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School of General Studies

2014-05-13T17:56:38Z

Peterawnislowspatsy:

{{Infobox school
|Name=Columbia University School of General Studies
|Image=GS-Shield.gif
|Established=[[1947]]
|President=
|Dean=[[Peter Awn]]
|Degrees=[[BA]], Postbac Certificate in Premedical Sciences, [[BS]] until 2014
|Enrollment=2038 (2011)
|Website=[http://www.gs.columbia.edu/ www.gs.columbia.edu]
}}

The '''School of General Studies''', commonly referred to as '''General Studies''' or simply '''GS''', is one of the three official undergraduate colleges of Columbia University. GS is highly selective and widely considered to be "the nation’s finest undergraduate college for nontraditional students."<ref>https://gs.columbia.edu/owl-article?ntitle=2308&mgid=2180</ref> GS students themselves are known as '''GSers'''.

GS confers the Bachelor of Art degree in over seventy different majors, although until May 2014 it also conferred Bachelor of Science degrees. GS students take the same courses with the same faculty, are held to the same high standards, and earn the same degree as all other Columbia undergraduates. GS students, who comprise of approximately 25% of all Columbia undergraduates, have the highest average GPA of all the undergraduate schools at Columbia.<ref>http://www.columbia.edu/cu/opir/abstract/enrollment%20headcount%20by%20school%20all.htm</ref>

GS also runs [[Low]]'s niche programs that don't fit anywhere else. GS introduced Columbia's Postbaccalaureate Premedical Program in 1955, which is the largest and oldest in the United States. Around 90 percent of [[Postbac Premed]] students are accepted to top US medical schools. In 1954, GS introduced the [[Joint Program]] with List College of the Jewish Theological Seminary. In 2010, GS introduced a dual degree program with [[Sciences Po]], a French grand établissement institution. None of its 83 students have any idea what the fuck the program is about.

==Nontraditional students==
GS defines the term "nontraditional" very loosely so as to accommodate the unusual backgrounds of potential students. That said, GSers typically need to have "a break in their education" for more than one year after high school; a previous undergraduate degree; some sort of weird international background; or a compelling reason to obtain the flexibility of optional part-time status and off-campus housing.<ref>[http://www.gs.columbia.edu/cgi-bin/newspages.dll/pages?sitename=COLAD&record=449&htmlfile=gsnews2.htm Average gap in studies for a GS student in the fall 2006 entering class was 6 years] (Admissions section of the 2006-07 GS Academic Bulletin, pg. 7).</ref>

GS students are an eclectic group that includes [[Jonathan Taylor Thomas|world-class artists]], Olympic athletes, and musicians; investment bankers and business owners; published authors and military veterans; and people who come from as far away as China, Israel, and Germany. Many students work full-time while pursuing a degree, and many have family responsibilities; others attend classes full-time and experience Columbia's more traditional college life.

Many have enjoyed successful careers in fields such as investment banking and information technology and quite a few are nontraditional due to previous conscription or community service requirements in their home countries. A substantial portion of the population enter as transfer students; the previous schools of these students range from community colleges to Columbia's peer institutions.

It is important to note that whether a student has a one year break or ten year break, most students who choose GS usually see themselves as being more mature and independent than a traditional student.<ref>https://gs.columbia.edu/admissions-faqs</ref>

==Background==
A Columbia undergraduate class could include students from any of the following schools: GS, Columbia College, the School of Engineering and Applied Science, or Barnard College. GS is unique among colleges of its type, because its students are fully integrated into the Columbia undergraduate curriculum: GS Students take the same classes with the same students and professors and are granted the same degrees as students at Columbia College or SEAS.

In addition to its bachelor's degree program, the School of General Studies offers combined undergraduate/graduate degree programs with Columbia's schools of [[Columbia Law School|Law]], [[Columbia Business School|Business]], [[College of Dental Medicine|Dental Medicine]], [[School of Social Work|Social Work]], [[SIPA|International and Public Affairs]], [[Teachers College]], and the [[College of Physicians and Surgeons]], as well as undergraduate dual-degree programs with [[SEAS]], the [[Jewish Theological Seminary]], and a dual-BA program with [[w:Sciences Po|Sciences Po]]. In 2012, GS launched a pilot dual degree program with City University of Hong Kong. <ref> http://gs.columbia.edu/owl-article?ntitle=7141&mgid=7138 </ref>

==Everyone hates the name==
According to Peter Awn, "it will change within a year or so." He has been saying this since 1994.

==Admissions==
Admission to Columbia GS is highly selective and "extremely competitive."<ref>http://www.gs.columbia.edu/our-process</ref> According to the College Board, the GS acceptance rate is 23%. Admissions officers examine high school records, test scores, extra-curricular activities, resumes and essays. They conduct interviews in person and on the phone. They also consider college-level work and real-life experience. For transfer students, most successful applicants attain GPAs of at least 3.8 according to the GS admissions office. GS also requires standardized test scores for entry. The school will use scores from the SAT, ACT, or the school's own General Studies Admissions Exam. A list of admissions requirements and procedures is available from the General Studies website and statistics on application, admission, and matriculation are available at the website of Columbia's Office of Planning and Institutional Research. GS admissions statistics are not reported in conjunction with CC/SEAS statistics. This is related both to GS's different admission deadlines and the fact that CC/SEAS and GS have different applicant pools.

Applicants to the School of General Studies must have a break of one academic year or have compelling personal or professional reasons for part-time attendance to be eligible to apply for admission. Prospective Columbia undergraduates who have had a break of a year or more in their education are considered nontraditional and are required to apply to the School of General Studies (such persons are automatically ineligible for admission to Columbia College). GS students have the option to attend part- or full-time unlike Columbia College students, who are required to attend full-time. Also, scholarships at Columbia GS are merit based rather than income based like that of Columbia College or SEAS. In the 2006 class, the average age was 27 for incoming students, and the majority attend full-time.

Most GS students are transfer students, as 78% of the admitted class in 2006 transferred some college credit.<ref>Source: [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/bulletin_courses/bulletin98/tc.html 78% of 2006 admitted students transferred credit.]</ref> A list of admissions requirements and procedures is available from the [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/index_howtoapply.htm/ General Studies website]

Additional statistics on application, admission, and matriculation are available at the website of the Office of Planning and Institutional Research. [http://www.columbia.edu/cu/opir/index.html]

==Placement==

More than 70 percent of GS students go on to earn advanced degrees after graduation. Columbia GS students have been admitted to top graduate programs all over the country including law schools at Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, the University of Chicago, NYU, the University of Pennsylvania, UC Berkeley (Boalt Hall), Duke, and Cornell. They have also been admitted to medicals schools at Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins, Duke, Stanford, UC San Francisco, Yale, Columbia, the University of Chicago, Cornell, and many others. In recent years, GS graduates have been recruited by investment banks such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, UBS, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and Citigroup.

== Academics ==
GS students must complete a total of 124 credits to graduate. Up to 60 of these credits may be transferred from another institution; at least 64 credits must be completed at Columbia University.<ref>Source: [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/bulletin_courses/bulletin98/tc.html GS Credit Policies]</ref>

=== Core Requirements ===
GS has been progressively bringing its Core closer into alignment with CC, most recently during the summer of 2012 when it replaced the Cultural Diversity requirement (1 class that may overlap with another core class, commonly Asian Music or Art) with CC's 2 class [[Global Core]] requirement.
The following table lists the core requirements for GS and CC for students matriculating Fall 2012 or later:

{|- border="1" cellpadding="2"
|-
|
!width="45%"|GS<ref>[http://www.gs.columbia.edu/bulletin_courses/Bulletin98/bach_core.html School of General Studes Core Requirements]</ref>
!width="45%"|CC<ref>[http://www.college.columbia.edu/core/ Columbia College Core Curriculum]</ref>
|-
!Writing<ref>[[University Writing]] is required of both GS and CC students, but the sections are divided by school.</ref>

|[[University Writing]]
|[[University Writing]]
|-
!Literature/Humanities
|[[Literature Humanities]], or 1 semester of literature at Columbia and 1 semester of humanities or literature.
|[[Literature Humanities]]
|-
!Foreign Language
|4th Semester of a Language OR exemption by university exam
|4th Semester of a Language OR exemption by university exam
|-
!Art
|[[Art Humanities]], Asian Humanities (Art) or exemption by similar course taken at another institution
|[[Art Humanities]]
|-
!Music
|[[Music Humanities]], Asian Humanities (Music), exemption by exam, or exemption by similar course taken at another institution
|[[Music Humanities]]
|-
!Contemporary Civilization/Social Science
|[[Contemporary Civilization]], which can count as either 2 social science or 1 social science + 1 humanities. Can substitute 2 approved social science classes.
|[[Contemporary Civilization]]
|-
!Quantitative Reasoning
|Exemption by exam: 600 on Math section of SAT OR sufficient grade on QR test during orientation OR any mathematics, statistics, economics, or computer science course, OR [[Frontiers of Science]], most classes satisfy both the Quantitative requirement and count as a Science requirement
|Covered under Science requirement
|-
!Science
|3 approved science courses (very wide range, including math, statistics, CS, psychology), one of which can be [[Frontiers of Science]]
|[[Frontiers of Science]] and 2 additional science courses
|-
!Global Core
|2 courses from the Global Core List
|2 courses from the Global Core List
|-
!Physical Education
|None
|[[Swim test]], 2 courses
|}

=== Major Requirements ===

Major requirements are determined departmentally. These are almost always the same for both GS and CC.

==Science Po Columbia University Dual BA Program==

The Dual BA Program is a rigorous, transatlantic program in which undergraduate students earn Bachelor of Arts degrees from both Sciences Po and Columbia University. Students spend two years at one of three Sciences Po campuses in France, each of which is devoted to a particular region of the world and offers a heavy linguistic and cultural focus. After two years, students matriculate at Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City to complete the interdisciplinary social sciences curriculum. High school students may apply. Admission to the program is highly selective.

== Financial Aid ==

GS offers scholarships for both newly accepted and continuing students. These scholarships are merit- rather than need-based like that of Columbia college and SEAS.

A common complaint made by GS students is that the financial aid amounts and options offered by GS are smaller than those offered to CC/SEAS students. In the absence of need-based institutional aid, many GS students rely on a combination of loans, external grants, and personal funds. In 2006 the University announced financial aid reforms for CC and SEAS students whose parents earn less than $50,000 annually.

GS does not offer parity with the packages offered to CC/SEAS students. This is because the scholarship system at GS is independent of the financial aid system for CC/SEAS and funding is sourced from a separate GS-only pool. GS has made some recent efforts to address the issue, both through campaigns to increase the endowment and by increasing its scholarship offerings by 10 percent (in 2006). Starting summer 2012 GS is offering merit institutional aid for summer study, in addition to fall and spring semesters.

== Housing ==
General Studies students are not eligible for the CC/SEAS [[Room Selection]] process. However, many GS students receive housing through [[University Apartment Housing]].

== History ==
GS's evolutionary ancestor is [[Seth Low Junior College]], which was established in [[Brooklyn]] to help alleviate the steady flood of applicants to [[Columbia College]], particularly Jews. SLJC was closed in 1936, and some students were given the option to transfer to The University Extension and finish their studies.

The University Extension program was reorganized and renamed the School of General Studies in December 6, 1947, in part to address the influx of GIs returning from World War II. It became Columbia's third official undergraduate school. It is sometimes claimed that [[Barnard College]] is Columbia's third undergraduate school, and GS is its fourth; however Barnard is officially only affiliated with Columbia University, while GS, its deans, and students are formally integrated into the university proper, along with [[Columbia College]] and the [[Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science]]. Prior to the existence of GS, nontraditional undergraduates were classified as "University Undergraduates."

The first head of General Studies was Associate Professor of English [[Harry Morgan Ayres]], who was the head of University Extension. Among the first members of the GS Administrative Board were Dean [[Harry J. Carman]], and Dean [[Millicent Carrey Mcintosh]]. In 1954, General Studies had the largest enrollment (9,700) and faculty of any college or school at Columbia.

GS originally maintained its own faculty, classes, and programs. In 1968 the University Council first decided to allow GS to grant the B.A. degree in addition to the B.S. In the 1980s it was separated from the [[School of Continuing Education|Division of Continuing Education]]. In 1990, the CC, GS, and GSAS faculties were merged into the [[Faculty of Arts and Sciences]].

The size of the GS student body continues to swing wildly, from 3,000 students in 1992, to 1,550 in 2004, to 2,213 in 2013.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/18/nyregion/ward-h-dennis-54-for-15-years-general-studies-dean-at-columbia.html</ref><ref>http://www.columbia.edu/cu/opir/abstract/opir_enrollment_history_1.htm</ref>

The school's name refers to its diverse student body by alluding to medieval universities, which were also known as ''studia generalia''. ''Studia generalia'' were degree-granting institutions that served a much broader, often international group of students and scholars.<ref>[http://users.manchester.edu/Facstaff/SSNaragon/Kant/Universities/UnivIntro.htm Universities: Introduction]</ref><ref>[http://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=Glossary%2Fstudium Janus: ` studium]</ref>

== Myths ==
* GS is night school.
:GS students attend the same classes as students in other colleges at the university. Columbia offers some classes at night, but they are available to all students.
* GS is an extension program.
:GS should not be confused with the separate [[School of Continuing Education]], which offers individual courses on non-degree basis. GS is one of the two official liberal arts colleges at Columbia University along with Columbia College. Students are expected to pursue a Bachelor of Arts degree.

== Relationship to Columbia College ==
In December 1968 the University Council decided, over the objections of some members of the Columbia College Faculty, to allow GS to grant the B.A. degree in addition to the B.S. The Board of Trustees authorized that decision in February 1969. The creation of the [[Faculty of Arts and Sciences]] in 1991 merged the GS, CC and [[GSAS]] faculties. As a result, GS and CC students are nearly academically indistinguishable – they both receive instruction in the liberal arts and sciences from the Columbia Faculty of Arts and Sciences and receive the Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University. Until 2014 some did receive the Bachelor of Science degree, like SEAS students. GS students participate in nearly the same Core as Columbia College students, with a little additional flexibility, and the waiving of the swim test, PE, and [[Frontiers of Science]]. GS students have the same curriculum, but their own sections of, [[University Writing]], [[Literature Humanities]], and [[Contemporary Civilization]] although non-GS students may enroll if they wish and can gain permission. GS students may substitute certain other classes for the traditional Lit Hum, Art Hum, and CC that focus on non-western culture, if they wish.

The wide range of students that form the GS student body, from professionals or dropouts returning to school for a degree, to military veterans, to students who took 2 years off before attending college, to 'traditional'-age students enrolled in the Joint Degree Program with List College at [[JTS]], to postbac pre-med students, makes it hard to say just what specific identity GS students have that makes them so different from their fellow students in the College. In [[2007]], the administration floated the idea of a CC-GS merger.<ref>http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2007/11/12/university-may-merge-gs-cc "University May Merge GS with CC." Columbia Spectator. November 12, 2007</ref> However it quickly died down.<ref>http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2008/03/10/merits-gs-cc-integration "The Merits of the GS, CC Integration" Columbia Spectator. March 10 2008</ref>

== References ==
<references />

== External links ==
* [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/home.asp GS website]
* [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/studentservices/housing.htm GS Housing website]
* [http://www.alumni.gs.columbia.edu/ OwlNet, GS Alumni website]
* [http://gssc.columbia.edu GSSC Website] ([[GSSC]] General Studies Student Council)
* [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/history.htm History of the School of General Studies]
*[http://media.www.columbiaspectator.com/media/storage/paper865/news/2007/03/05/News/Implications.General.Studies-2757242.shtml IMPLICATIONS: General Studies (Article on the evolving and conflicting identities of GS)] - [[Columbia Spectator|The Spectator]] 3/5/07
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,822081,00.html College for Grownups (''Time'' article from 1952)]
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,810834,00.html The Unwashed Brother (article on GS in Time Magazine, circa 1959.)]
* [[w:Columbia University School of General Studies|Wikipedia article]]

{{Schools}}

[[Category:General Studies|*]]

Peter Nason

2014-05-13T17:55:07Z

Peterawnislowspatsy:

[[Peter Nason]] [[GS]] '[[2015|15]] is the President-elect of the [[General Studies Student Council]]. He is presumably the only current student at Columbia with proportionate dwarfism. Nason appears to command a loose cadre of [[Milvets]] though so avoid drawing attention to it unless you want to get your shit kicked in.

Like his predecessor [[Hannah Germond]], he served as First Year Class President the year before becoming GSSC President (although he had already been at GS for several years).

== GSSC Presidency ==

Nason declared his candidacy in March 2014. Upon the filing deadline, it was found that he was the only student running for the position. However, uncontested elections for GSSC President have (since 2012) required a special election after spring elections. In light of this, [[Joshua Dominic]] - a first year GSSC Four Council Representative - was permitted to file his candidacy several days after the deadline.

In an interview with the Spectator's editorial board, Nason stated that he wanted to:
*improve community both within the GS student body and the University as a whole -- "He proposed allowing GS students to attend first-year and sophomore formals and strengthening connections between GSSC and student groups like the Columbia University Family Support Network and MilVets."
*provide more community spaces for students
*improve financial aid for GS students -- "Nason suggested holding more fundraisers to raise money for GS-specific financial aid and proposed a resolution that would equalize financial assistance the school receives from the federal government with the other undergraduate schools."
*and create more transparency within the council.

In April 2014, Nason beat Dominic with 63 percent of the 339 votes cast in the election.

{{succession|preceded=[[Hannah Germond]]|succeeded=Incumbent|office=[[GSSC]] Student Body President|years=2014-2015}}

[[Category:General Studies students]]
[[Category:Class of 2015]]
[[Category:GSSC presidents]]

== References ==
<references/>

Peter Nason

2014-05-13T17:54:29Z

Peterawnislowspatsy:

[[Peter Nason]] [[GS]] '[[2015|15]] is the President-elect of the [[General Studies Student Council]]. He is presumably the only current student at Columbia with proportionate dwarfism. Nason appears to command a loose cadre of [[Milvets]] though so avoid drawing attention to it unless you want to get your shit kicked in.

Like his predecessor [[Hannah Germond]], he served as First Year Class President (although he had already been at GS for several years).

== GSSC Presidency ==

Nason declared his candidacy in March 2014. Upon the filing deadline, it was found that he was the only student running for the position. However, uncontested elections for GSSC President have (since 2012) required a special election after spring elections. In light of this, [[Joshua Dominic]] - a first year GSSC Four Council Representative - was permitted to file his candidacy several days after the deadline.

In an interview with the Spectator's editorial board, Nason stated that he wanted to:
*improve community both within the GS student body and the University as a whole -- "He proposed allowing GS students to attend first-year and sophomore formals and strengthening connections between GSSC and student groups like the Columbia University Family Support Network and MilVets."
*provide more community spaces for students
*improve financial aid for GS students -- "Nason suggested holding more fundraisers to raise money for GS-specific financial aid and proposed a resolution that would equalize financial assistance the school receives from the federal government with the other undergraduate schools."
*and create more transparency within the council.

In April 2014, Nason beat Dominic with 63 percent of the 339 votes cast in the election.

{{succession|preceded=[[Hannah Germond]]|succeeded=Incumbent|office=[[GSSC]] Student Body President|years=2014-2015}}

[[Category:General Studies students]]
[[Category:Class of 2015]]
[[Category:GSSC presidents]]

== References ==
<references/>

Peter Nason

2014-05-13T08:21:43Z

Peterawnislowspatsy:

[[Peter Nason]] [[GS]] '[[2015|15]] is the President-elect of the [[General Studies Student Council]]. He is presumably the only current student at Columbia with proportionate dwarfism. Nason appears to command a loose cadre of [[Milvets]] though so avoid drawing attention to it unless you want to get your shit kicked in.

Like his predecessor [[Hannah Germond]], he served as First Year Class President (although presumably a first year in credit load, he had already been at GS for several years).

== GSSC Presidency ==

Nason declared his candidacy in March 2014. Upon the filing deadline, it was found that he was the only student running for the position. However, uncontested elections for GSSC President have (since 2012) required a special election after spring elections. In light of this, [[Joshua Dominic]] - a first year GSSC Four Council Representative - was permitted to file his candidacy several days after the deadline.

In an interview with the Spectator's editorial board, Nason stated that he wanted to:
*improve community both within the GS student body and the University as a whole -- "He proposed allowing GS students to attend first-year and sophomore formals and strengthening connections between GSSC and student groups like the Columbia University Family Support Network and MilVets."
*provide more community spaces for students
*improve financial aid for GS students -- "Nason suggested holding more fundraisers to raise money for GS-specific financial aid and proposed a resolution that would equalize financial assistance the school receives from the federal government with the other undergraduate schools."
*and create more transparency within the council.

In April 2014, Nason beat Dominic with 63 percent of the 339 votes cast in the election.

{{succession|preceded=[[Hannah Germond]]|succeeded=Incumbent|office=[[GSSC]] Student Body President|years=2014-2015}}

[[Category:General Studies students]]
[[Category:Class of 2015]]
[[Category:GSSC presidents]]

== References ==
<references/>

Peter Nason

2014-05-13T08:20:33Z

Peterawnislowspatsy:

[[Peter Nason]] [[GS]] '[[2015|15]] is the President-elect of the [[General Studies Student Council]]. He is presumably the only current student at Columbia with proportionate dwarfism. Nason appears to command a loose cadre of [[Milvets]] though so don't joke about it with him unless asked.

Like his predecessor [[Hannah Germond]], he served as First Year Class President (although presumably a first year in credit load, he had already been at GS for several years).

== GSSC Presidency ==

Nason declared his candidacy in March 2014. Upon the filing deadline, it was found that he was the only student running for the position. However, uncontested elections for GSSC President have (since 2012) required a special election after spring elections. In light of this, [[Joshua Dominic]] - a first year GSSC Four Council Representative - was permitted to file his candidacy several days after the deadline.

In an interview with the Spectator's editorial board, Nason stated that he wanted to:
*improve community both within the GS student body and the University as a whole -- "He proposed allowing GS students to attend first-year and sophomore formals and strengthening connections between GSSC and student groups like the Columbia University Family Support Network and MilVets."
*provide more community spaces for students
*improve financial aid for GS students -- "Nason suggested holding more fundraisers to raise money for GS-specific financial aid and proposed a resolution that would equalize financial assistance the school receives from the federal government with the other undergraduate schools."
*and create more transparency within the council.

In April 2014, Nason beat Dominic with 63 percent of the 339 votes cast in the election.

{{succession|preceded=[[Hannah Germond]]|succeeded=Incumbent|office=[[GSSC]] Student Body President|years=2014-2015}}

[[Category:General Studies students]]
[[Category:Class of 2015]]
[[Category:GSSC presidents]]

== References ==
<references/>

Hannah Germond

2014-05-13T08:20:05Z

Peterawnislowspatsy:

[[Hannah Germond]] [[GS]] '[[2016|16]] was President of the [[General Studies Student Council]]. She bears an uncanny resemblance to Leslie Knope of the sitcom ''Parks & Recreation'', right down to having held office as city councilor in her small Indiana town<ref>http://gs.columbia.edu/candidate-statements</ref>.

In 2012 Germond was elected First Year Class President, and led the only active first year class in contemporary GSSC memory.

== GSSC Presidency ==

In April 2013, Germond won 57.9 percent of the 514 votes cast in a three-candidate race that included [[Robbie LeDesma]] and [[Joe Ramos]] for GS Student Body President <ref>http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2013/04/12/germond-elected-gssc-president</ref>.

According to Spec, "[she] said that, as president, she especially wants to reach out to underrepresented student groups like students with children, and LGBT, international, and Jewish Theological Seminary students."

Germond's administration did successfully connect to student parents by working with with [[CUFSN]] to host events and sponsor a resolution calling for subsidies. Additionally, GSSC under her watch partnered with LGBT students by expanding ties with GS' queer group, the [[GS Alliance]].

Perhaps the most significant positive development during her term was the corrupt as fuck GSSC elections board merging into the [[Columbia Elections Board]]. Her VP of Communications was also praised for transitioning GSSC's weekly newsletter from HTML to MailChimp.

During her term, GSSC was virtually frozen by infighting. Several corruption scandals took place, including allegations of a GSSC member making physical threats, and GSSC members misrepresenting their work on LinkedIn. Her lieutenants proposed working with student publications to censor online comments during election season.

{{succession|preceded=[[Jennifer Wisdom]]|succeeded=[[Peter Nason]]|office=[[GSSC]] Student Body President|years=2013-2014}}

[[Category:General Studies students]]
[[Category:Class of 2016]]
[[Category:GSSC presidents]]

== References ==
<references/>

Peter Nason

2014-05-13T08:18:06Z

Peterawnislowspatsy: Created page with "Peter Nason GS '15 is the President-elect of the General Studies Student Council. He is presumably the only current student at Columbia with proportionate..."

[[Peter Nason]] [[GS]] '[[2015|15]] is the President-elect of the [[General Studies Student Council]]. He is presumably the only current student at Columbia with proportionate dwarfism. Nason appears to command a loose cadre of [[Milvets]] though so don't joke about it with him unless asked.

Like his predecessor [[Hannah Germond]], he served as First Year Class President (although presumably a first year in credit load, he had already been at GS for several years).

== GSSC Presidency ==

Nason declared his candidacy in March 2014. Upon the filing deadline, it was found that he was the only student running for the position. However, uncontested elections for GSSC President have (since 2012) required a special election after spring elections. In light of this, [[Joshua Dominic]] - a first year GSSC Four Council Representative - was allowed to file his candidacy several days after the deadline.

In an interview with the Spectator's editorial board, Nason stated that he wanted to:
*improve community both within the GS student body and the University as a whole -- "He proposed allowing GS students to attend first-year and sophomore formals and strengthening connections between GSSC and student groups like the Columbia University Family Support Network and MilVets."
*provide more community spaces for students
*improve financial aid for GS students -- "Nason suggested holding more fundraisers to raise money for GS-specific financial aid and proposed a resolution that would equalize financial assistance the school receives from the federal government with the other undergraduate schools."
*and create more transparency within the council.

In April 2014, Nason beat Dominic with 63 percent of the 339 votes cast in the election.

{{succession|preceded=[[Hannah Germond]]|succeeded=Incumbent|office=[[GSSC]] Student Body President|years=2014-2015}}

[[Category:General Studies students]]
[[Category:Class of 2015]]
[[Category:GSSC presidents]]

== References ==
<references/>

Hannah Germond

2014-05-13T07:57:32Z

Peterawnislowspatsy: rough summary

[[Hannah Germond]] [[GS]] '[[2016|16]] was President of the [[General Studies Student Council]]. She bears an uncanny resemblance to Leslie Knope of the sitcom ''Parks & Recreation'', right down to having held office as city councilor in her small Indiana town<ref>http://gs.columbia.edu/candidate-statements</ref>.

In 2012 Germond was elected First Year Class President, and led the only active first year class in contemporary GSSC memory.

== GSSC Presidency ==

In April 2013, Germond won 57.9 percent of the 514 votes cast in a three-candidate race that included [[Robbie LeDesma]] and [[Joe Ramos]] for GS Student Body President <ref>http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2013/04/12/germond-elected-gssc-president</ref>.

According to Spec, "[she] said that, as president, she especially wants to reach out to underrepresented student groups like students with children, and LGBT, international, and Jewish Theological Seminary students."

Germond's administration did successfully connect to student parents by working with with [[CUFSN]] to host events and sponsor a resolution calling for subsidies. Additionally, GSSC under her watch partnered with LGBT students by expanding ties with GS' queer group, the [[GS Alliance]].

Perhaps the most significant positive development during her term was the corrupt as fuck GSSC elections board merging into the [[Columbia Elections Board]].

During her term, GSSC was virtually frozen by infighting. Several corruption scandals took place, including allegations of a GSSC member making physical threats, and GSSC members misrepresenting their work on LinkedIn. Her lieutenants proposed working with student publications to censor online comments during election season.

{{succession|preceded=[[Jennifer Wisdom]]|succeeded=[[Peter Nason]]|office=[[GSSC]] Student Body President|years=2013-2014}}

[[Category:General Studies students]]
[[Category:Class of 2016]]
[[Category:GSSC presidents]]

== References ==
<references/>

School of General Studies

2014-05-11T06:57:55Z

Peterawnislowspatsy: Undo revision 53169 by Peterawnislowspatsy (talk)

{{Infobox school
|Name=Columbia University School of General Studies
|Image=GS-Shield.gif
|Established=[[1947]]
|President=
|Dean=[[Peter Awn]]
|Degrees=[[BA]], Postbac Certificate in Premedical Sciences, [[BS]] until 2014
|Enrollment=2038 (2011)
|Website=[http://www.gs.columbia.edu/ www.gs.columbia.edu]
}}

The '''School of General Studies''', commonly referred to as '''General Studies''' or simply '''GS''', is one of the three official undergraduate colleges of Columbia University. GS is highly selective and widely considered to be "the nation’s finest undergraduate college for nontraditional students."<ref>https://gs.columbia.edu/owl-article?ntitle=2308&mgid=2180</ref> GS students themselves are known as '''GSers'''.

GS confers the Bachelor of Art degree in over seventy different majors, although until May 2014 it also conferred Bachelor of Science degrees. GS students take the same courses with the same faculty, are held to the same high standards, and earn the same degree as all other Columbia undergraduates. GS students, who comprise of approximately 25% of all Columbia undergraduates, have the highest average GPA of all the undergraduate schools at Columbia.<ref>http://www.columbia.edu/cu/opir/abstract/enrollment%20headcount%20by%20school%20all.htm</ref>

GS also runs [[Low]]'s niche programs that don't fit anywhere else. GS introduced Columbia's Postbaccalaureate Premedical Program in 1955, which is the largest and oldest in the United States. Around 90 percent of [[Postbac Premed]] students are accepted to top US medical schools. In 1954, GS introduced the [[Joint Program]] with List College of the Jewish Theological Seminary. In 2010, GS introduced a dual degree program with [[Sciences Po]], a French grand établissement institution. None of its 83 students have any idea what the fuck the program is about.

==Nontraditional students==
GS defines the term "nontraditional" very loosely so as to accommodate the unusual backgrounds of potential students. That said, GSers typically need to have "a break in their education" for more than one year after high school; a previous undergraduate degree; some sort of weird international background; or a compelling reason to obtain the flexibility of part-time status and off-campus housing.<ref>[http://www.gs.columbia.edu/cgi-bin/newspages.dll/pages?sitename=COLAD&record=449&htmlfile=gsnews2.htm Average gap in studies for a GS student in the fall 2006 entering class was 6 years] (Admissions section of the 2006-07 GS Academic Bulletin, pg. 7).</ref>

GS students are an eclectic group that includes [[Jonathan Taylor Thomas|world-class artists]], Olympic athletes, and musicians; investment bankers and business owners; published authors and military veterans; and people who come from as far away as China, Israel, and Germany. Many students work full-time while pursuing a degree, and many have family responsibilities; others attend classes full-time and experience Columbia's more traditional college life.

Many have enjoyed successful careers in fields such as investment banking and information technology and quite a few are nontraditional due to previous conscription or community service requirements in their home countries. A substantial portion of the population enter as transfer students; the previous schools of these students range from community colleges to Columbia's peer institutions.

It is important to note that whether a student has a one year break or ten year break, most students who choose GS usually see themselves as being more mature and independent than a traditional student.<ref>https://gs.columbia.edu/admissions-faqs</ref>

==Background==
A Columbia undergraduate class could include students from any of the following schools: GS, Columbia College, the School of Engineering and Applied Science, or Barnard College. GS is unique among colleges of its type, because its students are fully integrated into the Columbia undergraduate curriculum: GS Students take the same classes with the same students and professors and are granted the same degrees as students at Columbia College or SEAS.

In addition to its bachelor's degree program, the School of General Studies offers combined undergraduate/graduate degree programs with Columbia's schools of [[Columbia Law School|Law]], [[Columbia Business School|Business]], [[College of Dental Medicine|Dental Medicine]], [[School of Social Work|Social Work]], [[SIPA|International and Public Affairs]], [[Teachers College]], and the [[College of Physicians and Surgeons]], as well as undergraduate dual-degree programs with [[SEAS]], the [[Jewish Theological Seminary]], and a dual-BA program with [[w:Sciences Po|Sciences Po]]. In 2012, GS launched a pilot dual degree program with City University of Hong Kong. <ref> http://gs.columbia.edu/owl-article?ntitle=7141&mgid=7138 </ref>

==Everyone hates the name==
According to Peter Awn, "it will change within a year or so." He has been saying this since 1994.

==Admissions==
Admission to Columbia GS is highly selective and "extremely competitive."<ref>http://www.gs.columbia.edu/our-process</ref> According to the College Board, the GS acceptance rate is 23%. Admissions officers examine high school records, test scores, extra-curricular activities, resumes and essays. They conduct interviews in person and on the phone. They also consider college-level work and real-life experience. For transfer students, most successful applicants attain GPAs of at least 3.8 according to the GS admissions office. GS also requires standardized test scores for entry. The school will use scores from the SAT, ACT, or the school's own General Studies Admissions Exam. A list of admissions requirements and procedures is available from the General Studies website and statistics on application, admission, and matriculation are available at the website of Columbia's Office of Planning and Institutional Research. GS admissions statistics are not reported in conjunction with CC/SEAS statistics. This is related both to GS's different admission deadlines and the fact that CC/SEAS and GS have different applicant pools.

Applicants to the School of General Studies must have a break of one academic year or have compelling personal or professional reasons for part-time attendance to be eligible to apply for admission. Prospective Columbia undergraduates who have had a break of a year or more in their education are considered nontraditional and are required to apply to the School of General Studies (such persons are automatically ineligible for admission to Columbia College). GS students have the option to attend part- or full-time unlike Columbia College students, who are required to attend full-time. Also, scholarships at Columbia GS are merit based rather than income based like that of Columbia College or SEAS. In the 2006 class, the average age was 27 for incoming students, and the majority attend full-time.

Most GS students are transfer students, as 78% of the admitted class in 2006 transferred some college credit.<ref>Source: [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/bulletin_courses/bulletin98/tc.html 78% of 2006 admitted students transferred credit.]</ref> A list of admissions requirements and procedures is available from the [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/index_howtoapply.htm/ General Studies website]

Additional statistics on application, admission, and matriculation are available at the website of the Office of Planning and Institutional Research. [http://www.columbia.edu/cu/opir/index.html]

==Placement==

More than 70 percent of GS students go on to earn advanced degrees after graduation. Columbia GS students have been admitted to top graduate programs all over the country including law schools at Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, the University of Chicago, NYU, the University of Pennsylvania, UC Berkeley (Boalt Hall), Duke, and Cornell. They have also been admitted to medicals schools at Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins, Duke, Stanford, UC San Francisco, Yale, Columbia, the University of Chicago, Cornell, and many others. In recent years, GS graduates have been recruited by investment banks such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, UBS, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and Citigroup.

== Academics ==
GS students must complete a total of 124 credits to graduate. Up to 60 of these credits may be transferred from another institution; at least 64 credits must be completed at Columbia University.<ref>Source: [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/bulletin_courses/bulletin98/tc.html GS Credit Policies]</ref>

=== Core Requirements ===
GS has been progressively bringing its Core closer into alignment with CC, most recently during the summer of 2012 when it replaced the Cultural Diversity requirement (1 class that may overlap with another core class, commonly Asian Music or Art) with CC's 2 class [[Global Core]] requirement.
The following table lists the core requirements for GS and CC for students matriculating Fall 2012 or later:

{|- border="1" cellpadding="2"
|-
|
!width="45%"|GS<ref>[http://www.gs.columbia.edu/bulletin_courses/Bulletin98/bach_core.html School of General Studes Core Requirements]</ref>
!width="45%"|CC<ref>[http://www.college.columbia.edu/core/ Columbia College Core Curriculum]</ref>
|-
!Writing<ref>[[University Writing]] is required of both GS and CC students, but the sections are divided by school.</ref>

|[[University Writing]]
|[[University Writing]]
|-
!Literature/Humanities
|[[Literature Humanities]], or 1 semester of literature at Columbia and 1 semester of humanities or literature.
|[[Literature Humanities]]
|-
!Foreign Language
|4th Semester of a Language OR exemption by university exam
|4th Semester of a Language OR exemption by university exam
|-
!Art
|[[Art Humanities]], Asian Humanities (Art) or exemption by similar course taken at another institution
|[[Art Humanities]]
|-
!Music
|[[Music Humanities]], Asian Humanities (Music), exemption by exam, or exemption by similar course taken at another institution
|[[Music Humanities]]
|-
!Contemporary Civilization/Social Science
|[[Contemporary Civilization]], which can count as either 2 social science or 1 social science + 1 humanities. Can substitute 2 approved social science classes.
|[[Contemporary Civilization]]
|-
!Quantitative Reasoning
|Exemption by exam: 600 on Math section of SAT OR sufficient grade on QR test during orientation OR any mathematics, statistics, economics, or computer science course, OR [[Frontiers of Science]], most classes satisfy both the Quantitative requirement and count as a Science requirement
|Covered under Science requirement
|-
!Science
|3 approved science courses (very wide range, including math, statistics, CS, psychology), one of which can be [[Frontiers of Science]]
|[[Frontiers of Science]] and 2 additional science courses
|-
!Global Core
|2 courses from the Global Core List
|2 courses from the Global Core List
|-
!Physical Education
|None
|[[Swim test]], 2 courses
|}

=== Major Requirements ===

Major requirements are determined departmentally. These are almost always the same for both GS and CC.

==Science Po Columbia University Dual BA Program==

The Dual BA Program is a rigorous, transatlantic program in which undergraduate students earn Bachelor of Arts degrees from both Sciences Po and Columbia University. Students spend two years at one of three Sciences Po campuses in France, each of which is devoted to a particular region of the world and offers a heavy linguistic and cultural focus. After two years, students matriculate at Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City to complete the interdisciplinary social sciences curriculum. High school students may apply. Admission to the program is highly selective.

== Financial Aid ==

GS offers scholarships for both newly accepted and continuing students. These scholarships are merit- rather than need-based like that of Columbia college and SEAS.

A common complaint made by GS students is that the financial aid amounts and options offered by GS are smaller than those offered to CC/SEAS students. In the absence of need-based institutional aid, many GS students rely on a combination of loans, external grants, and personal funds. In 2006 the University announced financial aid reforms for CC and SEAS students whose parents earn less than $50,000 annually.

GS does not offer parity with the packages offered to CC/SEAS students. This is because the scholarship system at GS is independent of the financial aid system for CC/SEAS and funding is sourced from a separate GS-only pool. GS has made some recent efforts to address the issue, both through campaigns to increase the endowment and by increasing its scholarship offerings by 10 percent (in 2006). Starting summer 2012 GS is offering merit institutional aid for summer study, in addition to fall and spring semesters.

== Housing ==
General Studies students are not eligible for the CC/SEAS [[Room Selection]] process. However, many GS students receive housing through [[University Apartment Housing]].

== History ==
GS's evolutionary ancestor is [[Seth Low Junior College]], which was established in [[Brooklyn]] to help alleviate the steady flood of applicants to [[Columbia College]], particularly Jews. SLJC was closed in 1936, and some students were given the option to transfer to The University Extension and finish their studies.

The University Extension program was reorganized and renamed the School of General Studies in December 6, 1947, in part to address the influx of GIs returning from World War II. It became Columbia's third official undergraduate school. It is sometimes claimed that [[Barnard College]] is Columbia's third undergraduate school, and GS is its fourth; however Barnard is officially only affiliated with Columbia University, while GS, its deans, and students are formally integrated into the university proper, along with [[Columbia College]] and the [[Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science]]. Prior to the existence of GS, nontraditional undergraduates were classified as "University Undergraduates."

The first head of General Studies was Associate Professor of English [[Harry Morgan Ayres]], who was the head of University Extension. Among the first members of the GS Administrative Board were Dean [[Harry J. Carman]], and Dean [[Millicent Carrey Mcintosh]]. In 1954, General Studies had the largest enrollment (9,700) and faculty of any college or school at Columbia.

GS originally maintained its own faculty, classes, and programs. In 1968 the University Council first decided to allow GS to grant the B.A. degree in addition to the B.S. In the 1980s it was separated from the [[School of Continuing Education|Division of Continuing Education]]. In 1990, the CC, GS, and GSAS faculties were merged into the [[Faculty of Arts and Sciences]].

The size of the GS student body continues to swing wildly, from 3,000 students in 1992, to 1,550 in 2004, to 2,213 in 2013.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/18/nyregion/ward-h-dennis-54-for-15-years-general-studies-dean-at-columbia.html</ref><ref>http://www.columbia.edu/cu/opir/abstract/opir_enrollment_history_1.htm</ref>

The school's name refers to its diverse student body by alluding to medieval universities, which were also known as ''studia generalia''. ''Studia generalia'' were degree-granting institutions that served a much broader, often international group of students and scholars.<ref>[http://users.manchester.edu/Facstaff/SSNaragon/Kant/Universities/UnivIntro.htm Universities: Introduction]</ref><ref>[http://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=Glossary%2Fstudium Janus: ` studium]</ref>

== Myths ==
* GS is night school.
:GS students attend the same classes as students in other colleges at the university. Columbia offers some classes at night, but they are available to all students.
* GS is an extension program.
:GS should not be confused with the separate [[School of Continuing Education]], which offers individual courses on non-degree basis. GS is one of the two official liberal arts colleges at Columbia University along with Columbia College. Students are expected to pursue a Bachelor of Arts degree.

== Relationship to Columbia College ==
In December 1968 the University Council decided, over the objections of some members of the Columbia College Faculty, to allow GS to grant the B.A. degree in addition to the B.S. The Board of Trustees authorized that decision in February 1969. The creation of the [[Faculty of Arts and Sciences]] in 1991 merged the GS, CC and [[GSAS]] faculties. As a result, GS and CC students are nearly academically indistinguishable – they both receive instruction in the liberal arts and sciences from the Columbia Faculty of Arts and Sciences and receive the Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University. Until 2014 some did receive the Bachelor of Science degree, like SEAS students. GS students participate in nearly the same Core as Columbia College students, with a little additional flexibility, and the waiving of the swim test, PE, and [[Frontiers of Science]]. GS students have the same curriculum, but their own sections of, [[University Writing]], [[Literature Humanities]], and [[Contemporary Civilization]] although non-GS students may enroll if they wish and can gain permission. GS students may substitute certain other classes for the traditional Lit Hum, Art Hum, and CC that focus on non-western culture, if they wish.

The wide range of students that form the GS student body, from professionals or dropouts returning to school for a degree, to military veterans, to students who took 2 years off before attending college, to 'traditional'-age students enrolled in the Joint Degree Program with List College at [[JTS]], to postbac pre-med students, makes it hard to say just what specific identity GS students have that makes them so different from their fellow students in the College. In [[2007]], the administration floated the idea of a CC-GS merger.<ref>http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2007/11/12/university-may-merge-gs-cc "University May Merge GS with CC." Columbia Spectator. November 12, 2007</ref> However it quickly died down.<ref>http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2008/03/10/merits-gs-cc-integration "The Merits of the GS, CC Integration" Columbia Spectator. March 10 2008</ref>

== References ==
<references />

== External links ==
* [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/home.asp GS website]
* [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/studentservices/housing.htm GS Housing website]
* [http://www.alumni.gs.columbia.edu/ OwlNet, GS Alumni website]
* [http://gssc.columbia.edu GSSC Website] ([[GSSC]] General Studies Student Council)
* [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/history.htm History of the School of General Studies]
*[http://media.www.columbiaspectator.com/media/storage/paper865/news/2007/03/05/News/Implications.General.Studies-2757242.shtml IMPLICATIONS: General Studies (Article on the evolving and conflicting identities of GS)] - [[Columbia Spectator|The Spectator]] 3/5/07
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,822081,00.html College for Grownups (''Time'' article from 1952)]
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,810834,00.html The Unwashed Brother (article on GS in Time Magazine, circa 1959.)]
* [[w:Columbia University School of General Studies|Wikipedia article]]

{{Schools}}

[[Category:General Studies|*]]

School of General Studies

2014-05-11T06:57:34Z

Peterawnislowspatsy: /* Nontraditional students */

{{Infobox school
|Name=Columbia University School of General Studies
|Image=GS-Shield.gif
|Established=[[1947]]
|President=
|Dean=[[Peter Awn]]
|Degrees=[[BA]], Postbac Certificate in Premedical Sciences, [[BS]] until 2014
|Enrollment=2038 (2011)
|Website=[http://www.gs.columbia.edu/ www.gs.columbia.edu]
}}

The '''School of General Studies''', commonly referred to as '''General Studies''' or simply '''GS''', is one of the three official undergraduate colleges of Columbia University. GS is highly selective and widely considered to be "the nation’s finest undergraduate college for nontraditional students."<ref>https://gs.columbia.edu/owl-article?ntitle=2308&mgid=2180</ref> GS students themselves are known as '''GSers'''.

GS confers the Bachelor of Art degree in over seventy different majors, although until May 2014 it also conferred Bachelor of Science degrees. GS students take the same courses with the same faculty, are held to the same high standards, and earn the same degree as all other Columbia undergraduates. GS students, who comprise of approximately 25% of all Columbia undergraduates, have the highest average GPA of all the undergraduate schools at Columbia.<ref>http://www.columbia.edu/cu/opir/abstract/enrollment%20headcount%20by%20school%20all.htm</ref>

GS also runs [[Low]]'s niche programs that don't fit anywhere else. GS introduced Columbia's Postbaccalaureate Premedical Program in 1955, which is the largest and oldest in the United States. Around 90 percent of [[Postbac Premed]] students are accepted to top US medical schools. In 1954, GS introduced the [[Joint Program]] with List College of the Jewish Theological Seminary. In 2010, GS introduced a dual degree program with [[Sciences Po]], a French grand établissement institution. None of its 83 students have any idea what the fuck the program is about.

==Nontraditional students==
GS defines the term "nontraditional" very loosely so as to accommodate the unusual backgrounds of potential students. That said, GSers typically need to have "a break in their education" for more than one year after high school; a previous undergraduate degree; some sort of weird international background; or a compelling reason to obtain the flexibility of part-time status and off-campus housing.<ref>[http://www.gs.columbia.edu/cgi-bin/newspages.dll/pages?sitename=COLAD&record=449&htmlfile=gsnews2.htm Average gap in studies for a GS student in the fall 2006 entering class was 6 years] (Admissions section of the 2006-07 GS Academic Bulletin, pg. 7).</ref>

GSers are an eclectic group that includes [[Jonathan Taylor Thomas|world-class artists]], Olympic athletes, and musicians; investment bankers and business owners; published authors and military veterans; and people who come from as far away as China, Israel, and Germany. Many students work full-time while pursuing a degree, and many have family responsibilities; others attend classes full-time and experience Columbia's more traditional college life.

Many have enjoyed successful careers in fields such as investment banking and information technology and quite a few are nontraditional due to previous conscription or community service requirements in their home countries. A substantial portion of the population enter as transfer students; the previous schools of these students range from community colleges to Columbia's peer institutions.

It is important to note that whether a student has a one year break or ten year break, most students who choose GS usually see themselves as being more mature and independent than a traditional student.<ref>https://gs.columbia.edu/admissions-faqs</ref>

==Background==
A Columbia undergraduate class could include students from any of the following schools: GS, Columbia College, the School of Engineering and Applied Science, or Barnard College. GS is unique among colleges of its type, because its students are fully integrated into the Columbia undergraduate curriculum: GS Students take the same classes with the same students and professors and are granted the same degrees as students at Columbia College or SEAS.

In addition to its bachelor's degree program, the School of General Studies offers combined undergraduate/graduate degree programs with Columbia's schools of [[Columbia Law School|Law]], [[Columbia Business School|Business]], [[College of Dental Medicine|Dental Medicine]], [[School of Social Work|Social Work]], [[SIPA|International and Public Affairs]], [[Teachers College]], and the [[College of Physicians and Surgeons]], as well as undergraduate dual-degree programs with [[SEAS]], the [[Jewish Theological Seminary]], and a dual-BA program with [[w:Sciences Po|Sciences Po]]. In 2012, GS launched a pilot dual degree program with City University of Hong Kong. <ref> http://gs.columbia.edu/owl-article?ntitle=7141&mgid=7138 </ref>

==Everyone hates the name==
According to Peter Awn, "it will change within a year or so." He has been saying this since 1994.

==Admissions==
Admission to Columbia GS is highly selective and "extremely competitive."<ref>http://www.gs.columbia.edu/our-process</ref> According to the College Board, the GS acceptance rate is 23%. Admissions officers examine high school records, test scores, extra-curricular activities, resumes and essays. They conduct interviews in person and on the phone. They also consider college-level work and real-life experience. For transfer students, most successful applicants attain GPAs of at least 3.8 according to the GS admissions office. GS also requires standardized test scores for entry. The school will use scores from the SAT, ACT, or the school's own General Studies Admissions Exam. A list of admissions requirements and procedures is available from the General Studies website and statistics on application, admission, and matriculation are available at the website of Columbia's Office of Planning and Institutional Research. GS admissions statistics are not reported in conjunction with CC/SEAS statistics. This is related both to GS's different admission deadlines and the fact that CC/SEAS and GS have different applicant pools.

Applicants to the School of General Studies must have a break of one academic year or have compelling personal or professional reasons for part-time attendance to be eligible to apply for admission. Prospective Columbia undergraduates who have had a break of a year or more in their education are considered nontraditional and are required to apply to the School of General Studies (such persons are automatically ineligible for admission to Columbia College). GS students have the option to attend part- or full-time unlike Columbia College students, who are required to attend full-time. Also, scholarships at Columbia GS are merit based rather than income based like that of Columbia College or SEAS. In the 2006 class, the average age was 27 for incoming students, and the majority attend full-time.

Most GS students are transfer students, as 78% of the admitted class in 2006 transferred some college credit.<ref>Source: [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/bulletin_courses/bulletin98/tc.html 78% of 2006 admitted students transferred credit.]</ref> A list of admissions requirements and procedures is available from the [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/index_howtoapply.htm/ General Studies website]

Additional statistics on application, admission, and matriculation are available at the website of the Office of Planning and Institutional Research. [http://www.columbia.edu/cu/opir/index.html]

==Placement==

More than 70 percent of GS students go on to earn advanced degrees after graduation. Columbia GS students have been admitted to top graduate programs all over the country including law schools at Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, the University of Chicago, NYU, the University of Pennsylvania, UC Berkeley (Boalt Hall), Duke, and Cornell. They have also been admitted to medicals schools at Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins, Duke, Stanford, UC San Francisco, Yale, Columbia, the University of Chicago, Cornell, and many others. In recent years, GS graduates have been recruited by investment banks such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, UBS, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and Citigroup.

== Academics ==
GS students must complete a total of 124 credits to graduate. Up to 60 of these credits may be transferred from another institution; at least 64 credits must be completed at Columbia University.<ref>Source: [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/bulletin_courses/bulletin98/tc.html GS Credit Policies]</ref>

=== Core Requirements ===
GS has been progressively bringing its Core closer into alignment with CC, most recently during the summer of 2012 when it replaced the Cultural Diversity requirement (1 class that may overlap with another core class, commonly Asian Music or Art) with CC's 2 class [[Global Core]] requirement.
The following table lists the core requirements for GS and CC for students matriculating Fall 2012 or later:

{|- border="1" cellpadding="2"
|-
|
!width="45%"|GS<ref>[http://www.gs.columbia.edu/bulletin_courses/Bulletin98/bach_core.html School of General Studes Core Requirements]</ref>
!width="45%"|CC<ref>[http://www.college.columbia.edu/core/ Columbia College Core Curriculum]</ref>
|-
!Writing<ref>[[University Writing]] is required of both GS and CC students, but the sections are divided by school.</ref>

|[[University Writing]]
|[[University Writing]]
|-
!Literature/Humanities
|[[Literature Humanities]], or 1 semester of literature at Columbia and 1 semester of humanities or literature.
|[[Literature Humanities]]
|-
!Foreign Language
|4th Semester of a Language OR exemption by university exam
|4th Semester of a Language OR exemption by university exam
|-
!Art
|[[Art Humanities]], Asian Humanities (Art) or exemption by similar course taken at another institution
|[[Art Humanities]]
|-
!Music
|[[Music Humanities]], Asian Humanities (Music), exemption by exam, or exemption by similar course taken at another institution
|[[Music Humanities]]
|-
!Contemporary Civilization/Social Science
|[[Contemporary Civilization]], which can count as either 2 social science or 1 social science + 1 humanities. Can substitute 2 approved social science classes.
|[[Contemporary Civilization]]
|-
!Quantitative Reasoning
|Exemption by exam: 600 on Math section of SAT OR sufficient grade on QR test during orientation OR any mathematics, statistics, economics, or computer science course, OR [[Frontiers of Science]], most classes satisfy both the Quantitative requirement and count as a Science requirement
|Covered under Science requirement
|-
!Science
|3 approved science courses (very wide range, including math, statistics, CS, psychology), one of which can be [[Frontiers of Science]]
|[[Frontiers of Science]] and 2 additional science courses
|-
!Global Core
|2 courses from the Global Core List
|2 courses from the Global Core List
|-
!Physical Education
|None
|[[Swim test]], 2 courses
|}

=== Major Requirements ===

Major requirements are determined departmentally. These are almost always the same for both GS and CC.

==Science Po Columbia University Dual BA Program==

The Dual BA Program is a rigorous, transatlantic program in which undergraduate students earn Bachelor of Arts degrees from both Sciences Po and Columbia University. Students spend two years at one of three Sciences Po campuses in France, each of which is devoted to a particular region of the world and offers a heavy linguistic and cultural focus. After two years, students matriculate at Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City to complete the interdisciplinary social sciences curriculum. High school students may apply. Admission to the program is highly selective.

== Financial Aid ==

GS offers scholarships for both newly accepted and continuing students. These scholarships are merit- rather than need-based like that of Columbia college and SEAS.

A common complaint made by GS students is that the financial aid amounts and options offered by GS are smaller than those offered to CC/SEAS students. In the absence of need-based institutional aid, many GS students rely on a combination of loans, external grants, and personal funds. In 2006 the University announced financial aid reforms for CC and SEAS students whose parents earn less than $50,000 annually.

GS does not offer parity with the packages offered to CC/SEAS students. This is because the scholarship system at GS is independent of the financial aid system for CC/SEAS and funding is sourced from a separate GS-only pool. GS has made some recent efforts to address the issue, both through campaigns to increase the endowment and by increasing its scholarship offerings by 10 percent (in 2006). Starting summer 2012 GS is offering merit institutional aid for summer study, in addition to fall and spring semesters.

== Housing ==
General Studies students are not eligible for the CC/SEAS [[Room Selection]] process. However, many GS students receive housing through [[University Apartment Housing]].

== History ==
GS's evolutionary ancestor is [[Seth Low Junior College]], which was established in [[Brooklyn]] to help alleviate the steady flood of applicants to [[Columbia College]], particularly Jews. SLJC was closed in 1936, and some students were given the option to transfer to The University Extension and finish their studies.

The University Extension program was reorganized and renamed the School of General Studies in December 6, 1947, in part to address the influx of GIs returning from World War II. It became Columbia's third official undergraduate school. It is sometimes claimed that [[Barnard College]] is Columbia's third undergraduate school, and GS is its fourth; however Barnard is officially only affiliated with Columbia University, while GS, its deans, and students are formally integrated into the university proper, along with [[Columbia College]] and the [[Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science]]. Prior to the existence of GS, nontraditional undergraduates were classified as "University Undergraduates."

The first head of General Studies was Associate Professor of English [[Harry Morgan Ayres]], who was the head of University Extension. Among the first members of the GS Administrative Board were Dean [[Harry J. Carman]], and Dean [[Millicent Carrey Mcintosh]]. In 1954, General Studies had the largest enrollment (9,700) and faculty of any college or school at Columbia.

GS originally maintained its own faculty, classes, and programs. In 1968 the University Council first decided to allow GS to grant the B.A. degree in addition to the B.S. In the 1980s it was separated from the [[School of Continuing Education|Division of Continuing Education]]. In 1990, the CC, GS, and GSAS faculties were merged into the [[Faculty of Arts and Sciences]].

The size of the GS student body continues to swing wildly, from 3,000 students in 1992, to 1,550 in 2004, to 2,213 in 2013.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/18/nyregion/ward-h-dennis-54-for-15-years-general-studies-dean-at-columbia.html</ref><ref>http://www.columbia.edu/cu/opir/abstract/opir_enrollment_history_1.htm</ref>

The school's name refers to its diverse student body by alluding to medieval universities, which were also known as ''studia generalia''. ''Studia generalia'' were degree-granting institutions that served a much broader, often international group of students and scholars.<ref>[http://users.manchester.edu/Facstaff/SSNaragon/Kant/Universities/UnivIntro.htm Universities: Introduction]</ref><ref>[http://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=Glossary%2Fstudium Janus: ` studium]</ref>

== Myths ==
* GS is night school.
:GS students attend the same classes as students in other colleges at the university. Columbia offers some classes at night, but they are available to all students.
* GS is an extension program.
:GS should not be confused with the separate [[School of Continuing Education]], which offers individual courses on non-degree basis. GS is one of the two official liberal arts colleges at Columbia University along with Columbia College. Students are expected to pursue a Bachelor of Arts degree.

== Relationship to Columbia College ==
In December 1968 the University Council decided, over the objections of some members of the Columbia College Faculty, to allow GS to grant the B.A. degree in addition to the B.S. The Board of Trustees authorized that decision in February 1969. The creation of the [[Faculty of Arts and Sciences]] in 1991 merged the GS, CC and [[GSAS]] faculties. As a result, GS and CC students are nearly academically indistinguishable – they both receive instruction in the liberal arts and sciences from the Columbia Faculty of Arts and Sciences and receive the Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University. Until 2014 some did receive the Bachelor of Science degree, like SEAS students. GS students participate in nearly the same Core as Columbia College students, with a little additional flexibility, and the waiving of the swim test, PE, and [[Frontiers of Science]]. GS students have the same curriculum, but their own sections of, [[University Writing]], [[Literature Humanities]], and [[Contemporary Civilization]] although non-GS students may enroll if they wish and can gain permission. GS students may substitute certain other classes for the traditional Lit Hum, Art Hum, and CC that focus on non-western culture, if they wish.

The wide range of students that form the GS student body, from professionals or dropouts returning to school for a degree, to military veterans, to students who took 2 years off before attending college, to 'traditional'-age students enrolled in the Joint Degree Program with List College at [[JTS]], to postbac pre-med students, makes it hard to say just what specific identity GS students have that makes them so different from their fellow students in the College. In [[2007]], the administration floated the idea of a CC-GS merger.<ref>http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2007/11/12/university-may-merge-gs-cc "University May Merge GS with CC." Columbia Spectator. November 12, 2007</ref> However it quickly died down.<ref>http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2008/03/10/merits-gs-cc-integration "The Merits of the GS, CC Integration" Columbia Spectator. March 10 2008</ref>

== References ==
<references />

== External links ==
* [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/home.asp GS website]
* [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/studentservices/housing.htm GS Housing website]
* [http://www.alumni.gs.columbia.edu/ OwlNet, GS Alumni website]
* [http://gssc.columbia.edu GSSC Website] ([[GSSC]] General Studies Student Council)
* [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/history.htm History of the School of General Studies]
*[http://media.www.columbiaspectator.com/media/storage/paper865/news/2007/03/05/News/Implications.General.Studies-2757242.shtml IMPLICATIONS: General Studies (Article on the evolving and conflicting identities of GS)] - [[Columbia Spectator|The Spectator]] 3/5/07
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,822081,00.html College for Grownups (''Time'' article from 1952)]
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,810834,00.html The Unwashed Brother (article on GS in Time Magazine, circa 1959.)]
* [[w:Columbia University School of General Studies|Wikipedia article]]

{{Schools}}

[[Category:General Studies|*]]

School of General Studies

2014-05-11T06:51:46Z

Peterawnislowspatsy:

{{Infobox school
|Name=Columbia University School of General Studies
|Image=GS-Shield.gif
|Established=[[1947]]
|President=
|Dean=[[Peter Awn]]
|Degrees=[[BA]], Postbac Certificate in Premedical Sciences, [[BS]] until 2014
|Enrollment=2038 (2011)
|Website=[http://www.gs.columbia.edu/ www.gs.columbia.edu]
}}

The '''School of General Studies''', commonly referred to as '''General Studies''' or simply '''GS''', is one of the three official undergraduate colleges of Columbia University. GS is highly selective and widely considered to be "the nation’s finest undergraduate college for nontraditional students."<ref>https://gs.columbia.edu/owl-article?ntitle=2308&mgid=2180</ref> GS students themselves are known as '''GSers'''.

GS confers the Bachelor of Art degree in over seventy different majors, although until May 2014 it also conferred Bachelor of Science degrees. GS students take the same courses with the same faculty, are held to the same high standards, and earn the same degree as all other Columbia undergraduates. GS students, who comprise of approximately 25% of all Columbia undergraduates, have the highest average GPA of all the undergraduate schools at Columbia.<ref>http://www.columbia.edu/cu/opir/abstract/enrollment%20headcount%20by%20school%20all.htm</ref>

GS also runs [[Low]]'s niche programs that don't fit anywhere else. GS introduced Columbia's Postbaccalaureate Premedical Program in 1955, which is the largest and oldest in the United States. Around 90 percent of [[Postbac Premed]] students are accepted to top US medical schools. In 1954, GS introduced the [[Joint Program]] with List College of the Jewish Theological Seminary. In 2010, GS introduced a dual degree program with [[Sciences Po]], a French grand établissement institution. None of its 83 students have any idea what the fuck the program is about.

==Nontraditional students==
GS defines the term "nontraditional" very loosely so as to accommodate the unusual backgrounds of potential students. That said, GSers typically need to have "a break in their education" for more than one year after high school; a previous undergraduate degree; some sort of weird international background; or a compelling reason to obtain the flexibility of part-time status and off-campus housing.<ref>[http://www.gs.columbia.edu/cgi-bin/newspages.dll/pages?sitename=COLAD&record=449&htmlfile=gsnews2.htm Average gap in studies for a GS student in the fall 2006 entering class was 6 years] (Admissions section of the 2006-07 GS Academic Bulletin, pg. 7).</ref>

GS students are an eclectic group that includes [[Jonathan Taylor Thomas|world-class artists]], Olympic athletes, and musicians; investment bankers and business owners; published authors and military veterans; and people who come from as far away as China, Israel, and Germany. Many students work full-time while pursuing a degree, and many have family responsibilities; others attend classes full-time and experience Columbia's more traditional college life.

Many have enjoyed successful careers in fields such as investment banking and information technology and quite a few are nontraditional due to previous conscription or community service requirements in their home countries. A substantial portion of the population enter as transfer students; the previous schools of these students range from community colleges to Columbia's peer institutions.

It is important to note that whether a student has a one year break or ten year break, most students who choose GS usually see themselves as being more mature and independent than a traditional student.<ref>https://gs.columbia.edu/admissions-faqs</ref>

==Background==
A Columbia undergraduate class could include students from any of the following schools: GS, Columbia College, the School of Engineering and Applied Science, or Barnard College. GS is unique among colleges of its type, because its students are fully integrated into the Columbia undergraduate curriculum: GS Students take the same classes with the same students and professors and are granted the same degrees as students at Columbia College or SEAS.

In addition to its bachelor's degree program, the School of General Studies offers combined undergraduate/graduate degree programs with Columbia's schools of [[Columbia Law School|Law]], [[Columbia Business School|Business]], [[College of Dental Medicine|Dental Medicine]], [[School of Social Work|Social Work]], [[SIPA|International and Public Affairs]], [[Teachers College]], and the [[College of Physicians and Surgeons]], as well as undergraduate dual-degree programs with [[SEAS]], the [[Jewish Theological Seminary]], and a dual-BA program with [[w:Sciences Po|Sciences Po]]. In 2012, GS launched a pilot dual degree program with City University of Hong Kong. <ref> http://gs.columbia.edu/owl-article?ntitle=7141&mgid=7138 </ref>

==Everyone hates the name==
According to Peter Awn, "it will change within a year or so." He has been saying this since 1994.

==Admissions==
Admission to Columbia GS is highly selective and "extremely competitive."<ref>http://www.gs.columbia.edu/our-process</ref> According to the College Board, the GS acceptance rate is 23%. Admissions officers examine high school records, test scores, extra-curricular activities, resumes and essays. They conduct interviews in person and on the phone. They also consider college-level work and real-life experience. For transfer students, most successful applicants attain GPAs of at least 3.8 according to the GS admissions office. GS also requires standardized test scores for entry. The school will use scores from the SAT, ACT, or the school's own General Studies Admissions Exam. A list of admissions requirements and procedures is available from the General Studies website and statistics on application, admission, and matriculation are available at the website of Columbia's Office of Planning and Institutional Research. GS admissions statistics are not reported in conjunction with CC/SEAS statistics. This is related both to GS's different admission deadlines and the fact that CC/SEAS and GS have different applicant pools.

Applicants to the School of General Studies must have a break of one academic year or have compelling personal or professional reasons for part-time attendance to be eligible to apply for admission. Prospective Columbia undergraduates who have had a break of a year or more in their education are considered nontraditional and are required to apply to the School of General Studies (such persons are automatically ineligible for admission to Columbia College). GS students have the option to attend part- or full-time unlike Columbia College students, who are required to attend full-time. Also, scholarships at Columbia GS are merit based rather than income based like that of Columbia College or SEAS. In the 2006 class, the average age was 27 for incoming students, and the majority attend full-time.

Most GS students are transfer students, as 78% of the admitted class in 2006 transferred some college credit.<ref>Source: [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/bulletin_courses/bulletin98/tc.html 78% of 2006 admitted students transferred credit.]</ref> A list of admissions requirements and procedures is available from the [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/index_howtoapply.htm/ General Studies website]

Additional statistics on application, admission, and matriculation are available at the website of the Office of Planning and Institutional Research. [http://www.columbia.edu/cu/opir/index.html]

==Placement==

More than 70 percent of GS students go on to earn advanced degrees after graduation. Columbia GS students have been admitted to top graduate programs all over the country including law schools at Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, the University of Chicago, NYU, the University of Pennsylvania, UC Berkeley (Boalt Hall), Duke, and Cornell. They have also been admitted to medicals schools at Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins, Duke, Stanford, UC San Francisco, Yale, Columbia, the University of Chicago, Cornell, and many others. In recent years, GS graduates have been recruited by investment banks such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, UBS, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and Citigroup.

== Academics ==
GS students must complete a total of 124 credits to graduate. Up to 60 of these credits may be transferred from another institution; at least 64 credits must be completed at Columbia University.<ref>Source: [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/bulletin_courses/bulletin98/tc.html GS Credit Policies]</ref>

=== Core Requirements ===
GS has been progressively bringing its Core closer into alignment with CC, most recently during the summer of 2012 when it replaced the Cultural Diversity requirement (1 class that may overlap with another core class, commonly Asian Music or Art) with CC's 2 class [[Global Core]] requirement.
The following table lists the core requirements for GS and CC for students matriculating Fall 2012 or later:

{|- border="1" cellpadding="2"
|-
|
!width="45%"|GS<ref>[http://www.gs.columbia.edu/bulletin_courses/Bulletin98/bach_core.html School of General Studes Core Requirements]</ref>
!width="45%"|CC<ref>[http://www.college.columbia.edu/core/ Columbia College Core Curriculum]</ref>
|-
!Writing<ref>[[University Writing]] is required of both GS and CC students, but the sections are divided by school.</ref>

|[[University Writing]]
|[[University Writing]]
|-
!Literature/Humanities
|[[Literature Humanities]], or 1 semester of literature at Columbia and 1 semester of humanities or literature.
|[[Literature Humanities]]
|-
!Foreign Language
|4th Semester of a Language OR exemption by university exam
|4th Semester of a Language OR exemption by university exam
|-
!Art
|[[Art Humanities]], Asian Humanities (Art) or exemption by similar course taken at another institution
|[[Art Humanities]]
|-
!Music
|[[Music Humanities]], Asian Humanities (Music), exemption by exam, or exemption by similar course taken at another institution
|[[Music Humanities]]
|-
!Contemporary Civilization/Social Science
|[[Contemporary Civilization]], which can count as either 2 social science or 1 social science + 1 humanities. Can substitute 2 approved social science classes.
|[[Contemporary Civilization]]
|-
!Quantitative Reasoning
|Exemption by exam: 600 on Math section of SAT OR sufficient grade on QR test during orientation OR any mathematics, statistics, economics, or computer science course, OR [[Frontiers of Science]], most classes satisfy both the Quantitative requirement and count as a Science requirement
|Covered under Science requirement
|-
!Science
|3 approved science courses (very wide range, including math, statistics, CS, psychology), one of which can be [[Frontiers of Science]]
|[[Frontiers of Science]] and 2 additional science courses
|-
!Global Core
|2 courses from the Global Core List
|2 courses from the Global Core List
|-
!Physical Education
|None
|[[Swim test]], 2 courses
|}

=== Major Requirements ===

Major requirements are determined departmentally. These are almost always the same for both GS and CC.

==Science Po Columbia University Dual BA Program==

The Dual BA Program is a rigorous, transatlantic program in which undergraduate students earn Bachelor of Arts degrees from both Sciences Po and Columbia University. Students spend two years at one of three Sciences Po campuses in France, each of which is devoted to a particular region of the world and offers a heavy linguistic and cultural focus. After two years, students matriculate at Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City to complete the interdisciplinary social sciences curriculum. High school students may apply. Admission to the program is highly selective.

== Financial Aid ==

GS offers scholarships for both newly accepted and continuing students. These scholarships are merit- rather than need-based like that of Columbia college and SEAS.

A common complaint made by GS students is that the financial aid amounts and options offered by GS are smaller than those offered to CC/SEAS students. In the absence of need-based institutional aid, many GS students rely on a combination of loans, external grants, and personal funds. In 2006 the University announced financial aid reforms for CC and SEAS students whose parents earn less than $50,000 annually.

GS does not offer parity with the packages offered to CC/SEAS students. This is because the scholarship system at GS is independent of the financial aid system for CC/SEAS and funding is sourced from a separate GS-only pool. GS has made some recent efforts to address the issue, both through campaigns to increase the endowment and by increasing its scholarship offerings by 10 percent (in 2006). Starting summer 2012 GS is offering merit institutional aid for summer study, in addition to fall and spring semesters.

== Housing ==
General Studies students are not eligible for the CC/SEAS [[Room Selection]] process. However, many GS students receive housing through [[University Apartment Housing]].

== History ==
GS's evolutionary ancestor is [[Seth Low Junior College]], which was established in [[Brooklyn]] to help alleviate the steady flood of applicants to [[Columbia College]], particularly Jews. SLJC was closed in 1936, and some students were given the option to transfer to The University Extension and finish their studies.

The University Extension program was reorganized and renamed the School of General Studies in December 6, 1947, in part to address the influx of GIs returning from World War II. It became Columbia's third official undergraduate school. It is sometimes claimed that [[Barnard College]] is Columbia's third undergraduate school, and GS is its fourth; however Barnard is officially only affiliated with Columbia University, while GS, its deans, and students are formally integrated into the university proper, along with [[Columbia College]] and the [[Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science]]. Prior to the existence of GS, nontraditional undergraduates were classified as "University Undergraduates."

The first head of General Studies was Associate Professor of English [[Harry Morgan Ayres]], who was the head of University Extension. Among the first members of the GS Administrative Board were Dean [[Harry J. Carman]], and Dean [[Millicent Carrey Mcintosh]]. In 1954, General Studies had the largest enrollment (9,700) and faculty of any college or school at Columbia.

GS originally maintained its own faculty, classes, and programs. In 1968 the University Council first decided to allow GS to grant the B.A. degree in addition to the B.S. In the 1980s it was separated from the [[School of Continuing Education|Division of Continuing Education]]. In 1990, the CC, GS, and GSAS faculties were merged into the [[Faculty of Arts and Sciences]].

The size of the GS student body continues to swing wildly, from 3,000 students in 1992, to 1,550 in 2004, to 2,213 in 2013.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/18/nyregion/ward-h-dennis-54-for-15-years-general-studies-dean-at-columbia.html</ref><ref>http://www.columbia.edu/cu/opir/abstract/opir_enrollment_history_1.htm</ref>

The school's name refers to its diverse student body by alluding to medieval universities, which were also known as ''studia generalia''. ''Studia generalia'' were degree-granting institutions that served a much broader, often international group of students and scholars.<ref>[http://users.manchester.edu/Facstaff/SSNaragon/Kant/Universities/UnivIntro.htm Universities: Introduction]</ref><ref>[http://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=Glossary%2Fstudium Janus: ` studium]</ref>

== Myths ==
* GS is night school.
:GS students attend the same classes as students in other colleges at the university. Columbia offers some classes at night, but they are available to all students.
* GS is an extension program.
:GS should not be confused with the separate [[School of Continuing Education]], which offers individual courses on non-degree basis. GS is one of the two official liberal arts colleges at Columbia University along with Columbia College. Students are expected to pursue a Bachelor of Arts degree.

== Relationship to Columbia College ==
In December 1968 the University Council decided, over the objections of some members of the Columbia College Faculty, to allow GS to grant the B.A. degree in addition to the B.S. The Board of Trustees authorized that decision in February 1969. The creation of the [[Faculty of Arts and Sciences]] in 1991 merged the GS, CC and [[GSAS]] faculties. As a result, GS and CC students are nearly academically indistinguishable – they both receive instruction in the liberal arts and sciences from the Columbia Faculty of Arts and Sciences and receive the Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University. Until 2014 some did receive the Bachelor of Science degree, like SEAS students. GS students participate in nearly the same Core as Columbia College students, with a little additional flexibility, and the waiving of the swim test, PE, and [[Frontiers of Science]]. GS students have the same curriculum, but their own sections of, [[University Writing]], [[Literature Humanities]], and [[Contemporary Civilization]] although non-GS students may enroll if they wish and can gain permission. GS students may substitute certain other classes for the traditional Lit Hum, Art Hum, and CC that focus on non-western culture, if they wish.

The wide range of students that form the GS student body, from professionals or dropouts returning to school for a degree, to military veterans, to students who took 2 years off before attending college, to 'traditional'-age students enrolled in the Joint Degree Program with List College at [[JTS]], to postbac pre-med students, makes it hard to say just what specific identity GS students have that makes them so different from their fellow students in the College. In [[2007]], the administration floated the idea of a CC-GS merger.<ref>http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2007/11/12/university-may-merge-gs-cc "University May Merge GS with CC." Columbia Spectator. November 12, 2007</ref> However it quickly died down.<ref>http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2008/03/10/merits-gs-cc-integration "The Merits of the GS, CC Integration" Columbia Spectator. March 10 2008</ref>

== References ==
<references />

== External links ==
* [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/home.asp GS website]
* [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/studentservices/housing.htm GS Housing website]
* [http://www.alumni.gs.columbia.edu/ OwlNet, GS Alumni website]
* [http://gssc.columbia.edu GSSC Website] ([[GSSC]] General Studies Student Council)
* [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/history.htm History of the School of General Studies]
*[http://media.www.columbiaspectator.com/media/storage/paper865/news/2007/03/05/News/Implications.General.Studies-2757242.shtml IMPLICATIONS: General Studies (Article on the evolving and conflicting identities of GS)] - [[Columbia Spectator|The Spectator]] 3/5/07
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,822081,00.html College for Grownups (''Time'' article from 1952)]
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,810834,00.html The Unwashed Brother (article on GS in Time Magazine, circa 1959.)]
* [[w:Columbia University School of General Studies|Wikipedia article]]

{{Schools}}

[[Category:General Studies|*]]

School of General Studies

2014-05-11T06:49:16Z

Peterawnislowspatsy:

{{Infobox school
|Name=Columbia University School of General Studies
|Image=GS-Shield.gif
|Established=[[1947]]
|President=
|Dean=[[Peter Awn]]
|Degrees=[[BA]], Postbac Certificate in Premedical Sciences, [[BS]] until 2014
|Enrollment=2038 (2011)
|Website=[http://www.gs.columbia.edu/ www.gs.columbia.edu]
}}

The '''School of General Studies''', commonly referred to as '''General Studies''' or simply '''GS''', is one of the three official undergraduate colleges of Columbia University. GS is highly selective and widely considered to be "the nation’s finest undergraduate college for nontraditional students."<ref>https://gs.columbia.edu/owl-article?ntitle=2308&mgid=2180</ref> GS students themselves are known as '''GSers'''.

GS confers the Bachelor of Art degree in over seventy different majors, although until May 2014 it also conferred Bachelor of Science degrees. GS students take the same courses with the same faculty, are held to the same high standards, and earn the same degree as all other Columbia undergraduates. GS students, who comprise of approximately 25% of all Columbia undergraduates, have the highest average GPA of all the undergraduate schools at Columbia.<ref>http://www.columbia.edu/cu/opir/abstract/enrollment%20headcount%20by%20school%20all.htm</ref>

GS also runs [[Low]]'s niche programs that don't fit anywhere else. GS introduced Columbia's Postbaccalaureate Premedical Program in 1955, which is the largest and oldest in the United States. Around 90 percent of [[Postbac Premed]] students are accepted to top US medical schools. In 1954, GS introduced the [[Joint Program]] with List College of the Jewish Theological Seminary. In 2010, GS introduced a dual degree program with [[Sciences Po]], a French grand établissement institution, but none of its 83 students have any idea what the fuck the program is about.

==Nontraditional students==
GS defines the term "nontraditional" very loosely so as to accommodate the unusual backgrounds of potential students. That said, GSers typically need to have "a break in their education" for more than one year after high school; a previous undergraduate degree; some sort of weird international background; or a compelling reason to obtain the flexibility of part-time status and off-campus housing.<ref>[http://www.gs.columbia.edu/cgi-bin/newspages.dll/pages?sitename=COLAD&record=449&htmlfile=gsnews2.htm Average gap in studies for a GS student in the fall 2006 entering class was 6 years] (Admissions section of the 2006-07 GS Academic Bulletin, pg. 7).</ref>

GS students are an eclectic group that includes [[Jonathan Taylor Thomas|world-class artists]], Olympic athletes, and musicians; investment bankers and business owners; published authors and military veterans; and people who come from as far away as China, Israel, and Germany. Many students work full-time while pursuing a degree, and many have family responsibilities; others attend classes full-time and experience Columbia's more traditional college life.

Many have enjoyed successful careers in fields such as investment banking and information technology and quite a few are nontraditional due to previous conscription or community service requirements in their home countries. A substantial portion of the population enter as transfer students; the previous schools of these students range from community colleges to Columbia's peer institutions.

It is important to note that whether a student has a one year break or ten year break, most students who choose GS usually see themselves as being more mature and independent than a traditional student.<ref>https://gs.columbia.edu/admissions-faqs</ref>

==Background==
A Columbia undergraduate class could include students from any of the following schools: GS, Columbia College, the School of Engineering and Applied Science, or Barnard College. GS is unique among colleges of its type, because its students are fully integrated into the Columbia undergraduate curriculum: GS Students take the same classes with the same students and professors and are granted the same degrees as students at Columbia College or SEAS.

In addition to its bachelor's degree program, the School of General Studies offers combined undergraduate/graduate degree programs with Columbia's schools of [[Columbia Law School|Law]], [[Columbia Business School|Business]], [[College of Dental Medicine|Dental Medicine]], [[School of Social Work|Social Work]], [[SIPA|International and Public Affairs]], [[Teachers College]], and the [[College of Physicians and Surgeons]], as well as undergraduate dual-degree programs with [[SEAS]], the [[Jewish Theological Seminary]], and a dual-BA program with [[w:Sciences Po|Sciences Po]]. In 2012, GS launched a pilot dual degree program with City University of Hong Kong. <ref> http://gs.columbia.edu/owl-article?ntitle=7141&mgid=7138 </ref>

==Admissions==
Admission to Columbia GS is highly selective and "extremely competitive."<ref>http://www.gs.columbia.edu/our-process</ref> According to the College Board, the GS acceptance rate is 23%. Admissions officers examine high school records, test scores, extra-curricular activities, resumes and essays. They conduct interviews in person and on the phone. They also consider college-level work and real-life experience. For transfer students, most successful applicants attain GPAs of at least 3.8 according to the GS admissions office. GS also requires standardized test scores for entry. The school will use scores from the SAT, ACT, or the school's own General Studies Admissions Exam. A list of admissions requirements and procedures is available from the General Studies website and statistics on application, admission, and matriculation are available at the website of Columbia's Office of Planning and Institutional Research. GS admissions statistics are not reported in conjunction with CC/SEAS statistics. This is related both to GS's different admission deadlines and the fact that CC/SEAS and GS have different applicant pools.

Applicants to the School of General Studies must have a break of one academic year or have compelling personal or professional reasons for part-time attendance to be eligible to apply for admission. Prospective Columbia undergraduates who have had a break of a year or more in their education are considered nontraditional and are required to apply to the School of General Studies (such persons are automatically ineligible for admission to Columbia College). GS students have the option to attend part- or full-time unlike Columbia College students, who are required to attend full-time. Also, scholarships at Columbia GS are merit based rather than income based like that of Columbia College or SEAS. In the 2006 class, the average age was 27 for incoming students, and the majority attend full-time.

Most GS students are transfer students, as 78% of the admitted class in 2006 transferred some college credit.<ref>Source: [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/bulletin_courses/bulletin98/tc.html 78% of 2006 admitted students transferred credit.]</ref> A list of admissions requirements and procedures is available from the [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/index_howtoapply.htm/ General Studies website]

Additional statistics on application, admission, and matriculation are available at the website of the Office of Planning and Institutional Research. [http://www.columbia.edu/cu/opir/index.html]

==Placement==

More than 70 percent of GS students go on to earn advanced degrees after graduation. Columbia GS students have been admitted to top graduate programs all over the country including law schools at Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, the University of Chicago, NYU, the University of Pennsylvania, UC Berkeley (Boalt Hall), Duke, and Cornell. They have also been admitted to medicals schools at Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins, Duke, Stanford, UC San Francisco, Yale, Columbia, the University of Chicago, Cornell, and many others. In recent years, GS graduates have been recruited by investment banks such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, UBS, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and Citigroup.

== Academics ==
GS students must complete a total of 124 credits to graduate. Up to 60 of these credits may be transferred from another institution; at least 64 credits must be completed at Columbia University.<ref>Source: [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/bulletin_courses/bulletin98/tc.html GS Credit Policies]</ref>

=== Core Requirements ===
GS has been progressively bringing its Core closer into alignment with CC, most recently during the summer of 2012 when it replaced the Cultural Diversity requirement (1 class that may overlap with another core class, commonly Asian Music or Art) with CC's 2 class [[Global Core]] requirement.
The following table lists the core requirements for GS and CC for students matriculating Fall 2012 or later:

{|- border="1" cellpadding="2"
|-
|
!width="45%"|GS<ref>[http://www.gs.columbia.edu/bulletin_courses/Bulletin98/bach_core.html School of General Studes Core Requirements]</ref>
!width="45%"|CC<ref>[http://www.college.columbia.edu/core/ Columbia College Core Curriculum]</ref>
|-
!Writing<ref>[[University Writing]] is required of both GS and CC students, but the sections are divided by school.</ref>

|[[University Writing]]
|[[University Writing]]
|-
!Literature/Humanities
|[[Literature Humanities]], or 1 semester of literature at Columbia and 1 semester of humanities or literature.
|[[Literature Humanities]]
|-
!Foreign Language
|4th Semester of a Language OR exemption by university exam
|4th Semester of a Language OR exemption by university exam
|-
!Art
|[[Art Humanities]], Asian Humanities (Art) or exemption by similar course taken at another institution
|[[Art Humanities]]
|-
!Music
|[[Music Humanities]], Asian Humanities (Music), exemption by exam, or exemption by similar course taken at another institution
|[[Music Humanities]]
|-
!Contemporary Civilization/Social Science
|[[Contemporary Civilization]], which can count as either 2 social science or 1 social science + 1 humanities. Can substitute 2 approved social science classes.
|[[Contemporary Civilization]]
|-
!Quantitative Reasoning
|Exemption by exam: 600 on Math section of SAT OR sufficient grade on QR test during orientation OR any mathematics, statistics, economics, or computer science course, OR [[Frontiers of Science]], most classes satisfy both the Quantitative requirement and count as a Science requirement
|Covered under Science requirement
|-
!Science
|3 approved science courses (very wide range, including math, statistics, CS, psychology), one of which can be [[Frontiers of Science]]
|[[Frontiers of Science]] and 2 additional science courses
|-
!Global Core
|2 courses from the Global Core List
|2 courses from the Global Core List
|-
!Physical Education
|None
|[[Swim test]], 2 courses
|}

=== Major Requirements ===

Major requirements are determined departmentally. These are almost always the same for both GS and CC.

==Science Po Columbia University Dual BA Program==

The Dual BA Program is a rigorous, transatlantic program in which undergraduate students earn Bachelor of Arts degrees from both Sciences Po and Columbia University. Students spend two years at one of three Sciences Po campuses in France, each of which is devoted to a particular region of the world and offers a heavy linguistic and cultural focus. After two years, students matriculate at Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City to complete the interdisciplinary social sciences curriculum. High school students may apply. Admission to the program is highly selective.

== Financial Aid ==

GS offers scholarships for both newly accepted and continuing students. These scholarships are merit- rather than need-based like that of Columbia college and SEAS.

A common complaint made by GS students is that the financial aid amounts and options offered by GS are smaller than those offered to CC/SEAS students. In the absence of need-based institutional aid, many GS students rely on a combination of loans, external grants, and personal funds. In 2006 the University announced financial aid reforms for CC and SEAS students whose parents earn less than $50,000 annually.

GS does not offer parity with the packages offered to CC/SEAS students. This is because the scholarship system at GS is independent of the financial aid system for CC/SEAS and funding is sourced from a separate GS-only pool. GS has made some recent efforts to address the issue, both through campaigns to increase the endowment and by increasing its scholarship offerings by 10 percent (in 2006). Starting summer 2012 GS is offering merit institutional aid for summer study, in addition to fall and spring semesters.

== Housing ==
General Studies students are not eligible for the CC/SEAS [[Room Selection]] process. However, many GS students receive housing through [[University Apartment Housing]].

== History ==
GS's evolutionary ancestor is [[Seth Low Junior College]], which was established in [[Brooklyn]] to help alleviate the steady flood of applicants to [[Columbia College]], particularly Jews. SLJC was closed in 1936, and some students were given the option to transfer to The University Extension and finish their studies.

The University Extension program was reorganized and renamed the School of General Studies in December 6, 1947, in part to address the influx of GIs returning from World War II. It became Columbia's third official undergraduate school. It is sometimes claimed that [[Barnard College]] is Columbia's third undergraduate school, and GS is its fourth; however Barnard is officially only affiliated with Columbia University, while GS, its deans, and students are formally integrated into the university proper, along with [[Columbia College]] and the [[Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science]]. Prior to the existence of GS, nontraditional undergraduates were classified as "University Undergraduates."

The first head of General Studies was Associate Professor of English [[Harry Morgan Ayres]], who was the head of University Extension. Among the first members of the GS Administrative Board were Dean [[Harry J. Carman]], and Dean [[Millicent Carrey Mcintosh]]. In 1954, General Studies had the largest enrollment (9,700) and faculty of any college or school at Columbia.

GS originally maintained its own faculty, classes, and programs. In 1968 the University Council first decided to allow GS to grant the B.A. degree in addition to the B.S. In the 1980s it was separated from the [[School of Continuing Education|Division of Continuing Education]]. In 1990, the CC, GS, and GSAS faculties were merged into the [[Faculty of Arts and Sciences]].

The size of the GS student body continues to swing wildly, from 3,000 students in 1992, to 1,550 in 2004, to 2,213 in 2013.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/18/nyregion/ward-h-dennis-54-for-15-years-general-studies-dean-at-columbia.html</ref><ref>http://www.columbia.edu/cu/opir/abstract/opir_enrollment_history_1.htm</ref>

The school's name refers to its diverse student body by alluding to medieval universities, which were also known as ''studia generalia''. ''Studia generalia'' were degree-granting institutions that served a much broader, often international group of students and scholars.<ref>[http://users.manchester.edu/Facstaff/SSNaragon/Kant/Universities/UnivIntro.htm Universities: Introduction]</ref><ref>[http://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=Glossary%2Fstudium Janus: ` studium]</ref>

== Myths ==
* GS is night school.
:GS students attend the same classes as students in other colleges at the university. Columbia offers some classes at night, but they are available to all students.
* GS is an extension program.
:GS should not be confused with the separate [[School of Continuing Education]], which offers individual courses on non-degree basis. GS is one of the two official liberal arts colleges at Columbia University along with Columbia College. Students are expected to pursue a Bachelor of Arts degree.

== Relationship to Columbia College ==
In December 1968 the University Council decided, over the objections of some members of the Columbia College Faculty, to allow GS to grant the B.A. degree in addition to the B.S. The Board of Trustees authorized that decision in February 1969. The creation of the [[Faculty of Arts and Sciences]] in 1991 merged the GS, CC and [[GSAS]] faculties. As a result, GS and CC students are nearly academically indistinguishable – they both receive instruction in the liberal arts and sciences from the Columbia Faculty of Arts and Sciences and receive the Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University. Until 2014 some did receive the Bachelor of Science degree, like SEAS students. GS students participate in nearly the same Core as Columbia College students, with a little additional flexibility, and the waiving of the swim test, PE, and [[Frontiers of Science]]. GS students have the same curriculum, but their own sections of, [[University Writing]], [[Literature Humanities]], and [[Contemporary Civilization]] although non-GS students may enroll if they wish and can gain permission. GS students may substitute certain other classes for the traditional Lit Hum, Art Hum, and CC that focus on non-western culture, if they wish.

The wide range of students that form the GS student body, from professionals or dropouts returning to school for a degree, to military veterans, to students who took 2 years off before attending college, to 'traditional'-age students enrolled in the Joint Degree Program with List College at [[JTS]], to postbac pre-med students, makes it hard to say just what specific identity GS students have that makes them so different from their fellow students in the College. In [[2007]], the administration floated the idea of a CC-GS merger.<ref>http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2007/11/12/university-may-merge-gs-cc "University May Merge GS with CC." Columbia Spectator. November 12, 2007</ref> However it quickly died down.<ref>http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2008/03/10/merits-gs-cc-integration "The Merits of the GS, CC Integration" Columbia Spectator. March 10 2008</ref>

== References ==
<references />

== External links ==
* [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/home.asp GS website]
* [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/studentservices/housing.htm GS Housing website]
* [http://www.alumni.gs.columbia.edu/ OwlNet, GS Alumni website]
* [http://gssc.columbia.edu GSSC Website] ([[GSSC]] General Studies Student Council)
* [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/history.htm History of the School of General Studies]
*[http://media.www.columbiaspectator.com/media/storage/paper865/news/2007/03/05/News/Implications.General.Studies-2757242.shtml IMPLICATIONS: General Studies (Article on the evolving and conflicting identities of GS)] - [[Columbia Spectator|The Spectator]] 3/5/07
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,822081,00.html College for Grownups (''Time'' article from 1952)]
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,810834,00.html The Unwashed Brother (article on GS in Time Magazine, circa 1959.)]
* [[w:Columbia University School of General Studies|Wikipedia article]]

{{Schools}}

[[Category:General Studies|*]]

School of General Studies

2014-05-11T06:48:17Z

Peterawnislowspatsy:

{{Infobox school
|Name=Columbia University School of General Studies
|Image=GS-Shield.gif
|Established=[[1947]]
|President=
|Dean=[[Peter Awn]]
|Degrees=[[BA]], Postbac Certificate in Premedical Sciences, [[BS]] until 2014
|Enrollment=2038 (2011)
|Website=[http://www.gs.columbia.edu/ www.gs.columbia.edu]
}}

The '''School of General Studies''', commonly referred to as '''General Studies''' or simply '''GS''', is one of the three official undergraduate colleges of Columbia University. GS is highly selective and widely considered to be "the nation’s finest undergraduate college for nontraditional students."<ref>https://gs.columbia.edu/owl-article?ntitle=2308&mgid=2180</ref> GS students themselves are called '''GSers'''.

GS confers the Bachelor of Art degree in over seventy different majors, although until May 2014 it also conferred Bachelor of Science degrees. GS students take the same courses with the same faculty, are held to the same high standards, and earn the same degree as all other Columbia undergraduates. GS students, who comprise of approximately 25% of all Columbia undergraduates, have the highest average GPA of all the undergraduate schools at Columbia.<ref>http://www.columbia.edu/cu/opir/abstract/enrollment%20headcount%20by%20school%20all.htm</ref>

GS also runs [[Low]]'s niche programs that don't fit anywhere else. GS introduced Columbia's Postbaccalaureate Premedical Program in 1955, which is the largest and oldest in the United States. Around 90 percent of [[Postbac Premed]] students are accepted to top US medical schools. In 1954, GS introduced the [[Joint Program]] with List College of the Jewish Theological Seminary. In 2010, GS introduced a dual degree program with [[Sciences Po]], a French grand établissement institution, but none of its 83 students have any idea what the fuck the program is about.

==Nontraditional students==
GS defines the term "nontraditional" very loosely so as to accommodate the unusual backgrounds of potential students. That said, GSers typically need to have "a break in their education" for more than one year after high school; a previous undergraduate degree; some sort of weird international background; or a compelling reason to obtain the flexibility of part-time status and off-campus housing.<ref>[http://www.gs.columbia.edu/cgi-bin/newspages.dll/pages?sitename=COLAD&record=449&htmlfile=gsnews2.htm Average gap in studies for a GS student in the fall 2006 entering class was 6 years] (Admissions section of the 2006-07 GS Academic Bulletin, pg. 7).</ref>

GS students are an eclectic group that includes [[Jonathan Taylor Thomas|world-class artists]], Olympic athletes, and musicians; investment bankers and business owners; published authors and military veterans; and people who come from as far away as China, Israel, and Germany. Many students work full-time while pursuing a degree, and many have family responsibilities; others attend classes full-time and experience Columbia's more traditional college life.

Many have enjoyed successful careers in fields such as investment banking and information technology and quite a few are nontraditional due to previous conscription or community service requirements in their home countries. A substantial portion of the population enter as transfer students; the previous schools of these students range from community colleges to Columbia's peer institutions.

It is important to note that whether a student has a one year break or ten year break, most students who choose GS usually see themselves as being more mature and independent than a traditional student.<ref>https://gs.columbia.edu/admissions-faqs</ref>

==Background==
A Columbia undergraduate class could include students from any of the following schools: GS, Columbia College, the School of Engineering and Applied Science, or Barnard College. GS is unique among colleges of its type, because its students are fully integrated into the Columbia undergraduate curriculum: GS Students take the same classes with the same students and professors and are granted the same degrees as students at Columbia College or SEAS.

In addition to its bachelor's degree program, the School of General Studies offers combined undergraduate/graduate degree programs with Columbia's schools of [[Columbia Law School|Law]], [[Columbia Business School|Business]], [[College of Dental Medicine|Dental Medicine]], [[School of Social Work|Social Work]], [[SIPA|International and Public Affairs]], [[Teachers College]], and the [[College of Physicians and Surgeons]], as well as undergraduate dual-degree programs with [[SEAS]], the [[Jewish Theological Seminary]], and a dual-BA program with [[w:Sciences Po|Sciences Po]]. In 2012, GS launched a pilot dual degree program with City University of Hong Kong. <ref> http://gs.columbia.edu/owl-article?ntitle=7141&mgid=7138 </ref>

==Admissions==
Admission to Columbia GS is highly selective and "extremely competitive."<ref>http://www.gs.columbia.edu/our-process</ref> According to the College Board, the GS acceptance rate is 23%. Admissions officers examine high school records, test scores, extra-curricular activities, resumes and essays. They conduct interviews in person and on the phone. They also consider college-level work and real-life experience. For transfer students, most successful applicants attain GPAs of at least 3.8 according to the GS admissions office. GS also requires standardized test scores for entry. The school will use scores from the SAT, ACT, or the school's own General Studies Admissions Exam. A list of admissions requirements and procedures is available from the General Studies website and statistics on application, admission, and matriculation are available at the website of Columbia's Office of Planning and Institutional Research. GS admissions statistics are not reported in conjunction with CC/SEAS statistics. This is related both to GS's different admission deadlines and the fact that CC/SEAS and GS have different applicant pools.

Applicants to the School of General Studies must have a break of one academic year or have compelling personal or professional reasons for part-time attendance to be eligible to apply for admission. Prospective Columbia undergraduates who have had a break of a year or more in their education are considered nontraditional and are required to apply to the School of General Studies (such persons are automatically ineligible for admission to Columbia College). GS students have the option to attend part- or full-time unlike Columbia College students, who are required to attend full-time. Also, scholarships at Columbia GS are merit based rather than income based like that of Columbia College or SEAS. In the 2006 class, the average age was 27 for incoming students, and the majority attend full-time.

Most GS students are transfer students, as 78% of the admitted class in 2006 transferred some college credit.<ref>Source: [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/bulletin_courses/bulletin98/tc.html 78% of 2006 admitted students transferred credit.]</ref> A list of admissions requirements and procedures is available from the [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/index_howtoapply.htm/ General Studies website]

Additional statistics on application, admission, and matriculation are available at the website of the Office of Planning and Institutional Research. [http://www.columbia.edu/cu/opir/index.html]

==Placement==

More than 70 percent of GS students go on to earn advanced degrees after graduation. Columbia GS students have been admitted to top graduate programs all over the country including law schools at Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, the University of Chicago, NYU, the University of Pennsylvania, UC Berkeley (Boalt Hall), Duke, and Cornell. They have also been admitted to medicals schools at Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins, Duke, Stanford, UC San Francisco, Yale, Columbia, the University of Chicago, Cornell, and many others. In recent years, GS graduates have been recruited by investment banks such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, UBS, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and Citigroup.

== Academics ==
GS students must complete a total of 124 credits to graduate. Up to 60 of these credits may be transferred from another institution; at least 64 credits must be completed at Columbia University.<ref>Source: [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/bulletin_courses/bulletin98/tc.html GS Credit Policies]</ref>

=== Core Requirements ===
GS has been progressively bringing its Core closer into alignment with CC, most recently during the summer of 2012 when it replaced the Cultural Diversity requirement (1 class that may overlap with another core class, commonly Asian Music or Art) with CC's 2 class [[Global Core]] requirement.
The following table lists the core requirements for GS and CC for students matriculating Fall 2012 or later:

{|- border="1" cellpadding="2"
|-
|
!width="45%"|GS<ref>[http://www.gs.columbia.edu/bulletin_courses/Bulletin98/bach_core.html School of General Studes Core Requirements]</ref>
!width="45%"|CC<ref>[http://www.college.columbia.edu/core/ Columbia College Core Curriculum]</ref>
|-
!Writing<ref>[[University Writing]] is required of both GS and CC students, but the sections are divided by school.</ref>

|[[University Writing]]
|[[University Writing]]
|-
!Literature/Humanities
|[[Literature Humanities]], or 1 semester of literature at Columbia and 1 semester of humanities or literature.
|[[Literature Humanities]]
|-
!Foreign Language
|4th Semester of a Language OR exemption by university exam
|4th Semester of a Language OR exemption by university exam
|-
!Art
|[[Art Humanities]], Asian Humanities (Art) or exemption by similar course taken at another institution
|[[Art Humanities]]
|-
!Music
|[[Music Humanities]], Asian Humanities (Music), exemption by exam, or exemption by similar course taken at another institution
|[[Music Humanities]]
|-
!Contemporary Civilization/Social Science
|[[Contemporary Civilization]], which can count as either 2 social science or 1 social science + 1 humanities. Can substitute 2 approved social science classes.
|[[Contemporary Civilization]]
|-
!Quantitative Reasoning
|Exemption by exam: 600 on Math section of SAT OR sufficient grade on QR test during orientation OR any mathematics, statistics, economics, or computer science course, OR [[Frontiers of Science]], most classes satisfy both the Quantitative requirement and count as a Science requirement
|Covered under Science requirement
|-
!Science
|3 approved science courses (very wide range, including math, statistics, CS, psychology), one of which can be [[Frontiers of Science]]
|[[Frontiers of Science]] and 2 additional science courses
|-
!Global Core
|2 courses from the Global Core List
|2 courses from the Global Core List
|-
!Physical Education
|None
|[[Swim test]], 2 courses
|}

=== Major Requirements ===

Major requirements are determined departmentally. These are almost always the same for both GS and CC.

==Science Po Columbia University Dual BA Program==

The Dual BA Program is a rigorous, transatlantic program in which undergraduate students earn Bachelor of Arts degrees from both Sciences Po and Columbia University. Students spend two years at one of three Sciences Po campuses in France, each of which is devoted to a particular region of the world and offers a heavy linguistic and cultural focus. After two years, students matriculate at Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City to complete the interdisciplinary social sciences curriculum. High school students may apply. Admission to the program is highly selective.

== Financial Aid ==

GS offers scholarships for both newly accepted and continuing students. These scholarships are merit- rather than need-based like that of Columbia college and SEAS.

A common complaint made by GS students is that the financial aid amounts and options offered by GS are smaller than those offered to CC/SEAS students. In the absence of need-based institutional aid, many GS students rely on a combination of loans, external grants, and personal funds. In 2006 the University announced financial aid reforms for CC and SEAS students whose parents earn less than $50,000 annually.

GS does not offer parity with the packages offered to CC/SEAS students. This is because the scholarship system at GS is independent of the financial aid system for CC/SEAS and funding is sourced from a separate GS-only pool. GS has made some recent efforts to address the issue, both through campaigns to increase the endowment and by increasing its scholarship offerings by 10 percent (in 2006). Starting summer 2012 GS is offering merit institutional aid for summer study, in addition to fall and spring semesters.

== Housing ==
General Studies students are not eligible for the CC/SEAS [[Room Selection]] process. However, many GS students receive housing through [[University Apartment Housing]].

== History ==
GS's evolutionary ancestor is [[Seth Low Junior College]], which was established in [[Brooklyn]] to help alleviate the steady flood of applicants to [[Columbia College]], particularly Jews. SLJC was closed in 1936, and some students were given the option to transfer to The University Extension and finish their studies.

The University Extension program was reorganized and renamed the School of General Studies in December 6, 1947, in part to address the influx of GIs returning from World War II. It became Columbia's third official undergraduate school. It is sometimes claimed that [[Barnard College]] is Columbia's third undergraduate school, and GS is its fourth; however Barnard is officially only affiliated with Columbia University, while GS, its deans, and students are formally integrated into the university proper, along with [[Columbia College]] and the [[Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science]]. Prior to the existence of GS, nontraditional undergraduates were classified as "University Undergraduates."

The first head of General Studies was Associate Professor of English [[Harry Morgan Ayres]], who was the head of University Extension. Among the first members of the GS Administrative Board were Dean [[Harry J. Carman]], and Dean [[Millicent Carrey Mcintosh]]. In 1954, General Studies had the largest enrollment (9,700) and faculty of any college or school at Columbia.

GS originally maintained its own faculty, classes, and programs. In 1968 the University Council first decided to allow GS to grant the B.A. degree in addition to the B.S. In the 1980s it was separated from the [[School of Continuing Education|Division of Continuing Education]]. In 1990, the CC, GS, and GSAS faculties were merged into the [[Faculty of Arts and Sciences]].

The size of the GS student body continues to swing wildly, from 3,000 students in 1992, to 1,550 in 2004, to 2,213 in 2013.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/18/nyregion/ward-h-dennis-54-for-15-years-general-studies-dean-at-columbia.html</ref><ref>http://www.columbia.edu/cu/opir/abstract/opir_enrollment_history_1.htm</ref>

The school's name refers to its diverse student body by alluding to medieval universities, which were also known as ''studia generalia''. ''Studia generalia'' were degree-granting institutions that served a much broader, often international group of students and scholars.<ref>[http://users.manchester.edu/Facstaff/SSNaragon/Kant/Universities/UnivIntro.htm Universities: Introduction]</ref><ref>[http://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=Glossary%2Fstudium Janus: ` studium]</ref>

== Myths ==
* GS is night school.
:GS students attend the same classes as students in other colleges at the university. Columbia offers some classes at night, but they are available to all students.
* GS is an extension program.
:GS should not be confused with the separate [[School of Continuing Education]], which offers individual courses on non-degree basis. GS is one of the two official liberal arts colleges at Columbia University along with Columbia College. Students are expected to pursue a Bachelor of Arts degree.

== Relationship to Columbia College ==
In December 1968 the University Council decided, over the objections of some members of the Columbia College Faculty, to allow GS to grant the B.A. degree in addition to the B.S. The Board of Trustees authorized that decision in February 1969. The creation of the [[Faculty of Arts and Sciences]] in 1991 merged the GS, CC and [[GSAS]] faculties. As a result, GS and CC students are nearly academically indistinguishable – they both receive instruction in the liberal arts and sciences from the Columbia Faculty of Arts and Sciences and receive the Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University. Until 2014 some did receive the Bachelor of Science degree, like SEAS students. GS students participate in nearly the same Core as Columbia College students, with a little additional flexibility, and the waiving of the swim test, PE, and [[Frontiers of Science]]. GS students have the same curriculum, but their own sections of, [[University Writing]], [[Literature Humanities]], and [[Contemporary Civilization]] although non-GS students may enroll if they wish and can gain permission. GS students may substitute certain other classes for the traditional Lit Hum, Art Hum, and CC that focus on non-western culture, if they wish.

The wide range of students that form the GS student body, from professionals or dropouts returning to school for a degree, to military veterans, to students who took 2 years off before attending college, to 'traditional'-age students enrolled in the Joint Degree Program with List College at [[JTS]], to postbac pre-med students, makes it hard to say just what specific identity GS students have that makes them so different from their fellow students in the College. In [[2007]], the administration floated the idea of a CC-GS merger.<ref>http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2007/11/12/university-may-merge-gs-cc "University May Merge GS with CC." Columbia Spectator. November 12, 2007</ref> However it quickly died down.<ref>http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2008/03/10/merits-gs-cc-integration "The Merits of the GS, CC Integration" Columbia Spectator. March 10 2008</ref>

== References ==
<references />

== External links ==
* [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/home.asp GS website]
* [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/studentservices/housing.htm GS Housing website]
* [http://www.alumni.gs.columbia.edu/ OwlNet, GS Alumni website]
* [http://gssc.columbia.edu GSSC Website] ([[GSSC]] General Studies Student Council)
* [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/history.htm History of the School of General Studies]
*[http://media.www.columbiaspectator.com/media/storage/paper865/news/2007/03/05/News/Implications.General.Studies-2757242.shtml IMPLICATIONS: General Studies (Article on the evolving and conflicting identities of GS)] - [[Columbia Spectator|The Spectator]] 3/5/07
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,822081,00.html College for Grownups (''Time'' article from 1952)]
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,810834,00.html The Unwashed Brother (article on GS in Time Magazine, circa 1959.)]
* [[w:Columbia University School of General Studies|Wikipedia article]]

{{Schools}}

[[Category:General Studies|*]]

Low

2014-05-11T06:47:07Z

Peterawnislowspatsy:

'''Low''' is a metonym for the [[Office of the President]] and the broader Columbia administration. It can refer to:
* [[Low Library]]
* [[Seth Low]]

{{disambig}}

School of General Studies

2014-05-11T06:43:14Z

Peterawnislowspatsy:

{{Infobox school
|Name=Columbia University School of General Studies
|Image=GS-Shield.gif
|Established=[[1947]]
|President=
|Dean=[[Peter Awn]]
|Degrees=[[BA]], Postbac Certificate in Premedical Sciences, [[BS]] until 2014
|Enrollment=2038 (2011)
|Website=[http://www.gs.columbia.edu/ www.gs.columbia.edu]
}}

The '''School of General Studies''', commonly referred to as '''General Studies''' or simply '''GS''', is one of the three official undergraduate colleges of Columbia University. GS is highly selective and widely considered to be "the nation’s finest undergraduate college for nontraditional students."<ref>https://gs.columbia.edu/owl-article?ntitle=2308&mgid=2180</ref> GS students themselves are called '''GSers'''.

GS confers the Bachelor of Art degree in over seventy different majors, although until May 2014 it also conferred Bachelor of Science degrees. GS students take the same courses with the same faculty, are held to the same high standards, and earn the same degree as all other Columbia undergraduates. GS students, who comprise of approximately 25% of all Columbia undergraduates, have the highest average GPA of all the undergraduate schools at Columbia.<ref>http://www.columbia.edu/cu/opir/abstract/enrollment%20headcount%20by%20school%20all.htm</ref>

GS is also where [[Low]] dumps niche programs that don't fit anywhere else. GS introduced Columbia's Postbaccalaureate Premedical Program in 1955, which is the largest and oldest in the United States. Around 90 percent of [[Postbac Premed]] students are accepted to top US medical schools. In 1954, GS introduced the [[Joint Program]] with List College of the Jewish Theological Seminary. In 2010, GS introduced a dual degree program with [[Sciences Po]], a French grand établissement institution, but none of its 83 students have any idea what the fuck the program is about.

==Nontraditional students==
GS defines the term "nontraditional" very loosely so as to accommodate the unusual backgrounds of potential students. That said, GSers typically need to have "a break in their education" for more than one year after high school; a previous undergraduate degree; some sort of weird international background; or a compelling reason to obtain the flexibility of part-time status and off-campus housing.<ref>[http://www.gs.columbia.edu/cgi-bin/newspages.dll/pages?sitename=COLAD&record=449&htmlfile=gsnews2.htm Average gap in studies for a GS student in the fall 2006 entering class was 6 years] (Admissions section of the 2006-07 GS Academic Bulletin, pg. 7).</ref>

GS students are an eclectic group that includes [[Jonathan Taylor Thomas|world-class artists]], Olympic athletes, and musicians; investment bankers and business owners; published authors and military veterans; and people who come from as far away as China, Israel, and Germany. Many students work full-time while pursuing a degree, and many have family responsibilities; others attend classes full-time and experience Columbia's more traditional college life.

Many have enjoyed successful careers in fields such as investment banking and information technology and quite a few are nontraditional due to previous conscription or community service requirements in their home countries. A substantial portion of the population enter as transfer students; the previous schools of these students range from community colleges to Columbia's peer institutions.

It is important to note that whether a student has a one year break or ten year break, most students who choose GS usually see themselves as being more mature and independent than a traditional student.<ref>https://gs.columbia.edu/admissions-faqs</ref>

==Background==
A Columbia undergraduate class could include students from any of the following schools: GS, Columbia College, the School of Engineering and Applied Science, or Barnard College. GS is unique among colleges of its type, because its students are fully integrated into the Columbia undergraduate curriculum: GS Students take the same classes with the same students and professors and are granted the same degrees as students at Columbia College or SEAS.

In addition to its bachelor's degree program, the School of General Studies offers combined undergraduate/graduate degree programs with Columbia's schools of [[Columbia Law School|Law]], [[Columbia Business School|Business]], [[College of Dental Medicine|Dental Medicine]], [[School of Social Work|Social Work]], [[SIPA|International and Public Affairs]], [[Teachers College]], and the [[College of Physicians and Surgeons]], as well as undergraduate dual-degree programs with [[SEAS]], the [[Jewish Theological Seminary]], and a dual-BA program with [[w:Sciences Po|Sciences Po]]. In 2012, GS launched a pilot dual degree program with City University of Hong Kong. <ref> http://gs.columbia.edu/owl-article?ntitle=7141&mgid=7138 </ref>

==Admissions==
Admission to Columbia GS is highly selective and "extremely competitive."<ref>http://www.gs.columbia.edu/our-process</ref> According to the College Board, the GS acceptance rate is 23%. Admissions officers examine high school records, test scores, extra-curricular activities, resumes and essays. They conduct interviews in person and on the phone. They also consider college-level work and real-life experience. For transfer students, most successful applicants attain GPAs of at least 3.8 according to the GS admissions office. GS also requires standardized test scores for entry. The school will use scores from the SAT, ACT, or the school's own General Studies Admissions Exam. A list of admissions requirements and procedures is available from the General Studies website and statistics on application, admission, and matriculation are available at the website of Columbia's Office of Planning and Institutional Research. GS admissions statistics are not reported in conjunction with CC/SEAS statistics. This is related both to GS's different admission deadlines and the fact that CC/SEAS and GS have different applicant pools.

Applicants to the School of General Studies must have a break of one academic year or have compelling personal or professional reasons for part-time attendance to be eligible to apply for admission. Prospective Columbia undergraduates who have had a break of a year or more in their education are considered nontraditional and are required to apply to the School of General Studies (such persons are automatically ineligible for admission to Columbia College). GS students have the option to attend part- or full-time unlike Columbia College students, who are required to attend full-time. Also, scholarships at Columbia GS are merit based rather than income based like that of Columbia College or SEAS. In the 2006 class, the average age was 27 for incoming students, and the majority attend full-time.

Most GS students are transfer students, as 78% of the admitted class in 2006 transferred some college credit.<ref>Source: [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/bulletin_courses/bulletin98/tc.html 78% of 2006 admitted students transferred credit.]</ref> A list of admissions requirements and procedures is available from the [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/index_howtoapply.htm/ General Studies website]

Additional statistics on application, admission, and matriculation are available at the website of the Office of Planning and Institutional Research. [http://www.columbia.edu/cu/opir/index.html]

==Placement==

More than 70 percent of GS students go on to earn advanced degrees after graduation. Columbia GS students have been admitted to top graduate programs all over the country including law schools at Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, the University of Chicago, NYU, the University of Pennsylvania, UC Berkeley (Boalt Hall), Duke, and Cornell. They have also been admitted to medicals schools at Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins, Duke, Stanford, UC San Francisco, Yale, Columbia, the University of Chicago, Cornell, and many others. In recent years, GS graduates have been recruited by investment banks such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, UBS, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and Citigroup.

== Academics ==
GS students must complete a total of 124 credits to graduate. Up to 60 of these credits may be transferred from another institution; at least 64 credits must be completed at Columbia University.<ref>Source: [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/bulletin_courses/bulletin98/tc.html GS Credit Policies]</ref>

=== Core Requirements ===
GS has been progressively bringing its Core closer into alignment with CC, most recently during the summer of 2012 when it replaced the Cultural Diversity requirement (1 class that may overlap with another core class, commonly Asian Music or Art) with CC's 2 class [[Global Core]] requirement.
The following table lists the core requirements for GS and CC for students matriculating Fall 2012 or later:

{|- border="1" cellpadding="2"
|-
|
!width="45%"|GS<ref>[http://www.gs.columbia.edu/bulletin_courses/Bulletin98/bach_core.html School of General Studes Core Requirements]</ref>
!width="45%"|CC<ref>[http://www.college.columbia.edu/core/ Columbia College Core Curriculum]</ref>
|-
!Writing<ref>[[University Writing]] is required of both GS and CC students, but the sections are divided by school.</ref>

|[[University Writing]]
|[[University Writing]]
|-
!Literature/Humanities
|[[Literature Humanities]], or 1 semester of literature at Columbia and 1 semester of humanities or literature.
|[[Literature Humanities]]
|-
!Foreign Language
|4th Semester of a Language OR exemption by university exam
|4th Semester of a Language OR exemption by university exam
|-
!Art
|[[Art Humanities]], Asian Humanities (Art) or exemption by similar course taken at another institution
|[[Art Humanities]]
|-
!Music
|[[Music Humanities]], Asian Humanities (Music), exemption by exam, or exemption by similar course taken at another institution
|[[Music Humanities]]
|-
!Contemporary Civilization/Social Science
|[[Contemporary Civilization]], which can count as either 2 social science or 1 social science + 1 humanities. Can substitute 2 approved social science classes.
|[[Contemporary Civilization]]
|-
!Quantitative Reasoning
|Exemption by exam: 600 on Math section of SAT OR sufficient grade on QR test during orientation OR any mathematics, statistics, economics, or computer science course, OR [[Frontiers of Science]], most classes satisfy both the Quantitative requirement and count as a Science requirement
|Covered under Science requirement
|-
!Science
|3 approved science courses (very wide range, including math, statistics, CS, psychology), one of which can be [[Frontiers of Science]]
|[[Frontiers of Science]] and 2 additional science courses
|-
!Global Core
|2 courses from the Global Core List
|2 courses from the Global Core List
|-
!Physical Education
|None
|[[Swim test]], 2 courses
|}

=== Major Requirements ===

Major requirements are determined departmentally. These are almost always the same for both GS and CC.

==Science Po Columbia University Dual BA Program==

The Dual BA Program is a rigorous, transatlantic program in which undergraduate students earn Bachelor of Arts degrees from both Sciences Po and Columbia University. Students spend two years at one of three Sciences Po campuses in France, each of which is devoted to a particular region of the world and offers a heavy linguistic and cultural focus. After two years, students matriculate at Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City to complete the interdisciplinary social sciences curriculum. High school students may apply. Admission to the program is highly selective.

== Financial Aid ==

GS offers scholarships for both newly accepted and continuing students. These scholarships are merit- rather than need-based like that of Columbia college and SEAS.

A common complaint made by GS students is that the financial aid amounts and options offered by GS are smaller than those offered to CC/SEAS students. In the absence of need-based institutional aid, many GS students rely on a combination of loans, external grants, and personal funds. In 2006 the University announced financial aid reforms for CC and SEAS students whose parents earn less than $50,000 annually.

GS does not offer parity with the packages offered to CC/SEAS students. This is because the scholarship system at GS is independent of the financial aid system for CC/SEAS and funding is sourced from a separate GS-only pool. GS has made some recent efforts to address the issue, both through campaigns to increase the endowment and by increasing its scholarship offerings by 10 percent (in 2006). Starting summer 2012 GS is offering merit institutional aid for summer study, in addition to fall and spring semesters.

== Housing ==
General Studies students are not eligible for the CC/SEAS [[Room Selection]] process. However, many GS students receive housing through [[University Apartment Housing]].

== History ==
GS's evolutionary ancestor is [[Seth Low Junior College]], which was established in [[Brooklyn]] to help alleviate the steady flood of applicants to [[Columbia College]], particularly Jews. SLJC was closed in 1936, and some students were given the option to transfer to The University Extension and finish their studies.

The University Extension program was reorganized and renamed the School of General Studies in December 6, 1947, in part to address the influx of GIs returning from World War II. It became Columbia's third official undergraduate school. It is sometimes claimed that [[Barnard College]] is Columbia's third undergraduate school, and GS is its fourth; however Barnard is officially only affiliated with Columbia University, while GS, its deans, and students are formally integrated into the university proper, along with [[Columbia College]] and the [[Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science]]. Prior to the existence of GS, nontraditional undergraduates were classified as "University Undergraduates."

The first head of General Studies was Associate Professor of English [[Harry Morgan Ayres]], who was the head of University Extension. Among the first members of the GS Administrative Board were Dean [[Harry J. Carman]], and Dean [[Millicent Carrey Mcintosh]]. In 1954, General Studies had the largest enrollment (9,700) and faculty of any college or school at Columbia.

GS originally maintained its own faculty, classes, and programs. In 1968 the University Council first decided to allow GS to grant the B.A. degree in addition to the B.S. In the 1980s it was separated from the [[School of Continuing Education|Division of Continuing Education]]. In 1990, the CC, GS, and GSAS faculties were merged into the [[Faculty of Arts and Sciences]].

The size of the GS student body continues to swing wildly, from 3,000 students in 1992, to 1,550 in 2004, to 2,213 in 2013.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/18/nyregion/ward-h-dennis-54-for-15-years-general-studies-dean-at-columbia.html</ref><ref>http://www.columbia.edu/cu/opir/abstract/opir_enrollment_history_1.htm</ref>

The school's name refers to its diverse student body by alluding to medieval universities, which were also known as ''studia generalia''. ''Studia generalia'' were degree-granting institutions that served a much broader, often international group of students and scholars.<ref>[http://users.manchester.edu/Facstaff/SSNaragon/Kant/Universities/UnivIntro.htm Universities: Introduction]</ref><ref>[http://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=Glossary%2Fstudium Janus: ` studium]</ref>

== Myths ==
* GS is night school.
:GS students attend the same classes as students in other colleges at the university. Columbia offers some classes at night, but they are available to all students.
* GS is an extension program.
:GS should not be confused with the separate [[School of Continuing Education]], which offers individual courses on non-degree basis. GS is one of the two official liberal arts colleges at Columbia University along with Columbia College. Students are expected to pursue a Bachelor of Arts degree.

== Relationship to Columbia College ==
In December 1968 the University Council decided, over the objections of some members of the Columbia College Faculty, to allow GS to grant the B.A. degree in addition to the B.S. The Board of Trustees authorized that decision in February 1969. The creation of the [[Faculty of Arts and Sciences]] in 1991 merged the GS, CC and [[GSAS]] faculties. As a result, GS and CC students are nearly academically indistinguishable – they both receive instruction in the liberal arts and sciences from the Columbia Faculty of Arts and Sciences and receive the Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University. Until 2014 some did receive the Bachelor of Science degree, like SEAS students. GS students participate in nearly the same Core as Columbia College students, with a little additional flexibility, and the waiving of the swim test, PE, and [[Frontiers of Science]]. GS students have the same curriculum, but their own sections of, [[University Writing]], [[Literature Humanities]], and [[Contemporary Civilization]] although non-GS students may enroll if they wish and can gain permission. GS students may substitute certain other classes for the traditional Lit Hum, Art Hum, and CC that focus on non-western culture, if they wish.

The wide range of students that form the GS student body, from professionals or dropouts returning to school for a degree, to military veterans, to students who took 2 years off before attending college, to 'traditional'-age students enrolled in the Joint Degree Program with List College at [[JTS]], to postbac pre-med students, makes it hard to say just what specific identity GS students have that makes them so different from their fellow students in the College. In [[2007]], the administration floated the idea of a CC-GS merger.<ref>http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2007/11/12/university-may-merge-gs-cc "University May Merge GS with CC." Columbia Spectator. November 12, 2007</ref> However it quickly died down.<ref>http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2008/03/10/merits-gs-cc-integration "The Merits of the GS, CC Integration" Columbia Spectator. March 10 2008</ref>

== References ==
<references />

== External links ==
* [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/home.asp GS website]
* [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/studentservices/housing.htm GS Housing website]
* [http://www.alumni.gs.columbia.edu/ OwlNet, GS Alumni website]
* [http://gssc.columbia.edu GSSC Website] ([[GSSC]] General Studies Student Council)
* [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/history.htm History of the School of General Studies]
*[http://media.www.columbiaspectator.com/media/storage/paper865/news/2007/03/05/News/Implications.General.Studies-2757242.shtml IMPLICATIONS: General Studies (Article on the evolving and conflicting identities of GS)] - [[Columbia Spectator|The Spectator]] 3/5/07
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,822081,00.html College for Grownups (''Time'' article from 1952)]
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,810834,00.html The Unwashed Brother (article on GS in Time Magazine, circa 1959.)]
* [[w:Columbia University School of General Studies|Wikipedia article]]

{{Schools}}

[[Category:General Studies|*]]

School of General Studies

2014-05-11T06:42:26Z

Peterawnislowspatsy:

{{Infobox school
|Name=Columbia University School of General Studies
|Image=GS-Shield.gif
|Established=[[1947]]
|President=
|Dean=[[Peter Awn]]
|Degrees=[[BA]], Postbac Certificate in Premedical Sciences, [[BS]] until 2014
|Enrollment=2038 (2011)
|Website=[http://www.gs.columbia.edu/ www.gs.columbia.edu]
}}

The '''School of General Studies''', commonly referred to as '''General Studies''' or simply '''GS''', is one of the three official undergraduate colleges of Columbia University. GS is highly selective and widely considered to be "the nation’s finest undergraduate college for nontraditional students."<ref>https://gs.columbia.edu/owl-article?ntitle=2308&mgid=2180</ref> GS students themselves are called '''GSers'''.

GS confers the Bachelor of Art degree in over seventy different majors, although until May 2014 it also conferred Bachelor of Science degrees. GS students take the same courses with the same faculty, are held to the same high standards, and earn the same degree as all other Columbia undergraduates. GS students, who comprise of approximately 25% of all Columbia undergraduates, have the highest average GPA of all the undergraduate schools at Columbia.<ref>http://www.columbia.edu/cu/opir/abstract/enrollment%20headcount%20by%20school%20all.htm</ref>

GS is also where Columbia dumps niche programs that don't fit anywhere else. GS introduced Columbia's Postbaccalaureate Premedical Program in 1955, which is the largest and oldest in the United States. Around 90 percent of [[Postbac Premed]] students are accepted to top US medical schools. In 1954, GS introduced the [[Joint Program]] with List College of the Jewish Theological Seminary. In 2010, GS introduced a dual degree program with [[Sciences Po]], a French grand établissement institution, but none of its 83 students have any idea what the fuck the program is about.

==Nontraditional students==
GS defines the term "nontraditional" very loosely so as to accommodate the unusual backgrounds of potential students. That said, GSers typically need to have "a break in their education" for more than one year after high school; a previous undergraduate degree; some sort of weird international background; or a compelling reason to obtain the flexibility of part-time status and off-campus housing.<ref>[http://www.gs.columbia.edu/cgi-bin/newspages.dll/pages?sitename=COLAD&record=449&htmlfile=gsnews2.htm Average gap in studies for a GS student in the fall 2006 entering class was 6 years] (Admissions section of the 2006-07 GS Academic Bulletin, pg. 7).</ref>

GS students are an eclectic group that includes [[Jonathan Taylor Thomas|world-class artists]], Olympic athletes, and musicians; investment bankers and business owners; published authors and military veterans; and people who come from as far away as China, Israel, and Germany. Many students work full-time while pursuing a degree, and many have family responsibilities; others attend classes full-time and experience Columbia's more traditional college life.

Many have enjoyed successful careers in fields such as investment banking and information technology and quite a few are nontraditional due to previous conscription or community service requirements in their home countries. A substantial portion of the population enter as transfer students; the previous schools of these students range from community colleges to Columbia's peer institutions.

It is important to note that whether a student has a one year break or ten year break, most students who choose GS usually see themselves as being more mature and independent than a traditional student.<ref>https://gs.columbia.edu/admissions-faqs</ref>

==Background==
A Columbia undergraduate class could include students from any of the following schools: GS, Columbia College, the School of Engineering and Applied Science, or Barnard College. GS is unique among colleges of its type, because its students are fully integrated into the Columbia undergraduate curriculum: GS Students take the same classes with the same students and professors and are granted the same degrees as students at Columbia College or SEAS.

In addition to its bachelor's degree program, the School of General Studies offers combined undergraduate/graduate degree programs with Columbia's schools of [[Columbia Law School|Law]], [[Columbia Business School|Business]], [[College of Dental Medicine|Dental Medicine]], [[School of Social Work|Social Work]], [[SIPA|International and Public Affairs]], [[Teachers College]], and the [[College of Physicians and Surgeons]], as well as undergraduate dual-degree programs with [[SEAS]], the [[Jewish Theological Seminary]], and a dual-BA program with [[w:Sciences Po|Sciences Po]]. In 2012, GS launched a pilot dual degree program with City University of Hong Kong. <ref> http://gs.columbia.edu/owl-article?ntitle=7141&mgid=7138 </ref>

==Admissions==
Admission to Columbia GS is highly selective and "extremely competitive."<ref>http://www.gs.columbia.edu/our-process</ref> According to the College Board, the GS acceptance rate is 23%. Admissions officers examine high school records, test scores, extra-curricular activities, resumes and essays. They conduct interviews in person and on the phone. They also consider college-level work and real-life experience. For transfer students, most successful applicants attain GPAs of at least 3.8 according to the GS admissions office. GS also requires standardized test scores for entry. The school will use scores from the SAT, ACT, or the school's own General Studies Admissions Exam. A list of admissions requirements and procedures is available from the General Studies website and statistics on application, admission, and matriculation are available at the website of Columbia's Office of Planning and Institutional Research. GS admissions statistics are not reported in conjunction with CC/SEAS statistics. This is related both to GS's different admission deadlines and the fact that CC/SEAS and GS have different applicant pools.

Applicants to the School of General Studies must have a break of one academic year or have compelling personal or professional reasons for part-time attendance to be eligible to apply for admission. Prospective Columbia undergraduates who have had a break of a year or more in their education are considered nontraditional and are required to apply to the School of General Studies (such persons are automatically ineligible for admission to Columbia College). GS students have the option to attend part- or full-time unlike Columbia College students, who are required to attend full-time. Also, scholarships at Columbia GS are merit based rather than income based like that of Columbia College or SEAS. In the 2006 class, the average age was 27 for incoming students, and the majority attend full-time.

Most GS students are transfer students, as 78% of the admitted class in 2006 transferred some college credit.<ref>Source: [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/bulletin_courses/bulletin98/tc.html 78% of 2006 admitted students transferred credit.]</ref> A list of admissions requirements and procedures is available from the [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/index_howtoapply.htm/ General Studies website]

Additional statistics on application, admission, and matriculation are available at the website of the Office of Planning and Institutional Research. [http://www.columbia.edu/cu/opir/index.html]

==Placement==

More than 70 percent of GS students go on to earn advanced degrees after graduation. Columbia GS students have been admitted to top graduate programs all over the country including law schools at Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, the University of Chicago, NYU, the University of Pennsylvania, UC Berkeley (Boalt Hall), Duke, and Cornell. They have also been admitted to medicals schools at Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins, Duke, Stanford, UC San Francisco, Yale, Columbia, the University of Chicago, Cornell, and many others. In recent years, GS graduates have been recruited by investment banks such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, UBS, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and Citigroup.

== Academics ==
GS students must complete a total of 124 credits to graduate. Up to 60 of these credits may be transferred from another institution; at least 64 credits must be completed at Columbia University.<ref>Source: [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/bulletin_courses/bulletin98/tc.html GS Credit Policies]</ref>

=== Core Requirements ===
GS has been progressively bringing its Core closer into alignment with CC, most recently during the summer of 2012 when it replaced the Cultural Diversity requirement (1 class that may overlap with another core class, commonly Asian Music or Art) with CC's 2 class [[Global Core]] requirement.
The following table lists the core requirements for GS and CC for students matriculating Fall 2012 or later:

{|- border="1" cellpadding="2"
|-
|
!width="45%"|GS<ref>[http://www.gs.columbia.edu/bulletin_courses/Bulletin98/bach_core.html School of General Studes Core Requirements]</ref>
!width="45%"|CC<ref>[http://www.college.columbia.edu/core/ Columbia College Core Curriculum]</ref>
|-
!Writing<ref>[[University Writing]] is required of both GS and CC students, but the sections are divided by school.</ref>

|[[University Writing]]
|[[University Writing]]
|-
!Literature/Humanities
|[[Literature Humanities]], or 1 semester of literature at Columbia and 1 semester of humanities or literature.
|[[Literature Humanities]]
|-
!Foreign Language
|4th Semester of a Language OR exemption by university exam
|4th Semester of a Language OR exemption by university exam
|-
!Art
|[[Art Humanities]], Asian Humanities (Art) or exemption by similar course taken at another institution
|[[Art Humanities]]
|-
!Music
|[[Music Humanities]], Asian Humanities (Music), exemption by exam, or exemption by similar course taken at another institution
|[[Music Humanities]]
|-
!Contemporary Civilization/Social Science
|[[Contemporary Civilization]], which can count as either 2 social science or 1 social science + 1 humanities. Can substitute 2 approved social science classes.
|[[Contemporary Civilization]]
|-
!Quantitative Reasoning
|Exemption by exam: 600 on Math section of SAT OR sufficient grade on QR test during orientation OR any mathematics, statistics, economics, or computer science course, OR [[Frontiers of Science]], most classes satisfy both the Quantitative requirement and count as a Science requirement
|Covered under Science requirement
|-
!Science
|3 approved science courses (very wide range, including math, statistics, CS, psychology), one of which can be [[Frontiers of Science]]
|[[Frontiers of Science]] and 2 additional science courses
|-
!Global Core
|2 courses from the Global Core List
|2 courses from the Global Core List
|-
!Physical Education
|None
|[[Swim test]], 2 courses
|}

=== Major Requirements ===

Major requirements are determined departmentally. These are almost always the same for both GS and CC.

==Science Po Columbia University Dual BA Program==

The Dual BA Program is a rigorous, transatlantic program in which undergraduate students earn Bachelor of Arts degrees from both Sciences Po and Columbia University. Students spend two years at one of three Sciences Po campuses in France, each of which is devoted to a particular region of the world and offers a heavy linguistic and cultural focus. After two years, students matriculate at Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City to complete the interdisciplinary social sciences curriculum. High school students may apply. Admission to the program is highly selective.

== Financial Aid ==

GS offers scholarships for both newly accepted and continuing students. These scholarships are merit- rather than need-based like that of Columbia college and SEAS.

A common complaint made by GS students is that the financial aid amounts and options offered by GS are smaller than those offered to CC/SEAS students. In the absence of need-based institutional aid, many GS students rely on a combination of loans, external grants, and personal funds. In 2006 the University announced financial aid reforms for CC and SEAS students whose parents earn less than $50,000 annually.

GS does not offer parity with the packages offered to CC/SEAS students. This is because the scholarship system at GS is independent of the financial aid system for CC/SEAS and funding is sourced from a separate GS-only pool. GS has made some recent efforts to address the issue, both through campaigns to increase the endowment and by increasing its scholarship offerings by 10 percent (in 2006). Starting summer 2012 GS is offering merit institutional aid for summer study, in addition to fall and spring semesters.

== Housing ==
General Studies students are not eligible for the CC/SEAS [[Room Selection]] process. However, many GS students receive housing through [[University Apartment Housing]].

== History ==
GS's evolutionary ancestor is [[Seth Low Junior College]], which was established in [[Brooklyn]] to help alleviate the steady flood of applicants to [[Columbia College]], particularly Jews. SLJC was closed in 1936, and some students were given the option to transfer to The University Extension and finish their studies.

The University Extension program was reorganized and renamed the School of General Studies in December 6, 1947, in part to address the influx of GIs returning from World War II. It became Columbia's third official undergraduate school. It is sometimes claimed that [[Barnard College]] is Columbia's third undergraduate school, and GS is its fourth; however Barnard is officially only affiliated with Columbia University, while GS, its deans, and students are formally integrated into the university proper, along with [[Columbia College]] and the [[Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science]]. Prior to the existence of GS, nontraditional undergraduates were classified as "University Undergraduates."

The first head of General Studies was Associate Professor of English [[Harry Morgan Ayres]], who was the head of University Extension. Among the first members of the GS Administrative Board were Dean [[Harry J. Carman]], and Dean [[Millicent Carrey Mcintosh]]. In 1954, General Studies had the largest enrollment (9,700) and faculty of any college or school at Columbia.

GS originally maintained its own faculty, classes, and programs. In 1968 the University Council first decided to allow GS to grant the B.A. degree in addition to the B.S. In the 1980s it was separated from the [[School of Continuing Education|Division of Continuing Education]]. In 1990, the CC, GS, and GSAS faculties were merged into the [[Faculty of Arts and Sciences]].

The size of the GS student body continues to swing wildly, from 3,000 students in 1992, to 1,550 in 2004, to 2,213 in 2013.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/18/nyregion/ward-h-dennis-54-for-15-years-general-studies-dean-at-columbia.html</ref><ref>http://www.columbia.edu/cu/opir/abstract/opir_enrollment_history_1.htm</ref>

The school's name refers to its diverse student body by alluding to medieval universities, which were also known as ''studia generalia''. ''Studia generalia'' were degree-granting institutions that served a much broader, often international group of students and scholars.<ref>[http://users.manchester.edu/Facstaff/SSNaragon/Kant/Universities/UnivIntro.htm Universities: Introduction]</ref><ref>[http://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=Glossary%2Fstudium Janus: ` studium]</ref>

== Myths ==
* GS is night school.
:GS students attend the same classes as students in other colleges at the university. Columbia offers some classes at night, but they are available to all students.
* GS is an extension program.
:GS should not be confused with the separate [[School of Continuing Education]], which offers individual courses on non-degree basis. GS is one of the two official liberal arts colleges at Columbia University along with Columbia College. Students are expected to pursue a Bachelor of Arts degree.

== Relationship to Columbia College ==
In December 1968 the University Council decided, over the objections of some members of the Columbia College Faculty, to allow GS to grant the B.A. degree in addition to the B.S. The Board of Trustees authorized that decision in February 1969. The creation of the [[Faculty of Arts and Sciences]] in 1991 merged the GS, CC and [[GSAS]] faculties. As a result, GS and CC students are nearly academically indistinguishable – they both receive instruction in the liberal arts and sciences from the Columbia Faculty of Arts and Sciences and receive the Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University. Until 2014 some did receive the Bachelor of Science degree, like SEAS students. GS students participate in nearly the same Core as Columbia College students, with a little additional flexibility, and the waiving of the swim test, PE, and [[Frontiers of Science]]. GS students have the same curriculum, but their own sections of, [[University Writing]], [[Literature Humanities]], and [[Contemporary Civilization]] although non-GS students may enroll if they wish and can gain permission. GS students may substitute certain other classes for the traditional Lit Hum, Art Hum, and CC that focus on non-western culture, if they wish.

The wide range of students that form the GS student body, from professionals or dropouts returning to school for a degree, to military veterans, to students who took 2 years off before attending college, to 'traditional'-age students enrolled in the Joint Degree Program with List College at [[JTS]], to postbac pre-med students, makes it hard to say just what specific identity GS students have that makes them so different from their fellow students in the College. In [[2007]], the administration floated the idea of a CC-GS merger.<ref>http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2007/11/12/university-may-merge-gs-cc "University May Merge GS with CC." Columbia Spectator. November 12, 2007</ref> However it quickly died down.<ref>http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2008/03/10/merits-gs-cc-integration "The Merits of the GS, CC Integration" Columbia Spectator. March 10 2008</ref>

== References ==
<references />

== External links ==
* [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/home.asp GS website]
* [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/studentservices/housing.htm GS Housing website]
* [http://www.alumni.gs.columbia.edu/ OwlNet, GS Alumni website]
* [http://gssc.columbia.edu GSSC Website] ([[GSSC]] General Studies Student Council)
* [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/history.htm History of the School of General Studies]
*[http://media.www.columbiaspectator.com/media/storage/paper865/news/2007/03/05/News/Implications.General.Studies-2757242.shtml IMPLICATIONS: General Studies (Article on the evolving and conflicting identities of GS)] - [[Columbia Spectator|The Spectator]] 3/5/07
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,822081,00.html College for Grownups (''Time'' article from 1952)]
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,810834,00.html The Unwashed Brother (article on GS in Time Magazine, circa 1959.)]
* [[w:Columbia University School of General Studies|Wikipedia article]]

{{Schools}}

[[Category:General Studies|*]]

School of General Studies

2014-05-11T06:41:14Z

Peterawnislowspatsy:

{{Infobox school
|Name=Columbia University School of General Studies
|Image=GS-Shield.gif
|Established=[[1947]]
|President=
|Dean=[[Peter Awn]]
|Degrees=[[BA]], Postbac Certificate in Premedical Sciences, [[BS]] until 2014
|Enrollment=2038 (2011)
|Website=[http://www.gs.columbia.edu/ www.gs.columbia.edu]
}}

The '''School of General Studies''', commonly referred to as '''General Studies''' or simply '''GS''', is one of the three official undergraduate colleges of Columbia University. GS is highly selective and widely considered to be "the nation’s finest undergraduate college for nontraditional students."<ref>https://gs.columbia.edu/owl-article?ntitle=2308&mgid=2180</ref> GS students themselves are called '''GSers'''.

GS is known for its nontraditional and international students. GS confers the Bachelor of Art degree in over seventy different majors, although until May 2014 it also conferred Bachelor of Science degrees. GS students take the same courses with the same faculty, are held to the same high standards, and earn the same degree as all other Columbia undergraduates. GS students, who comprise of approximately 25% of all Columbia undergraduates, have the highest average GPA of all the undergraduate schools at Columbia.<ref>http://www.columbia.edu/cu/opir/abstract/enrollment%20headcount%20by%20school%20all.htm</ref>

GS is also where Columbia dumps niche programs that don't fit anywhere else. GS introduced Columbia's Postbaccalaureate Premedical Program in 1955, which is the largest and oldest in the United States. Around 90 percent of [[Postbac Premed]] students are accepted to top US medical schools. In 1954, GS introduced the [[Joint Program]] with List College of the Jewish Theological Seminary. In 2010, GS introduced a dual degree program with [[Sciences Po]], a French grand établissement institution, but none of its 83 students have any idea what the fuck the program is about.

==Nontraditional students==
GS defines the term "nontraditional" very loosely so as to accommodate the unusual backgrounds of potential students. That said, GSers typically need to have "a break in their education" for more than one year after high school; a previous undergraduate degree; or a compelling reason to obtain the flexibility of part-time status and off-campus housing.<ref>[http://www.gs.columbia.edu/cgi-bin/newspages.dll/pages?sitename=COLAD&record=449&htmlfile=gsnews2.htm Average gap in studies for a GS student in the fall 2006 entering class was 6 years] (Admissions section of the 2006-07 GS Academic Bulletin, pg. 7).</ref>

GS students are an eclectic group that includes [[Jonathan Taylor Thomas|world-class artists]], Olympic athletes, and musicians; investment bankers and business owners; published authors and military veterans; and people who come from as far away as China, Israel, and Germany. Many students work full-time while pursuing a degree, and many have family responsibilities; others attend classes full-time and experience Columbia's more traditional college life.

Many have enjoyed successful careers in fields such as investment banking and information technology and quite a few are nontraditional due to previous conscription or community service requirements in their home countries. A substantial portion of the population enter as transfer students; the previous schools of these students range from community colleges to Columbia's peer institutions.

It is important to note that whether a student has a one year break or ten year break, most students who choose GS usually see themselves as being more mature and independent than a traditional student.<ref>https://gs.columbia.edu/admissions-faqs</ref>

==Background==
A Columbia undergraduate class could include students from any of the following schools: GS, Columbia College, the School of Engineering and Applied Science, or Barnard College. GS is unique among colleges of its type, because its students are fully integrated into the Columbia undergraduate curriculum: GS Students take the same classes with the same students and professors and are granted the same degrees as students at Columbia College or SEAS.

In addition to its bachelor's degree program, the School of General Studies offers combined undergraduate/graduate degree programs with Columbia's schools of [[Columbia Law School|Law]], [[Columbia Business School|Business]], [[College of Dental Medicine|Dental Medicine]], [[School of Social Work|Social Work]], [[SIPA|International and Public Affairs]], [[Teachers College]], and the [[College of Physicians and Surgeons]], as well as undergraduate dual-degree programs with [[SEAS]], the [[Jewish Theological Seminary]], and a dual-BA program with [[w:Sciences Po|Sciences Po]]. In 2012, GS launched a pilot dual degree program with City University of Hong Kong. <ref> http://gs.columbia.edu/owl-article?ntitle=7141&mgid=7138 </ref>

==Admissions==
Admission to Columbia GS is highly selective and "extremely competitive."<ref>http://www.gs.columbia.edu/our-process</ref> According to the College Board, the GS acceptance rate is 23%. Admissions officers examine high school records, test scores, extra-curricular activities, resumes and essays. They conduct interviews in person and on the phone. They also consider college-level work and real-life experience. For transfer students, most successful applicants attain GPAs of at least 3.8 according to the GS admissions office. GS also requires standardized test scores for entry. The school will use scores from the SAT, ACT, or the school's own General Studies Admissions Exam. A list of admissions requirements and procedures is available from the General Studies website and statistics on application, admission, and matriculation are available at the website of Columbia's Office of Planning and Institutional Research. GS admissions statistics are not reported in conjunction with CC/SEAS statistics. This is related both to GS's different admission deadlines and the fact that CC/SEAS and GS have different applicant pools.

Applicants to the School of General Studies must have a break of one academic year or have compelling personal or professional reasons for part-time attendance to be eligible to apply for admission. Prospective Columbia undergraduates who have had a break of a year or more in their education are considered nontraditional and are required to apply to the School of General Studies (such persons are automatically ineligible for admission to Columbia College). GS students have the option to attend part- or full-time unlike Columbia College students, who are required to attend full-time. Also, scholarships at Columbia GS are merit based rather than income based like that of Columbia College or SEAS. In the 2006 class, the average age was 27 for incoming students, and the majority attend full-time.

Most GS students are transfer students, as 78% of the admitted class in 2006 transferred some college credit.<ref>Source: [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/bulletin_courses/bulletin98/tc.html 78% of 2006 admitted students transferred credit.]</ref> A list of admissions requirements and procedures is available from the [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/index_howtoapply.htm/ General Studies website]

Additional statistics on application, admission, and matriculation are available at the website of the Office of Planning and Institutional Research. [http://www.columbia.edu/cu/opir/index.html]

==Placement==

More than 70 percent of GS students go on to earn advanced degrees after graduation. Columbia GS students have been admitted to top graduate programs all over the country including law schools at Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, the University of Chicago, NYU, the University of Pennsylvania, UC Berkeley (Boalt Hall), Duke, and Cornell. They have also been admitted to medicals schools at Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins, Duke, Stanford, UC San Francisco, Yale, Columbia, the University of Chicago, Cornell, and many others. In recent years, GS graduates have been recruited by investment banks such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, UBS, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and Citigroup.

== Academics ==
GS students must complete a total of 124 credits to graduate. Up to 60 of these credits may be transferred from another institution; at least 64 credits must be completed at Columbia University.<ref>Source: [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/bulletin_courses/bulletin98/tc.html GS Credit Policies]</ref>

=== Core Requirements ===
GS has been progressively bringing its Core closer into alignment with CC, most recently during the summer of 2012 when it replaced the Cultural Diversity requirement (1 class that may overlap with another core class, commonly Asian Music or Art) with CC's 2 class [[Global Core]] requirement.
The following table lists the core requirements for GS and CC for students matriculating Fall 2012 or later:

{|- border="1" cellpadding="2"
|-
|
!width="45%"|GS<ref>[http://www.gs.columbia.edu/bulletin_courses/Bulletin98/bach_core.html School of General Studes Core Requirements]</ref>
!width="45%"|CC<ref>[http://www.college.columbia.edu/core/ Columbia College Core Curriculum]</ref>
|-
!Writing<ref>[[University Writing]] is required of both GS and CC students, but the sections are divided by school.</ref>

|[[University Writing]]
|[[University Writing]]
|-
!Literature/Humanities
|[[Literature Humanities]], or 1 semester of literature at Columbia and 1 semester of humanities or literature.
|[[Literature Humanities]]
|-
!Foreign Language
|4th Semester of a Language OR exemption by university exam
|4th Semester of a Language OR exemption by university exam
|-
!Art
|[[Art Humanities]], Asian Humanities (Art) or exemption by similar course taken at another institution
|[[Art Humanities]]
|-
!Music
|[[Music Humanities]], Asian Humanities (Music), exemption by exam, or exemption by similar course taken at another institution
|[[Music Humanities]]
|-
!Contemporary Civilization/Social Science
|[[Contemporary Civilization]], which can count as either 2 social science or 1 social science + 1 humanities. Can substitute 2 approved social science classes.
|[[Contemporary Civilization]]
|-
!Quantitative Reasoning
|Exemption by exam: 600 on Math section of SAT OR sufficient grade on QR test during orientation OR any mathematics, statistics, economics, or computer science course, OR [[Frontiers of Science]], most classes satisfy both the Quantitative requirement and count as a Science requirement
|Covered under Science requirement
|-
!Science
|3 approved science courses (very wide range, including math, statistics, CS, psychology), one of which can be [[Frontiers of Science]]
|[[Frontiers of Science]] and 2 additional science courses
|-
!Global Core
|2 courses from the Global Core List
|2 courses from the Global Core List
|-
!Physical Education
|None
|[[Swim test]], 2 courses
|}

=== Major Requirements ===

Major requirements are determined departmentally. These are almost always the same for both GS and CC.

==Science Po Columbia University Dual BA Program==

The Dual BA Program is a rigorous, transatlantic program in which undergraduate students earn Bachelor of Arts degrees from both Sciences Po and Columbia University. Students spend two years at one of three Sciences Po campuses in France, each of which is devoted to a particular region of the world and offers a heavy linguistic and cultural focus. After two years, students matriculate at Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City to complete the interdisciplinary social sciences curriculum. High school students may apply. Admission to the program is highly selective.

== Financial Aid ==

GS offers scholarships for both newly accepted and continuing students. These scholarships are merit- rather than need-based like that of Columbia college and SEAS.

A common complaint made by GS students is that the financial aid amounts and options offered by GS are smaller than those offered to CC/SEAS students. In the absence of need-based institutional aid, many GS students rely on a combination of loans, external grants, and personal funds. In 2006 the University announced financial aid reforms for CC and SEAS students whose parents earn less than $50,000 annually.

GS does not offer parity with the packages offered to CC/SEAS students. This is because the scholarship system at GS is independent of the financial aid system for CC/SEAS and funding is sourced from a separate GS-only pool. GS has made some recent efforts to address the issue, both through campaigns to increase the endowment and by increasing its scholarship offerings by 10 percent (in 2006). Starting summer 2012 GS is offering merit institutional aid for summer study, in addition to fall and spring semesters.

== Housing ==
General Studies students are not eligible for the CC/SEAS [[Room Selection]] process. However, many GS students receive housing through [[University Apartment Housing]].

== History ==
GS's evolutionary ancestor is [[Seth Low Junior College]], which was established in [[Brooklyn]] to help alleviate the steady flood of applicants to [[Columbia College]], particularly Jews. SLJC was closed in 1936, and some students were given the option to transfer to The University Extension and finish their studies.

The University Extension program was reorganized and renamed the School of General Studies in December 6, 1947, in part to address the influx of GIs returning from World War II. It became Columbia's third official undergraduate school. It is sometimes claimed that [[Barnard College]] is Columbia's third undergraduate school, and GS is its fourth; however Barnard is officially only affiliated with Columbia University, while GS, its deans, and students are formally integrated into the university proper, along with [[Columbia College]] and the [[Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science]]. Prior to the existence of GS, nontraditional undergraduates were classified as "University Undergraduates."

The first head of General Studies was Associate Professor of English [[Harry Morgan Ayres]], who was the head of University Extension. Among the first members of the GS Administrative Board were Dean [[Harry J. Carman]], and Dean [[Millicent Carrey Mcintosh]]. In 1954, General Studies had the largest enrollment (9,700) and faculty of any college or school at Columbia.

GS originally maintained its own faculty, classes, and programs. In 1968 the University Council first decided to allow GS to grant the B.A. degree in addition to the B.S. In the 1980s it was separated from the [[School of Continuing Education|Division of Continuing Education]]. In 1990, the CC, GS, and GSAS faculties were merged into the [[Faculty of Arts and Sciences]].

The size of the GS student body continues to swing wildly, from 3,000 students in 1992, to 1,550 in 2004, to 2,213 in 2013.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/18/nyregion/ward-h-dennis-54-for-15-years-general-studies-dean-at-columbia.html</ref><ref>http://www.columbia.edu/cu/opir/abstract/opir_enrollment_history_1.htm</ref>

The school's name refers to its diverse student body by alluding to medieval universities, which were also known as ''studia generalia''. ''Studia generalia'' were degree-granting institutions that served a much broader, often international group of students and scholars.<ref>[http://users.manchester.edu/Facstaff/SSNaragon/Kant/Universities/UnivIntro.htm Universities: Introduction]</ref><ref>[http://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=Glossary%2Fstudium Janus: ` studium]</ref>

== Myths ==
* GS is night school.
:GS students attend the same classes as students in other colleges at the university. Columbia offers some classes at night, but they are available to all students.
* GS is an extension program.
:GS should not be confused with the separate [[School of Continuing Education]], which offers individual courses on non-degree basis. GS is one of the two official liberal arts colleges at Columbia University along with Columbia College. Students are expected to pursue a Bachelor of Arts degree.

== Relationship to Columbia College ==
In December 1968 the University Council decided, over the objections of some members of the Columbia College Faculty, to allow GS to grant the B.A. degree in addition to the B.S. The Board of Trustees authorized that decision in February 1969. The creation of the [[Faculty of Arts and Sciences]] in 1991 merged the GS, CC and [[GSAS]] faculties. As a result, GS and CC students are nearly academically indistinguishable – they both receive instruction in the liberal arts and sciences from the Columbia Faculty of Arts and Sciences and receive the Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University. Until 2014 some did receive the Bachelor of Science degree, like SEAS students. GS students participate in nearly the same Core as Columbia College students, with a little additional flexibility, and the waiving of the swim test, PE, and [[Frontiers of Science]]. GS students have the same curriculum, but their own sections of, [[University Writing]], [[Literature Humanities]], and [[Contemporary Civilization]] although non-GS students may enroll if they wish and can gain permission. GS students may substitute certain other classes for the traditional Lit Hum, Art Hum, and CC that focus on non-western culture, if they wish.

The wide range of students that form the GS student body, from professionals or dropouts returning to school for a degree, to military veterans, to students who took 2 years off before attending college, to 'traditional'-age students enrolled in the Joint Degree Program with List College at [[JTS]], to postbac pre-med students, makes it hard to say just what specific identity GS students have that makes them so different from their fellow students in the College. In [[2007]], the administration floated the idea of a CC-GS merger.<ref>http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2007/11/12/university-may-merge-gs-cc "University May Merge GS with CC." Columbia Spectator. November 12, 2007</ref> However it quickly died down.<ref>http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2008/03/10/merits-gs-cc-integration "The Merits of the GS, CC Integration" Columbia Spectator. March 10 2008</ref>

== References ==
<references />

== External links ==
* [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/home.asp GS website]
* [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/studentservices/housing.htm GS Housing website]
* [http://www.alumni.gs.columbia.edu/ OwlNet, GS Alumni website]
* [http://gssc.columbia.edu GSSC Website] ([[GSSC]] General Studies Student Council)
* [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/history.htm History of the School of General Studies]
*[http://media.www.columbiaspectator.com/media/storage/paper865/news/2007/03/05/News/Implications.General.Studies-2757242.shtml IMPLICATIONS: General Studies (Article on the evolving and conflicting identities of GS)] - [[Columbia Spectator|The Spectator]] 3/5/07
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,822081,00.html College for Grownups (''Time'' article from 1952)]
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,810834,00.html The Unwashed Brother (article on GS in Time Magazine, circa 1959.)]
* [[w:Columbia University School of General Studies|Wikipedia article]]

{{Schools}}

[[Category:General Studies|*]]

School of General Studies

2014-05-11T05:48:03Z

Peterawnislowspatsy:

{{Infobox school
|Name=Columbia University School of General Studies
|Image=GS-Shield.gif
|Established=[[1947]]
|President=
|Dean=[[Peter Awn]]
|Degrees=[[BA]], Postbac Certificate in Premedical Sciences, [[BS]] until 2014
|Enrollment=2038 (2011)
|Website=[http://www.gs.columbia.edu/ www.gs.columbia.edu]
}}

The '''School of General Studies''', commonly known as '''General Studies''' or simply '''GS''', is one of the three official undergraduate colleges of Columbia University. It is a highly selective liberal arts college known for its non-traditional and international students. GS confers the Bachelor of Art degrees in over seventy different majors, although until May 2014 it also conferred Bachelor of Science degrees. GS students take the same courses with the same faculty, are held to the same high standards, and earn the same degree as all other Columbia undergraduates. GS students, who comprise of approximately 25% of all Columbia undergraduates, have the highest average GPA of all the undergraduate schools at Columbia.<ref>http://www.columbia.edu/cu/opir/abstract/enrollment%20headcount%20by%20school%20all.htm</ref>

GS is also home to Columbia's Postbaccalaureate Premedical Program, which is the largest and oldest in the United States. In recent years, up to 90 percent of the students in the GS Postbaccalaureate Premedical Program have been accepted to top U.S. medical schools.

==Background==
A Columbia undergraduate class could include students from any of the following schools: GS, Columbia College, the School of Engineering and Applied Science, or Barnard College. GS is unique among colleges of its type, because its students are fully integrated into the Columbia undergraduate curriculum: GS Students take the same classes with the same students and professors and are granted the same degrees as students at Columbia College or SEAS.

In addition to its bachelor's degree program, the School of General Studies offers combined undergraduate/graduate degree programs with Columbia's schools of [[Columbia Law School|Law]], [[Columbia Business School|Business]], [[College of Dental Medicine|Dental Medicine]], [[School of Social Work|Social Work]], [[SIPA|International and Public Affairs]], [[Teachers College]], and the [[College of Physicians and Surgeons]], as well as undergraduate dual-degree programs with [[SEAS]], the [[Jewish Theological Seminary]], and a dual-BA program with [[w:Sciences Po|Sciences Po]]. In 2012, GS launched a pilot dual degree program with City University of Hong Kong. <ref> http://gs.columbia.edu/owl-article?ntitle=7141&mgid=7138 </ref>

==Admissions==
Admission to Columbia GS is highly selective and "extremely competitive."<ref>http://www.gs.columbia.edu/our-process</ref> According to the College Board, the GS acceptance rate is 23%. Admissions officers examine high school records, test scores, extra-curricular activities, resumes and essays. They conduct interviews in person and on the phone. They also consider college-level work and real-life experience. For transfer students, most successful applicants attain GPAs of at least 3.8 according to the GS admissions office. GS also requires standardized test scores for entry. The school will use scores from the SAT, ACT, or the school's own General Studies Admissions Exam. A list of admissions requirements and procedures is available from the General Studies website and statistics on application, admission, and matriculation are available at the website of Columbia's Office of Planning and Institutional Research. GS admissions statistics are not reported in conjunction with CC/SEAS statistics. This is related both to GS's different admission deadlines and the fact that CC/SEAS and GS have different applicant pools.

Applicants to the School of General Studies must have a break of one academic year or have compelling personal or professional reasons for part-time attendance to be eligible to apply for admission. Prospective Columbia undergraduates who have had a break of a year or more in their education are considered non-traditional and are required to apply to the School of General Studies (such persons are automatically ineligible for admission to Columbia College). GS students have the option to attend part- or full-time unlike Columbia College students, who are required to attend full-time. Also, scholarships at Columbia GS are merit based rather than income based like that of Columbia College or SEAS. In the 2006 class, the average age was 27 for incoming students, and the majority attend full-time.

Most GS students are transfer students, as 78% of the admitted class in 2006 transferred some college credit.<ref>Source: [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/bulletin_courses/bulletin98/tc.html 78% of 2006 admitted students transferred credit.]</ref> A list of admissions requirements and procedures is available from the [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/index_howtoapply.htm/ General Studies website]

Additional statistics on application, admission, and matriculation are available at the website of the Office of Planning and Institutional Research. [http://www.columbia.edu/cu/opir/index.html]

==Placement==

More than 70 percent of GS students go on to earn advanced degrees after graduation. Columbia GS students have been admitted to top graduate programs all over the country including law schools at Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, the University of Chicago, NYU, the University of Pennsylvania, UC Berkeley (Boalt Hall), Duke, and Cornell. They have also been admitted to medicals schools at Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins, Duke, Stanford, UC San Francisco, Yale, Columbia, the University of Chicago, Cornell, and many others. In recent years, GS graduates have been recruited by investment banks such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, UBS, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and Citigroup.

==Nontraditional students==

GS enrolls world-class artists, Olympic athletes, and musicians; investment bankers and business owners; published authors and military veterans; and people who come from as far away as China, Israel, and Germany. Many students work full-time while pursuing a degree, and many have family responsibilities; others attend classes full-time and experience Columbia's more traditional college life.

Many have enjoyed successful careers in fields such as investment banking and information technology and quite a few are nontraditional due to previous conscription or community service requirements in their home countries. A substantial portion of the population enter as transfer students; the previous schools of these students range from community colleges to Columbia's peer institutions.

== Academics ==
GS students must complete a total of 124 credits to graduate. Up to 60 of these credits may be transferred from another institution; at least 64 credits must be completed at Columbia University.<ref>Source: [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/bulletin_courses/bulletin98/tc.html GS Credit Policies]</ref>

=== Core Requirements ===
GS has been progressively bringing its Core closer into alignment with CC, most recently during the summer of 2012 when it replaced the Cultural Diversity requirement (1 class that may overlap with another core class, commonly Asian Music or Art) with CC's 2 class [[Global Core]] requirement.
The following table lists the core requirements for GS and CC for students matriculating Fall 2012 or later:

{|- border="1" cellpadding="2"
|-
|
!width="45%"|GS<ref>[http://www.gs.columbia.edu/bulletin_courses/Bulletin98/bach_core.html School of General Studes Core Requirements]</ref>
!width="45%"|CC<ref>[http://www.college.columbia.edu/core/ Columbia College Core Curriculum]</ref>
|-
!Writing<ref>[[University Writing]] is required of both GS and CC students, but the sections are divided by school.</ref>

|[[University Writing]]
|[[University Writing]]
|-
!Literature/Humanities
|[[Literature Humanities]], or 1 semester of literature at Columbia and 1 semester of humanities or literature.
|[[Literature Humanities]]
|-
!Foreign Language
|4th Semester of a Language OR exemption by university exam
|4th Semester of a Language OR exemption by university exam
|-
!Art
|[[Art Humanities]], Asian Humanities (Art) or exemption by similar course taken at another institution
|[[Art Humanities]]
|-
!Music
|[[Music Humanities]], Asian Humanities (Music), exemption by exam, or exemption by similar course taken at another institution
|[[Music Humanities]]
|-
!Contemporary Civilization/Social Science
|[[Contemporary Civilization]], which can count as either 2 social science or 1 social science + 1 humanities. Can substitute 2 approved social science classes.
|[[Contemporary Civilization]]
|-
!Quantitative Reasoning
|Exemption by exam: 600 on Math section of SAT OR sufficient grade on QR test during orientation OR any mathematics, statistics, economics, or computer science course, OR [[Frontiers of Science]], most classes satisfy both the Quantitative requirement and count as a Science requirement
|Covered under Science requirement
|-
!Science
|3 approved science courses (very wide range, including math, statistics, CS, psychology), one of which can be [[Frontiers of Science]]
|[[Frontiers of Science]] and 2 additional science courses
|-
!Global Core
|2 courses from the Global Core List
|2 courses from the Global Core List
|-
!Physical Education
|None
|[[Swim test]], 2 courses
|}

=== Major Requirements ===

Major requirements are determined departmentally. These are almost always the same for both GS and CC.

==Science Po Columbia University Dual BA Program==

The Dual BA Program is a rigorous, transatlantic program in which undergraduate students earn Bachelor of Arts degrees from both Sciences Po and Columbia University. Students spend two years at one of three Sciences Po campuses in France, each of which is devoted to a particular region of the world and offers a heavy linguistic and cultural focus. After two years, students matriculate at Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City to complete the interdisciplinary social sciences curriculum. High school students may apply. Admission to the program is highly selective.

== Financial Aid ==

GS offers scholarships for both newly accepted and continuing students. These scholarships are merit- rather than need-based like that of Columbia college and SEAS.

A common complaint made by GS students is that the financial aid amounts and options offered by GS are smaller than those offered to CC/SEAS students. In the absence of need-based institutional aid, many GS students rely on a combination of loans, external grants, and personal funds. In 2006 the University announced financial aid reforms for CC and SEAS students whose parents earn less than $50,000 annually.

GS does not offer parity with the packages offered to CC/SEAS students. This is because the scholarship system at GS is independent of the financial aid system for CC/SEAS and funding is sourced from a separate GS-only pool. GS has made some recent efforts to address the issue, both through campaigns to increase the endowment and by increasing its scholarship offerings by 10 percent (in 2006). Starting summer 2012 GS is offering merit institutional aid for summer study, in addition to fall and spring semesters.

== Housing ==
General Studies students are not eligible for the CC/SEAS [[Room Selection]] process. However, many GS students receive housing through [[University Apartment Housing]].

== History ==
GS's evolutionary ancestor is [[Seth Low Junior College]], which was established in [[Brooklyn]] to help alleviate the steady flood of applicants to [[Columbia College]], particularly Jews. SLJC was closed in 1936, and some students were given the option to transfer to The University Extension and finish their studies.

The University Extension program was reorganized and renamed the School of General Studies in December 6, 1947, in part to address the influx of GIs returning from World War II. It became Columbia's third official undergraduate school. It is sometimes claimed that [[Barnard College]] is Columbia's third undergraduate school, and GS is its fourth; however Barnard is officially only affiliated with Columbia University, while GS, its deans, and students are formally integrated into the university proper, along with [[Columbia College]] and the [[Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science]]. Prior to the existence of GS, nontraditional undergraduates were classified as "University Undergraduates."

The first head of General Studies was Associate Professor of English [[Harry Morgan Ayres]], who was the head of University Extension. Among the first members of the GS Administrative Board were Dean [[Harry J. Carman]], and Dean [[Millicent Carrey Mcintosh]]. In 1954, General Studies had the largest enrollment (9,700) and faculty of any college or school at Columbia.

GS originally maintained its own faculty, classes, and programs. In 1968 the University Council first decided to allow GS to grant the B.A. degree in addition to the B.S. In the 1980s it was separated from the [[School of Continuing Education|Division of Continuing Education]]. In 1990, the CC, GS, and GSAS faculties were merged into the [[Faculty of Arts and Sciences]].

The size of the GS student body continues to swing wildly, from 3,000 students in 1992, to 1,550 in 2004, to 2,213 in 2013.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/18/nyregion/ward-h-dennis-54-for-15-years-general-studies-dean-at-columbia.html</ref><ref>http://www.columbia.edu/cu/opir/abstract/opir_enrollment_history_1.htm</ref>

The school's name refers to its diverse student body by alluding to medieval universities, which were also known as ''studia generalia''. ''Studia generalia'' were degree-granting institutions that served a much broader, often international group of students and scholars.<ref>[http://users.manchester.edu/Facstaff/SSNaragon/Kant/Universities/UnivIntro.htm Universities: Introduction]</ref><ref>[http://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=Glossary%2Fstudium Janus: ` studium]</ref>

== Myths ==
* GS is night school.
:GS students attend the same classes as students in other colleges at the university. Columbia offers some classes at night, but they are available to all students.
* GS is an extension program.
:GS should not be confused with the separate [[School of Continuing Education]], which offers individual courses on non-degree basis. GS is one of the two official liberal arts colleges at Columbia University along with Columbia College. Students are expected to pursue a Bachelor of Arts degree.

== Relationship to Columbia College ==
The School of General Studies is loosely defined as a school for 'non-traditional students.' “Nontraditional students include persons who have interrupted their educations since high school for at least one academic year or individuals who have compelling personal or professional reasons to attend college on a part-time basis. GS is also the college at Columbia for students seeking to complete a second B.A. or B.S. degree.” <ref>[http://www.gs.columbia.edu/cgi-bin/newspages.dll/pages?sitename=COLAD&record=449&htmlfile=gsnews2.htm Average gap in studies for a GS student in the fall 2006 entering class was 6 years] (Admissions section of the 2006-07 GS Academic Bulletin, pg. 7).</ref> Columbia College is for 'traditional students' who matriculate directly from high school and have not had a gap of more than one year in their undergraduate studies. On this basis, students applying to study at Columbia University are directed to the appropriate school.

In December 1968 the University Council decided, over the objections of some members of the Columbia College Faculty, to allow GS to grant the B.A. degree in addition to the B.S. The Board of Trustees authorized that decision in February 1969. The creation of the [[Faculty of Arts and Sciences]] in 1991 merged the GS, CC and [[GSAS]] faculties. As a result, GS and CC students are nearly academically indistinguishable – they both receive instruction in the liberal arts and sciences from the Columbia Faculty of Arts and Sciences and receive the Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University. Until 2014 some did receive the Bachelor of Science degree, like SEAS students. GS students participate in nearly the same Core as Columbia College students, with a little additional flexibility, and the waiving of the swim test, PE, and [[Frontiers of Science]]. GS students have the same curriculum, but their own sections of, [[University Writing]], [[Literature Humanities]], and [[Contemporary Civilization]] although non-GS students may enroll if they wish and can gain permission. GS students may substitute certain other classes for the traditional Lit Hum, Art Hum, and CC that focus on non-western culture, if they wish.

The wide range of students that form the GS student body, from professionals or dropouts returning to school for a degree, to military veterans, to students who took 2 years off before attending college, to 'traditional'-age students enrolled in the Joint Degree Program with List College at [[JTS]], to postbac pre-med students, makes it hard to say just what specific identity GS students have that makes them so different from their fellow students in the College. In [[2007]], the administration floated the idea of a CC-GS merger.<ref>http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2007/11/12/university-may-merge-gs-cc "University May Merge GS with CC." Columbia Spectator. November 12, 2007</ref> However it quickly died down.<ref>http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2008/03/10/merits-gs-cc-integration "The Merits of the GS, CC Integration" Columbia Spectator. March 10 2008</ref>

== References ==
<references />

== External links ==
* [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/home.asp GS website]
* [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/studentservices/housing.htm GS Housing website]
* [http://www.alumni.gs.columbia.edu/ OwlNet, GS Alumni website]
* [http://gssc.columbia.edu GSSC Website] ([[GSSC]] General Studies Student Council)
* [http://www.gs.columbia.edu/history.htm History of the School of General Studies]
*[http://media.www.columbiaspectator.com/media/storage/paper865/news/2007/03/05/News/Implications.General.Studies-2757242.shtml IMPLICATIONS: General Studies (Article on the evolving and conflicting identities of GS)] - [[Columbia Spectator|The Spectator]] 3/5/07
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,822081,00.html College for Grownups (''Time'' article from 1952)]
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,810834,00.html The Unwashed Brother (article on GS in Time Magazine, circa 1959.)]
* [[w:Columbia University School of General Studies|Wikipedia article]]

{{Schools}}

[[Category:General Studies|*]]

Wilma Jordan

2014-05-10T05:34:05Z

Peterawnislowspatsy:

'''Wilma Jordan''' is a former [[Dining Services]] employee who worked in [[John Jay Dining Hall]], operating the eponymous Wilma's Grill, where she became a campus icon, serving up omelettes and burgers to hungry Columbia students for 27 years.<ref>http://bwog.com/2009/12/14/get-up-for-john-jay-brunch-and-get-to-know-wilma-omelet-queen/</ref> She announced her abdication in May 2014.<ref>[http://spectrum.columbiaspectator.com/arts/wilma-grill-master-of-john-jay-will-be-retiring]; [http://bwog.com/2014/05/06/wilma-is-retiring-after-27-years/]</ref>

== References ==
<references/>

[[Category:People]]

Copypasta

2014-04-22T05:17:29Z

Peterawnislowspatsy:

Copypasta from [[Bored@butler]]. If you're feeling bored and looking for easy points, or want to win an argument on the internet (because that's really all life is about), then look no further. Note: many are not properly formatted and still have question marks in place of apostrophes or quotation marks.

== Hi, I'm a Barnard girl ==

* Hi I'm a Barnard girl. I only wear clothes bought at thread stores and my "vintage" glasses and I think gender is an out-dated concept. I also brag incessantly at how me and my friends hang out in the "dangerous" parts of Brooklyn and how the NYPD are SUCH ASSHOLES, despite the fact that the only interaction I ever had with a police was when I was 15 and got scolded at for drinking in a public park. I will also waste half of your lesson by giggling and loudly advertising my student group, Lesbians against Mass Incarceration, (I'm straight and white by the way), where I will amaze you at how many times I can say "like" in a single sentence. And to cap it all off, my tits and ass aren't even that good, but it's OK, because all men are chauvinistic pigs and I don't need them anyway.

* Hi I'm a Columbia guy. I only wear clothes bought at designer stores and my skinny jeans and I think conservatism is an out-dated concept. I also brag incessantly at how me and my friends get so little sleep and have so much homework and how the professors are SUCH ASSHOLES, despite the fact that the only interaction I ever have with them is when I go to class. I will also waste half of your lesson by asking inane questions and loudly advertising my student group, Secular Atheists against Discrimination, (I pretend to be sexually ambiguous but am actually straight and white by the way), where I will amaze you at how many times I can say "marxism" in a single sentence. And to cap it all off, my brains aren't even that good, but it's OK, because all classes are a waste of time and I don't need them anyway.

* Hi I'm a SEAS kid. I only wear clothes bought at the GAP and my cargo shorts and I think books are an out-dated concept. I also brag incessantly at how me and my friends are going to make so much money with our start up and how the finance suits are SUCH ASSHOLES, despite the fact that the only other job I would want to perform is a quant. I will also waste half of your lesson by breathing loudly and advertising my start up, Date-ly, (I'm a virgin by the way), where I will amaze you at how many times I can say "connectivity" in a single sentence. And to cap it all off, my ideas aren't even that good, but it's OK, because all people are slack-jawed smartphone users anyway.

* Hi I'm a sorority girl. I usually wear heels and little dresses and I think feminism is an out-dated concept. I also brag incessantly at how me and this sig ep guy i hooked up with are getting really serious, despite the fact that mainly i suck his penis. I will also waste half of your evening by giggling and loudly advertising my philanthropy group that helps Harlem, Beer Drinkers Against Substance Abuse (I'm drunk by the way), where I will amaze you at how many times I can coax frat bros into tossing singles into the donation jar. And to cap it all off, my looks aren't even that good, but it's OK, because I'm majoring in psych and am a serious career woman, anyway.

* Hi I'm a frat boy. I only wear off the rack clothes and Sperrys and I think privilege is an out-dated concept. I also brag incessantly at how me and my friends hang out with the "hottest" girls in DG and how the NYPD are SUCH ASSHOLES, despite the fact that the only interaction I ever had with a police was when I was a freshman and got scolded at for trying to sneak out of Pike's house during the investigation. I will also waste half of your lesson by snoring and loudly advertising my TOTALLY NOT RACIST Asian-themed rush party, Yellow Fever, (I'm white by the way), where I will amaze you at how many times I can say "chong" in a terrible accent. And to cap it all off, my biceps and abs aren't even that toned, but it's OK, because I don't need consensual sex anyway.

* Hi I'm a grad student. I haven't paid for any of my clothes, ever (thanks, dad!). and I think capitalism is an outdated concept. I also brag incessantly at how me and my friends understand the human condition and how the i-bankers are SUCH ASSHOLES, despite the fact that I can only afford this terminal masters program because my dad is a banker, and the only interaction I ever had with a banker was when I yelled at one that time at occupy. I will also waste half of your lesson by bragging about my professor advisor and loudly talking about my masters thesis research, (I know I'll never be eric foner by the way), where I will amaze you at how many times I can say "norms" in a single sentence. And to cap it all off, my writing skills aren't even that good, but it's OK, because I don't know what the hell I'm talking about, and it's all relative, anyway.

* Hi I'm a speccie. I don't wear clothes other than t shirts and jeans and I think reading on paper is an outdated concept. I also brag incessantly about how me and my friend met a real journalist once and how the bwoggers are SUCH ASSHOLES, despite the fact that I secretly wish (current spec EIC) allowed me to have an opinion. I will also waste half of your lesson by tapping at my phone and retweeting articles on twitter, (I have worked 2 unpaid social media internships by the way), where I will amaze you at how many times I can say "web-first strategy" in a single sentence. And to cap it all off, my news writing isn?t even that clean, but it's OK, because i can leverage the shit out of spec alumni networking events.

* Hi I'm a bwog writer. I only wear clothes bought at J crew and I think objectivity is an out-dated concept. I also brag incessantly at how my posts get so many comments and so many views and how the spec writers are SUCH ASSHOLES, despite the fact that the only interaction I ever had with a speccie was when we exchanged uneasy glances in a lecture hall. I will also waste half of your lesson by making stupid puns and loudly advertising my blog,, (I pretend to be a journalist but have never actually interviewed a source), where I will amaze you at how many times I can say ?tip? in a single sentence. And to cap it all off, my sense of irony isn't even that good, but it's OK, because i would never want to deliberately mean, anyway.

* Hi I'm a CCSC person. I don't wear clothes other than columbia apparel and my prepster uniform and I think challenging authority is an outdated concept. I also brag incessantly about how me and my friend meet deantini all the time and how the ABC people are SUCH ASSHOLES, despite the fact that I secretly am glad they do my paperwork. I will also waste half of your lesson by talking about a policy you don't care about, (there have been 5 spec opeds and a town hall regarding it by the way), where I will amaze you at how many times I can say "wellness" in a single sentence. And to cap it all off, you didn't even have another person to vote for, but it's OK, because nobody else should get to say they represent the student body, anyway.

*Hi I'm a GS student. I haven't been able to afford new clothes since high school and I think campus life is an outdated concept. I also brag incessantly at how me and my friend have never hung out on campus and how the younger students are SUCH ASSHOLES, despite the fact that I transferred in when I was only 21 and the only interaction I ever had with a freshman was when they were confused by my grey hair at NSOP. I will also waste half of your lesson by kissing ass and loudly talking about my past bravery in the military, (I was an army graphic designer based in Delaware by the way), where I will amaze you at how many times I can swell my chest in a single sentence. And to cap it all off, my SAT scores aren't even above 550, but it's OK, because grades are not important and dropping out of my last 4 colleges prepared me for a 4.0 here anyway.

*Hi I'm a little kid that plays on the steps at Low. I only wear clothes that fit my diaper and allow me to haphazardly ride my "razor" scooter and I think that handicap ramps are a lot of fun. My parents also brag incessantly at how one day I will be one of the "big kids" that go to Columbia and how the people in my daycare are SUCH ASSHOLES, despite the fact that the other kids are smarter and cooler than me. I will also proceed to fall off my scooter so you will stop and ask if I am okay, my mom chasing behind me apologizing while worrying that maybe you will kidnap me, (I'm just crying because when I'm at home my parents are too busy to love me by the way), where I will amaze you at how many times I can "fall down" and demand somebody's attention. And to cap it all off, I'm not even that cute or that smart of little kid anyway, but it's okay because my parents are rich and already paid for my condo on the Upper East Side that I can move into in 16 more years.

== What did you just say? ==

*What the fuck did you just fucking say about me, you little bitch? I’ll have you know I graduated top of my class in the Navy Seals, and I’ve been involved in numerous secret raids on Al-Quaeda, and I have over 300 confirmed kills. I am trained in gorilla warfare and I’m the top sniper in the entire US armed forces. You are nothing to me but just another target. I will wipe you the fuck out with precision the likes of which has never been seen before on this Earth, mark my fucking words. You think you can get away with saying that shit to me over the Internet? Think again, fucker. As we speak I am contacting my secret network of spies across the USA and your IP is being traced right now so you better prepare for the storm, maggot. The storm that wipes out the pathetic little thing you call your life. You’re fucking dead, kid. I can be anywhere, anytime, and I can kill you in over seven hundred ways, and that;s just with my bare hands. Not only am I extensively trained in unarmed combat, but I have access to the entire arsenal of the United States Marine Corps and I will use it to its full extent to wipe your miserable ass off the face of the continent, you little shit. If only you could have known what unholy retribution your little ‘clever’ comment was about to bring down upon you, maybe you would have held your fucking tongue. But you couldn’t, you didn’t, and now you’re paying the price, you goddamn idiot. I will shit fury all over you and you will drown in it. You’re fucking dead, kiddo.

*What the fuck did you just fucking say about me, you little bitch? I’ll have you know I graduated top of my class in the Taliban, and I’ve been involved in numerous secret raids on infidels, and I have over 300 confirmed bombings. I am trained in gorilla warfare and I’m the best suicide bomber in the entire Gaza Strip. You are nothing to me but just another target. I will wipe you the fuck out with precision the likes of which has never been seen before on this Jihad, mark my fucking words. You think you can get away with saying that shit to me over the Internet? Think again, fucker. As we speak I am contacting my secret network of al Qaeda sleeper cells across the Middle East and your IP is being traced right now so you better prepare for the storm, maggot. The storm that wipes out the pathetic little thing you call your life. You’re fucking dead, kid. I can be anywhere, anytime, and I can kill you in over seven hundred ways, and that’s just with my the bomb strapped to my body. Not only am I extensively trained in suicidal combat, but I have access to the entire arsenal of Muhammad’s divine intervention and I will use it to its full extent to wipe your miserable ass off the face of the continent, you little shit. If only you could have known what holy retribution your little “clever” comment was about to bring down upon you, maybe you would have held your fucking tongue. But you couldn’t, you didn’t, and now you’re paying the price, you goddamn idiot. I will shit righteousness all over you and you will drown in it. You’re fucking dead, kiddo.

*What the fuck did you just fucking say about me, you little bitch? I'll have you know I graduated top of my class in my New England prep school, and I've been involved in numerous Republican fundraisers, and I have over 300 confirmed donations to the republican party. I am trained in polo sailing and I?m the top golfer in the entire New England Prep School Division. You are nothing to me but just another underprivileged nuisance. I will ignore your struggles with precision the likes of which has never been seen before on this Earth, mark my fucking words. You think you can get away with telling me to check my privlege over the Internet? Think again, fucker. As we speak I am contacting my secret network of investment bankers and white politicians across USA and your IP is being traced right now so you better prepare for the storm, maggot. The storm that wipes out the pathetic little thing you call your affirmative action. You?re fucking dead, kid. I can be anywhere, anytime, and I can fail to check my privilege in over seven hundred ways, and that's just with my money alone. Not only am I extensively trained in partying on my dad's trust fund, but I have access to the entire arsenal of my dad's bank account and I will use it to its full extent to wipe your miserable ass off the face of my elite institution, you lower class peasant. If only you could have known what unholy retribution your little ?clever? comment was about to bring down upon you, maybe you wouldn't have told me to check my privilege. But you couldn't, you didn't, and now you're paying the price, you goddamn plebe. I will shit fury all over you and you will drown in it. You're fucking dead, kiddo.

*What the fuck did you just fucking say about me, you little bitch? I’ll have you know I graduated top of my class from an elite British public school, and I’ve been involved in numerous secret exclusives on Columbia Frats, and I have over 300 confirmed bylines. I am trained in copywriting and I’m the top crime reporter in the entire Ivy League. You are nothing to me but just another story. I will write you the fuck away with precision the likes of which has never been seen before in Morningside Heights, mark my fucking words. You think you can get away with saying that shit to me over the Internet? Think again, fucker. As we speak I am contacting my secret network of spec alumni in their various unpaid internships and your IP is being traced right now so you better prepare for the storm, maggot. The storm that wipes out the pathetic little thing you call "specsucks". You’re fucking dead, m8. I can be anywhere, anytime, and I can report on you in over seven hundred ways, and that’s just with my moleskin notepad. Not only am I extensively trained in K9 Newspaper editing software, but I have access to the entire bored@butler legion and I will use it to its full extent to wipe your miserable ass off the face of this school, you little shit. If only you could have known what unholy retribution your little “clever” email was about to bring down upon you, maybe you would have kept your fat, cheeto-stained keys away from your Lenovo. But you couldn’t, you didn’t, and now you’re paying the price, you goddamn idiot. I will shit fury all over you and you will drown in it. You’re fucking dead, specsucks scum.

*What the fuck did you just fucking say about me, you little bitch? I?ll have you know I graduated top of my class from the Wharton school of Business, and I?ve been involved in numerous secret credit default swaps with Lehnman brothers, and I have over 300 confirmed sold secuirties packages. I am trained in hostile takeovers and I?m the broker in the entire US financial sector. You are nothing to me but just another target. I will wipe your portfolio the fuck out with precision the likes of which has never been seen before on this Earth, mark my fucking words. You think you can get away with saying that shit to me over the Internet? Think again, fucker. As we speak I am contacting my secret network of spies across Manhattan and your IP is being traced right now so you better prepare for the storm, maggot. The storm that wipes out the pathetic little thing you call your life. You?re fucking dead, kid. I can be anywhere, anytime, and I can destroy your financial assets you in over seven hundred ways, and that?s just from sitting at my desk. Not only am I extensively trained in unarmed combat, but I have access to the entire arsenal of the Delta Sig fraternity and I will use it to its full extent to wipe your miserable ass off the face of the continent, you little shit. If only you could have known what unholy retribution your little ?clever? comment was about to bring down upon you, maybe you would have held your fucking tongue. But you couldn?t, you didn?t, and now you?re paying the price, you goddamn idiot. I will shit fury all over you and you will drown in it. You?re fucking dead, kiddo.

*Response to above: Okay, so you expect me to believe that you were the very best that your generation of Wharton had to offer? I highly doubt that. If you were as good as you say you were, i don?t think for a second that you would be browsing b@b. This is mostly a place for jobless neckbeards that still live with their parents, and nerdy SEAS kids that don?t have any friends. It really isn?t the place for highly-trained investment bankers to be hanging out in their spare time. Even if it was, something far worse than a troll being mean to you probably would have set you off a long time ago. What about the slew of gore and pornography that gets posted here on a regular basis? Isn?t that something that deserves a person being hunted down and made to regret their actions? Yeah, you?re just not the b@b type. Sure, there?s a wide variety of people that browse here, but you?re far from the core demograpic if you are who you say you are (which isn?t the case). Even if it were true that you?re an incredibly talented business man, I think all the business dispiline would prevent you from getting mad enough to wipe out the financial assets of some random idiot on the internet. I also doubt that even the best bankers have a ?secret network of spies across the Manhattan?. Why would all of the most expanisive Big Brother network in the world be willing to help a troubled PTSD-sufferer hunt down some random kid on the internet? That doesn?t even make sense. If you?re gonna try to scare somebody, make it more believable than ?IM A SUPER BANKER HURR DURR?. You might frighten a thirteen year old who doesn?t know any better, but to must of us you just look like a kid with an anger problem and a very active imagination. Hopefully things will be easier for you when your puberty?s over. Best of luck with that? kiddo.

*What the fuck did you just fucking say about me, you little privileged scum? I'll have you know I'm on full financial aid here and have been involved in numerous brutal attacks by the KKK for being a pansexual, and I have over 300 confirmed fathers and mothers. I am trained in noticing sarcastic privilege response and I'm the top peer responder in all of Ask! Alice. You are nothing to me but just another snide reddit neckbeard with a fedora. I will make you check your privilege with precision the likes of which has never been seen before on this Earth, mark my fucking words. You think you can get away with sprouting snide meta-sarcasm to me over the Internet? Think again, fucker. As we speak I am contacting my secret network of trans-queer-asexual allies across the columbia campus and your IP is being traced right now so you better prepare for the storm, cis scum. The storm that wipes out the pathetic little bubble you call your 'enlightened life'. You're fucking ruined, brave atheist. I can check your privilege anywhere, anytime, in over seven hundred ways, and that's just with my raw knowledge. Not only am I extensively trained in checking privilege , I have access to the entire arsenal of the Barnard Library and I will use it to its full extent to wipe your miserable cis scum ass off the face of the continent, you little shit. If only you could have known what unholy retribution your snide little meta-ironical comment was about to bring down upon you, maybe you would have held your fucking tongue. But you couldn't, you didn't, and now you're paying the price, you goddamn idiot. I will shit fury all over you and you will drown in it. You're fucking dead, heteronormative white male.

*What the fuck did you just fucking say about me, you little Rand-basher? I'll have you know I graduated top of Peikoff's class in Objectivism, and I've been involved in numerous internet debates with irrational haters, and I have over 300 confirmed deconstructions. I am trained in the Aristotelian philosophical tradition and I'm the top scholar in the entire Perfectivist movement. You are nothing to me but just another strawman. I will wipe you the fuck out with logic the likes of which has never been seen before on this Earth, mark my fucking words. You think you can get away with saying that shit about Rand over the Internet? Think again, fucker. As we speak I am contacting my secret network of high school and college students across the USA and your arguments are being analyzed right now so you better prepare for the storm, maggot. The storm that wipes out the pathetic little thing you call your intellectual credibility. You're fucking wrong, hater. I can be anywhere, anytime, and I can destroy your arguments in over seven hundred ways, and that's just with my copy of Atlas Shrugged. Not only am I extensively trained in Randian ethics, but I have access to the entire arsenal of the neo-Aristotelian juggernaut and I will use it to its full extent to wipe your miserable ass off the face of the humanities, you little shit. If only you could have known what unholy retribution your little "clever" comment was about to bring down upon you, maybe you would have held your fucking tongue. But you couldn't, you didn't, and now you're paying the price, you goddamn idiot. I will shit fury all over you and you will drown in it.

*What the fuck did you just fucking discursively perform about me, you little analytic bitch? I’ll have you know I graduated top of my class in the Frankfurt School, and I’ve been involved in numerous secret critiques of late capitalism, and I have over 300 confirmed deconstructions. I am trained in phenomenology and I’m the top ubermensch in the entire plane of immanence. You are nothing to me but just another signifier. I will dialectically reason you the fuck out with precision the likes of which has never been seen before on this Earth, mark my fucking words. You think you can get away with saying that shit to me over the rhizomatic network? Think again, fucker. As we speak I am contacting my secret network of poststructuralists across the continent and your IP is being traced right now so you better prepare for the sickness unto death, maggot. The storm that wipes out the pathetic little thing you call your Dasein. You’re fucking dead, kid. I can be anywhere, anytime, and I can deterritorialize you in over seven hundred ways, and that’s just with my bare hands. Not only am I extensively trained in existential anguish, but I have access to the entire arsenal of the ideological state apparatus and I will use it to its full extent to wipe your miserable body without organs off the face of the continent, you little shit. If only you could have known what unholy exegesis your little “clever” comment was about to bring down upon you, maybe you would have held your fucking tongue. But you couldn’t, you didn’t, and now you’re paying the price, you goddamn Other. I will shit words all over you and you will drown in it. You’re fucking dead, kiddo.

== Critiques of b@b ==

*I always think you shouldn't be nasty to be people in the internet because you being nasty to them might be the thing that sends the over the edge. They might quite literally kill themselves because of your flippant comment. It's like smiling at old people when you walk past them on the street; that might be the only smile they get that day. Or that month. So it's always worth it, even if you don't feel like smiling.My grandma used to say "a smile costs nothing, but is worth so much". And I like to live by that idea, both IRL and on the internet.Some of the people on here are truly fragile; remember that. The comment you give them on here might be the only interaction they have all day. So make it a positive one.

*You people are disgusting. After hearing about this website I thought it would be really interesting to see how greek life people interact and discuss important issues but no. All I see is a bunch of conceited privileged assholes mocking anyone not in there super-alpha-secret frat. Maybe if you actually left frat row you'd discover that not everyone is white, upper class and has daddy's money in times of emergency and that people are struggling day in day out with racism, classism and sexism just for trying to be who they are. I'm not coming back here, because you know what? I actually am going to go help those less privileged, socially awkward people instead of just sitting here mocking them and looking for sluts to give rimjobs in carman.

*I can't believe you fucking morons waste your life here. Listen, this is your LIFE. You need to be living with real human beings. You need to go find a girlfriend and spend time with her. You need to find happiness. Happiness is not in your online games or crappy tinychat, it is in other people.Do you really want to be 40 years old and look back to your 18-25 years and realize you pissed them away in fits of loneliness trolling the spec and crying yourself to sleep? I know most, if not all of you, had no real college or high school experiences because you were too busy being antisocial losers. Change that, now. How much greater would your life be now had you worked up the courage to talk to that one girl and go to cannon's with her? Wouldn't freshman year have been amazing if you actually went out with friends on the weekend and saw movies? This is why you people hate frats so much, because they're full of all these men living the lives YOU wish you were living.Stop wasting your time on the Internet. Look outside and see the trees and the sun. Please. There is a world out there. There are interesting people all over. Why do you want to throw away what is left of your life trolling the bwog comments when real life is full with real consequences and relationships?Are you just afraid? I mean, look at me, I own this boat.

*They're mostly highly intelligent. That's meaningless to me if they don't care to educate themselves or take a sincere effort to understand social complexes occurring beyond their privileged little spheres. B@B'ers are masters of practicing indifference and engaging in meaningless little rhetorical exercises. Thus the raging dissonance when they encounter people for whom these fancy-sounding, distant sociopolitical issues are actually deadly serious, which is representative of most people I've met at Columbia who chalk hoopla about these kind of issues to college-age idealistic angst (while surrounded by professors, students, administrators around them have actually dedicated literally years of their lives -- massive amounts of time, painstaking effort, and research -- to these causes! It's actually the most ironic thing ever.) I agree that satire can be a useful tool for deconstructing an issue. I do not think that most B@B'ers actually use it as such, because 1) It's difficult to educate yourself on forum like this that values irreverence over sincerity, and 2) they recognize their own intelligence and become irritable and defensive when their intuitions/flippancy are challenged by others. Everyone has been extremely articulate in their replies, but I haven't discerned any substantial differences in argument than on the lowest of Youtube arguments. As for the ones who replied "satirically," well, satirical my ass. Veering an unfamiliar terrain into a comfortable zone of shitty hipster sarcasm, more like.

== Sigma Nu ==

*Gently, oh so gently, I strapped my rollerblades on and then stood up, my naked body wobbling gently on my uncertain feet. Around me, twenty or so other naked guys were already rollerblading in a circle around the basement, pong tables stacked in the middle. Several were dressed as turtles. Suddenly, I felt a strong arm grab me from behind and steady me. I could feel the pair of manly, muscled legs pressed against the back of my thighs. Between my ass cheeks, I felt something throbbing, but I hoped that it wasn't what I thought. I turned my head to see that it was my pledge trainer, smiling softly as he whispered, "I remember when I was a pledge and couldn't rollerblade for shit." He leaned a little closer, brushing his full lips against mine. As he kissed me, I could feel the bulging muscles of his chest pressing against my back, the definition far superior to the 13 that so many claimed was Top Ten on Campus material. While his diminutive partner stood on top of the stacked pong tables, screaming at the pledges that rollerbladed in unison around the tables to rollerblade "faster and quieter," I felt the tip of my favorite pledge trainer's manhood slip inside me. As he shuddered and pressed forward, he whispered, "oh, noooo." And then we began to rollerblade in unison, squirming as we did so. Flesh slapping against flesh as he pounded me, rolling back and forth, the momentum carrying me forward. As the waves of pleasure rolled through me, I could only think, "I wish pledge term never ended..."

*I'm sorry, but did Sig Nu already get derecognized? Oh, that's right. The semester isn't even over yet. In fact, it's only three-quarters done. Does not having the most noiseproof house on Frat Row mean we need to shut the fuck up? Is that what you're saying? Because if you're saying that I can assure you that you're wrong. Why would you make this post when our house isn't on probation? Delta Sig is still raging right now and they have been the loudest house on the row for how many years now? They're bidding one of the loudest pledge classes in the Ivy League who just think they're cool because they listen to indie bands and got a SWUG all hot and bothered. But you know what? They still fucking suck. Sigma Nu is one of the tightest, nicest, most accepting frats at Columbia. They took ten pledges this semester and would have taken every Julliard exchange student if Delta Sig and Sig Ep hadn't sabotaged their mixers. Maybe you should shut the fuck up before you make retarded posts on b@b. You know why? Because you're going to be embarrassed when the prep-school debaters and swimming team take over Columbia and someone links to these posts.

Oh look at that, Lambda and Q House just got brownstones and all those Sperry-wearing ibanker tools that would have rushed your frat are headed to their open parties instead. Sigma Nu just needed to get a break, like Pike did. Are you a fucking drunk? Are you retarded? Are you autistic? You are a fucking idiot and you should never make a post on b@b again and I'm fucking serious. I almost have a feeling you're the only guy making all these anti-Sigma Nu posts because you're a hydrophobic noise-sensitive homophobe who doesn't like the fraternity because they're accepting and don't have public safety breathing down their necks for every noise violation. Fuck you, be loud at some point during YOUR life and then maybe try to troll these fucking frats on b@b, like I give a fuck. It's so easy to spot out your posts now, you're a retard. Always doing stupid shit like this. Why don't you try to be a good poster? Just for once? For once in your fucking life try not to make a post about Sigma Nu, or having DENCH lick your ass, or Lehigh. That's just you, you're always right at getting it wrong. Fuck you. You are nothing. #sigmanu4eva

*Probably the best thing about Sigma Nu, even with their skills in the pool, even with their placement into the best investment bank analystships, is the unique views they seem to have about sexuality. More than any other fraternity, Sigma Nu seems to attract the sort of guy who's "heteroflexible," who's had plenty of girlfriends and hooked up with plenty of Barnard first-years, but nevertheless, would still give more than a passing glance to a guy with chiseled abs and a firm, supple ass who's hanging out in their basement past 1. They're the sort of guys who are open-minded about one-time encounters, and can write it off as having one too many drinks and experimenting, during that short collegiate window of opportunity where it's socially acceptable (I mean, everyone does it, right? Right?). And when they're married, with partnerships at various Fortune 500 companies, and their kids, about to enter college themselves, ask, "Daddy, what was it like being in Sigma Nu?" they'll reminisce and wonder about what could have been, and the tender moments shared between two men on those regulation twin-XL beds. And they'll think about the love lost, the love that dare not speak its name. When I graduate this spring, of all my memories at Columbia, the ones I will remember the most dearly and intimately, even in my old age, were in that brownstone on 113th.

== Specsucks ==

*Everytime i see specsucks post i just shake my head and laugh. You severely damaged losers are literally the bronys of b@b. You know? That sub group of 4chan kids who obsess over the preschool girl show my little pony? You probably don't know since all of you pathetic losers are far to busy refreshing spectators twitter feed and fapping to tdh/clit fan fictions porn.Why on earth would a group of you no lifes clinge to heavily to something as sad spec sucks? Is there some sort of mental sickness in you guys? All never lived as children? Do you have no grasp on reality? How can you allow yourselfs to deteriorate to this?At first i figured it was one lonely kid making that wordpress and posting himself all day while crying in the basement for being such a useless life wasting vermon... But then i realized this isnt 1 kid doing this. This is at least 10 or 11 of you in these threads, getting hard over spec sucks. No doubt all of you are fat out of shape friendless autists. So is that the thrill you kids get from these posts? Is it the fact that people in spec can twist and turn and you cant even get off the bed to empty out your piss bottle? Do you realize no hope for you exist to you cling to this newpsaper hate for inspiration? If not then WHAT THE FUCK IS YOUR FIXATION? Im speaking for b@b as a whole and possibly your families as well. Just stop. It isnt healthy. Stop.now and try and live a regular life. How embarassed your family must feel when they have to explain to your aunt and uncle that you are an avid specsuckster and yet you cant even walk. Just stop already. Quit with the silly threads. delete the wordpress. Kids, delete the specuscks wordpess bookmark and clear your browser history off all the bwog comments you posted I tell you this because im empathetic and i care. Please listen

== Campus media ==

*I do not get at all why the Spec and Bwog are such pre-eminent institutions at this fucking school. At no other college do people care so much about reading the newspaper that it becomes this fucking cult phenomenon. Congratulations, your Klout score just passed 60. I'm sure your parents are very proud of their son who, absent any support from his social circle after they were passed over for that "prestigious" NY Post unpaid internship, managed a stellar 2.8 this semester. Perhaps Columbia's twitter feeds constantly need to be populated with the bloviations of entitled liberal ideologues to function. I just don't understand this fascination with the campus press. Do people at Columbia just have nothing better to do than talk online about what other people are doing? Why must ever major event warrant a media circus? Why does Bwog get 300+ comment threads full of essay replies whenever something somewhat newsworthy happens? It says something about Columbia's complete lack of culture when it takes news happening for people to begin giving a shit about the students that go here, even if it's under the guise of Columbia's reputation. At its heart, Columbia, just like any other Ivy, has its grads going to prestigious finance and consulting positions as well as top law, med, and grad schools (...and TFA), and neither the Bwog nor Spec has any relevance whatsoever to these pursuits. At its best, campus media is a fanciful exercise in self-aggrandization through faux "student-leadership" at a school where every traditional measure of campus power, be it political, administrative, or fraternal, is criticized and told to transfer to a Penn or a Dartmouth. We must stop bowing down at the temples of theSpec and Bwog and consuming the drivel that at any university not plagued by mental illness or crippling social anxiety, would be laughed at and spit upon.

== Your Columbia Path to Success ==

*Your Columbia Path to Success: Get recruited for a varsity sport. Move into Carman early after a COOP advanced hiking trip where you cement your friend circle. Get invited to parties at Delta Sig and Sig Ep during NSOP. Bro out, use connections to get a fake ID, quit varsity sport, join rugby team as a starting player. Detach closet door, use as pong table to make your room a "safe space" for freshman girls. Pledge Sig Ep in the spring, win rush pong tournaments and hook up with DG girls at mixers. Apply to be a COOP leader, break "no sex in the tents" rule. Live on McBain 8 sophomore year, throw monthly penthouse parties to gain campus popularity. Declare major in Financial Econ, taking classes with other bros and paying off international students to ensure you won't have to do more than a single problem set. Load up on Barnard Psychology and Art History courses to get name recognition with hot chicks. Get elected to social chair, live in the house junior year so pledges make your trips to Milano's. Frequent Mel's. Win Mr. Fraternity as your video goes viral on Total Frat Move. Get internship (and job) at PE/VC firm of friend's dad who is one of the top 500 wealthiest people in the country. Pay token amounts to Columbia, get kid in, relax.

== British people ==

*I fucking hate British women, these ugly tarts couldn't get a bloke like me. Today I was in the pub, talking about Pakis and drinking 1200 pints. My gut was flexing and underage slags in a three furlong radius were getting clammy. Once I was done with my daily 32 hour drinking session I called this bint I know, Chanelle. She's a fucking munter and looks like a bulldog chewing a wasp. So I got into me Transit van and revved it up to 4,000rpm (this is made in the Midlands with a special engine system). I got onto the motorway near my gaff and threw it into 3rd gear, I hit about 60mph and I heard the sonic boom as the transfer case shattered into a million pieces. As I was bezzing it on the motorway like a mad cunt, Chanelle called me and said she wanted me to pick her up some fags and Frosty Jacks. So be it.I came to a full stop from 23mph outside her house. These Leyland DAFs have shite brakes you know. So she walks out the front door, climbs over the sofa in the garden and starts eyeballing the Lamberts and cider. I couldn't tell she was looking at it because she's got a lazy eye. Get in.Flash forward to like 30 minutes later. My 5 inch cock is going inside her clam, hitting them walls. I'm holding her entire body up with both arms because she's fucking massive and she has an asthma attack. She looks me in the eye (I think) and says fat cunt. TDi just kicked in, yo. I spaff on her face so hard she falls off her bunk bed. There had to be about 2 pints of blood everywhere. People say I fuck like a rapist, I wouldn't disagree with them.I throw her a Leeds united shirt so she can clean herself up and then I drink a triple vodka in my Land Rover Defender and drive home

== Someone was teaching a class ==

*A liberal Muslim homosexual ACLU lawyer professor and abortion doctor was teaching a class on Karl Marx, known atheist
”Before the class begins, you must get on your knees and worship Marx and accept that he was the most highly-evolved being the world has ever known, even greater than Jesus Christ!”
At this moment, a brave, patriotic, pro-life Navy SEAL champion who had served 1500 tours of duty and understood the necessity of war and fully supported all military decision made by the United States stood up and held up a rock.
”How old is this rock, pinhead?”
The arrogant professor smirked quite Jewishly and smugly replied “4.6 billion years, you stupid Christian”
”Wrong. It’s been 5,000 years since God created it. If it was 4.6 billion years old and evolution, as you say, is real… then it should be an animal now”
The professor was visibly shaken, and dropped his chalk and copy of Origin of the Species. He stormed out of the room crying those liberal crocodile tears. The same tears liberals cry for the “poor” (who today live in such luxury that most own refrigerators) when they jealously try to claw justly earned wealth from the deserving job creators. There is no doubt that at this point our professor, DeShawn Washington, wished he had pulled himself up by his bootstraps and become more than a sophist liberal professor. He wished so much that he had a gun to shoot himself from embarrassment, but he himself had petitioned against them!
The students applauded and all registered Republican that day and accepted Jesus as their lord and savior. An eagle named “Small Government” flew into the room and perched atop the American Flag and shed a tear on the chalk. The pledge of allegiance was read several times, and God himself showed up and enacted a flat tax rate across the country.
The professor lost his tenure and was fired the next day. He died of the gay plague AIDS and was tossed into the lake of fire for all eternity.
Semper Fi. p.s. close the borders

*A white heteronormative cisgendered CEO professor and Baptist preacher was teaching a class on Karl Rove, known Christian.
”Before the class begins, you must get on your knees and worship Jesus Christ and accept that you too can become straight through daily prayer, self-flagellation, and eating Chik-Fil-A every day!”
At this moment, a brave, trans-Asian, self-diagnosed pansexual demiromantic vegan multisouled person who had been free of all animal products and only bought products at the local transgender co-op boldly stood up, holding a glass filled with some white liquid.
”Hey, Professor, what is this?” The arrogant professor smirked like a rapist and smugly replied ”It's clearly milk, you crazy homo. What the fuck does milk have to do with political science?”
”Wrong. It's an all natural vegan soy almond kombucha latte. No animals or transpeople were harmed or raped in the making of this product.”
The professor was visibly shaken, and dropped his chalk and copy of the Wall Street Journal. He stormed out of the room, clearly planning some kind of rape. The professor realized that he had been playing into the hands of the kyriarchy of CEOs, investment bankers, the Religious Right, and psychiatrists. He then killed himself. The proper term for this is ”trans-dead”. The students checked their privilege, all diagnosed themselves with autism and gender identity disorder and joined the Gay-Straight Alliance. An obese trans-eagle furry otherkin waddled into the room and tried to perch upon the American Flag, bending the flagpole in the process. All parties involved gave up meat, Christianity, and the right to bear arms.

*An anarcho-syndicalist American analytic philosopher and linguistics professor was teaching a class on Bertrand Russell, known logician.
"Before the class begins, you must get on your knees and worship Russell as the most influential philosopher of the 20th century, even more influential than Jacques Derrida or any other continental philosopher!"
At this moment, a brave, psycho-analytic, Hegelian Marxist philosopher and cultural theorist, who fully recognized the weaponisation and ideological basis of instrumental rationality, boldy stood up and tugged at his collar.
"My god, pure ideology! How can you ignore the work of Lacan and the Frankfurt School and so on and so on, like that? " The arrogant professor smirked quite Jewishly and smugly replied "Continental philosophy cloaks trvialities in fancy language and uses the scientific-sounding term 'theory' to describe propositions that could never be tested empirically. "
"Wrong. If empricism is so important, as you would say, then how come you were so empirically wrong on the Khmer Rouge and Cambodia, and so on and so on?" The professor was visibly shaken, and dropped his chalk and copy of Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus . He stormed out of the room crying those unironic empirically verified crocodile tears.
There is no doubt that at this point our professor, Noam Chomsky, wished he had pulled himself up by his bootstraps and become more than an outdated linguist and blindly analytic philosopher. He wished so much that he had an argument to save himself from embarrassment, but he himself had advocated for truth derived from empirical investigation! The students applauded and all dropped out to transfer into the Ecole Normale Superieure that day and accepted French philosophy as superior to both German Idealism and the Anglosphere's Analytic traditions. An eagle named "Critical Theory" flew into the room and perched atop a burning American flag and shed a single tear on the dropped chalk. Sections of Lacan's Seminars were read several times, and the Spirit of Hegel himself showed up and demonstrated the nature of dialectics so vividly that everybody in the room progressed to a trans-physical state transcending conventional notions of time and space. The professor lost his tenure and was fired the next day and was forced to become a panelist on an MSNBC news show to make ends meet. The brave psycho-analytic philosopher's name? Slavoj Zizek.

*A whorish heathen Red Priest and traitor was teaching a class on Stannis Baratheon, known kinslayer.
”Before the class begins, you must bend the knee to Stannis, rightful King Westeros has ever known, with a stronger claim even than Joffrey!”
At this moment, a brave, patriotic, Gods-fearing Westerlander champion who had served 1500 tours of duty and understood the necessity of the Red Wedding and fully supported all military decisions made by House Lannister stood up and held up a picture of Shireen.”What color is her hair, pinhead?”
The arrogant professor smirked quite Braavosily and smugly replied “blond, you stupid Southron”
“Correct, but Stannis claims that Robert's heirs are bastards because Baratheons cannot father blonds. If the rightful heir of Stannis is blond... then Joffrey, Gods grace him, is the rightful King.”
The Red Priest was visibly shaken, and dropped her ruby and copy of Stannis' denunciation of Joffrey. She stormed out of the room crying those traitor crocodile tears. The same tears traitors cry for the Starks (who were responsible for the War of Northern Aggression) when they jealously tried to usurp the throne from the deserving King Joffrey.
There is no doubt that at this point our professor, Melly Sanders, wished she had pulled herself up by her bootstraps and become more than a sophist traitorous heathen. She wished so much that she had a Red Wedding to attend at which to be murdered, but she herself had petitioned against them!
The students applauded and all bent the knee that day and accepted Joffrey as their liege and savior. A lion named "paid debts" sauntered into the room and lay down beneath the Lannister-Baratheon banner and shed a tear on the ruby. The Rains of Castamere was sung several times and Tywin himself showed up and lent money to everyone present at a generous rate of interest.
The Red Priest lost her faith and was excommunicated the next day. She died of the whore's plague syphilis and was eaten by Others with the rest of her traitor king's followers.

*A Jewish allied homosexual professor and Treaty of Versailles supporter was teaching a class on Theodor Adorno, known Marxist.
"Before the class begins, you must get on your knees and worship Einstein and accept that he was the smartest man ever, even smarter than Gottlob Frege or Karl Schmitt." At this moment, a brave, Aryan, 14/88 SS Obersturmbannfuehrer who had killed 1500 Untermenschen on the Ostfront and understood the necessity of war and fully supported all military decision made by Nazi Germany stood up and showed a picture of an Aryan man.
"What can you tell me about this, Rassenschande?" The arrogant professor smirked quite Jewishly and smugly replied "He is just a man, no different from an Untermensch, except the Jews are probably even smarter"
"Wrong. It is the proven master race, tracing his lineage back to every people that ever accomplished something and has every right to struggle for Lebensraum."
The professor was visibly shaken, and dropped his chalk and copy of das Kapital in Hebrew. He stormed out of the room crying those Schmutzig-Judische crocodile tears. The same tears Judeo-Bolshevists cry for the "gassed" when they jealously try to claw justly earned land from the deserving Uebermenschen. There is no doubt that at this point our professor, Schlomo Marxstein, wished his people were not causing all the troubles the Reich was facing, and wished he didn’t deservedly got what was coming to him for that. The students applauded and all registered to the Nazi party that day and accepted Adolf Hitler as their Feuhrer.
A Reichsadler named "Germanentum" flew into the room and perched atop the Nazi flag and shed a tear on the chalk. The first couplet of "Deutschland uber alles" was sung several times, and Thor himself showed up and roused the people for totalen Krieg all across the Reich. The professor lost his tenure and was sent to Auschwitz the next day and didn’t die there because the Holocaust never happened.

*A reformed Eurocommunist post-Marxist New Leftist Frankfurt School professor and social democrat was teaching a class on Nikita Khrushchev, known revisionist.
"Before the class begins, you must get on your knees and worship Leon Trotsky as the most class conscious revolutionary of all time and accept the Fourth International as the only legitimate representative of the interests of the workers of the world!"
At this moment a brave, revolutionary, unreformed Stalinist NKVD veteran who had an appreciation for socialist realist art and read a chapter of Capital every night before going to sleep stood up and waved the red flag.
"If Trotsky was so great, why wasn't the revolution permanent?"
The arrogant professor smirked quite bourgeoisly and smugly replied, "Because the Soviet Union was a deformed workers state, you idiot gerontocrat!"
"Wrong. Comrade Stalin purged Russia of the kulaks and all enemies of the workers. If your theory of revolution was correct, we would have achieved communism by now."
The professor was visibly shaken, and dropped his chalk and copy of A People's History of the United States. He stormed out of the room crying those social-fascist crocodile tears. There is no doubt that at this point our professor, Noam Chomsky, wished he had adopted the policies of the Third Period and become more than an infantile leftist bourgeois stooge. He wished so much that he had not betrayed the revolution, but he himself had sold it out! The students applauded and all sang the State Anthem of the USSR and accepted Socialism in One Country as the best path forward for proletarian cause. An eagle named "Slavoj Zizek" flew into the room and perched atop a copy of "Pravda" and sniffed snot onto its print.
The last sentence of the "The Communist Manifesto" was read several times, and Sergei Eisenstein himself showed up and demonstrated how to roll a baby down the Odessa steps. The professor lost his tenure and was taken out back and shot the next day. He loved Big Brother. The student's name? Lavrentiy Beria.

*A marxist post-structuralist continental Ecole Normale Superieure professor and feminist activist was teaching a class on Martin Heidegger, known hermeneuticist.
"Before the class begins, you must get on your knees and worship Nietzsche and accept that his genealogical method was the most highly-evolved theory the continent has ever known, even greater than Hegel's dialectics!"
At this moment a brave, rational, positivist analytic philosopher who had read more than 15000 pages of Popper and Wittgenstein and understood the raison d'etre of empricism and fully supported all modern hard sciences stood up and held up the constitution.
"How universal is this text, frenchie?"
The arrogant professor smirked quite Jewishly and smugly replied "It's not universal at all, fucking positivist, its "truth" is rooted in our shared understandings about culture, the subject and the nexus of power and knowledge."
"Wrong. It's been 225 years since human reason created it. if it was not universal, and post-modern relativism, as you say, is real... then it should be regarded as a myth now."
The professor was visibly shaken, and dropped his chalk and copy of On Grammatology. He stormed out of the room crying those ironic post-modern crocodile tears. There is no doubt that at this point our professor, Michel Foucault, wished he had pulled hiimself up by his bootstraps and become more than an AIDS ridden sadomasochist interested in fisting. He wished so much that he had some kind of truth to hold on to, but he himself had written to disprove it!
The students applauded and all rolled into American universities that day and accepted Wittgenstein as the end of philosophy. An eagle named "Formal logic" flew into the room and perched atop the copy of "Principa Mathematica" and shed a tear on the hardcover. The last sentence of "Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus" was read several times, and Karl Popper himself showed up and demonstrated how dialectics is nothing but a means of justifying contradictions.
The professor lost his tenure and was fired the next day. He died of the gay plague AIDS and his "books" were disregarded for all eternity.

*A sycophantic, salaried, pedophiliac, flute-playing, Athenian sophist and acclaimed rhetorician was teaching a class on Gorgias, known nihilist.
"By Zeus! Before the class begins, you must all get on your knees and pay your respects to Gorgias, and accept that he was the most demonic being the world has ever known, even greater than that of Heraclitus!"
At this moment, a wise, ironic, pro-Spartan disciple of Socrates who had courted 1500 young boys and understood the necessity of free education and fully supported all intellectual writings made by the Academy stood up and held up a rock.
"I say to you, does this rock exist on the true plane of reality and being, dear teacher?"
The arrogant sophist smirked quite relativistically and replied "Certainly, for how else could you bring it into being here, you foolish foreigner?"
"Wrong. The Forms are the only true reality and exist beyond this realm of material perception. If it was real, and being, as you say, is contingent to our realm of perception, then it should be identical to all other rocks in 'existence'."
The sophist was visibly shaken, and dropped his stylus and copy of On the Non-Existent. He stormed out of the room crying those ironic sophist tears. The same tears sophists cry for the "learned" (who today live in such a state of ignorance that most think they 'have knowledge' of what is pious) when they jealously try to claw justly earned true knowledge from the deserving philosophers. There is no doubt that at this point our sophist, Hypocrites, wished he had pulled himself up by his sandal straps and become more than a sophist, paid-for-hire teacher. He wished so much that he had a sense of objective truth to console himself from embarrassment, but he himself had argued against it!
The students applauded and all enrolled into the Academy that day and accepted The One as the incarnation of truth and the Good. An owl named "The Socratic Method" flew into the room and perched atop the Priestess of Delphi and shed a tear on the stylus. Plato’s Republic was read several times, and Socrates himself showed up and claimed that he knew nothing. The sophist lost his standing with the Athenian wealthy and was left homeless the next day. He died in the Thirty Tyrants' Rebellion and reincarnated as a Bronze soul for all eternity.

==That Feel When==

*that feel when you're a beta aspie loner in college and you hide in your room outside of lectures, and to get to the toilet you have to pass about 10 social alpha sexy people who laugh and drink and be sexy, so you decide to take shits in black trashcan bags, and store them under your bed to dispose of between 3 and 5am when everyone is asleep, but the smell seeps as each hour passes and you hear people walking past your room saying "eugh what the fuck is that smell, i'm going to call Housing in case it's a burst pipe", and they come to investigate and realizes it's coming from your room, and you slunk out before he looks under the bed, and you sleep rough in the nearby park for the next 3 days because you don't want to see what happened and if he found your shit, and you eventually return 3 days later, and there is a note on your bed saying you have been instructed to leave school indefinitely, and you can't call and tell your parents you have been expelled for shitting in plastic bags and hiding it under your bed so you sleep rough on the streets for the remaining 3 weeks of term time and develop a drug habit and get home for christmas vacation and try to commit suicide and fail and then post on b@b about how you wish everyone were anon because they're all having a good time making jokes with one another

==Greentext stories==

*> on the bus, heading home > Alpha male gets on > sits beside girl > immediately strikes up conversation > Soon he moves on to flirting > She is giggling > In no time he is getting her phone number > He coyly smiles, knowing that he's going to get that pussy > I think of how i will never be that Alpha, and a single treat rolls down my face > I can't bear this pain any longer > I get up to leave, but trip over my untied shoe > Everyone is pointing and laughing at me > Get very nervous, feel a fart approaching > Oh no, not again > As i let rip, the smell fills the air > people are shocked and disgusted > The fart still going, shit now starts seeping out > My pants and legs are covered in crap > The shit stream starts getting violent and starts spinning me around uncontrollably > The bus is now completely flooded in watery shit > All the commotion and shit causes the bus driver to swerve and crash head on into a truck > The truck splits open, and reveals the contents it was carrying: Spaghetti > The spaghetti spills out onto the road > Cars slip and slide on the slippery spaghetti > 63 people are killed in the pile up

*> talking with cute girl at coffee shop > says she loves sports and is a huge heat fan > i fumble for change and only give cashier three quarters > "just like lebrick" he says, clearly an alpha male > girl laughs so hard her vagina discharges fluid > "i-i-ill find another quarter" i mumble > reach into pockets > spaghetti tumbles out > feel fart swelling up in ass crack > cant hold it back much longer > alpha guy talking about putting ketchup in fridge, referring to his penis and her vagina > fart so hard that entire coffee shop notices > mumble some apology but feel the force of the fart propelling me forward > spaghetti tumbles out of pocket > propelled by fart and falling spaghetti i slam into girl > first time ive touched a woman > "please respond" i say > force of spaghetti and fart pushes us into low orbit > get on the floor > everybody do the dinosaur

*> go to a restaurant for my first date with a girl > pick the table closest to the bathroom so I won't have to walk too far when I go for my postprandial crap > the waiter asks what we'd like to drink > she orders white wine, I ask for a banana milkshake > the waiter tells me they don't serve milkshake so I ask for a bowl of icecream instead > my girlfriend asks why I ordered desert > I tell her I'm going to mush the icecream up and then drink it, and she's probably very impressed but doesn't show it > the waiter sighs and walks away > there's an awkward silence so I ask what her favorite dinosaur is > she says she doesn't know, so I inform her that mine is the pterodactyl > several minutes later, after I've finished recounting the plot of 'Jurassic Park 3', her wine arrives > I ask where my icecream is > the waiter says he will bring it after we've finished our meals > I tut loudly but don't complain > she tells the waiter that she's ready to order and asks for the lobster bisque > he turns to me > "no, it's okay, I brought my own food," I inform him as I place my container of spaghetti on the table > he exclaims something in French and hurries off to the kitchen

* > At lecture > Really socially awkward > Spend 10 minutes finding a place to sit > Some jock pushes me into a seat next to a hot girl > Some other girl sits next to me > She's accidentally sitting on my cape > "E-E-Excuse me but my...my" > She looks at my computer > Pictures of Spaghetti saved everywhere > She gets up to tell everyone > Everyone gathers around and looks at me, pinning me down by my cape > They find all the spaghetti on my hard drive and start throwing it at me > 5 hours later > Still just lying there, in the empty lecture hall, crying with the lights turned out

*> Be 10 > playing pokemon on shitter before school > Bus comes outside > I still havent wiped > Mom yells I have to go > Have horrible poison ivy on crotch > Pour a bunch of cream on my penis, put on my pants and run to the bus > Girl I like sits next to me > asks me if ive ever been kissed > I take out my gameboy > She starts whispering in my ear > I start sweating > I look down > The cream is seeping through my jeans, making it look like i cummed > She notices > I notice > I open my fannie pack to grab some kleenexes > My sphagetti falls out all over > I start sweating more > Realize i forgot to wipe my ass > The entire bus smells like shit and sphagetti > bus gets to school > Try and run to bathroom > teacher catches me > its penis inspection day > my name is alan aardvark > I have to go first > Nurse demands For me to take off my pants > I refuse > She wrestles me down, and gets a magnifying glass real close to my crotch > close my eyes and scream the guile theme at the top of my lungs > She unzips my pants, the smell of spaghetti, cream and shit leaks out > she pukes on my dick > I get expelled

* >Never had a drink before despite being 23 because I heard drinking was bad in my 9th grade health class > Decide to be alpha as fuck and shuffle out of my room for the first time since tuesday > I head down to '1020' to meet this awesome brg guy who has tonnes of awesome heterosexual sex > I get into 1020 and it's crowded as fuck > Tap random guy on the should and whisper > E..e..xcuse me are you 'brg' from the 'boredatbutler' > Looks at me like I'm autistic > Everyone around is looking at me like I'm autistic > Sweating, I can't take it > Decide to leave > Slip on floor which is wet from all the spilt drinks > All my spaghetti falls out from my fanny pack > Everyone's laughing at me > Mfw b@b meetup

== Response to a high school senior ==

The libraries are pretty happening spots. Butler turns into a rave at night, and pretty much all of NYC shows up to the CU campus to party. If you get sick of that, you can easily take a cab downtown and hit up some clubs in Time Square. Olive G is the hot spot right now, and you can get in free with a CU ID. The frats are pretty powerful on campus. If you see somebody wearing a frat blazer, you better get out of his way, he will most likely be your boss in two years, so you better get on their good sides. Other than that, its a pretty cool community. The city may seem huge, but it has a great small town feel and everybody is super chill and friendly. I hope you get in!!!!!!!! It'll be AWESOME!!

Copypasta

2014-04-22T05:16:48Z

Peterawnislowspatsy:

Copypasta from [[Bored@butler]]. If you're feeling bored and looking for easy points, or want to win an argument on the internet (because that's really all life is about), then look no further. Note: many are not properly formatted and still have question marks in place of apostrophes or quotation marks.

== Hi, I'm a Barnard girl ==

* Hi I'm a Barnard girl. I only wear clothes bought at thread stores and my "vintage" glasses and I think gender is an out-dated concept. I also brag incessantly at how me and my friends hang out in the "dangerous" parts of Brooklyn and how the NYPD are SUCH ASSHOLES, despite the fact that the only interaction I ever had with a police was when I was 15 and got scolded at for drinking in a public park. I will also waste half of your lesson by giggling and loudly advertising my student group, Lesbians against Mass Incarceration, (I'm straight and white by the way), where I will amaze you at how many times I can say "like" in a single sentence. And to cap it all off, my tits and ass aren't even that good, but it's OK, because all men are chauvinistic pigs and I don't need them anyway.

* Hi I'm a Columbia guy. I only wear clothes bought at designer stores and my skinny jeans and I think conservatism is an out-dated concept. I also brag incessantly at how me and my friends get so little sleep and have so much homework and how the professors are SUCH ASSHOLES, despite the fact that the only interaction I ever have with them is when I go to class. I will also waste half of your lesson by asking inane questions and loudly advertising my student group, Secular Atheists against Discrimination, (I pretend to be sexually ambiguous but am actually straight and white by the way), where I will amaze you at how many times I can say "marxism" in a single sentence. And to cap it all off, my brains aren't even that good, but it's OK, because all classes are a waste of time and I don't need them anyway.

* Hi I'm a SEAS kid. I only wear clothes bought at the GAP and my cargo shorts and I think books are an out-dated concept. I also brag incessantly at how me and my friends are going to make so much money with our start up and how the finance suits are SUCH ASSHOLES, despite the fact that the only other job I would want to perform is a quant. I will also waste half of your lesson by breathing loudly and advertising my start up, Date-ly, (I'm a virgin by the way), where I will amaze you at how many times I can say "connectivity" in a single sentence. And to cap it all off, my ideas aren't even that good, but it's OK, because all people are slack-jawed smartphone users anyway.

* Hi I'm a sorority girl. I usually wear heels and little dresses and I think feminism is an out-dated concept. I also brag incessantly at how me and this sig ep guy i hooked up with are getting really serious, despite the fact that mainly i suck his penis. I will also waste half of your evening by giggling and loudly advertising my philanthropy group that helps Harlem, Beer Drinkers Against Substance Abuse (I'm drunk by the way), where I will amaze you at how many times I can coax frat bros into tossing singles into the donation jar. And to cap it all off, my looks aren't even that good, but it's OK, because I'm majoring in psych and am a serious career woman, anyway.

* Hi I'm a frat boy. I only wear off the rack clothes and Sperrys and I think privilege is an out-dated concept. I also brag incessantly at how me and my friends hang out with the "hottest" girls in DG and how the NYPD are SUCH ASSHOLES, despite the fact that the only interaction I ever had with a police was when I was a freshman and got scolded at for trying to sneak out of Pike's house during the investigation. I will also waste half of your lesson by snoring and loudly advertising my TOTALLY NOT RACIST Asian-themed rush party, Yellow Fever, (I'm white by the way), where I will amaze you at how many times I can say "chong" in a terrible accent. And to cap it all off, my biceps and abs aren't even that toned, but it's OK, because I don't need consensual sex anyway.

* Hi I'm a grad student. I haven't paid for any of my clothes, ever (thanks, dad!). and I think capitalism is an outdated concept. I also brag incessantly at how me and my friends understand the human condition and how the i-bankers are SUCH ASSHOLES, despite the fact that I can only afford this terminal masters program because my dad is a banker, and the only interaction I ever had with a banker was when I yelled at one that time at occupy. I will also waste half of your lesson by bragging about my professor advisor and loudly talking about my masters thesis research, (I know I'll never be eric foner by the way), where I will amaze you at how many times I can say "norms" in a single sentence. And to cap it all off, my writing skills aren't even that good, but it's OK, because I don't know what the hell I'm talking about, and it's all relative, anyway.

* Hi I'm a speccie. I don't wear clothes other than t shirts and jeans and I think reading on paper is an outdated concept. I also brag incessantly about how me and my friend met a real journalist once and how the bwoggers are SUCH ASSHOLES, despite the fact that I secretly wish (current spec EIC) allowed me to have an opinion. I will also waste half of your lesson by tapping at my phone and retweeting articles on twitter, (I have worked 2 unpaid social media internships by the way), where I will amaze you at how many times I can say "web-first strategy" in a single sentence. And to cap it all off, my news writing isn?t even that clean, but it's OK, because i can leverage the shit out of spec alumni networking events.

* Hi I'm a bwog writer. I only wear clothes bought at J crew and I think objectivity is an out-dated concept. I also brag incessantly at how my posts get so many comments and so many views and how the spec writers are SUCH ASSHOLES, despite the fact that the only interaction I ever had with a speccie was when we exchanged uneasy glances in a lecture hall. I will also waste half of your lesson by making stupid puns and loudly advertising my blog,, (I pretend to be a journalist but have never actually interviewed a source), where I will amaze you at how many times I can say ?tip? in a single sentence. And to cap it all off, my sense of irony isn't even that good, but it's OK, because i would never want to deliberately mean, anyway.

* Hi I'm a CCSC person. I don't wear clothes other than columbia apparel and my prepster uniform and I think challenging authority is an outdated concept. I also brag incessantly about how me and my friend meet deantini all the time and how the ABC people are SUCH ASSHOLES, despite the fact that I secretly am glad they do my paperwork. I will also waste half of your lesson by talking about a policy you don't care about, (there have been 5 spec opeds and a town hall regarding it by the way), where I will amaze you at how many times I can say "wellness" in a single sentence. And to cap it all off, you didn't even have another person to vote for, but it's OK, because nobody else should get to say they represent the student body, anyway.

*Hi I'm a GS student. I haven't been able to afford new clothes since high school and I think campus life is an outdated concept. I also brag incessantly at how me and my friend have never hung out on campus and how the younger students are SUCH ASSHOLES, despite the fact that I transferred in when I was only 21 and the only interaction I ever had with a freshman was when they were confused by my grey hair at NSOP. I will also waste half of your lesson by kissing ass and loudly talking about my past bravery in the military, (I was an army graphic designer based in Delaware by the way), where I will amaze you at how many times I can swell my chest in a single sentence. And to cap it all off, my SAT scores aren't even above 550, but it's OK, because grades are not important and dropping out of my last 4 colleges prepared me for a 4.0 here anyway.

*Hi I'm a little kid that plays on the steps at Low. I only wear clothes that fit my diaper and allow me to haphazardly ride my "razor" scooter and I think that handicap ramps are a lot of fun. My parents also brag incessantly at how one day I will be one of the "big kids" that go to Columbia and how the people in my daycare are SUCH ASSHOLES, despite the fact that the other kids are smarter and cooler than me. I will also proceed to fall off my scooter so you will stop and ask if I am okay, my mom chasing behind me apologizing while worrying that maybe you will kidnap me, (I'm just crying because when I'm at home my parents are too busy to love me by the way), where I will amaze you at how many times I can "fall down" and demand somebody's attention. And to cap it all off, I'm not even that cute or that smart of little kid anyway, but it's okay because my parents are rich and already paid for my condo on the Upper East Side that I can move into in 16 more years.

== What did you just say? ==

*What the fuck did you just fucking say about me, you little bitch? I’ll have you know I graduated top of my class in the Navy Seals, and I’ve been involved in numerous secret raids on Al-Quaeda, and I have over 300 confirmed kills. I am trained in gorilla warfare and I’m the top sniper in the entire US armed forces. You are nothing to me but just another target. I will wipe you the fuck out with precision the likes of which has never been seen before on this Earth, mark my fucking words. You think you can get away with saying that shit to me over the Internet? Think again, fucker. As we speak I am contacting my secret network of spies across the USA and your IP is being traced right now so you better prepare for the storm, maggot. The storm that wipes out the pathetic little thing you call your life. You’re fucking dead, kid. I can be anywhere, anytime, and I can kill you in over seven hundred ways, and that;s just with my bare hands. Not only am I extensively trained in unarmed combat, but I have access to the entire arsenal of the United States Marine Corps and I will use it to its full extent to wipe your miserable ass off the face of the continent, you little shit. If only you could have known what unholy retribution your little ‘clever’ comment was about to bring down upon you, maybe you would have held your fucking tongue. But you couldn’t, you didn’t, and now you’re paying the price, you goddamn idiot. I will shit fury all over you and you will drown in it. You’re fucking dead, kiddo.

*What the fuck did you just fucking say about me, you little bitch? I’ll have you know I graduated top of my class in the Taliban, and I’ve been involved in numerous secret raids on infidels, and I have over 300 confirmed bombings. I am trained in gorilla warfare and I’m the best suicide bomber in the entire Gaza Strip. You are nothing to me but just another target. I will wipe you the fuck out with precision the likes of which has never been seen before on this Jihad, mark my fucking words. You think you can get away with saying that shit to me over the Internet? Think again, fucker. As we speak I am contacting my secret network of al Qaeda sleeper cells across the Middle East and your IP is being traced right now so you better prepare for the storm, maggot. The storm that wipes out the pathetic little thing you call your life. You’re fucking dead, kid. I can be anywhere, anytime, and I can kill you in over seven hundred ways, and that’s just with my the bomb strapped to my body. Not only am I extensively trained in suicidal combat, but I have access to the entire arsenal of Muhammad’s divine intervention and I will use it to its full extent to wipe your miserable ass off the face of the continent, you little shit. If only you could have known what holy retribution your little “clever” comment was about to bring down upon you, maybe you would have held your fucking tongue. But you couldn’t, you didn’t, and now you’re paying the price, you goddamn idiot. I will shit righteousness all over you and you will drown in it. You’re fucking dead, kiddo.

*What the fuck did you just fucking say about me, you little bitch? I'll have you know I graduated top of my class in my New England prep school, and I've been involved in numerous Republican fundraisers, and I have over 300 confirmed donations to the republican party. I am trained in polo sailing and I?m the top golfer in the entire New England Prep School Division. You are nothing to me but just another underprivileged nuisance. I will ignore your struggles with precision the likes of which has never been seen before on this Earth, mark my fucking words. You think you can get away with telling me to check my privlege over the Internet? Think again, fucker. As we speak I am contacting my secret network of investment bankers and white politicians across USA and your IP is being traced right now so you better prepare for the storm, maggot. The storm that wipes out the pathetic little thing you call your affirmative action. You?re fucking dead, kid. I can be anywhere, anytime, and I can fail to check my privilege in over seven hundred ways, and that's just with my money alone. Not only am I extensively trained in partying on my dad's trust fund, but I have access to the entire arsenal of my dad's bank account and I will use it to its full extent to wipe your miserable ass off the face of my elite institution, you lower class peasant. If only you could have known what unholy retribution your little ?clever? comment was about to bring down upon you, maybe you wouldn't have told me to check my privilege. But you couldn't, you didn't, and now you're paying the price, you goddamn plebe. I will shit fury all over you and you will drown in it. You're fucking dead, kiddo.

*What the fuck did you just fucking say about me, you little bitch? I’ll have you know I graduated top of my class from an elite British public school, and I’ve been involved in numerous secret exclusives on Columbia Frats, and I have over 300 confirmed bylines. I am trained in copywriting and I’m the top crime reporter in the entire Ivy League. You are nothing to me but just another story. I will write you the fuck away with precision the likes of which has never been seen before in Morningside Heights, mark my fucking words. You think you can get away with saying that shit to me over the Internet? Think again, fucker. As we speak I am contacting my secret network of spec alumni in their various unpaid internships and your IP is being traced right now so you better prepare for the storm, maggot. The storm that wipes out the pathetic little thing you call "specsucks". You’re fucking dead, m8. I can be anywhere, anytime, and I can report on you in over seven hundred ways, and that’s just with my moleskin notepad. Not only am I extensively trained in K9 Newspaper editing software, but I have access to the entire bored@butler legion and I will use it to its full extent to wipe your miserable ass off the face of this school, you little shit. If only you could have known what unholy retribution your little “clever” email was about to bring down upon you, maybe you would have kept your fat, cheeto-stained keys away from your Lenovo. But you couldn’t, you didn’t, and now you’re paying the price, you goddamn idiot. I will shit fury all over you and you will drown in it. You’re fucking dead, specsucks scum.

*What the fuck did you just fucking say about me, you little bitch? I?ll have you know I graduated top of my class from the Wharton school of Business, and I?ve been involved in numerous secret credit default swaps with Lehnman brothers, and I have over 300 confirmed sold secuirties packages. I am trained in hostile takeovers and I?m the broker in the entire US financial sector. You are nothing to me but just another target. I will wipe your portfolio the fuck out with precision the likes of which has never been seen before on this Earth, mark my fucking words. You think you can get away with saying that shit to me over the Internet? Think again, fucker. As we speak I am contacting my secret network of spies across Manhattan and your IP is being traced right now so you better prepare for the storm, maggot. The storm that wipes out the pathetic little thing you call your life. You?re fucking dead, kid. I can be anywhere, anytime, and I can destroy your financial assets you in over seven hundred ways, and that?s just from sitting at my desk. Not only am I extensively trained in unarmed combat, but I have access to the entire arsenal of the Delta Sig fraternity and I will use it to its full extent to wipe your miserable ass off the face of the continent, you little shit. If only you could have known what unholy retribution your little ?clever? comment was about to bring down upon you, maybe you would have held your fucking tongue. But you couldn?t, you didn?t, and now you?re paying the price, you goddamn idiot. I will shit fury all over you and you will drown in it. You?re fucking dead, kiddo.

*Response to above: Okay, so you expect me to believe that you were the very best that your generation of Wharton had to offer? I highly doubt that. If you were as good as you say you were, i don?t think for a second that you would be browsing b@b. This is mostly a place for jobless neckbeards that still live with their parents, and nerdy SEAS kids that don?t have any friends. It really isn?t the place for highly-trained investment bankers to be hanging out in their spare time. Even if it was, something far worse than a troll being mean to you probably would have set you off a long time ago. What about the slew of gore and pornography that gets posted here on a regular basis? Isn?t that something that deserves a person being hunted down and made to regret their actions? Yeah, you?re just not the b@b type. Sure, there?s a wide variety of people that browse here, but you?re far from the core demograpic if you are who you say you are (which isn?t the case). Even if it were true that you?re an incredibly talented business man, I think all the business dispiline would prevent you from getting mad enough to wipe out the financial assets of some random idiot on the internet. I also doubt that even the best bankers have a ?secret network of spies across the Manhattan?. Why would all of the most expanisive Big Brother network in the world be willing to help a troubled PTSD-sufferer hunt down some random kid on the internet? That doesn?t even make sense. If you?re gonna try to scare somebody, make it more believable than ?IM A SUPER BANKER HURR DURR?. You might frighten a thirteen year old who doesn?t know any better, but to must of us you just look like a kid with an anger problem and a very active imagination. Hopefully things will be easier for you when your puberty?s over. Best of luck with that? kiddo.

*What the fuck did you just fucking say about me, you little privileged scum? I'll have you know I'm on full financial aid here and have been involved in numerous brutal attacks by the KKK for being a pansexual, and I have over 300 confirmed fathers and mothers. I am trained in noticing sarcastic privilege response and I'm the top peer responder in all of Ask! Alice. You are nothing to me but just another snide reddit neckbeard with a fedora. I will make you check your privilege with precision the likes of which has never been seen before on this Earth, mark my fucking words. You think you can get away with sprouting snide meta-sarcasm to me over the Internet? Think again, fucker. As we speak I am contacting my secret network of trans-queer-asexual allies across the columbia campus and your IP is being traced right now so you better prepare for the storm, cis scum. The storm that wipes out the pathetic little bubble you call your 'enlightened life'. You're fucking ruined, brave atheist. I can check your privilege anywhere, anytime, in over seven hundred ways, and that's just with my raw knowledge. Not only am I extensively trained in checking privilege , I have access to the entire arsenal of the Barnard Library and I will use it to its full extent to wipe your miserable cis scum ass off the face of the continent, you little shit. If only you could have known what unholy retribution your snide little meta-ironical comment was about to bring down upon you, maybe you would have held your fucking tongue. But you couldn't, you didn't, and now you're paying the price, you goddamn idiot. I will shit fury all over you and you will drown in it. You're fucking dead, heteronormative white male.

*What the fuck did you just fucking say about me, you little Rand-basher? I'll have you know I graduated top of Peikoff's class in Objectivism, and I've been involved in numerous internet debates with irrational haters, and I have over 300 confirmed deconstructions. I am trained in the Aristotelian philosophical tradition and I'm the top scholar in the entire Perfectivist movement. You are nothing to me but just another strawman. I will wipe you the fuck out with logic the likes of which has never been seen before on this Earth, mark my fucking words. You think you can get away with saying that shit about Rand over the Internet? Think again, fucker. As we speak I am contacting my secret network of high school and college students across the USA and your arguments are being analyzed right now so you better prepare for the storm, maggot. The storm that wipes out the pathetic little thing you call your intellectual credibility. You're fucking wrong, hater. I can be anywhere, anytime, and I can destroy your arguments in over seven hundred ways, and that's just with my copy of Atlas Shrugged. Not only am I extensively trained in Randian ethics, but I have access to the entire arsenal of the neo-Aristotelian juggernaut and I will use it to its full extent to wipe your miserable ass off the face of the humanities, you little shit. If only you could have known what unholy retribution your little "clever" comment was about to bring down upon you, maybe you would have held your fucking tongue. But you couldn't, you didn't, and now you're paying the price, you goddamn idiot. I will shit fury all over you and you will drown in it.

*What the fuck did you just fucking discursively perform about me, you little analytic bitch? I’ll have you know I graduated top of my class in the Frankfurt School, and I’ve been involved in numerous secret critiques of late capitalism, and I have over 300 confirmed deconstructions. I am trained in phenomenology and I’m the top ubermensch in the entire plane of immanence. You are nothing to me but just another signifier. I will dialectically reason you the fuck out with precision the likes of which has never been seen before on this Earth, mark my fucking words. You think you can get away with saying that shit to me over the rhizomatic network? Think again, fucker. As we speak I am contacting my secret network of poststructuralists across the continent and your IP is being traced right now so you better prepare for the sickness unto death, maggot. The storm that wipes out the pathetic little thing you call your Dasein. You’re fucking dead, kid. I can be anywhere, anytime, and I can deterritorialize you in over seven hundred ways, and that’s just with my bare hands. Not only am I extensively trained in existential anguish, but I have access to the entire arsenal of the ideological state apparatus and I will use it to its full extent to wipe your miserable body without organs off the face of the continent, you little shit. If only you could have known what unholy exegesis your little “clever” comment was about to bring down upon you, maybe you would have held your fucking tongue. But you couldn’t, you didn’t, and now you’re paying the price, you goddamn Other. I will shit words all over you and you will drown in it. You’re fucking dead, kiddo.

== Critiques of b@b ==

*I always think you shouldn't be nasty to be people in the internet because you being nasty to them might be the thing that sends the over the edge. They might quite literally kill themselves because of your flippant comment. It's like smiling at old people when you walk past them on the street; that might be the only smile they get that day. Or that month. So it's always worth it, even if you don't feel like smiling.My grandma used to say "a smile costs nothing, but is worth so much". And I like to live by that idea, both IRL and on the internet.Some of the people on here are truly fragile; remember that. The comment you give them on here might be the only interaction they have all day. So make it a positive one.

*You people are disgusting. After hearing about this website I thought it would be really interesting to see how greek life people interact and discuss important issues but no. All I see is a bunch of conceited privileged assholes mocking anyone not in there super-alpha-secret frat. Maybe if you actually left frat row you'd discover that not everyone is white, upper class and has daddy's money in times of emergency and that people are struggling day in day out with racism, classism and sexism just for trying to be who they are. I'm not coming back here, because you know what? I actually am going to go help those less privileged, socially awkward people instead of just sitting here mocking them and looking for sluts to give rimjobs in carman.

*I can't believe you fucking morons waste your life here. Listen, this is your LIFE. You need to be living with real human beings. You need to go find a girlfriend and spend time with her. You need to find happiness. Happiness is not in your online games or crappy tinychat, it is in other people.Do you really want to be 40 years old and look back to your 18-25 years and realize you pissed them away in fits of loneliness trolling the spec and crying yourself to sleep? I know most, if not all of you, had no real college or high school experiences because you were too busy being antisocial losers. Change that, now. How much greater would your life be now had you worked up the courage to talk to that one girl and go to cannon's with her? Wouldn't freshman year have been amazing if you actually went out with friends on the weekend and saw movies? This is why you people hate frats so much, because they're full of all these men living the lives YOU wish you were living.Stop wasting your time on the Internet. Look outside and see the trees and the sun. Please. There is a world out there. There are interesting people all over. Why do you want to throw away what is left of your life trolling the bwog comments when real life is full with real consequences and relationships?Are you just afraid? I mean, look at me, I own this boat.

*They're mostly highly intelligent. That's meaningless to me if they don't care to educate themselves or take a sincere effort to understand social complexes occurring beyond their privileged little spheres. B@B'ers are masters of practicing indifference and engaging in meaningless little rhetorical exercises. Thus the raging dissonance when they encounter people for whom these fancy-sounding, distant sociopolitical issues are actually deadly serious, which is representative of most people I've met at Columbia who chalk hoopla about these kind of issues to college-age idealistic angst (while surrounded by professors, students, administrators around them have actually dedicated literally years of their lives -- massive amounts of time, painstaking effort, and research -- to these causes! It's actually the most ironic thing ever.) I agree that satire can be a useful tool for deconstructing an issue. I do not think that most B@B'ers actually use it as such, because 1) It's difficult to educate yourself on forum like this that values irreverence over sincerity, and 2) they recognize their own intelligence and become irritable and defensive when their intuitions/flippancy are challenged by others. Everyone has been extremely articulate in their replies, but I haven't discerned any substantial differences in argument than on the lowest of Youtube arguments. As for the ones who replied "satirically," well, satirical my ass. Veering an unfamiliar terrain into a comfortable zone of shitty hipster sarcasm, more like.

== Sigma Nu ==

*Gently, oh so gently, I strapped my rollerblades on and then stood up, my naked body wobbling gently on my uncertain feet. Around me, twenty or so other naked guys were already rollerblading in a circle around the basement, pong tables stacked in the middle. Several were dressed as turtles. Suddenly, I felt a strong arm grab me from behind and steady me. I could feel the pair of manly, muscled legs pressed against the back of my thighs. Between my ass cheeks, I felt something throbbing, but I hoped that it wasn't what I thought. I turned my head to see that it was my pledge trainer, smiling softly as he whispered, "I remember when I was a pledge and couldn't rollerblade for shit." He leaned a little closer, brushing his full lips against mine. As he kissed me, I could feel the bulging muscles of his chest pressing against my back, the definition far superior to the 13 that so many claimed was Top Ten on Campus material. While his diminutive partner stood on top of the stacked pong tables, screaming at the pledges that rollerbladed in unison around the tables to rollerblade "faster and quieter," I felt the tip of my favorite pledge trainer's manhood slip inside me. As he shuddered and pressed forward, he whispered, "oh, noooo." And then we began to rollerblade in unison, squirming as we did so. Flesh slapping against flesh as he pounded me, rolling back and forth, the momentum carrying me forward. As the waves of pleasure rolled through me, I could only think, "I wish pledge term never ended..."

*I'm sorry, but did Sig Nu already get derecognized? Oh, that's right. The semester isn't even over yet. In fact, it's only three-quarters done. Does not having the most noiseproof house on Frat Row mean we need to shut the fuck up? Is that what you're saying? Because if you're saying that I can assure you that you're wrong. Why would you make this post when our house isn't on probation? Delta Sig is still raging right now and they have been the loudest house on the row for how many years now? They're bidding one of the loudest pledge classes in the Ivy League who just think they're cool because they listen to indie bands and got a SWUG all hot and bothered. But you know what? They still fucking suck. Sigma Nu is one of the tightest, nicest, most accepting frats at Columbia. They took ten pledges this semester and would have taken every Julliard exchange student if Delta Sig and Sig Ep hadn't sabotaged their mixers. Maybe you should shut the fuck up before you make retarded posts on b@b. You know why? Because you're going to be embarrassed when the prep-school debaters and swimming team take over Columbia and someone links to these posts.

Oh look at that, Lambda and Q House just got brownstones and all those Sperry-wearing ibanker tools that would have rushed your frat are headed to their open parties instead. Sigma Nu just needed to get a break, like Pike did. Are you a fucking drunk? Are you retarded? Are you autistic? You are a fucking idiot and you should never make a post on b@b again and I'm fucking serious. I almost have a feeling you're the only guy making all these anti-Sigma Nu posts because you're a hydrophobic noise-sensitive homophobe who doesn't like the fraternity because they're accepting and don't have public safety breathing down their necks for every noise violation. Fuck you, be loud at some point during YOUR life and then maybe try to troll these fucking frats on b@b, like I give a fuck. It's so easy to spot out your posts now, you're a retard. Always doing stupid shit like this. Why don't you try to be a good poster? Just for once? For once in your fucking life try not to make a post about Sigma Nu, or having DENCH lick your ass, or Lehigh. That's just you, you're always right at getting it wrong. Fuck you. You are nothing. #sigmanu4eva

*Probably the best thing about Sigma Nu, even with their skills in the pool, even with their placement into the best investment bank analystships, is the unique views they seem to have about sexuality. More than any other fraternity, Sigma Nu seems to attract the sort of guy who's "heteroflexible," who's had plenty of girlfriends and hooked up with plenty of Barnard first-years, but nevertheless, would still give more than a passing glance to a guy with chiseled abs and a firm, supple ass who's hanging out in their basement past 1. They're the sort of guys who are open-minded about one-time encounters, and can write it off as having one too many drinks and experimenting, during that short collegiate window of opportunity where it's socially acceptable (I mean, everyone does it, right? Right?). And when they're married, with partnerships at various Fortune 500 companies, and their kids, about to enter college themselves, ask, "Daddy, what was it like being in Sigma Nu?" they'll reminisce and wonder about what could have been, and the tender moments shared between two men on those regulation twin-XL beds. And they'll think about the love lost, the love that dare not speak its name. When I graduate this spring, of all my memories at Columbia, the ones I will remember the most dearly and intimately, even in my old age, were in that brownstone on 113th.

== Specsucks ==

*Everytime i see specsucks post i just shake my head and laugh. You severely damaged losers are literally the bronys of b@b. You know? That sub group of 4chan kids who obsess over the preschool girl show my little pony? You probably don't know since all of you pathetic losers are far to busy refreshing spectators twitter feed and fapping to tdh/clit fan fictions porn.Why on earth would a group of you no lifes clinge to heavily to something as sad spec sucks? Is there some sort of mental sickness in you guys? All never lived as children? Do you have no grasp on reality? How can you allow yourselfs to deteriorate to this?At first i figured it was one lonely kid making that wordpress and posting himself all day while crying in the basement for being such a useless life wasting vermon... But then i realized this isnt 1 kid doing this. This is at least 10 or 11 of you in these threads, getting hard over spec sucks. No doubt all of you are fat out of shape friendless autists. So is that the thrill you kids get from these posts? Is it the fact that people in spec can twist and turn and you cant even get off the bed to empty out your piss bottle? Do you realize no hope for you exist to you cling to this newpsaper hate for inspiration? If not then WHAT THE FUCK IS YOUR FIXATION? Im speaking for b@b as a whole and possibly your families as well. Just stop. It isnt healthy. Stop.now and try and live a regular life. How embarassed your family must feel when they have to explain to your aunt and uncle that you are an avid specsuckster and yet you cant even walk. Just stop already. Quit with the silly threads. delete the wordpress. Kids, delete the specuscks wordpess bookmark and clear your browser history off all the bwog comments you posted I tell you this because im empathetic and i care. Please listen

== Campus media ==

*I do not get at all why the Spec and Bwog are such pre-eminent institutions at this fucking school. At no other college do people care so much about reading the newspaper that it becomes this fucking cult phenomenon. Congratulations, your Klout score just passed 60. I'm sure your parents are very proud of their son who, absent any support from his social circle after they were passed over for that "prestigious" NY Post unpaid internship, managed a stellar 2.8 this semester. Perhaps Columbia's twitter feeds constantly need to be populated with the bloviations of entitled liberal ideologues to function. I just don't understand this fascination with the campus press. Do people at Columbia just have nothing better to do than talk online about what other people are doing? Why must ever major event warrant a media circus? Why does Bwog get 300+ comment threads full of essay replies whenever something somewhat newsworthy happens? It says something about Columbia's complete lack of culture when it takes news happening for people to begin giving a shit about the students that go here, even if it's under the guise of Columbia's reputation. At its heart, Columbia, just like any other Ivy, has its grads going to prestigious finance and consulting positions as well as top law, med, and grad schools (...and TFA), and neither the Bwog nor Spec has any relevance whatsoever to these pursuits. At its best, campus media is a fanciful exercise in self-aggrandization through faux "student-leadership" at a school where every traditional measure of campus power, be it political, administrative, or fraternal, is criticized and told to transfer to a Penn or a Dartmouth. We must stop bowing down at the temples of theSpec and Bwog and consuming the drivel that at any university not plagued by mental illness or crippling social anxiety, would be laughed at and spit upon.

== Your Columbia Path to Success ==

*Your Columbia Path to Success: Get recruited for a varsity sport. Move into Carman early after a COOP advanced hiking trip where you cement your friend circle. Get invited to parties at Delta Sig and Sig Ep during NSOP. Bro out, use connections to get a fake ID, quit varsity sport, join rugby team as a starting player. Detach closet door, use as pong table to make your room a "safe space" for freshman girls. Pledge Sig Ep in the spring, win rush pong tournaments and hook up with DG girls at mixers. Apply to be a COOP leader, break "no sex in the tents" rule. Live on McBain 8 sophomore year, throw monthly penthouse parties to gain campus popularity. Declare major in Financial Econ, taking classes with other bros and paying off international students to ensure you won't have to do more than a single problem set. Load up on Barnard Psychology and Art History courses to get name recognition with hot chicks. Get elected to social chair, live in the house junior year so pledges make your trips to Milano's. Frequent Mel's. Win Mr. Fraternity as your video goes viral on Total Frat Move. Get internship (and job) at PE/VC firm of friend's dad who is one of the top 500 wealthiest people in the country. Pay token amounts to Columbia, get kid in, relax.

== British people ==

*I fucking hate British women, these ugly tarts couldn't get a bloke like me. Today I was in the pub, talking about Pakis and drinking 1200 pints. My gut was flexing and underage slags in a three furlong radius were getting clammy. Once I was done with my daily 32 hour drinking session I called this bint I know, Chanelle. She's a fucking munter and looks like a bulldog chewing a wasp. So I got into me Transit van and revved it up to 4,000rpm (this is made in the Midlands with a special engine system). I got onto the motorway near my gaff and threw it into 3rd gear, I hit about 60mph and I heard the sonic boom as the transfer case shattered into a million pieces. As I was bezzing it on the motorway like a mad cunt, Chanelle called me and said she wanted me to pick her up some fags and Frosty Jacks. So be it.I came to a full stop from 23mph outside her house. These Leyland DAFs have shite brakes you know. So she walks out the front door, climbs over the sofa in the garden and starts eyeballing the Lamberts and cider. I couldn't tell she was looking at it because she's got a lazy eye. Get in.Flash forward to like 30 minutes later. My 5 inch cock is going inside her clam, hitting them walls. I'm holding her entire body up with both arms because she's fucking massive and she has an asthma attack. She looks me in the eye (I think) and says fat cunt. TDi just kicked in, yo. I spaff on her face so hard she falls off her bunk bed. There had to be about 2 pints of blood everywhere. People say I fuck like a rapist, I wouldn't disagree with them.I throw her a Leeds united shirt so she can clean herself up and then I drink a triple vodka in my Land Rover Defender and drive home

== Someone was teaching a class ==

*A liberal Muslim homosexual ACLU lawyer professor and abortion doctor was teaching a class on Karl Marx, known atheist
”Before the class begins, you must get on your knees and worship Marx and accept that he was the most highly-evolved being the world has ever known, even greater than Jesus Christ!”
At this moment, a brave, patriotic, pro-life Navy SEAL champion who had served 1500 tours of duty and understood the necessity of war and fully supported all military decision made by the United States stood up and held up a rock.
”How old is this rock, pinhead?”
The arrogant professor smirked quite Jewishly and smugly replied “4.6 billion years, you stupid Christian”
”Wrong. It’s been 5,000 years since God created it. If it was 4.6 billion years old and evolution, as you say, is real… then it should be an animal now”
The professor was visibly shaken, and dropped his chalk and copy of Origin of the Species. He stormed out of the room crying those liberal crocodile tears. The same tears liberals cry for the “poor” (who today live in such luxury that most own refrigerators) when they jealously try to claw justly earned wealth from the deserving job creators. There is no doubt that at this point our professor, DeShawn Washington, wished he had pulled himself up by his bootstraps and become more than a sophist liberal professor. He wished so much that he had a gun to shoot himself from embarrassment, but he himself had petitioned against them!
The students applauded and all registered Republican that day and accepted Jesus as their lord and savior. An eagle named “Small Government” flew into the room and perched atop the American Flag and shed a tear on the chalk. The pledge of allegiance was read several times, and God himself showed up and enacted a flat tax rate across the country.
The professor lost his tenure and was fired the next day. He died of the gay plague AIDS and was tossed into the lake of fire for all eternity.
Semper Fi. p.s. close the borders

*A white heteronormative cisgendered CEO professor and Baptist preacher was teaching a class on Karl Rove, known Christian.
”Before the class begins, you must get on your knees and worship Jesus Christ and accept that you too can become straight through daily prayer, self-flagellation, and eating Chik-Fil-A every day!”
At this moment, a brave, trans-Asian, self-diagnosed pansexual demiromantic vegan multisouled person who had been free of all animal products and only bought products at the local transgender co-op boldly stood up, holding a glass filled with some white liquid.
”Hey, Professor, what is this?” The arrogant professor smirked like a rapist and smugly replied ”It's clearly milk, you crazy homo. What the fuck does milk have to do with political science?”
”Wrong. It's an all natural vegan soy almond kombucha latte. No animals or transpeople were harmed or raped in the making of this product.”
The professor was visibly shaken, and dropped his chalk and copy of the Wall Street Journal. He stormed out of the room, clearly planning some kind of rape. The professor realized that he had been playing into the hands of the kyriarchy of CEOs, investment bankers, the Religious Right, and psychiatrists. He then killed himself. The proper term for this is ”trans-dead”. The students checked their privilege, all diagnosed themselves with autism and gender identity disorder and joined the Gay-Straight Alliance. An obese trans-eagle furry otherkin waddled into the room and tried to perch upon the American Flag, bending the flagpole in the process. All parties involved gave up meat, Christianity, and the right to bear arms.

*An anarcho-syndicalist American analytic philosopher and linguistics professor was teaching a class on Bertrand Russell, known logician.
"Before the class begins, you must get on your knees and worship Russell as the most influential philosopher of the 20th century, even more influential than Jacques Derrida or any other continental philosopher!"
At this moment, a brave, psycho-analytic, Hegelian Marxist philosopher and cultural theorist, who fully recognized the weaponisation and ideological basis of instrumental rationality, boldy stood up and tugged at his collar.
"My god, pure ideology! How can you ignore the work of Lacan and the Frankfurt School and so on and so on, like that? " The arrogant professor smirked quite Jewishly and smugly replied "Continental philosophy cloaks trvialities in fancy language and uses the scientific-sounding term 'theory' to describe propositions that could never be tested empirically. "
"Wrong. If empricism is so important, as you would say, then how come you were so empirically wrong on the Khmer Rouge and Cambodia, and so on and so on?" The professor was visibly shaken, and dropped his chalk and copy of Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus . He stormed out of the room crying those unironic empirically verified crocodile tears.
There is no doubt that at this point our professor, Noam Chomsky, wished he had pulled himself up by his bootstraps and become more than an outdated linguist and blindly analytic philosopher. He wished so much that he had an argument to save himself from embarrassment, but he himself had advocated for truth derived from empirical investigation! The students applauded and all dropped out to transfer into the Ecole Normale Superieure that day and accepted French philosophy as superior to both German Idealism and the Anglosphere's Analytic traditions. An eagle named "Critical Theory" flew into the room and perched atop a burning American flag and shed a single tear on the dropped chalk. Sections of Lacan's Seminars were read several times, and the Spirit of Hegel himself showed up and demonstrated the nature of dialectics so vividly that everybody in the room progressed to a trans-physical state transcending conventional notions of time and space. The professor lost his tenure and was fired the next day and was forced to become a panelist on an MSNBC news show to make ends meet. The brave psycho-analytic philosopher's name? Slavoj Zizek.

*A whorish heathen Red Priest and traitor was teaching a class on Stannis Baratheon, known kinslayer.
”Before the class begins, you must bend the knee to Stannis, rightful King Westeros has ever known, with a stronger claim even than Joffrey!”
At this moment, a brave, patriotic, Gods-fearing Westerlander champion who had served 1500 tours of duty and understood the necessity of the Red Wedding and fully supported all military decisions made by House Lannister stood up and held up a picture of Shireen.”What color is her hair, pinhead?”
The arrogant professor smirked quite Braavosily and smugly replied “blond, you stupid Southron”
“Correct, but Stannis claims that Robert's heirs are bastards because Baratheons cannot father blonds. If the rightful heir of Stannis is blond... then Joffrey, Gods grace him, is the rightful King.”
The Red Priest was visibly shaken, and dropped her ruby and copy of Stannis' denunciation of Joffrey. She stormed out of the room crying those traitor crocodile tears. The same tears traitors cry for the Starks (who were responsible for the War of Northern Aggression) when they jealously tried to usurp the throne from the deserving King Joffrey.
There is no doubt that at this point our professor, Melly Sanders, wished she had pulled herself up by her bootstraps and become more than a sophist traitorous heathen. She wished so much that she had a Red Wedding to attend at which to be murdered, but she herself had petitioned against them!
The students applauded and all bent the knee that day and accepted Joffrey as their liege and savior. A lion named "paid debts" sauntered into the room and lay down beneath the Lannister-Baratheon banner and shed a tear on the ruby. The Rains of Castamere was sung several times and Tywin himself showed up and lent money to everyone present at a generous rate of interest.
The Red Priest lost her faith and was excommunicated the next day. She died of the whore's plague syphilis and was eaten by Others with the rest of her traitor king's followers.

*A Jewish allied homosexual professor and Treaty of Versailles supporter was teaching a class on Theodor Adorno, known Marxist.
"Before the class begins, you must get on your knees and worship Einstein and accept that he was the smartest man ever, even smarter than Gottlob Frege or Karl Schmitt." At this moment, a brave, Aryan, 14/88 SS Obersturmbannfuehrer who had killed 1500 Untermenschen on the Ostfront and understood the necessity of war and fully supported all military decision made by Nazi Germany stood up and showed a picture of an Aryan man.
"What can you tell me about this, Rassenschande?" The arrogant professor smirked quite Jewishly and smugly replied "He is just a man, no different from an Untermensch, except the Jews are probably even smarter"
"Wrong. It is the proven master race, tracing his lineage back to every people that ever accomplished something and has every right to struggle for Lebensraum."
The professor was visibly shaken, and dropped his chalk and copy of das Kapital in Hebrew. He stormed out of the room crying those Schmutzig-Judische crocodile tears. The same tears Judeo-Bolshevists cry for the "gassed" when they jealously try to claw justly earned land from the deserving Uebermenschen. There is no doubt that at this point our professor, Schlomo Marxstein, wished his people were not causing all the troubles the Reich was facing, and wished he didn’t deservedly got what was coming to him for that. The students applauded and all registered to the Nazi party that day and accepted Adolf Hitler as their Feuhrer.
A Reichsadler named "Germanentum" flew into the room and perched atop the Nazi flag and shed a tear on the chalk. The first couplet of "Deutschland uber alles" was sung several times, and Thor himself showed up and roused the people for totalen Krieg all across the Reich. The professor lost his tenure and was sent to Auschwitz the next day and didn’t die there because the Holocaust never happened.

*A reformed Eurocommunist post-Marxist New Leftist Frankfurt School professor and social democrat was teaching a class on Nikita Khrushchev, known revisionist.
"Before the class begins, you must get on your knees and worship Leon Trotsky as the most class conscious revolutionary of all time and accept the Fourth International as the only legitimate representative of the interests of the workers of the world!"
At this moment a brave, revolutionary, unreformed Stalinist NKVD veteran who had an appreciation for socialist realist art and read a chapter of Capital every night before going to sleep stood up and waved the red flag.
"If Trotsky was so great, why wasn't the revolution permanent?"
The arrogant professor smirked quite bourgeoisly and smugly replied, "Because the Soviet Union was a deformed workers state, you idiot gerontocrat!"
"Wrong. Comrade Stalin purged Russia of the kulaks and all enemies of the workers. If your theory of revolution was correct, we would have achieved communism by now."
The professor was visibly shaken, and dropped his chalk and copy of A People's History of the United States. He stormed out of the room crying those social-fascist crocodile tears. There is no doubt that at this point our professor, Noam Chomsky, wished he had adopted the policies of the Third Period and become more than an infantile leftist bourgeois stooge. He wished so much that he had not betrayed the revolution, but he himself had sold it out! The students applauded and all sang the State Anthem of the USSR and accepted Socialism in One Country as the best path forward for proletarian cause. An eagle named "Slavoj Zizek" flew into the room and perched atop a copy of "Pravda" and sniffed snot onto its print.
The last sentence of the "The Communist Manifesto" was read several times, and Sergei Eisenstein himself showed up and demonstrated how to roll a baby down the Odessa steps. The professor lost his tenure and was taken out back and shot the next day. He loved Big Brother. The student's name? Lavrentiy Beria.

*A marxist post-structuralist continental Ecole Normale Superieure professor and feminist activist was teaching a class on Martin Heidegger, known hermeneuticist.
"Before the class begins, you must get on your knees and worship Nietzsche and accept that his genealogical method was the most highly-evolved theory the continent has ever known, even greater than Hegel's dialectics!"
At this moment a brave, rational, positivist analytic philosopher who had read more than 15000 pages of Popper and Wittgenstein and understood the raison d'etre of empricism and fully supported all modern hard sciences stood up and held up the constitution.
"How universal is this text, frenchie?"
The arrogant professor smirked quite Jewishly and smugly replied "It's not universal at all, fucking positivist, its "truth" is rooted in our shared understandings about culture, the subject and the nexus of power and knowledge."
"Wrong. It's been 225 years since human reason created it. if it was not universal, and post-modern relativism, as you say, is real... then it should be regarded as a myth now."
The professor was visibly shaken, and dropped his chalk and copy of On Grammatology. He stormed out of the room crying those ironic post-modern crocodile tears. There is no doubt that at this point our professor, Michel Foucault, wished he had pulled hiimself up by his bootstraps and become more than an AIDS ridden sadomasochist interested in fisting. He wished so much that he had some kind of truth to hold on to, but he himself had written to disprove it!
The students applauded and all rolled into American universities that day and accepted Wittgenstein as the end of philosophy. An eagle named "Formal logic" flew into the room and perched atop the copy of "Principa Mathematica" and shed a tear on the hardcover. The last sentence of "Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus" was read several times, and Karl Popper himself showed up and demonstrated how dialectics is nothing but a means of justifying contradictions.
The professor lost his tenure and was fired the next day. He died of the gay plague AIDS and his "books" were disregarded for all eternity.

*A sycophantic, salaried, pedophiliac, flute-playing, Athenian sophist and acclaimed rhetorician was teaching a class on Gorgias, known nihilist.
"By Zeus! Before the class begins, you must all get on your knees and pay your respects to Gorgias, and accept that he was the most demonic being the world has ever known, even greater than that of Heraclitus!"
At this moment, a wise, ironic, pro-Spartan disciple of Socrates who had courted 1500 young boys and understood the necessity of free education and fully supported all intellectual writings made by the Academy stood up and held up a rock.
"I say to you, does this rock exist on the true plane of reality and being, dear teacher?"
The arrogant sophist smirked quite relativistically and replied "Certainly, for how else could you bring it into being here, you foolish foreigner?"
"Wrong. The Forms are the only true reality and exist beyond this realm of material perception. If it was real, and being, as you say, is contingent to our realm of perception, then it should be identical to all other rocks in 'existence'."
The sophist was visibly shaken, and dropped his stylus and copy of On the Non-Existent. He stormed out of the room crying those ironic sophist tears. The same tears sophists cry for the "learned" (who today live in such a state of ignorance that most think they 'have knowledge' of what is pious) when they jealously try to claw justly earned true knowledge from the deserving philosophers. There is no doubt that at this point our sophist, Hypocrites, wished he had pulled himself up by his sandal straps and become more than a sophist, paid-for-hire teacher. He wished so much that he had a sense of objective truth to console himself from embarrassment, but he himself had argued against it!
The students applauded and all enrolled into the Academy that day and accepted The One as the incarnation of truth and the Good. An owl named "The Socratic Method" flew into the room and perched atop the Priestess of Delphi and shed a tear on the stylus. Plato’s Republic was read several times, and Socrates himself showed up and claimed that he knew nothing. The sophist lost his standing with the Athenian wealthy and was left homeless the next day. He died in the Thirty Tyrants' Rebellion and reincarnated as a Bronze soul for all eternity.

==That Feel When==

*that feel when you're a beta aspie loner in college and you hide in your room outside of lectures, and to get to the toilet you have to pass about 10 social alpha sexy people who laugh and drink and be sexy, so you decide to take shits in black trashcan bags, and store them under your bed to dispose of between 3 and 5am when everyone is asleep, but the smell seeps as each hour passes and you hear people walking past your room saying "eugh what the fuck is that smell, i'm going to call Housing in case it's a burst pipe", and they come to investigate and realizes it's coming from your room, and you slunk out before he looks under the bed, and you sleep rough in the nearby park for the next 3 days because you don't want to see what happened and if he found your shit, and you eventually return 3 days later, and there is a note on your bed saying you have been instructed to leave school indefinitely, and you can't call and tell your parents you have been expelled for shitting in plastic bags and hiding it under your bed so you sleep rough on the streets for the remaining 3 weeks of term time and develop a drug habit and get home for christmas vacation and try to commit suicide and fail and then post on b@b about how you wish everyone were anon because they're all having a good time making jokes with one another

==Greentext stories==

*> on the bus, heading home > Alpha male gets on > sits beside girl > immediately strikes up conversation > Soon he moves on to flirting > She is giggling > In no time he is getting her phone number > He coyly smiles, knowing that he's going to get that pussy > I think of how i will never be that Alpha, and a single treat rolls down my face > I can't bear this pain any longer > I get up to leave, but trip over my untied shoe > Everyone is pointing and laughing at me > Get very nervous, feel a fart approaching > Oh no, not again > As i let rip, the smell fills the air > people are shocked and disgusted > The fart still going, shit now starts seeping out > My pants and legs are covered in crap > The shit stream starts getting violent and starts spinning me around uncontrollably > The bus is now completely flooded in watery shit > All the commotion and shit causes the bus driver to swerve and crash head on into a truck > The truck splits open, and reveals the contents it was carrying: Spaghetti > The spaghetti spills out onto the road > Cars slip and slide on the slippery spaghetti > 63 people are killed in the pile up

*> talking with cute girl at coffee shop > says she loves sports and is a huge heat fan > i fumble for change and only give cashier three quarters > "just like lebrick" he says, clearly an alpha male > girl laughs so hard her vagina discharges fluid > "i-i-ill find another quarter" i mumble > reach into pockets > spaghetti tumbles out > feel fart swelling up in ass crack > cant hold it back much longer > alpha guy talking about putting ketchup in fridge, referring to his penis and her vagina > fart so hard that entire coffee shop notices > mumble some apology but feel the force of the fart propelling me forward > spaghetti tumbles out of pocket > propelled by fart and falling spaghetti i slam into girl > first time ive touched a woman > "please respond" i say > force of spaghetti and fart pushes us into low orbit > get on the floor > everybody do the dinosaur

*> go to a restaurant for my first date with a girl > pick the table closest to the bathroom so I won't have to walk too far when I go for my postprandial crap > the waiter asks what we'd like to drink > she orders white wine, I ask for a banana milkshake > the waiter tells me they don't serve milkshake so I ask for a bowl of icecream instead > my girlfriend asks why I ordered desert > I tell her I'm going to mush the icecream up and then drink it, and she's probably very impressed but doesn't show it > the waiter sighs and walks away > there's an awkward silence so I ask what her favorite dinosaur is > she says she doesn't know, so I inform her that mine is the pterodactyl > several minutes later, after I've finished recounting the plot of 'Jurassic Park 3', her wine arrives > I ask where my icecream is > the waiter says he will bring it after we've finished our meals > I tut loudly but don't complain > she tells the waiter that she's ready to order and asks for the lobster bisque > he turns to me > "no, it's okay, I brought my own food," I inform him as I place my container of spaghetti on the table > he exclaims something in French and hurries off to the kitchen

* > At lecture > Really socially awkward > Spend 10 minutes finding a place to sit > Some jock pushes me into a seat next to a hot girl > Some other girl sits next to me > She's accidentally sitting on my cape > "E-E-Excuse me but my...my" > She looks at my computer > Pictures of Spaghetti saved everywhere > She gets up to tell everyone > Everyone gathers around and looks at me, pinning me down by my cape > They find all the spaghetti on my hard drive and start throwing it at me > 5 hours later > Still just lying there, in the empty lecture hall, crying with the lights turned out

*> Be 10 > playing pokemon on shitter before school > Bus comes outside > I still havent wiped > Mom yells I have to go > Have horrible poison ivy on crotch > Pour a bunch of cream on my penis, put on my pants and run to the bus > Girl I like sits next to me > asks me if ive ever been kissed > I take out my gameboy > She starts whispering in my ear > I start sweating > I look down > The cream is seeping through my jeans, making it look like i cummed > She notices > I notice > I open my fannie pack to grab some kleenexes > My sphagetti falls out all over > I start sweating more > Realize i forgot to wipe my ass > The entire bus smells like shit and sphagetti > bus gets to school > Try and run to bathroom > teacher catches me > its penis inspection day > my name is alan aardvark > I have to go first > Nurse demands For me to take off my pants > I refuse > She wrestles me down, and gets a magnifying glass real close to my crotch > close my eyes and scream the guile theme at the top of my lungs > She unzips my pants, the smell of spaghetti, cream and shit leaks out > she pukes on my dick > I get expelled

* >Never had a drink before despite being 23 because I heard drinking was bad in my 9th grade health class > Decide to be alpha as fuck and shuffle out of my room for the first time since tuesday > I head down to '1020' to meet this awesome brg guy who has tonnes of awesome heterosexual sex > I get into 1020 and it's crowded as fuck > Tap random guy on the should and whisper > E..e..xcuse me are you 'brg' from the 'boredatbutler' > Looks at me like I'm autistic > Everyone around is looking at me like I'm autistic > Sweating, I can't take it > Decide to leave > Slip on floor which is wet from all the spilt drinks > All my spaghetti falls out from my fanny pack > Everyone's laughing at me > Mfw b@b meetup

== Response to a high school senior who wants inside information ==
The libraries are pretty happening spots. Butler turns into a rave at night, and pretty much all of NYC shows up to the CU campus to party. If you get sick of that, you can easily take a cab downtown and hit up some clubs in Time Square. Olive G is the hot spot right now, and you can get in free with a CU ID. The frats are pretty powerful on campus. If you see somebody wearing a frat blazer, you better get out of his way, he will most likely be your boss in two years, so you better get on their good sides. Other than that, its a pretty cool community. The city may seem huge, but it has a great small town feel and everybody is super chill and friendly. I hope you get in!!!!!!!! It'll be AWESOME!!

Copypasta

2014-04-08T01:45:17Z

Peterawnislowspatsy:

Copypasta from [[Bored@butler]]:

== Hi, I'm a Barnard girl ==

* Hi I'm a Barnard girl. I only wear clothes bought at thread stores and my "vintage" glasses and I think gender is an out-dated concept. I also brag incessantly at how me and my friends hang out in the "dangerous" parts of Brooklyn and how the NYPD are SUCH ASSHOLES, despite the fact that the only interaction I ever had with a police was when I was 15 and got scolded at for drinking in a public park. I will also waste half of your lesson by giggling and loudly advertising my student group, Lesbians against Mass Incarceration, (I'm straight and white by the way), where I will amaze you at how many times I can say "like" in a single sentence. And to cap it all off, my tits and ass aren't even that good, but it's OK, because all men are chauvinistic pigs and I don't need them anyway.

* Hi I'm a Columbia guy. I only wear clothes bought at designer stores and my skinny jeans and I think conservatism is an out-dated concept. I also brag incessantly at how me and my friends get so little sleep and have so much homework and how the professors are SUCH ASSHOLES, despite the fact that the only interaction I ever have with them is when I go to class. I will also waste half of your lesson by asking inane questions and loudly advertising my student group, Secular Atheists against Discrimination, (I pretend to be sexually ambiguous but am actually straight and white by the way), where I will amaze you at how many times I can say "marxism" in a single sentence. And to cap it all off, my brains aren't even that good, but it's OK, because all classes are a waste of time and I don't need them anyway.

* Hi I'm a SEAS kid. I only wear clothes bought at the GAP and my cargo shorts and I think books are an out-dated concept. I also brag incessantly at how me and my friends are going to make so much money with our start up and how the finance suits are SUCH ASSHOLES, despite the fact that the only other job I would want to perform is a quant. I will also waste half of your lesson by breathing loudly and advertising my start up, Date-ly, (I'm a virgin by the way), where I will amaze you at how many times I can say "connectivity" in a single sentence. And to cap it all off, my ideas aren't even that good, but it's OK, because all people are slack-jawed smartphone users anyway.

* Hi I'm a sorority girl. I usually wear heels and little dresses and I think feminism is an out-dated concept. I also brag incessantly at how me and this sig ep guy i hooked up with are getting really serious, despite the fact that mainly i suck his penis. I will also waste half of your evening by giggling and loudly advertising my philanthropy group that helps Harlem, Beer Drinkers Against Substance Abuse (I'm drunk by the way), where I will amaze you at how many times I can coax frat bros into tossing singles into the donation jar. And to cap it all off, my looks aren't even that good, but it's OK, because I'm majoring in psych and am a serious career woman, anyway.

* Hi I'm a frat boy. I only wear off the rack clothes and Sperrys and I think privilege is an out-dated concept. I also brag incessantly at how me and my friends hang out with the "hottest" girls in DG and how the NYPD are SUCH ASSHOLES, despite the fact that the only interaction I ever had with a police was when I was a freshman and got scolded at for trying to sneak out of Pike's house during the investigation. I will also waste half of your lesson by snoring and loudly advertising my TOTALLY NOT RACIST Asian-themed rush party, Yellow Fever, (I'm white by the way), where I will amaze you at how many times I can say "chong" in a terrible accent. And to cap it all off, my biceps and abs aren't even that toned, but it's OK, because I don't need consensual sex anyway.

* Hi I'm a grad student. I haven't paid for any of my clothes, ever (thanks, dad!). and I think capitalism is an outdated concept. I also brag incessantly at how me and my friends understand the human condition and how the i-bankers are SUCH ASSHOLES, despite the fact that I can only afford this terminal masters program because my dad is a banker, and the only interaction I ever had with a banker was when I yelled at one that time at occupy. I will also waste half of your lesson by bragging about my professor advisor and loudly talking about my masters thesis research, (I know I'll never be eric foner by the way), where I will amaze you at how many times I can say "norms" in a single sentence. And to cap it all off, my writing skills aren't even that good, but it's OK, because I don't know what the hell I'm talking about, and it's all relative, anyway.

* Hi I'm a speccie. I don't wear clothes other than t shirts and jeans and I think reading on paper is an outdated concept. I also brag incessantly about how me and my friend met a real journalist once and how the bwoggers are SUCH ASSHOLES, despite the fact that I secretly wish (current spec EIC) allowed me to have an opinion. I will also waste half of your lesson by tapping at my phone and retweeting articles on twitter, (I have worked 2 unpaid social media internships by the way), where I will amaze you at how many times I can say "web-first strategy" in a single sentence. And to cap it all off, my news writing isn?t even that clean, but it's OK, because i can leverage the shit out of spec alumni networking events.

* Hi I'm a bwog writer. I only wear clothes bought at J crew and I think objectivity is an out-dated concept. I also brag incessantly at how my posts get so many comments and so many views and how the spec writers are SUCH ASSHOLES, despite the fact that the only interaction I ever had with a speccie was when we exchanged uneasy glances in a lecture hall. I will also waste half of your lesson by making stupid puns and loudly advertising my blog,, (I pretend to be a journalist but have never actually interviewed a source), where I will amaze you at how many times I can say ?tip? in a single sentence. And to cap it all off, my sense of irony isn't even that good, but it's OK, because i would never want to deliberately mean, anyway.

* Hi I'm a CCSC person. I don't wear clothes other than columbia apparel and my prepster uniform and I think challenging authority is an outdated concept. I also brag incessantly about how me and my friend meet deantini all the time and how the ABC people are SUCH ASSHOLES, despite the fact that I secretly am glad they do my paperwork. I will also waste half of your lesson by talking about a policy you don't care about, (there have been 5 spec opeds and a town hall regarding it by the way), where I will amaze you at how many times I can say "wellness" in a single sentence. And to cap it all off, you didn't even have another person to vote for, but it's OK, because nobody else should get to say they represent the student body, anyway.

*Hi I'm a GS student. I haven't been able to afford new clothes since high school and I think campus life is an outdated concept. I also brag incessantly at how me and my friend have never hung out on campus and how the younger students are SUCH ASSHOLES, despite the fact that I transferred in when I was only 21 and the only interaction I ever had with a freshman was when they were confused by my grey hair at NSOP. I will also waste half of your lesson by kissing ass and loudly talking about my past bravery in the military, (I was an army graphic designer based in Delaware by the way), where I will amaze you at how many times I can swell my chest in a single sentence. And to cap it all off, my SAT scores aren't even above 550, but it's OK, because grades are not important and dropping out of my last 4 colleges prepared me for a 4.0 here anyway.

== What did you just say? ==

== Sigma Nu ==

Matilda the Harlem Goat

2014-01-24T05:05:24Z

Peterawnislowspatsy:

'''Matilda the Harlem Goat''' was almost Columbia's mascot.

Owned by squatter Patrick Riley who lived in a shack on the northeast corner of 120th and Amsterdam, Matilda was often lent to Columbia students for hazing and pranks. When the [[Columbia Lion|Lion]] was suggested as a mascot for the school in [[1910]], some students suggested that Matilda the Goat held a closer place in Columbians' hearts than some metaphorical and royalist king of the jungle. Pretension won out, and the Lion was officially selected.

Matilda died in [[1914]], and received a proper funerial procession from Columbia students, who donned their [[academic regalia]] and sang a dirge for the fallen beast, "A Harlem Goat." Thereafter, Charles Freidgen, owner of an eponymous drugstore across the street (now [[Hartley Chemists]]), acquired the remains, and had them stuffed and preserved. The goat remained on display in the store until its new owner, David Ratner, moved 2 blocks south to 118th street. The stuffed goat was cleaned up and put on display in the window in [[1954]]. In [[1956]], Matilda was featured in an eponymous children's book, in which she saved the day at a Columbia football game by headbutting the fullback who'd fallen asleep. Ratner's daughters closed the business down in 1960, with plans to donate the goat to the [[New York-Historical Society]]. A man from New Hampshire also expressed interest in the stuffed animal.

Matilda's fate is unknown.

== References ==

*Historical Society Will Probably Get Columbia's Goat, The Spectator, January 6, 1960
*Harlem Goat, Full of History And Stuff, Needs a New Home, New York World-Telegram, January 23, 1960

[[Category:Symbols]]
[[Category:Animals]]

IThief

2014-01-18T03:57:47Z

Peterawnislowspatsy: I am the iThief

[[Image:Image002.jpg|frame|right|Sometimes the iThief is thwarted: see "[a]nother I-phone recovered thanks to the NYPD / CU Public Safety"]]

''The title of this article, ''iThief,'' begins with a capital letter due to the technical limitations of WikiCU.''

The [[iThief]], or [[iBandit]], is the person or persons responsible for selectively robbing Columbia students of their iconic Apple products. Thefts of iPhones are more or less a national phenomenon due to the popularity of the device and its high fencibility<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/26/nyregion/an-iphone-is-stolen-then-restolen.html</ref><ref>http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nypd-thefts-smartphones-ipads-prevalent-cash-criminals-turn-focus-electronics-article-1.987406</ref>. However, the iThief is a uniquely Columbian character, having gained notoriety in late 2011 by refusing to steal anything other than iPhones. He stopped several muggings, sometimes at gunpoint, upon learning that his potential victims carried cell phones from other companies<ref>[http://www.bwog.com/2011/12/09/see-cu-on-abc-on-tv/]</ref>.

The incidents took on additional drama due to [[Public Safety]]'s clueless characterization of his loot as I-Phones, IPhones, I Phones, and I-phones (but never iPhones, until 2013).

The iThief has left no public clues about whether he is an Apple fanboy or hater. While he may simply have a strong aversion to Android phones, his actions could also be calculated to harm the market share of iOS. His moral code could result from either a craving for iPhones or a perception of Apple users as elitists who deserve to be mugged. His relationship with Segata Sanshiro (a Japanese man who similarly assaults Nintendo fans on behalf of Sega) is unclear.

The iThief was a minor character in the opening scene of [[The_Corporate_Core_(118th_Annual_Varsity_Show)|V118]]. He is currently at large.

== Aborted capers ==
{| border="1"
! scope="col" | Date
! scope="col" | Location
! scope="col" | Loot
! scope="col" | Notes
|-
| 11/21/2011
| Broadway & 114th
| n/a
| Demanded an iPhone; left when he was told there was no iPhone. [http://www.columbia.edu/cu/publicsafety/rob114112111.pdf]
|-
| 11/12/2011
| Broadway & 114th ([[brownstone]] lobby)
| n/a
| Gracefully returned two smartphones upon learning they were not iPhones, then left. [http://bwog.com/2011/11/15/attempted-robbery-on-114th-street/]
|-
| 10/25/2011
| Broadway & 116th (inside [[Pinnacle]])
| 15" Macbook Pro w/SSD
| Grabbed a laptop. Returned it to a student when caught, but reluctantly, as it was an Apple product. [http://bwog.com/2011/10/26/robbery-in-front-of-adp/ in comments]
|}

== Greatest capers (incomplete list) ==
{| border="1"
! scope="col" | Date
! scope="col" | Location
! scope="col" | Loot
! scope="col" | Notes
|-
| 01/15/2014
| Morningside Dr. & 116th
| unspecified model iPhone & "$10.00 USC" [sic]
| Happened on the park steps, but to a non-affiliate of CU, so it's NBD really.
|-
| 12/09/2013
| Morningside Dr. & 120th
| unspecified model iPhone
| Asked someone for directions. When that person showed him directions on their iPhone, he snatched the device and ran.
|-
| 11/19/2013
| Riverside Dr. & 112th
| unspecified model iPhone
| Jumped out of the fucking bushes! [http://bwog.com/2013/11/18/recent-close-scary-crime-alert/]
|-
| 10/25/2011
| Broadway & 114th
| unspecified model iPhone
| With a partner, this time! [http://images.bwog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/102511rob114st.pdf]
|}

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Morningside Heights]]
[[Category:People]]
[[Category:Technological innovators]]

User talk:Peterawnislowspatsy

2013-12-10T20:29:03Z

Peterawnislowspatsy: /* iThief */

'''Welcome to ''WikiCU''!'''
We hope you will contribute much and well.
You will probably want to read the [[Help:Contents|help pages]].
Again, welcome and have fun! [[User:Nateoxford|Nateoxford]] 07:45, 7 January 2013 (EST)

==Pike Ritual Book==
Thanks for catching that vandalism. [[User:Cds2148|cds2148]] 18:23, 1 July 2013 (EDT)

==iThief==
You got that up very quickly. [[User:Cds2148|cds2148]] 15:26, 10 December 2013 (EST)

Aha! I figured I was racing against you. --[[User:Peterawnislowspatsy|Peterawnislowspatsy]] 15:29, 10 December 2013 (EST)

IThief

2013-12-10T20:26:53Z

Peterawnislowspatsy: literally the 5th different spelling of iPhone seen so far

[[Image:Image002.jpg|frame|right|Sometimes the iThief is thwarted: see "[a]nother I-phone recovered thanks to the NYPD / CU Public Safety"]]

''The title of this article, ''iThief,'' begins with a capital letter due to the technical limitations of WikiCU.''

The [[iThief]], or [[iBandit]], is the person or persons responsible for selectively robbing Columbia students of their iconic Apple products. Thefts of iPhones are more or less a national phenomenon due to the popularity of the device and its high fencibility.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/26/nyregion/an-iphone-is-stolen-then-restolen.html</ref><ref>http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nypd-thefts-smartphones-ipads-prevalent-cash-criminals-turn-focus-electronics-article-1.987406</ref> However, the iThief is a uniquely Columbian character, having gained notoriety in late 2011 by refusing to steal anything other than iPhones. He stopped several muggings, sometimes at gunpoint, upon learning that his potential victims carried cell phones from other companies. <ref>[http://www.bwog.com/2011/12/09/see-cu-on-abc-on-tv/]</ref>

The incidents took on additional drama due to [[Public Safety]]'s clueless characterization of his loot as I-Phones, IPhones, I Phones, and I-phones (but never iPhones, until 2013).

The iThief has left no public clues about whether he is an Apple fanboy or hater. While he may simply have a strong aversion to Android phones, his actions could also be calculated to harm the market share of iOS. His moral code could result from either a craving for iPhones or a perception of Apple users as elitists who deserve to be mugged. His relationship with Segata Sanshiro (a Japanese man who similarly assaults Nintendo fans on behalf of Sega) is unclear.

The iThief was a minor character in the opening scene of [[The_Corporate_Core_(118th_Annual_Varsity_Show)|V118]]. He is currently at large.

== Aborted capers ==
{| border="1"
! scope="col" | Date
! scope="col" | Location
! scope="col" | Loot
! scope="col" | Notes
|-
| 11/21/2011
| Broadway & 114th
| n/a
| Demanded an iPhone; left when he was told there was no iPhone. [http://www.columbia.edu/cu/publicsafety/rob114112111.pdf]
|-
| 11/12/2011
| Broadway & 114th ([[brownstone]] lobby)
| n/a
| Gracefully returned two smartphones upon learning they were not iPhones, then left. [http://bwog.com/2011/11/15/attempted-robbery-on-114th-street/]
|-
| 10/25/2011
| Broadway & 116th (inside [[Pinnacle]])
| 15" Macbook Pro w/SSD
| Grabbed a laptop. Returned it to a student when caught, but reluctantly, as it was an Apple product. [http://bwog.com/2011/10/26/robbery-in-front-of-adp/ in comments]
|}

== Greatest capers (incomplete list) ==
{| border="1"
! scope="col" | Date
! scope="col" | Location
! scope="col" | Loot
! scope="col" | Notes
|-
| 12/09/2013
| Morningside Dr. & 120th
| unspecified model iPhone
| Asked someone for directions. When that person showed him directions on their iPhone, he snatched the device and ran.
|-
| 11/19/2013
| Riverside Dr. & 112th
| unspecified model iPhone
| Jumped out of the fucking bushes! [http://bwog.com/2013/11/18/recent-close-scary-crime-alert/]
|-
| 10/25/2011
| Broadway & 114th
| unspecified model iPhone
| With a partner, this time! [http://images.bwog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/102511rob114st.pdf]
|}

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Morningside Heights]]
[[Category:People]]
[[Category:Technological innovators]]

IThief

2013-12-10T20:24:24Z

Peterawnislowspatsy:

[[Image:Image002.jpg|frame|right|Sometimes the iThief is thwarted: see "[a]nother I-phone recovered thanks to the NYPD / CU Public Safety"]]

''The title of this article, ''iThief,'' begins with a capital letter due to the technical limitations of WikiCU.''

The [[iThief]], or [[iBandit]], is the person or persons responsible for selectively robbing Columbia students of their iconic Apple products. Thefts of iPhones are more or less a national phenomenon due to the popularity of the device and its high fencibility.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/26/nyregion/an-iphone-is-stolen-then-restolen.html</ref><ref>http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nypd-thefts-smartphones-ipads-prevalent-cash-criminals-turn-focus-electronics-article-1.987406</ref> However, the iThief is a uniquely Columbian character, having gained notoriety in late 2011 by refusing to steal anything other than iPhones. He stopped several muggings, sometimes at gunpoint, upon learning that his potential victims carried cell phones from other companies. <ref>[http://www.bwog.com/2011/12/09/see-cu-on-abc-on-tv/]</ref>

The incidents took on additional drama due to [[Public Safety]]'s clueless characterization of his loot as I-Phones, IPhones and I-phones (but never iPhones, until 2013).

The iThief has left no public clues about whether he is an Apple fanboy or hater. While he may simply have a strong aversion to Android phones, his actions could also be calculated to harm the market share of iOS. His moral code could result from either a craving for iPhones or a perception of Apple users as elitists who deserve to be mugged. His relationship with Segata Sanshiro (a Japanese man who similarly assaults Nintendo fans on behalf of Sega) is unclear.

The iThief was a minor character in the opening scene of [[The_Corporate_Core_(118th_Annual_Varsity_Show)|V118]]. He is currently at large.

== Aborted capers ==
{| border="1"
! scope="col" | Date
! scope="col" | Location
! scope="col" | Loot
! scope="col" | Notes
|-
| 11/21/2011
| Broadway & 114th
| n/a
| Demanded an iPhone; left when he was told there was no iPhone. [http://www.columbia.edu/cu/publicsafety/rob114112111.pdf]
|-
| 11/12/2011
| Broadway & 114th ([[brownstone]] lobby)
| n/a
| Gracefully returned two smartphones upon learning they were not iPhones, then left. [http://bwog.com/2011/11/15/attempted-robbery-on-114th-street/]
|-
| 10/25/2011
| Broadway & 116th (inside [[Pinnacle]])
| 15" Macbook Pro w/SSD
| Grabbed a laptop. Returned it to a student when caught, but reluctantly, as it was an Apple product. [http://bwog.com/2011/10/26/robbery-in-front-of-adp/ in comments]
|}

== Greatest capers (incomplete list) ==
{| border="1"
! scope="col" | Date
! scope="col" | Location
! scope="col" | Loot
! scope="col" | Notes
|-
| 12/09/2013
| Morningside Dr. & 120th
| unspecified model iPhone
| Asked someone for directions. When that person showed him directions on their iPhone, he snatched the device and ran.
|-
| 11/19/2013
| Riverside Dr. & 112th
| unspecified model iPhone
| Jumped out of the fucking bushes! [http://bwog.com/2013/11/18/recent-close-scary-crime-alert/]
|-
| 10/25/2011
| Broadway & 114th
| unspecified model iPhone
| With a partner, this time! [http://images.bwog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/102511rob114st.pdf]
|}

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Morningside Heights]]
[[Category:People]]
[[Category:Technological innovators]]

IThief

2013-12-10T20:22:48Z

Peterawnislowspatsy: Trust fund students beware! The iThief strikes again!

[[Image:Image002.jpg|frame|right|Sometimes the iThief is thwarted: see "[a]nother I-phone recovered thanks to the NYPD / CU Public Safety"]]

''The title of this article, ''iThief,'' begins with a capital letter due to the technical limitations of WikiCU.''

The [[iThief]], or [[iBandit]], is the person or persons responsible for selectively robbing Columbia students of their iconic Apple products. Thefts of iPhones are more or less a national phenomenon due to the popularity of the device and its high fencibility.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/26/nyregion/an-iphone-is-stolen-then-restolen.html</ref><ref>http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nypd-thefts-smartphones-ipads-prevalent-cash-criminals-turn-focus-electronics-article-1.987406</ref> However, the iThief is a uniquely Columbian character, having gained notoriety in late 2011 by refusing to steal anything other than iPhones. He stopped several muggings, sometimes at gunpoint, upon learning that his potential victims carried cell phones from other companies. <ref>[http://www.bwog.com/2011/12/09/see-cu-on-abc-on-tv/]</ref>

The incidents took on additional drama due to [[Public Safety]]'s clueless characterization of his loot as I-Phones, IPhones and I-phones (but never iPhones, until 2013).

The iThief has left no public clues about whether he is an Apple fanboy or hater. While he may simply have a strong aversion to Android phones, his actions could also be calculated to harm the market share of iOS. His moral code could result from either a craving for iPhones or a perception of Apple users as elitists who deserve to be mugged. His relationship with Segata Sanshiro (a Japanese man who similarly assaults Nintendo fans on behalf of Sega) is unclear.

The iThief was a minor character in the opening scene of [[The_Corporate_Core_(118th_Annual_Varsity_Show)|V118]]. He is currently at large.

== Aborted capers ==
{| border="1"
! scope="col" | Date
! scope="col" | Location
! scope="col" | Loot
! scope="col" | Notes
|-
| 11/21/2011
| Broadway & 114th
| n/a
| Demanded an iPhone; left when he was told there was no iPhone. [http://www.columbia.edu/cu/publicsafety/rob114112111.pdf]
|-
| 11/12/2011
| Broadway & 114th ([[brownstone]] lobby)
| n/a
| Gracefully returned two smartphones upon learning they were not iPhones, then left. [http://bwog.com/2011/11/15/attempted-robbery-on-114th-street/]
|-
| 10/25/2011
| Broadway & 116th (inside [[Pinnacle]])
| 15" Macbook Pro w/SSD
| Grabbed a laptop. Returned it to a student when caught, but reluctantly, as it was an Apple product. [http://bwog.com/2011/10/26/robbery-in-front-of-adp/ in comments]
|}

== Greatest capers (incomplete list) ==
{| border="1"
! scope="col" | Date
! scope="col" | Location
! scope="col" | Loot
! scope="col" | Notes
|-
| 12/09/2013
| Morningside Dr. & W 120th
| unspecified model iPhone
| Asked someone for directions. When that person showed him directions on their iPhone, he snatched the device and ran.
|-
| 11/19/2013
| Riverside Dr. & 112th
| unspecified model iPhone
| Jumped out of the fucking bushes! [http://bwog.com/2013/11/18/recent-close-scary-crime-alert/]
|-
| 10/25/2011
| Broadway & 114th
| unspecified model iPhone
| With a partner, this time! [http://images.bwog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/102511rob114st.pdf]
|}

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Morningside Heights]]
[[Category:People]]
[[Category:Technological innovators]]

IThief

2013-11-19T06:41:14Z

Peterawnislowspatsy:

''The title of this article, ''iThief,'' begins with a capital letter due to the technical limitations of WikiCU.''

The [[iThief]], or [[iBandit]], is the person or persons responsible for selectively robbing Columbia students of their iconic Apple products. Thefts of iPhones are more or less a national phenomenon due to the popularity of the device and its high fencibility.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/26/nyregion/an-iphone-is-stolen-then-restolen.html</ref><ref>http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nypd-thefts-smartphones-ipads-prevalent-cash-criminals-turn-focus-electronics-article-1.987406</ref> However, the iThief is a uniquely Columbian character, having gained notoriety in late 2011 by refusing to steal anything other than iPhones. He stopped several muggings, sometimes at gunpoint, upon learning that his potential victims carried cell phones from other companies. <ref>[http://www.bwog.com/2011/12/09/see-cu-on-abc-on-tv/]</ref>

The incidents took on additional drama due to [[Public Safety]]'s clueless characterization of his loot as I-Phones, IPhones and I-phones (but never iPhones, until 2013).

The iThief has left no public clues about whether he is an Apple fanboy or hater. While he may simply have a strong aversion to Android phones, his actions could also be calculated to harm the market share of iOS. His moral code could result from either a craving for iPhones or a perception of Apple users as elitists who deserve to be mugged. His relationship with Segata Sanshiro (a Japanese man who similarly assaults Nintendo fans on behalf of Sega) is unclear.

The iThief was a minor character in the opening scene of [[The_Corporate_Core_(118th_Annual_Varsity_Show)|V118]]. He is currently at large.

== Aborted capers ==
{| border="1"
! scope="col" | Date
! scope="col" | Location
! scope="col" | Loot
! scope="col" | Notes
|-
| 11/21/2011
| Broadway & 114th
| n/a
| Demanded an iPhone; left when he was told there was no iPhone. [http://www.columbia.edu/cu/publicsafety/rob114112111.pdf]
|-
| 11/12/2011
| Broadway & 114th ([[brownstone]] lobby)
| n/a
| Gracefully returned two smartphones upon learning they were not iPhones, then left. [http://bwog.com/2011/11/15/attempted-robbery-on-114th-street/]
|-
| 10/25/2011
| Broadway & 116th (inside [[Pinnacle]])
| 15" Macbook Pro w/SSD
| Grabbed a laptop, but returned it to a student when caught. [http://bwog.com/2011/10/26/robbery-in-front-of-adp/ in comments]
|}

== Greatest capers (incomplete list) ==
{| border="1"
! scope="col" | Date
! scope="col" | Location
! scope="col" | Loot
! scope="col" | Notes
|-
| 11/19/2013
| Riverside Dr. & 112th
| unspecified model iPhone
| Jumped out of the fucking bushes! [http://bwog.com/2013/11/18/recent-close-scary-crime-alert/]
|-
| 10/25/2011
| Broadway & 114th
| unspecified model iPhone
| With a partner, this time! [http://images.bwog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/102511rob114st.pdf]
|}

<references></references>

IBandit

2013-11-19T06:40:20Z

Peterawnislowspatsy: Redirected page to IThief

#REDIRECT [[iThief]]

Ibandit

2013-11-19T06:39:28Z

Peterawnislowspatsy: Redirected page to IThief

#REDIRECT [[iThief]]

IThief

2013-11-19T06:38:38Z

Peterawnislowspatsy:

''The title of this article, ''iThief,'' begins with a capital letter due to the technical limitations of WikiCU.''

The [[iThief]], or [[iBandit]], is the person or persons responsible for selectively robbing Columbia students of their iconic Apple products. Thefts of iPhones are more or less a national phenomenon due to the popularity of the device and its high fencibility.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/26/nyregion/an-iphone-is-stolen-then-restolen.html</ref><ref>http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nypd-thefts-smartphones-ipads-prevalent-cash-criminals-turn-focus-electronics-article-1.987406</ref> However, the iThief is a uniquely Columbian character, having gained notoriety in late 2011 by refusing to steal anything other than iPhones. He stopped several muggings, sometimes at gunpoint, upon learning that his potential victims carried cell phones from other companies. [http://www.bwog.com/2011/12/09/see-cu-on-abc-on-tv/ ]

The incidents took on additional drama due to [[Public Safety]]'s clueless characterization of his loot as I-Phones, IPhones and I-phones (but never iPhones, until 2013).

The iThief has left no public clues about whether he is an Apple fanboy or hater. While he may simply have a strong aversion to Android phones, his actions could also be calculated to harm the market share of iOS. His moral code could result from either a craving for iPhones or a perception of Apple users as elitists who deserve to be mugged. His relationship with Segata Sanshiro (a Japanese man who similarly assaults Nintendo fans on behalf of Sega) is unclear.

The iThief was a minor character in the opening scene of [[The_Corporate_Core_(118th_Annual_Varsity_Show)|V118]]. He is currently at large.

== Aborted capers ==
{| border="1"
! scope="col" | Date
! scope="col" | Location
! scope="col" | Loot
! scope="col" | Notes
|-
| 11/21/2011
| Broadway & 114th
| n/a
| Demanded an iPhone; left when he was told there was no iPhone. [http://www.columbia.edu/cu/publicsafety/rob114112111.pdf]
|-
| 11/12/2011
| Broadway & 114th ([[brownstone]] lobby)
| n/a
| Gracefully returned two smartphones upon learning they were not iPhones, then left. [http://bwog.com/2011/11/15/attempted-robbery-on-114th-street/]
|-
| 10/25/2011
| Broadway & 116th (inside [[Pinnacle]])
| 15" Macbook Pro w/SSD
| Grabbed a laptop, but returned it to a student when caught. [http://bwog.com/2011/10/26/robbery-in-front-of-adp/ in comments]
|}

== Greatest capers (incomplete list) ==
{| border="1"
! scope="col" | Date
! scope="col" | Location
! scope="col" | Loot
! scope="col" | Notes
|-
| 11/19/2013
| Riverside Dr. & 112th
| unspecified model iPhone
| Jumped out of the fucking bushes! [http://bwog.com/2013/11/18/recent-close-scary-crime-alert/]
|-
| 10/25/2011
| Broadway & 114th
| unspecified model iPhone
| With a partner, this time! [http://images.bwog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/102511rob114st.pdf]
|}

<references></references>

IThief

2013-11-19T06:31:19Z

Peterawnislowspatsy: can't corner the iThief

''The title of this article, ''iThief,'' begins with a capital letter due to the technical limitations of WikiCU.''

The [[iThief]], or [[iBandit]], is the person or persons responsible for selectively robbing Columbia students of their iconic Apple products. Thefts of iPhones are more or less a national phenomenon due to the popularity of the device and its high fencibility.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/26/nyregion/an-iphone-is-stolen-then-restolen.html</ref><ref>http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nypd-thefts-smartphones-ipads-prevalent-cash-criminals-turn-focus-electronics-article-1.987406</ref> However, the iThief is a uniquely Columbian character, having gained notoriety in late 2011 by refusing to accept anything other than Apple devices. He stopped several muggings, sometimes at gunpoint, upon learning that his potential victims did not carry iPhones. [http://www.bwog.com/2011/12/09/see-cu-on-abc-on-tv/ ]

The incidents took on additional drama due to [[Public Safety]]'s clueless characterization of his loot as I-Phones, IPhones and I-phones (but never iPhones, until 2013).

The iThief has left no public clues about whether he is an Apple fanboy or hater. His moral code may result from a perception of Apple users as elitists who deserve to be mugged. He could simply have a strong aversion to Android phones, or his actions might be calculated to increase Android's market dominance over iOS. His relationship with Segata Sanshiro (a Japanese man who similarly assaults Nintendo fans on behalf of Sega) is unclear.

The iThief was a minor character in the opening scene of [[V118]]. He is currently at large.

== Aborted capers ==
{| border="1"
! scope="col" | Date
! scope="col" | Location
! scope="col" | Loot
! scope="col" | Notes
|-
| 11/21/2011
| Broadway & 114th
| n/a
| Demanded an iPhone; left when he was told there was no iPhone. [http://www.columbia.edu/cu/publicsafety/rob114112111.pdf]
|-
| 11/12/2011
| Broadway & 114th ([[brownstone]] lobby)
| n/a
| Gracefully returned two smartphones upon learning they were not iPhones, then left. [http://bwog.com/2011/11/15/attempted-robbery-on-114th-street/]
|-
| 10/25/2011
| Broadway & 116th (inside [[Pinnacle]])
| 15" Macbook Pro w/SSD
| Grabbed a laptop, but returned it to a student when caught. [http://bwog.com/2011/10/26/robbery-in-front-of-adp/ in comments]
|}

== Greatest capers (incomplete list) ==
{| border="1"
! scope="col" | Date
! scope="col" | Location
! scope="col" | Loot
! scope="col" | Notes
|-
| 11/19/2013
| Riverside Dr. & 112th
| unspecified model iPhone
| Jumped out of the fucking bushes! [http://bwog.com/2013/11/18/recent-close-scary-crime-alert/]
|-
| 10/25/2011
| Broadway & 114th
| unspecified model iPhone
| With a partner, this time! [http://images.bwog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/102511rob114st.pdf]
|}

<references></references>

Haakon's Hall

2013-09-15T04:36:00Z

Peterawnislowspatsy:

'''Haakon's Hall''' is a bar on [[Amsterdam Avenue]] between 118th and 119th Streets. Drinks are slightly pricey at $4-7, but the beer+shot $7 special isn't bad.

Haakon's is a major [[GS]] hangout due to their secret policy of letting [[veterans]] drink for free on Thursday nights. It also attracts [[Law]], [[Business]] and [[SIPA]] students due to its location, though it's not as packed as its prime spot would indicate, giving the bar a low-key vibe. Haakon's has a jukebox and plays "dadrock" constantly.

The concept of the bar seems to change slightly every year or so; Haakon's originally emphasized wine and upscale food, then became a cheaper bar, then closed their kitchen, then re-opened their kitchen, and added a pool table? Whatever. The self-proclaimed "proprietor" of Haakon's is charmingly eccentric. If you see a wasted, homeless-looking guy sulking outside the bar after 12pm, that's him. The bar is named after his son Haakon, who also works there.

Haakon's almost certainly loses tons of money because it's never full. Columbia lets them stay anyway because they fear re-attracting a violent bar like the previous tenant or [[Amsterdam Lounge]]. The bar is closed on Sundays and frequently doesn't open when the owner has other stuff to do. When Haakon's is open, last call is around 12am.

== How the hell do you pronounce Haakon's? ==
Probably Hawk-ons. But Hack-ons is fun to say too.

== Radio Perfecto ==

The former tenant, '''Radio Perfecto''', was a 'New American' restaurant. The crowd tended to get rowdy in the early AM hours on weekends, and it was even the scene of a murder. <ref>http://www.columbiaspectator.com/?q=node/28400</ref> The food was generally disgusting, though it was hard to tell because few students returned after the first one or two tries. Apparently, the crab cakes were always a high point. However, the waiters were ''very'' moody.

== Radio Perfecto shooting ==
<gallery>
Image:Shooting1.jpg
Image:Shooting2.jpg
</gallery>

== References ==
<references/>

== Map ==
<googlemap lat="40.808385" lon="-73.959757" type="map" zoom="16" width="500" height="300" controls="small">
40.808385, -73.959757, [[Radio Perfecto]] ('New' American)
</googlemap>

== External links ==
* [http://167.153.150.32/RI/web/detail.do?method=detail&restaurantId=40998853&inspectionDate=20060313 Current violation points: 17]
* [http://www.menupages.com/restaurantdetails.asp?areaid=0&restaurantid=5193&neighborhoodid=0&cuisineid=0 Menu]

__NOTOC__
[[Category:American restaurants]][[Category:Bars]]

Haakon's Hall

2013-09-15T04:32:13Z

Peterawnislowspatsy:

'''Haakon's Hall''' is a bar on [[Amsterdam Avenue]] between 118th and 119th Streets. Drinks are slightly pricey at $4-7, but the beer+shot $7 special isn't bad.

The concept of the bar seems to change slightly every year or so; Haakon's originally emphasized wine and upscale food, then became a cheaper bar, then closed their kitchen, then re-opened their kitchen, and added a pool table? Whatever. The self-proclaimed "proprietor" of Haakon's is charmingly eccentric. If you see a wasted, homeless-looking guy sulking outside the bar after 12pm, that's him. The bar is named after his son Haakon, who also works there.

Haakon's almost certainly loses tons of money because it's never full. Columbia lets them stay anyway because they fear re-attracting a violent bar like the previous tenant or [[Amsterdam Lounge]]. The bar is closed on Sundays and frequently doesn't open when the owner has other stuff to do. When Haakon's is open, last call is around 12am.

Haakon's is a major [[GS]] hangout due to their secret policy of letting [[veterans]] drink for free on Thursday nights. It also attracts [[Law]], [[Business]] and [[SIPA]] students due to its location, though it's not as packed as its prime spot would indicate. Haakon's has a jukebox and plays "dadrock" constantly.

== How the hell do you pronounce Haakon's? ==
Probably Hawk-ons. But Hack-ons is fun to say too.

== Radio Perfecto ==

The former tenant, '''Radio Perfecto''', was a 'New American' restaurant. The crowd tended to get rowdy in the early AM hours on weekends, and it was even the scene of a murder. <ref>http://www.columbiaspectator.com/?q=node/28400</ref> The food was generally disgusting, though it was hard to tell because few students returned after the first one or two tries. Apparently, the crab cakes were always a high point. However, the waiters were ''very'' moody.

== Radio Perfecto shooting ==
<gallery>
Image:Shooting1.jpg
Image:Shooting2.jpg
</gallery>

== References ==
<references/>

== Map ==
<googlemap lat="40.808385" lon="-73.959757" type="map" zoom="16" width="500" height="300" controls="small">
40.808385, -73.959757, [[Radio Perfecto]] ('New' American)
</googlemap>

== External links ==
* [http://167.153.150.32/RI/web/detail.do?method=detail&restaurantId=40998853&inspectionDate=20060313 Current violation points: 17]
* [http://www.menupages.com/restaurantdetails.asp?areaid=0&restaurantid=5193&neighborhoodid=0&cuisineid=0 Menu]

__NOTOC__
[[Category:American restaurants]][[Category:Bars]]

Haakon's Hall

2013-09-15T04:32:00Z

Peterawnislowspatsy:

'''Haakon's Hall''' is a bar on [[Amsterdam Avenue]] between 118th and 119th Streets. Drinks are slightly pricey at $4-7, but the beer+shot $7 special isn't bad.

The concept of the bar seems to change slightly every year or so; Haakon's originally emphasized wine and upscale food, then became a cheaper bar, then closed their kitchen, then re-opened their kitchen, and added a pool table? Whatever. The self-proclaimed "proprietor" of Haakon's is charmingly eccentric. If you see a wasted, homeless-looking guy sulking outside the bar after 12pm, that's him. The bar is named after his son Haakon, who also works there.

Haakon's almost certainly loses tons of money because it's never full. Columbia lets them stay anyway because they fear re-attracting a violent bar like the previous tenant or [[Amsterdam Lounge]]. The bar is closed on Sundays and frequently doesn't open when the owner has other stuff to do. When Haakon's is open, last call is around 12am.

Haakon's is a major [[GS]] hangout due to their secret policy of letting [[veterans]] drink for free on Thursday nights. It also attracts [[Law]], [[Business]] and [[SIPA]] students due to its location, though it's not as packed as its prime spot would indicate. Haakon's has a jukebox and plays "dadrock" constantly.

== How the hell do you pronounce Haakon's? ==
Probably Hawk-ons. But Hack-ons is fun to say.

== Radio Perfecto ==

The former tenant, '''Radio Perfecto''', was a 'New American' restaurant. The crowd tended to get rowdy in the early AM hours on weekends, and it was even the scene of a murder. <ref>http://www.columbiaspectator.com/?q=node/28400</ref> The food was generally disgusting, though it was hard to tell because few students returned after the first one or two tries. Apparently, the crab cakes were always a high point. However, the waiters were ''very'' moody.

== Radio Perfecto shooting ==
<gallery>
Image:Shooting1.jpg
Image:Shooting2.jpg
</gallery>

== References ==
<references/>

== Map ==
<googlemap lat="40.808385" lon="-73.959757" type="map" zoom="16" width="500" height="300" controls="small">
40.808385, -73.959757, [[Radio Perfecto]] ('New' American)
</googlemap>

== External links ==
* [http://167.153.150.32/RI/web/detail.do?method=detail&restaurantId=40998853&inspectionDate=20060313 Current violation points: 17]
* [http://www.menupages.com/restaurantdetails.asp?areaid=0&restaurantid=5193&neighborhoodid=0&cuisineid=0 Menu]

__NOTOC__
[[Category:American restaurants]][[Category:Bars]]

Haakon's Hall

2013-09-15T04:30:13Z

Peterawnislowspatsy:

'''Haakon's Hall''' is a bar on [[Amsterdam Avenue]] between 118th and 119th Streets. Drinks are slightly pricey at $4-7, but the beer+shot $7 special isn't bad.

The concept of the bar seems to change slightly every year or so; Haakon's originally emphasized wine and upscale food, then became a cheaper bar, then closed their kitchen, then re-opened their kitchen, and added a pool table? Whatever. The self-proclaimed "proprietor" of Haakon's is charmingly eccentric. If you see a wasted, homeless-looking guy sulking outside the bar after 12pm, that's him. The bar is named after his son Haakon, who also works there.

Haakon's almost certainly loses tons of money because it's never full. Columbia lets them stay anyway because they fear re-attracting a violent bar like the previous tenant or [[Amsterdam Lounge]]. The bar is closed on Sundays and frequently doesn't open when the owner has other stuff to do. When Haakon's is open, last call is around 12am.

Haakon's is a major [[GS]] hangout due to their secret policy of letting [[veterans]] drink for free on Thursday nights. It also attracts [[Law]], [[Business]] and [[SIPA]] students due to its location, though it's not as packed as its prime spot would indicate. Haakon's has a jukebox and plays "dadrock" constantly.

== Radio Perfecto ==

The former tenant, '''Radio Perfecto''', was a 'New American' restaurant. The crowd tended to get rowdy in the early AM hours on weekends, and it was even the scene of a murder. <ref>http://www.columbiaspectator.com/?q=node/28400</ref> The food was generally disgusting, though it was hard to tell because few students returned after the first one or two tries. Apparently, the crab cakes were always a high point. However, the waiters were ''very'' moody.

== Radio Perfecto shooting ==
<gallery>
Image:Shooting1.jpg
Image:Shooting2.jpg
</gallery>

== References ==
<references/>

== Map ==
<googlemap lat="40.808385" lon="-73.959757" type="map" zoom="16" width="500" height="300" controls="small">
40.808385, -73.959757, [[Radio Perfecto]] ('New' American)
</googlemap>

== External links ==
* [http://167.153.150.32/RI/web/detail.do?method=detail&restaurantId=40998853&inspectionDate=20060313 Current violation points: 17]
* [http://www.menupages.com/restaurantdetails.asp?areaid=0&restaurantid=5193&neighborhoodid=0&cuisineid=0 Menu]

[[Category:American restaurants]][[Category:Bars]]

Haakon's Hall

2013-09-15T04:28:43Z

Peterawnislowspatsy:

'''Haakon's Hall''' is a bar on [[Amsterdam Avenue]] between 118th and 119th Streets. Drinks are slightly pricey at $4-7, but the beer+shot $7 special isn't bad.

The concept of the bar seems to change slightly every year or so; Haakon's originally emphasized wine and upscale food, then became a cheaper bar, then closed their kitchen, then re-opened their kitchen, and added a pool table? Whatever. The self-proclaimed "proprietor" of Haakon's is charmingly eccentric. If you see a wasted, homeless-looking guy sulking outside the bar after 12pm, that's him. The bar is named after his son Haakon, who also works there.

Haakon's almost certainly loses tons of money, but Columbia lets them stay because they fear re-attracting a violent bar like the previous tenant or [[Amsterdam Lounge]]. The bar is closed on Sundays and frequently doesn't open when the owner has other stuff to do. When Haakon's is open, last call is around 12am.

Haakon's is a major [[GS]] hangout due to their secret policy of letting [[veterans]] drink for free on Thursday nights. It also attracts [[Law]], [[Business]] and [[SIPA]] students due to its location, though it's not as packed as its prime spot would indicate. Haakon's has a jukebox and plays "dadrock" constantly.

== Radio Perfecto ==

The former tenant, '''Radio Perfecto''', was a 'New American' restaurant. The crowd tended to get rowdy in the early AM hours on weekends, and it was even the scene of a murder. <ref>http://www.columbiaspectator.com/?q=node/28400</ref> The food was generally disgusting, though it was hard to tell because few students returned after the first one or two tries. Apparently, the crab cakes were always a high point. However, the waiters were ''very'' moody.

== Radio Perfecto shooting ==
<gallery>
Image:Shooting1.jpg
Image:Shooting2.jpg
</gallery>

== References ==
<references/>

== Map ==
<googlemap lat="40.808385" lon="-73.959757" type="map" zoom="16" width="500" height="300" controls="small">
40.808385, -73.959757, [[Radio Perfecto]] ('New' American)
</googlemap>

== External links ==
* [http://167.153.150.32/RI/web/detail.do?method=detail&restaurantId=40998853&inspectionDate=20060313 Current violation points: 17]
* [http://www.menupages.com/restaurantdetails.asp?areaid=0&restaurantid=5193&neighborhoodid=0&cuisineid=0 Menu]

[[Category:American restaurants]][[Category:Bars]]

Amsterdam Lounge

2013-09-15T04:28:08Z

Peterawnislowspatsy: Redirected page to Amsterdam Restaurant and Tapas Lounge

#REDIRECT [[Amsterdam Restaurant and Tapas Lounge]]

Haakon's Hall

2013-09-15T04:25:49Z

Peterawnislowspatsy:

'''Haakon's Hall''' is a bar on [[Amsterdam Avenue]] between 118th and 119th Streets. Drinks are slightly pricey at $4-7, but the beer+shot $7 special isn't bad.

The concept of the bar seems to change slightly every year or so; Haakon's originally emphasized wine and upscale food, then became a cheaper bar, then closed their kitchen, then re-opened their kitchen, and added a pool table? Whatever. The self-proclaimed "proprietor" of Haakon's is charmingly eccentric. If you see a wasted, homeless-looking guy sulking outside the bar after 12pm, that's him. The bar is named after his son Haakon, who also works there.

Haakon's almost certainly loses tons of money but Columbia lets them stay because they fear re-attracting a violent bar like the previous tenant or [[Amsterdam Lounge]]. The bar is closed on Sundays and frequently doesn't open when the owner has other stuff to do. When Haakon's is open, last call is around 12am.

Haakon's is a major [[GS]] hangout due to their secret policy of letting [[veterans]] drink for free on Thursday nights. It also attracts [[Law]], [[Business]] and [[SIPA]] students due to its location, though it's not as packed as its prime spot would indicate. Haakon's has a jukebox and plays "dadrock" constantly.

== Radio Perfecto ==

The former tenant, '''Radio Perfecto''', was a 'New American' restaurant. The crowd tended to get rowdy in the early AM hours on weekends, and it was even the scene of a murder. <ref>http://www.columbiaspectator.com/?q=node/28400</ref> The food was generally disgusting, though it was hard to tell because few students returned after the first one or two tries. Apparently, the crab cakes were always a high point. However, the waiters were ''very'' moody.

== Radio Perfecto shooting ==
<gallery>
Image:Shooting1.jpg
Image:Shooting2.jpg
</gallery>

== References ==
<references/>

== Map ==
<googlemap lat="40.808385" lon="-73.959757" type="map" zoom="16" width="500" height="300" controls="small">
40.808385, -73.959757, [[Radio Perfecto]] ('New' American)
</googlemap>

== External links ==
* [http://167.153.150.32/RI/web/detail.do?method=detail&restaurantId=40998853&inspectionDate=20060313 Current violation points: 17]
* [http://www.menupages.com/restaurantdetails.asp?areaid=0&restaurantid=5193&neighborhoodid=0&cuisineid=0 Menu]

[[Category:American restaurants]][[Category:Bars]]

Amsterdam Restaurant and Tapas Lounge

2013-09-15T04:24:49Z

Peterawnislowspatsy:

'''Amsterdam Restaurant and Tapas Lounge''' used to be called <nowiki>"Amsterdam Cafe"</nowiki> or <nowiki>"AmCaf"</nowiki> for short, and the moniker of Amcaf continues to linger. It also used to be awesome, but now it's less awesome. You can find it on [[Amsterdam Avenue]] at 119th St.

In the days of yore prior to [[2004]], Columbia students could get pitchers of cheap beer from 6 pm until closing time, making it a hangout on par with the [[West End]], which has since undergone its own unfortunate metamorphosis into a Cuban restaurant known as [[Havana_Central | Havana Central]]. Recently unearthed [http://www.politico.com/static/PPM116_obamaessay.html historical evidence] has demonstrated that Columbia students enjoyed Am Caf at least as far back as [[1983]]. Now, the place maintains a strangely classy air, and serves overpriced (but tasty) food. The titular tapas are horribly overpriced. Drinks are unsurprisingly costly as well, but the place offers a decent happy hour deal: $6 cocktails from 3-7 on weekdays.

The lounge space remains a somewhat popular destination, especially among grad students and engineers due to its location. It hosts events on occasion, but not frequently.you have to put on neckties just to enter the damn place so you can pay $11 for a fruit-flavored martini.

The predominantly out-of-neighborhood crowd that used to frequent [[Radio Perfecto]] migrated to Amsterdam Lounge when RP closed. As such, Amsterdam is a constant source of noise complaints. And shootings.[http://bwog.com/2013/07/20/man-shot-on-amsterdam/ ]

[[Category:Bars]]

Haakon's Hall

2013-09-15T04:19:55Z

Peterawnislowspatsy: fuck yeah Haakon's

'''Haakon's Hall''' is a bar on [[Amsterdam Avenue]] between 118th and 119th Streets. Drinks are slightly pricey at $4-7, but the beer+shot $7 special isn't bad.

The concept of the bar seems to change slightly every year or so; Haakon's originally emphasized wine and upscale food, then became a cheaper bar, then closed their kitchen, and re-opened their kitchen, and added a pool table? Whatever. The self-proclaimed "proprietor" of Haakon's is charmingly eccentric. If you see a wasted, homeless-looking guy sulking outside the bar after 12pm, that's him. The bar is named after his son Haakon, who also works there.

Haakon's almost certainly loses tons of money but Columbia lets them stay because they fear re-attracting a violent bar like the previous tenant or [[Amsterdam Lounge]]. The bar is closed on Sundays and frequently doesn't open when the owner has other stuff to do. When Haakon's is open, last call is around 12am.

Haakon's is a major [[GS]] hangout due to their secret policy of letting [[veterans]] drink for free on Thursday nights. It also attracts [[Law]], [[Business]] and [[SIPA]] students due to its location, though it's not as packed as its prime spot would indicate. Haakon's has a jukebox and plays "dadrock" constantly.

== Radio Perfecto ==

The former tenant, '''Radio Perfecto''', was a 'New American' restaurant. The crowd tended to get rowdy in the early AM hours on weekends, and it was even the scene of a murder. <ref>http://www.columbiaspectator.com/?q=node/28400</ref> The food was generally disgusting, though it was hard to tell because few students returned after the first one or two tries. Apparently, the crab cakes were always a high point. However, the waiters were ''very'' moody.

== Radio Perfecto shooting ==
<gallery>
Image:Shooting1.jpg
Image:Shooting2.jpg
</gallery>

== References ==
<references/>

== Map ==
<googlemap lat="40.808385" lon="-73.959757" type="map" zoom="16" width="500" height="300" controls="small">
40.808385, -73.959757, [[Radio Perfecto]] ('New' American)
</googlemap>

== External links ==
* [http://167.153.150.32/RI/web/detail.do?method=detail&restaurantId=40998853&inspectionDate=20060313 Current violation points: 17]
* [http://www.menupages.com/restaurantdetails.asp?areaid=0&restaurantid=5193&neighborhoodid=0&cuisineid=0 Menu]

[[Category:American restaurants]][[Category:Bars]]

Haakon's Hall

2013-09-15T04:02:46Z

Peterawnislowspatsy: moved Hakkon's Hall to Haakon's Hall: Page name has been misspelled since inception

'''Hakkon's Hall''' is a restaurant on [[Amsterdam Avenue]] between 118th St and 119th St. that replaced Radio Perfecto. The owner is a bit cooky.

The former tenant, '''Radio Perfecto''', was a 'New American' restaurant. The crowd tended to get rowdy in the early AM hours on weekends, and it was even the scene of a murder. <ref>http://www.columbiaspectator.com/?q=node/28400</ref> The food was generally disgusting, though it was hard to tell because few students returned after the first one or two tries. Apparently, the crab cakes were always a high point. However, the waiters were ''very'' moody.

== Radio Perfecto shooting ==
<gallery>
Image:Shooting1.jpg
Image:Shooting2.jpg
</gallery>

== References ==
<references/>

== Map ==
<googlemap lat="40.808385" lon="-73.959757" type="map" zoom="16" width="500" height="300" controls="small">
40.808385, -73.959757, [[Radio Perfecto]] ('New' American)
</googlemap>

== External links ==
* [http://167.153.150.32/RI/web/detail.do?method=detail&restaurantId=40998853&inspectionDate=20060313 Current violation points: 17]
* [http://www.menupages.com/restaurantdetails.asp?areaid=0&restaurantid=5193&neighborhoodid=0&cuisineid=0 Menu]

[[Category:American restaurants]]

Hakkon's Hall

2013-09-15T04:02:46Z

Peterawnislowspatsy: moved Hakkon's Hall to Haakon's Hall: Page name has been misspelled since inception

#REDIRECT [[Haakon's Hall]]

Isaac

2013-09-10T02:22:55Z

Peterawnislowspatsy:

Isaac is a [[School of General Studies]] hosted social network for GS students. It's like Facebook, but boring and with the administration watching. It was created by [http://www.targetx.com/ TargetX] using the [http://www.ning.com Ning] social networking platform around 2010 or so. Isaac is nearly identical to its sister site [[Storybook]] except the contents & membership are permanent.

As of 2013, Isaac has 856 members and attracts several new posts per year. Common sense would dictate that Isaac should merge with the far more active Storybook, but GS Student Life takes pains to prevent all but the most <s>dishonest</s> enthusiastic Orientation Leaders from discussing the GS experience with prospective students.

Isaac is named after [[Isaac Asimov]], an alumnus of [[Seth Low Junior College]] and the University Extension (both precursors to [[General Studies]]).

== External Links ==
* [http://isaac.gs.columbia.edu http://isaac.gs.columbia.edu]

[[Category:Websites]]

Isaac

2013-09-10T02:22:43Z

Peterawnislowspatsy:

Isaac is a [[School of General Studies]] hosted social network for GS students. It's like Facebook, but boring and with the administration watching. It was created by [http://www.targetx.com/ TargetX] using the [http://www.ning.com Ning] social networking platform around 2010 or so. Isaac is nearly identical to its sister site [[Storybook]] except the contents & membership are permanent.

As of 2013, Isaac has 856 members and attracts several new posts per year. Common sense would dictate that Isaac should merge with the far more active Storybook, but GS Student Life takes pains to prevent all but the most <s>dishonest</s> enthusiastic Orientation Leaders from discussing the GS experience with prospective students.

Isaac is named after [[Isaac Asimov]], an alumnus of [[Seth Low Junior College]] and the University Extension, both precursors to [[General Studies]].

== External Links ==
* [http://isaac.gs.columbia.edu http://isaac.gs.columbia.edu]

[[Category:Websites]]

Isaac

2013-09-10T02:21:51Z

Peterawnislowspatsy:

Isaac is a [[School of General Studies]] hosted social network for GS students. It's like Facebook, but boring and with the administration watching. It was created by [http://www.targetx.com/ TargetX] using the [http://www.ning.com Ning] social networking platform around 2010 or so. Isaac is nearly identical to its sister site [[Storybook]] except the contents & membership are permanent.

As of 2013, Isaac has 856 members and attracts several new posts per year. Common sense would dictate that Isaac should merge with the far more active Storybook, but GS Student Life takes pains to prevent all but the most <s>dishonest</s> enthusiastic Orientation Leaders from discussing the GS experience with prospective students.

Isaac is named after [[Isaac Asimov]] an alumnus of [[Seth Low Junior College]] and the University Extension, both precursors to [[General Studies]].

== External Links ==
* [http://isaac.gs.columbia.edu http://isaac.gs.columbia.edu]

[[Category:Websites]]

Isaac Asimov

2013-09-10T02:13:18Z

Peterawnislowspatsy:

'''Isaac Asimov''', [[General Studies|GS]] '[[1939|39]] [[PhD]] '[[1948|48]], was best known for his science fiction, though he famously wrote in every category of the Dewey Decimal system except for philosophy. He is arguably the most touted GS alumnus (see: [[Isaac]]) despite the fact that he graduated from a GS [[Seth Low Junior College|predecessor school]] and not GS proper.

He ultimately packed off for [[Boston University]], which he liked better, to the surprise of virtually no GSer.

==External Links==
* [http://c250.columbia.edu/c250_celebrates/remarkable_columbians/isaac_asimov.html Asimov's "Columbians Ahead of Their Time" page]

[[Category:Class of 1939]]
[[Category:Class of 1948]]
[[Category:Chemistry majors]]
[[Category:General Studies alumni]]
[[Category:GSAS alumni]]

Isaac Asimov

2013-09-10T02:13:03Z

Peterawnislowspatsy:

'''Isaac Asimov''', [[General Studies|GS]] '[[1939|39]] [[PhD]] '[[1948|48]], was best known for his science fiction, though he famously wrote in every category of the Dewey Decimal system except for philosophy. He is arguably the most touted GS alumnus (see: [[Isaac]]) despite the fact that he graduated from a GS [[Seth Low Junior College|predecessor school]] and not GS proper.

He ultimately packed off for [[Boston University]], which he liked better to the surprise of virtually no GSer.

==External Links==
* [http://c250.columbia.edu/c250_celebrates/remarkable_columbians/isaac_asimov.html Asimov's "Columbians Ahead of Their Time" page]

[[Category:Class of 1939]]
[[Category:Class of 1948]]
[[Category:Chemistry majors]]
[[Category:General Studies alumni]]
[[Category:GSAS alumni]]

Isaac Asimov

2013-09-10T02:12:01Z

Peterawnislowspatsy:

'''Isaac Asimov''', [[General Studies|GS]] '[[1939|39]] [[PhD]] '[[1948|48]], was best known for his science fiction, though he famously wrote in every category of the Dewey Decimal system except for philosophy. He is arguably the most touted GS alumnus (see: [[Isaac]]) despite the fact that he graduated from a GS predecessor school and not GS proper.

He ultimately packed off for [[Boston University]], which he liked better to the surprise of virtually no GSer.

==External Links==
* [http://c250.columbia.edu/c250_celebrates/remarkable_columbians/isaac_asimov.html Asimov's "Columbians Ahead of Their Time" page]

[[Category:Class of 1939]]
[[Category:Class of 1948]]
[[Category:Chemistry majors]]
[[Category:General Studies alumni]]
[[Category:GSAS alumni]]