Columbia College

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Columbia College
Established	1754
President	{{{President}}}
Dean	Austin Quigley
Degrees	BA
Enrollment	4,224 students (2005)
Website	www.college.columbia.edu

Columbia College (CC) is the undergraduate school of Columbia University for traditional students (usually no more than one year out of high school) wishing to pursue a BA in the humanities, social sciences, and/or natural sciences. It is the historical nucleus of the university, tracing its history back to the foundation of King's College in 1754.

The head of Columbia College since 1995 has been Dean Austin Quigley. The college offices are located in Hamilton Hall.

History

See History of Columbia College.

Admissions

In 2007, Columbia College admitted 8.9% of regular decision applicants. With SEAS, Columbia admitted 10.4% of applicants.

In 2008, Columbia College admitted 1,660 regular decision applicants out of 19,116, resulting in an admit rate of 8.7%, the lowest ever in the College's history. SEAS admitted 609 students out 3,463, for an admit rate of 17.6%. The combined rate for both schools was 10%.

Many Columbians like to pretend that their low acceptance rate is indicative of their high student quality and selectivity. In reality, however, Columbia's student quality is lower than Penn, Dartmouth, and Brown in terms of both entering students' SAT averages and high school GPA. Indeed, it seems that New York City's popularity is the only real part of Columbia's admissions arsenal.

Academics

Core Curriculum

Columbia College students must suffer through/enjoy (depending on one's perspective) the Core Curriculum. The college once had its own faculty to teach Core classes, but this no longer exists, having been subsumed under the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

Majors and concentrations

In addition, College students must choose at least one concentration with which to graduate. Although this is the minimum requirement, most students choose to deal with the more arduous requirements of a major, a major plus a concentration, or a double major. Different requirements exist for each major and concentration, usually involving some combination of lecture classes, seminars, and (in the hard sciences) lab work. Occasionally final projects such as a senior thesis may be required for graduation. Students may create their own majors, although this is rarely undertaken, and, given Columbia's labyrinthine bureaucracy, notoriously difficult.

Progress to degree

Students can check their progress toward the Core and class points requirements via the Degree Audit Report feature on SSOL.

Residential life

Columbia College students live in the same residence halls as students in SEAS, and may under certain circumstances live in Barnard residence halls. Barnard and Columbia students, however, do not have mutual swipe access to each others' residence halls.

Student government

See CCSC.

Mission

The mission of Columbia College actually comprises three objectives:

• intellectual mobility
• social mobility
• career mobility