Columbia considers expanding undergraduate enrollment by up to 20 percent

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, no way my kid would go to that activist, crime ridden, hellhole.

They should be able to get to classes without daily protesters taking over the campus and possibly having events like their graduation disrupted.

Any other IVY or top 30 school is better than this place.

It's still like that?

It is locked since last year: locked gates all around campus. It is much quieter with fewer protestors as a result, but it makes it feel a bit claustrophobic

[Anonymous]

As a Columbia alum I will not be recommending my kid apply there. There are many amazing professors and courses to be sure. But the administration runs it like a business, there’s no supportive campus culture, and the rabid activism has always been a problem, long before the recent issues of the last 2 years. The alumni are not supportive of one another.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Columbia was already bursting at the seams before the expansion of its undergraduate student body. Students struggle with housing, campus cafeteria,and enrolling in required classes. Not a pretty picture. Columbia is probably a school for undergraduates to avoid amid the current, continued, and upcoming choas over at least the next several years.

As a poster up thread asked: "steering competition away from your DC?"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cornell has indeed had a lot of problems recently, but it is pretty crazy that the Ivies haven’t expanded in so long. Basically anything under a 25% admissions rate is suspect, in my book. The demand is there. The kids are qualified. The schools have a tax exemption because they have a mission to educate. Why not expand? Because your desire to maintain the prestige of a low admissions rate is somehow more important than your mission of educating qualified students??

But can they find "qualified" professors or is it going to be TAs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, no way my kid would go to that activist, crime ridden, hellhole.

They should be able to get to classes without daily protesters taking over the campus and possibly having events like their graduation disrupted.

Any other IVY or top 30 school is better than this place.

It's still like that?

It is locked since last year: locked gates all around campus. It is much quieter with fewer protestors as a result, but it makes it feel a bit claustrophobic

So a Yale?

[Anonymous]

Looks like Columbia is doing okay on the academic front.

https://clarivate.com/highly-cited-researchers/

This annual list recognizes researchers whose contributions have demonstrated broad and significant influence in their fields.

Analysts from the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) at Clarivate recognized 6,868 individuals with 7,131 awards* from more than 1,300 institutions in 60 countries and regions. The rigorous evaluation and selection process draws on data from the Web of Science Core Collection, and uses quantitative metrics and qualitative analysis to identify individuals whose work has had a genuine, global influence on their fields.

The list offers valuable insights into the global landscape of top research talent and identifies trends across countries, regions and institutions. The United States is the world leader, while Mainland China and the United Kingdom maintain their respective second and third positions on the list.

List of United States institutions

1. Harvard 234
2. Stanford 148
3. MIT 95
4. Univ of Washington 65
5. Univ of Pennsylvania 62
6. Columbia 60
7. Univ of Cal- Berkeley 59
8. Univ of Cal- San Diego 58
9. WashUStL 53
10. Univ of Cal- Los Angeles 52
11. Yale 50
12. Cornell 49
13. Johns Hopkins 39
14. Univ of North Carolina 38
15. Northwestern 38
16. Univ of Maryland 32
17. NYU 31
20. Princeton 30
21. Duke 27
22. Univ of Texas- Austin 27
23. Caltech 24
24. Univ of Cal- Santa Cruz 25
25. UChicago 25
26. Univ of Michigan 23
27. Univ of Colorado 19
28. Univ of Pittsburgh 20
29. Univ of Southern California 20
30. Rice 17
31. Boston University 15
31. Northeastern 15
31. Ohio State 15
31. Penn State 15
32. Vanderbilt 14
33. Univ of Cal-Irvine 13
34. Univ of Cal- Santa Barbara 13
35. Univ of Illinois 13

[Anonymous]

How is that going to work in terms of access to housing, access to classes, etc.? To me that just makes it sound like campus housing is tougher to find and it’s harder to get into classes that will now have more students.

No, thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2025/11/21/columbia-considers-expanding-undergraduate-enrollment-by-up-to-20-percent/
The University plans to finalize a decision by the time it releases early admissions results mid-December.

Make sure your DC applies to Columbia this year.

Make sure DC does not apply. This is a sinking ship.

There are only two schools: an ivy school, or a non-ivy school.

You probably still need stats to get in even after 20% expansion.

If that makes you feel better. Columbia GS has a 40% acceptance rate

Columbia General Studies is designed for older, non-traditional students. It has non-degree programs too, that are revenue makers-Columbia College undergrad acceptance rate for the class of 2029 was 4%, same as Princeton, and slightly lower than the acceptance rate for Yale.

[Anonymous]

My DC is an undergrad at Columbia (CC) and loves it. No problems with housing (guaranteed all 4 years) and has always gotten into desired classes- though sometimes off the waitlist, if you show up the Prof makes room.

The administration's strategy is to decrease reliance on international students and part of that is decreasing graduate programs (many grad programs several T20's are more than 50% international students) and increasing undergraduates. This makes a lot of sense to me. Frankly, other schools would be wise to do the same. Do you really think the quality of the students would decline if instead of admitting 4% out of 56k applicants they admitted 6%?

[Anonymous]

Look for the stock of Amalgamated Bullhorn Corp. to go up 20%.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2025/11/21/columbia-considers-expanding-undergraduate-enrollment-by-up-to-20-percent/
The University plans to finalize a decision by the time it releases early admissions results mid-December.

Make sure your DC applies to Columbia this year.

Make sure DC does not apply. This is a sinking ship.

There are only two schools: an ivy school, or a non-ivy school.

You probably still need stats to get in even after 20% expansion.

If that makes you feel better. Columbia GS has a 40% acceptance rate

Columbia General Studies is designed for older, non-traditional students. It has non-degree programs too, that are revenue makers-Columbia College undergrad acceptance rate for the class of 2029 was 4%, same as Princeton, and slightly lower than the acceptance rate for Yale.

Except those same students take many classes along side “regular” Columbia matriculants.

[Anonymous]

So they are going to become a correspondence school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So they are going to become a correspondence school?

Wut?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2025/11/21/columbia-considers-expanding-undergraduate-enrollment-by-up-to-20-percent/
The University plans to finalize a decision by the time it releases early admissions results mid-December.

Make sure your DC applies to Columbia this year.

Make sure DC does not apply. This is a sinking ship.

There are only two schools: an ivy school, or a non-ivy school.

You probably still need stats to get in even after 20% expansion.

If that makes you feel better. Columbia GS has a 40% acceptance rate

Columbia General Studies is designed for older, non-traditional students. It has non-degree programs too, that are revenue makers-Columbia College undergrad acceptance rate for the class of 2029 was 4%, same as Princeton, and slightly lower than the acceptance rate for Yale.

For the class of 2029, Columbia undergrad was the fourth most selective program in the USA (behind only Harvard, Stanford and Cal Tech) and tied with Princeton. Even if you increase enrollment substantially, it will still be highly likely that your kid isn't getting in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Columbia was already bursting at the seams before the expansion of its undergraduate student body. Students struggle with housing, campus cafeteria,and enrolling in required classes. Not a pretty picture. Columbia is probably a school for undergraduates to avoid amid the current, continued, and upcoming choas over at least the next several years.

As a poster up thread asked: "steering competition away from your DC?"

LOL !!!

Dream on....

These are real issues at Columbia. If you need proof, just visit and speak with undergraduate students.