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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

There is no Core Curriculum, housing is segregated off campus, and they don't guarantee meeting full financial need - hints of its odd backdoor status at Columbia. [/quote]

What a bizarre post.

We were not &quot;segregated&quot; (and why use such a loaded term that has such a negative connotation?).  As I explained in my previous post, many 3/2 students lived in a Columbia owned apartment building converted to dorms on Riverside Dr. with a great view of Riverside Park. My suite-mates were mostly grad students from all different parts of the University -- History PhD candidate , a poet in the school of Journalism, SIPA, Harriman Institute, architecture. It was a great experience. I would hardly consider this &quot;segregated.&quot;  I did not feel at all isolated and I'm sorry if that was your experience.  Where would you expect the school to put us --- the freshman dorms on campus?  That would be ridiculous because we were essentially seniors by the time we got to Columbia having completed 3 years at another school.  I was very happy with the housing situation and I was even able to make friends with some of those who went through the front door (but perhaps they took pity on me for my &quot;backdoor&quot; status).

Yes, there was no Core Curriculum requirement. But that was the point.  We were at Columbia for the Engineering school.  The three years I spent at the small, liberal arts state college gave me plenty of opportunity to take &quot;Core Curriculum&quot; required classes (in fact, I was required to take Western Civ, humanities, history, music..).

What schools guarantee financial aid?  In any event, I applied for aid and got student loans like everyone else.

I am thankful to this day for this &quot;backdoor&quot; opportunity to attend and get a degree from Columbia.  If my entry through the backdoor offends you, then it seems like you have a problem.
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Columbia guarantees meeting full financial need and no loans to all other CC and SEAS students. Other transfer students to Engineering take the required half of the Core because its the centerpiece of the Columbia undergraduate curriculum and academic community/experience. And, segregated means that they are not housed with any other CC and SEAS students.

I applaud the students who go through the program. My complaint is more with Columbia SEAS and its partner colleges using 3-2 as a marketing tool and revenue source.  If SEAS believed in the program, it would &quot;integrate&quot; it with the rest of the undergraduate program and standards and use part of Columbia's $9B endowment to support it. [/quote]

&quot;If SEAS &lt;&lt;believed&gt;&gt; in the program...&quot;  What exactly is it you are trying to say?  The 3/2 program was not make-believe, it was real.  Are you trying to say that there is little value in attending the Columbia SEAS 3/2 because SEAS uses it as a revenue source and doesn't give full financial aid to the 3/2 students?  Again, this is bizarre.

Yes, it is true, we were housed with other 3/2 students and grad students.  But, so what?  I spent a large amount of time with other SEAS students in class and out of class.  Why is the fact that we didn't live with them such big deal.  In fact, I recall being acquainted with several SEAS students who commuted to the school from other parts of the city.  What you don't seem to get is that we already had 3 years of college under our belts, effectively making us Seniors.  How many students still live in dorms when they are Seniors?

With respect to the Core, of which you obsess, once again I will repeat that all of us 3/2 students spent THREE YEARS getting a liberal arts education -- i.e., three years of humanities, arts, etc. along with our science classes (mine was Physics).  We did not go to columbia for the Core, we went for the Engineering.  Why does that not compute with you?

One last point, the ENGINEERING eduction I received at Columbia was no different than the one received by the &quot;normal&quot; SEAS students.  For two years, we 3/2 students and the &quot;normal&quot; SEAS student suffered through class TOGETHER.  The 3/2 students more than held their own against the &quot;normal&quot; SEAS students.  When I attended, the Electrical Engineering Honor Society (Eta Kappa Nu) was led by two 3/2 students (me being one of the two).

Would I have loved to have received more direct financial aid?  Yes.  But, the fact that I didn't and the fact that I had to find a Work-Study job, didn't lessen my experience (if anything, my Work-Study job assisting the Math department manage its computer network gave me great work experience).

Are you a CC grad who doesn't like the fact that my diploma says Columbia University, but I never took the Core?
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