#I’m gonna start a series of food related college essays

[the-broken-pen]

I suffered a mental break after writing like eighteen college essays and wrote the newest one about a bagel and I just call it college essay bagel and it haunts me but like objectively it’s funny because it’s about a bagel you know? And my English teacher is gonna throw a book at my head when she finally reads it

[officialcolumbiauniversity]

20 Questions I Get Asked on Every Tour

I’ve been postponing publishing any IPs lately because I was very adamant on finishing this one; I forgot to post it as a logical sequel (or pre-quel) to my 20 Questions to Ask on a Tour post. If you don’t want to scour my Previously Asked tab for the answer to one of your questions, this post is for you. So, without much flourish, here we go: My Most Frequently Asked Questions.

What the fuck is the Core and how do I avoid it? Well the Core takes up about a third of all the classes you ever take here so you’d be hard pressed to find a way to avoid it. Also, the Core is highkey the only thing that makes Columbia truly unique, rather than just rare, among all other American colleges, so I have no idea why you would want to come here if you don’t like the Core. And for what the Core is, you should definitely check out our website for a good definition as well as a list of all the Core classes. However if you want a one stop shop for my experiences with the classes, right here is a link to my Core in Review series, where I write a one-pager about each Core class as I take it, along with tips to help you ace the class.

Do people generally live on campus and stay on the meal plan all four years? Yes. About 95% of students live on campus all 4 years, and idk the statistic for the meal plan, but it’s also high. We have great food. (This girl on one of my tours was raving about our dining hall after I took the group through; she was like “I’ve been on so many tours and none of the cafeterias smell as good as that one smelled.” Damn right.)

What’s up with stress culture here? Are students happy here? Check out my response to an anon’s ask here.

How supportive are students here of each other? Kind of linked to stress culture. I’d say students are about as collaborative as at any other college. The standard “omg thank god I’m not the only one who didn’t do the reading,” mild academic dishonesty floating around, and lots of study sessions completely organized by students. Yeah everyone here is super aware of the fact that everyone’s stressed so we help each other out. It’s cute.

Why did you choose Columbia? I did in fact already post about that (and other reasons you should come here!) in this ask.

Is it hard to get into classes, as a freshman but also in general? Eh, it depends. For the most part freshmen get into most of the classes that they want to take, but classes fill up quickly, and if you have a rubbish registration time, you might not get there in time. Some classes, like Music Hum, you just won’t be able to get into as a freshman unless you explicitly stated a major related to that class on your application. After freshman year, getting into classes gets easier because of seniority, but even then there are classes you just won’t take. Self-Paced Running has a waitlist that you’ll never get off of. Even in 8 semesters.

What’s up with the phys ed requirement, and the swim test? I am one hundred percent sure the admissions officer giving the information session talk puts you guys up to this, because someone asks it on every tour without fail. Check out this post for the full story, history and all, about the swim test.

What’s the most touristy thing you’ve done in New York since coming to Columbia? Honestly, most Columbia kids never do touristy shit even if they’ve never been to New York before, just because one, we don’t have time, and two, word gets around pretty quickly that it’s a huge waste of time. However, as a tour guide I give night bus tours of the city to the admitted students for Days on Campus, so that’s the most touristy thing I’ve done. Especially when I don’t have to actually give the tour, because another tour guide is doing that, and I can just sit and watch 5th Avenue and Times Square and the Empire State building fly by.

Can you double major in CC and SEAS? You can study two things in CC and two things in SEAS, but you can’t study two majors across colleges. You can, however, minor or concentrate across colleges.

Where should I go for lunch? Glad to hear you’re staying in the city for a while! Check out my post on places to eat (and bars) nearby. My personal fave is of course Strokos.

How hard is it balancing [two majors]/[major requirements and a pre-professional track]/[academics and social life given everything that you do]? The main thing I tell people is that it’s not so much a whole lot of extra work; after all, I’d end up taking the same amount of classes over my four years, it’s just a question of whether or not those classes are electives or for a second major. So balancing two majors, or academics in general with social life, isn’t so much a strenuous intellectual task as it is just a time-management one. You have to get really good, really quickly, at prioritizing what you want to do and when you’re gonna do it, otherwise you’re just not going to succeed. In whatever you’re trying to do. I didn’t believe this for a long time: at the beginning of high school, my dad had the foresight of forcing me to complete a daily timetable before I got to start on my homework. I, however, would do it as infrequently as possible. I preferred to just do my homework for as long as it took me, forgetting that I tended to go on Facebook during that time, and I would end up wasting a whole lot of time. But doing a lot academically means you have to schedule your time really well. Which I learned the hard way, first semester freshman year. I won’t be making that mistake again, if I can help it.

Is the orchestra hard to get into? Weird that someone asks this on almost every tour. But no, not at all. If you’re competent on your instrument you should be able to get a position. The question is whether you want a good seat: we have a habit of attracting all the Juilliard people that didn’t want to go to conservatory for four years, and Exchange students are allowed in our orchestra, so positions like concertmaster are wicked competitive.

How hard was it to get used to the city? Especially coming from suburbia? It’s hard to say either way. For those of you who have been followers for a while, you know that only this summer (summer after freshman year) did I really start going out into the city of my own volition. For most of the year I didn’t take the initiative that the city requires of people that come here, because there’s so much to do. I was very afraid of getting lost, because it was easy to get lost in my city back home and I also never went exploring back then. I just assumed I would have everything I needed at school and didn’t go to any of the events around the city. The part that was easy getting used to was definitely the layout of the city; I really appreciate the grid structure. I think in some regards it’s very easy to get a handle on NYC, and in some regards you never get used to it. I don’t think anyone ever “gets used to” NYC, we just kinda appreciate what we can do here.

What did you do in high school that you think prepared you both for college and for Columbia’ application process? I did IB in high school, so I credit most of my academically smooth transition to college to IB. It was invaluable both in college-level rigor and in subject material, because a lot of the classes I took this year were exactly the same as the classes I took in IB. And for things like Crime and Punishment, or organic chemistry as a subject, the only way you really understand it is if you let it stew for a year or two and then come back to it to relearn it. So I was definitely at an advantage there. For the application process, I definitely devoted a lot of my time to writing the essays, and although I didn’t have them peer-edited I re-read them myself, letting them sit for a few weeks and then coming back to them with fresh eyes. I think I was best prepared for the standardized tests because I took my first SAT spring of sophomore year, which I really recommend. You don’t really have time to study for the SAT as properly during junior year.

What’s your least favorite thing about Columbia or one thing you wish you could change? That for all of our talk of letting you do your own thing, I’ve found a surprising amount of people shaming me for not being into literature. I appreciate how much literature shapes modern society but I don’t particularly want to read Foucault in my spare time. And yet I get a lot of heat for not being familiar with philosophers, or not having read certain books like Invisible Man. Columbia’s full of intellectuals, but that community tends to foster faux-intellectuals that want to police everyone’s opinions and beliefs. I also?? don’t fucking like that our school is highkey problematic but I have managed to not hear about any of it. I didn’t know what gentrification meant until the beginning of this summer, but Columbia seems to not be worried at all that we’re displacing people of color who live here just because we’re wealthy, and then not telling us about it. (But there’s also a whole lot problematic with the definition of gentrification, and I don’t see much discourse on it.)

What’s being pre-med like? Tbh it’s pretty non-noticeable. I think for a lot of students being pre-med is less about preparing for med school and more about being able to say that you’re pre-med. Besides the actual classes we have to take I don’t see a whole lot of unity or similarities between pre-med students. Which might definitely be a good thing, because we’re all such individual people that there’s a wide variety. It’s pretty nice here in that you can just decide to be pre-med by taking all the required classes, you don’t have to “declare” you’re pre-med or apply into a program or anything. I honestly think being pre-med is the least of my problems right now. The hard part comes when you have to prepare for the MCAT, or get internships, and our offices are good at getting you internships but I haven’t seen much about MCATs. Of course, I by no means am in a hurry to study up on the MCAT yet.

Do you find yourself going out into the city often (as a pre-med student, or as a double major, or both)? I personally definitely don’t go out a lot. And I’m always inclined to say on tours that it’s just a me problem, but the reality is that I often feel guilty going out because I know there’s so much to be done back home. With my particular situation, being a double major in demanding fields, I can’t really afford to have fun in the city the way I dreamed when I was applying to a New York school. So I try not to get FOMO when I have to do the chem homework that I didn’t get to do because I was behind on CC readings because I had to finish up a music composition.

What’s the freshman orientation week like? Let me break it down for you.

Oh you just finished freshman year? How did you like your first year on campus? Beat you to that one too.

What do you know about [insert certain major or program here]? One of the best inventions of all time is the motherfucking Internet, which you should use because I am not a walking version of the Columbia website. I’m just a tour guide. We have a Bulletin that lists all our majors and actually lists the classes required to get a degree in each. Check it out here.

And that should be twenty entire questions. :)

It’s good to be back, guys. Hopefully I can get back into the swing of posting IPs now that summer classes are almost done. I am really looking forward to going home again, really, really looking forward to going home again. And I’m looking forward for school to start up again. And who knows? I might move in early, in time to catch some of you at NSOP. Just maybe.

[loveandra0314-blog]

Tweets!

All my tweets since August 29th, 2016

Currently renewing my unhealthy obsession with Harry Styles. Seniors- have a fun year knowing that all the people older than you in school get to sleep in on Mondays If it comes in rose gold, I own it Lol @ seniors who think they're the shit All of my stories start with "well first of all, bitch" I love myself. Thought you ought to know. When your roommate is THE SAME DISNEY PRINCESS AS YOU My mom keeps sending me pictures of her food Still in summer mode Drew some nice pics of myself getting electrocuted in math today I can literally find someone on the Internet in .002 secs with just a first name, but tell me to hand in my assignment online and I'll die LOOK AT THE LITTLE HEART #GreysAnatomy GREYS FOOTBALL AND HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER TONIGHT IS THE NIGHT If you live tweet next weeks Criminal Minds season premiere, I'll report you for emotional abuse I have not lost my voice, my voice just doesn't like me so she moved out. I send my parents paragraphs and hundreds of pictures of school and I am repaid with one word sentences and blurry pictures of my dog. I come home to find that my parents literally did everything they could to conceal everything that has anything to do with me in my room ALSO MY BATHROOM SMELLS LIKE CLEANING FLUID AND I KNOW DAMN WELL IT SMELLED LIKE "sweet peony" WHEN I LEFT Anthony's favorite hobby is absolutely roasting people on the Hudl app MUZZ WAS SO EXCITED TO SEE ANTHONY THAT HE PEED ON THE COUCH On a scale from 1-10 of brokenness, I'm a $34.72. I'm really proud of myself because I finished 1/8 of an essay that's due on Thursday #overachiever Btw, Anthony replied to my hint with pictures of his papa I know it's the law... But could the train maybe not blow the whistle 6 times through a campus of sleep deprived college kids????? Spagetting to know you Julia and I are in bed watching a movie and wondering why it's so loud... ITS 8:00 PM But how the f is it October in like 2 days We're over here acting like its the damn ice age I've been coughing all over everyone and everything and IM A TERRIBLE ROOMMATE IM SO SORRY WTF "5 Crazy" I love you, SVU Women before us fought to have the right to vote - don't take that for granted #VOTE My bed is absolutely COVERED in pillows, blankets, wires, school supplies, clothes and Tide pods etc… This woman started vaping and then another woman told her to stop, and now they are full on screaming at each other. ON THE COMMUTER RAIL. Guys, this clown thing is REAL I'm having a hard enough time sleeping without all these inconsiderately loud people outside my building clown hunting The dangerous part about college is going back to your bed in between classes WORDS LITERALLY CANT DESCRIBE HOW EXCITED I AM FOR BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. Belle is my Disney princess and Emma Watson is my all time favorite actress I'm crying Constantly waiting for the 12th of each month so I can have some data You can now get a life sentence for animal abuse. Justice. When your roommates make fun of you for complimenting an absolute FIRE selfie of yourself <<<< SUNDAY SHOPPING SPREE I fcking love candy corn You don't understand... our school and social lives have to fit around the voice and grey's. Sometimes my hand slips and I accidentally share something to my Facebook page We're gonna miss you #ThanksPapi It would be fun to me Harley Quinn for Halloween, but I refuse to be one of "those girls" Never be afraid to be yourself!! Happy National Coming Out Day everyone Julia and I have been watching Netflix in bed for 5 hours. COME BE OUR FRIENDS OMG Tmlt I fcking love Evan Peters and AHS Netflix for dayyyyyyzzzz May god bless you and may your eyebrows be forever on point Dear very high people in the hall, please talk even louder! And continue to walk around in your underwear! Please! I'm DYING. As soon as josh got home he immediately told everyone not to ask any questions about the dance My baby brother is almost 14 and he's like a foot taller than me and his voice is deeper than my dad's My little brother got a 30 yrd touchdown and 40 yrd run Mo and Julia are asleep and I'm just laying here laughing my ass off Literally the worst thing in the world is realizing you have a hole in your leggings Backless dresses are just so incredibly beautiful I love them The girls are asleep and I am laughing like a fcking psycho. What's new? Sorry that I retweet a lot, I just feel like sharing the things I find awesome or funny are worth making your day too I love reconnecting I have heart failure walking to class when I start to hear a longboarder behind me Cookies and Gilmore Girls with my babes It's 11:00 and we're trying to sleep pls enforce quiet hour or I will Julia and I suck at life so we put it on the internet. #relatable "Omg have you seen @JeffreeStar new black highlighter?" "Isn't that just a sharpie?" NO JULIA IT IS NOT A SHARPIE I love late night phone calls with my man Rewatching greys is my fave thing to do Meeting guy friends at college is easy until you bring up your boyfriend I told everyone in my kindergarten class that I was a boy. So, surprise everyone idk what that was about Life update: the heater in our room is making loud, evil noises. This started yesterday and has not stopped. This heater needs medical attention I am honestly concerned for this heater's health. She's clearly leaking or dying or something College is not being able to afford a stapler and the professor refusing to collect unstapled papers. Derek Shepherd has been setting unrealistic expectations since 2005. Feliz Dia de Los Muertes! I'm so excited for Beauty and the Beast I'm actually crying. Real tears. I'm seeing it MINIMUM 10 times in theaters "THIS MEAT IS SO RAW A GOOD VET COULD SAVE IT" Anthony wutttttttt No Makeup November JULIA AND I ARE CRYING (not happy tears) The sun rose this morning and it will rise tomorrow morning My dad has had a variation of the same car since 1995 "You are SO loud" "I just don't care" lol k Anthony Scooby doo I cried twice today, first because I watched the Beauty and the Beast trailer, the second time was when I re-watched the trailer. My dream job is when it's always Friday Also no makeup November is going swimmingly, I may never wear makeup everyday ever again All the bathrooms on my floor are being cleaned and I've been holding my pee for an hour and a half. Can I be someone's creepy older prom date this year? I had some real good coffee this morning and I feel absolutely fantastic, this may be a new me Anthony is snapchatting me live from his room where his roommate is keeping him captive and asking deep questions about life College is being awake at 11pm which is just enough time to squeeze in a few more episodes of greys before 12 COLLEGE IS BEING AWAKE AT 12:30am BUT THERES ONLY ONE MORE EPISODE IN THE SEASON Hobbies include: coughing loudly and rudely when I pass people who are smoking When I'm actively trying to not laugh my ass off at stupid stuff because roommate Just a reminder to be careful and safe this holiday season I want a pretty case because the life proof one is too much but I can't afford a new phone sooo.... TMI: I threw up all over a bathroom stall today. I warned you. My professor shaded me in front of the whole class. I don't have room for embarrassment because I high key gained so much respect. Savagery Hahaha at least my eyebrows are fleeky The weather today is less than ideal. Julia made a tinder and then promptly deleted it when she saw an attractive man. THIS IS WHY. THIS IS WHY. True friends snapchat from across the room If the wifi would stay connected, I wouldn't run out of data every month The temperature was in the single digits today and I honestly don't know how I've ever been able to live like this for so long There is a full on absolutely raging party down the hall from my room. 24 hour quiet hours what College made me addicted to tums Sleep is great, but have you ever watched Netflix? Prof almost made us stay past the two hours like... fuck you thought?? Oh annnnnnd I woke my ass up at 7:00 this morning to get a waffle AND THEY HADNT PUT THE STATION OUT YET Why does my brother constantly ask what we got him for xmas?? Like we're not telling you and if we did your xmas would be ruined Trying to save up...but Sephora I can't even put into words how sad I am about Carrie Fishers passing. Rest In Peace. Someone get me on the slopes Can't stop won't stop crying at the Beauty and the Beast trailer. What did I do to deserve this Every time I lose a snapchat streak, I die a little on the inside I'm such a daddy's girl tbh Setting that 4 am alarm is absolutely killer Hey at least the Cubs won the World Series in 2016 Thought about making a resolution to go to the gym and eat green stuff, but I'm just gonna do me, eat cookies and walk occasionally Tmlt- moral: be happy, and do what makes you happy I really just slept until 5pm Traveling through Hoth in my damn Jetta was fun I should have just skied home from work smh These are the days that I wish my dad's Outback was automatic. Smh I share a bathroom w two teenage boys. There is a pile of underwear in the corner that grows +2 every day.