Columbia University

[cgking]

Where my future Lions at?

I'll be in the History PhD program, Ancient track. I can't wait until September!

[Ritualist]

I'm currently waffling between Columbia and Harvard. I'd be studying ancient art and archaeology, so we could be potential conversation partners... Harvard's offer was amazing, and I'm awaiting my official package from Columbia. My decision can't really be made until I have that information along with my impressions from my prospective visit.

Congrats on your admission and arriving more decisively at a decision than I am... I envy you!

[cgking]

Ha! Well, Harvard rejected me, so my decision was a bit easier than yours.

You're in the Art History department? Prof. Bahrani is basically the reason I'm going to Columbia (I'm kind of obsessed with the politics around the preservation of Middle Eastern archaeological sites).

Have fun deciding-- that's a great problem to have.

[Ritualist]

Ha! Well, Harvard rejected me, so my decision was a bit easier than yours.

You're in the Art History department? Prof. Bahrani is basically the reason I'm going to Columbia (I'm kind of obsessed with the politics around the preservation of Middle Eastern archaeological sites).

Have fun deciding-- that's a great problem to have.

If I end up accepting Columbia's offer (whenever the official one finally arrives! hah) I would be in the Art History department. Indeed, Prof. Bahrani is amazing, and she would be one of the core faculty for my course of study. I go to visit later this month after which I should probably have more clarity regarding which school to choose.

[FoggyAnhinga]

Man I envy all of you with acceptances to Columbia.... it is my top choice and I'm still waiting for its decision.... if I'm very lucky I might be able to join you guys in fantastic NYC. Nevertheless congrats to all of you!

[emf]

Just got accepted to Union Theological Seminary(MDIV) and will be attending. Since there is no Union page, I'm going to claim my Columbia Affiliate status to join the conversation. At the very least I'll see you guys at the Columbia gym!

[Jae B.]

I've been accepted to the Journalism School, but I'm still considering UC Berkeley. Waiting for Columbia to send me a financial aid offer before I decide.

Are you going to be visiting Columbia soon? Have you already?

I've never been to New York, and am just trying to imagine figuring out housing there.

[Ritualist]

I'm actually concerned about the three months of the year that the doctoral fellowships do not cover...my offer from Harvard, for instance, includes four years of committed summer travel and research money on top of the five year ten-month stipend. So I tried writing people at Columbia about this a week ago. No one has responded yet. It is actually bothering me because Columbia is my top choice, but not at the expense of forfeiting a better financial situation at another top-ranked university and moving to a notoriously expensive city without any prior notion of being able to afford all twelve months of the year! I will not take out anymore loans, as I've done that enough for my BA and MA. (I also already live in Boston, have a place here, am a Harvard alumnus, etc., so I wouldn't have to change much to stay at Harvard). So, come on, Columbia. Work with me here... :-/

[cgking]

I'm actually concerned about the three months of the year that the doctoral fellowships do not cover...my offer from Harvard, for instance, includes four years of committed summer travel and research money on top of the five year ten-month stipend. So I tried writing people at Columbia about this a week ago. No one has responded yet. It is actually bothering me because Columbia is my top choice, but not at the expense of forfeiting a better financial situation at another top-ranked university and moving to a notoriously expensive city without any prior notion of being able to afford all twelve months of the year! I will not take out anymore loans, as I've done that enough for my BA and MA. (I also already live in Boston, have a place here, am a Harvard alumnus, etc., so I wouldn't have to change much to stay at Harvard). So, come on, Columbia. Work with me here... :-/

I'm not sure if it's the same for the Art History department, but the History department expects its students to find outside grants for summer research (and claims that its PhD candidates have a pretty easy time securing funding). I have 3 summers guaranteed as part of my funding, but I definitely expect to apply for and receive outside grants (and winning lots of grants looks better on your CV anyway!) for a few summers and probably 2 full academic years beyond the 5 guaranteed. I think that's pretty standard for "fully-funded" students anywhere-- I'm surprised Harvard's offering that much!

Edited March 15, 2010 by cgking

[martinezlizzie]

I just got into the modern art masters program and will definitely be attending come fall! Yay!

Does anyone know where most Columbia grad students choose to live? I've gotten some advice about (cheap) neighborhoods from my NYC friends, but I'm still not really sure what area is best. Thoughts . . . ?

[keila]

I was wondering about Columbia housing as well (I've narrowed my choices to Columbia and one other school). Does anyone know enough about the area to comment on the safety of the graduate apartments? Are they all near campus, or are some closer to Harlem?

While this is more specific, I was also wondering if anyone around here knew if it would be possible to get a single apartment through Columbia housing. I keep kosher, and so I would need to share a kitchen with either someone else who keeps kosher or a vegetarian who didn't mind living with a meat eater. As far as I can tell from the housing website, single apartments are only available for married students, and while I know there are no shortage of observant Jews at Columbia, I'm doubting that the process would be refined enough for me to request to be placed with one. Alternatively, I'm still close enough to my college days not to mind being on a meal plan and living in a graduate dorm for a year (presumably, I would be able to find a roommate on my own by year two), but I don't know if this is an option either.

Thanks for any information!

[cgking]

I was wondering about Columbia housing as well (I've narrowed my choices to Columbia and one other school). Does anyone know enough about the area to comment on the safety of the graduate apartments? Are they all near campus, or are some closer to Harlem?

While this is more specific, I was also wondering if anyone around here knew if it would be possible to get a single apartment through Columbia housing. I keep kosher, and so I would need to share a kitchen with either someone else who keeps kosher or a vegetarian who didn't mind living with a meat eater. As far as I can tell from the housing website, single apartments are only available for married students, and while I know there are no shortage of observant Jews at Columbia, I'm doubting that the process would be refined enough for me to request to be placed with one. Alternatively, I'm still close enough to my college days not to mind being on a meal plan and living in a graduate dorm for a year (presumably, I would be able to find a roommate on my own by year two), but I don't know if this is an option either.

Thanks for any information!

I've only seen one apartment, but it was really nice and just a block or two from campus. Morningside heights is a pretty safe area, and Columbia's bought up a lot of the apartment buildings around campus for grad students.

I'm worried about having to spend all of my stipend on rent, so I got in touch with the housing office to ask if I could request an apartment below a certain amount, and they said that if I mention that on my housing application, they should be able to accommodate me. I'd guess that they can do the same for people who want to live with kosher roommates. I think you can live in a dorm your first year and then move out-- I considered it myself-- but apparently very few grad students live in the dorms, and it's kind of a crapshoot (you might end up in a really nasty and/or loud dorm).

[Ritualist]

I'm actually concerned about the three months of the year that the doctoral fellowships do not cover...my offer from Harvard, for instance, includes four years of committed summer travel and research money on top of the five year ten-month stipend. So I tried writing people at Columbia about this a week ago. No one has responded yet. It is actually bothering me because Columbia is my top choice, but not at the expense of forfeiting a better financial situation at another top-ranked university and moving to a notoriously expensive city without any prior notion of being able to afford all twelve months of the year! I will not take out anymore loans, as I've done that enough for my BA and MA. (I also already live in Boston, have a place here, am a Harvard alumnus, etc., so I wouldn't have to change much to stay at Harvard). So, come on, Columbia. Work with me here... :-/

Long story short: things worked out fantastically with Columbia, so I will be accepting their offer of admission... Maybe I'll see you all around next year!

[sykora25]

Is it true that one generally needs to wait until about a month before (intended move-in date) to rent an apartment in New York?

[bleistift]

I'm fairly sure PhD students are guaranteed housing through Columbia, and in general the graduate student apartments are very close to campus (the majority are in Morningside Heights), affordable, and fairly spacious. I'm currently living in graduate student housing 1.5 blocks away from the 110th St. 1-line station (20 minutes to midtown), a 5-minute walk to campus (114th St.), and 5 minutes of great restaurants, supermarkets, bars, etc. Feel free to PM me if you have specific questions.

[KAMALAGRAD]

Sorry I'm late to the party, but I just was accepted to the journalism school at Columbia University. So how is everybody doing as far as housing. I've looked into a couple of options, but since I'm in the West Coast for now its site unseen.

[suzy]

Just wanted to add that I'll be starting at Columbia this Fall. Yay!

I actually was pretty worried about housing. So, on Monday, I called the admin at my school, and she said graduate housing is guaranteed to PhD students who apply for it. I'm in MN, so I hope the housing is decent, as I won't be able to check it out til I move in...

[hollanding]

I'll be at Mailman this fall (as of yesterday) which is way up at 168th St. Not planning on living up there but won't have any classes on the regular campus.

[jplunk85]

Hi folks,

the application process was lengthy, and after hitting my head into the wall a good many times, I chose Columbia! I will be attending the Grad. School of Journalism. To the J-school admits in this thread, have you joined the Facebook group yet? Also, have you received your financial awards? I'm still waiting on mine.

In all, I'm so far happy with my choice and am looking forward to working with the Journalism's best students.

Edited May 31, 2010 by jplunk85

[KAMALAGRAD]

Hi folks,

the application process was lengthy, and after hitting my head into the wall a good many times, I chose Columbia! I will be attending the Grad. School of Journalism. To the J-school admits in this thread, have you joined the Facebook group yet? Also, have you received your financial awards? I'm still waiting on mine.

In all, I'm so far happy with my choice and am looking forward to working with the Journalism's best students.

Hey jplunk85,

I'm a recent J-school admit as well. I haven't joined the Facebook group yet. I'm still waiting on my larger financial aid package, but I know I did get one award for $2,500. Hopefully there is more where that is coming from.

[jplunk85]

Hey jplunk85,

I'm a recent J-school admit as well. I haven't joined the Facebook group yet. I'm still waiting on my larger financial aid package, but I know I did get one award for $2,500. Hopefully there is more where that is coming from.

Congrats!

I did not fill out the scholarship aid form, simply because I was under deadlines from 8 other applications to complete... May I ask what your specialization is? I'm MS, newspaper. Have you found housing, or did you receive student housing?

If you'd like, you can add me on FB (send me a message on here). Here is the FB page: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#!/group.php?gid=113107955367602&ref=ts

[colleen_lee]

I will be starting at Teachers College next week (MA, Music and Music Education), but there isn't any action on the TC thread so I am tagging along with the Columbia kids.

I am very excited to start meeting all my colleagues and professors!

[pinot noir]

Hi,

I am applying to Columbia's MFA program for creative writing... we'll see what happens in April...

[Grad_At_Columbia]

I've only seen one apartment, but it was really nice and just a block or two from campus. Morningside heights is a pretty safe area, and Columbia's bought up a lot of the apartment buildings around campus for grad students.

I'm worried about having to spend all of my stipend on rent, so I got in touch with the housing office to ask if I could request an apartment below a certain amount, and they said that if I mention that on my housing application, they should be able to accommodate me. I'd guess that they can do the same for people who want to live with kosher roommates. I think you can live in a dorm your first year and then move out-- I considered it myself-- but apparently very few grad students live in the dorms, and it's kind of a crapshoot (you might end up in a really nasty and/or loud dorm).

Columbia offers graduate student (subsidized) housing to its PhD students. The rent is much lower than market rates, and is generally within about 1/2 mile of campus. If you'd rather not live on campus, you don't have to--but once you're out of the housing system, it's very hard to get back it. My advice is to apply for housing when they offer it--you can always turn it down later if you decide against. I'd recommend against the dorms, since you'll live mostly with undergrads--unless this appeals to you. You'll probably have a roommate, generally another grad student, who could be great or terrible depending. But if it doesn't work out, you always have the option to move--either within the CU housing system or to somewhere "off campus." The leases aren't binding--you can break the lease any time if you want to move.

The housing office tries to accommodate lifestyles (e.g. being kosher), although they can't guarantee it. Nonetheless, there's really no harm in applying.

(I'm a current graduate student at Columbia)