hard-working, confident, intelligent, etc...
5) Generally good looking fellas who no girl would be ashamed to be seen with

Or maybe I'm just overlooking the flaws of fellow men, because I have a slightly harsher opinion about roughly half the women here.

[kazu]

Or maybe I'm just overlooking the flaws of fellow men, because I have a slightly harsher opinion about roughly half the women here.

Could you elaborate on this?