Columbia University, Getting In - FAQ

There's a reason why I put this as my last post on Columbia. Columbia University is a great school with a great campus. Now what, this blog entry will cover all the FAQ's. You shouldn't worry about the dues, set goals for yourself. If you like Columbia, then go for it! No need to quit trying just because your financial status.
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What sorts of grades/scores do I need?
Keep your grades up as high as you can. Grades are a big part of getting into college. Make sure you practice test-taking, studying, and stuff that would prepare you for college.

Do your parents have to be rich?
Not at all!

Scholarships
There are all sorts of scholarships available. From A-Z. There are scholarship directories available online. Not all scholarships would pay for your entire fees. Just work hard, and get involved in your community. If those "rich people" understand that you are a positive influence to their community, you could get scholarships to help you pay off your tuitions.

Financial Aid (FAFSA)
If you or your parents can't afford it, you can also apply for Financial Aid (FAFSA) and pay off your dues when you make enough money to afford it. Many students use FAFSA, and it's not anything to be dishonored.

Is the neighborhood outside Columbia safe?
Yes. Mostly, yes. Just make sure to be near the campus and don't go too far up north. Columbia University is by Harlem. And although Harlem is reconstructing itself and converting into a better community, there are still many violent people who you wouldn't want to be around with. Columbia University is in the Morningside heights neighborhood of Manhattan. I've heard of safe-havens in big restaurants and places around columbia. If you were to ever feel un-safe, just walk into a restaurant, and tell them your situation. They would usually keep you inside and get you help.

What's the party status in Columbia?
It depends in what dorm buildings you reside in and what floor. Some RA's are really cool, and let you have your fun, usually give students a curfew though. If you're not into dorm party's, remember, you're in New York! Take your friends out and have fun.
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I hope these FAQ's helped. Columbia University might not be for you, and that's okay. Look into CollegeWalk some more, and you might find the university that does fit you.

Student Union Center

Alfred Lerner Hall
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lernerhall/

The Student union center of Columbia University is known as Lerner Hall. It has seven floors to hang out, use computers, go to events, and even has a health center called "Ask Alice!" in the building in which students can get condoms, birth control, and pamphlets on student's health. Columbia University's Lerner Hall has many quiet spots where students can hang out and do homework, use the computer, go to events, etc. Once a year they have an event called Glass House Rocks where there are dancers on the ramps, and loud music playing. If you want free food, Lerner is the way to go. There are always events in Lerner that provide free food. My mom works at Lerner so I have access to that building, and when I do go there, students often offer me pizza due to leftovers, or no one going to their events. Lerner is a really cool place. It has two computer labs, one in the second floor and one in the third floor. By Lerner, there is also a Barnes&Nobles in the basement. Students often hang out down there and read books. Lerner is so cool, it has its own website. Click here to go to Lerner Hall's website.
Lerner hall is an interesting architecture at Columbia. There are some Columbian students who don't like Lerner's structure in Columbia. Many people would say that Lerner pops out. Columbia University is mostly a latin/roman/greek styled campus. Click here to read about the development of Alfred Lerner Hall.



Lerner Links:
Lerner's Page
Glass House Rocks on school newspaper
Glass House Rocks 2008 on CTV
Alfred Lerner on Wikipedia

Columbia University #Sport Center

Dodge Fitness Center is the name of Columbia University's sports center. The sports mascot at Columbia is the Lion. Although Columbia university is in the city, it has an interesting gym. The sports center is located underground and has a gym, pool, and floor levels only going further down into the earth. Maybe even hit China. There is an indoor field track which surrounds the gym. Students and faculty have access to the Dodge Fitness Center.

Columbia University #General

Columbia University
http://www.columbia.edu/

Columbia University is a private university located in the city of New York. The student union center is named Alfred Lerner Hall. In that building a lone, there is two cafes/restaurants. Cafe 212 and Ferris Booth Commons. Lerner Hall provides public express computers around campus buildings which students can hop on and check email/etc.

Logo + Banner are done!

Yup. I finished the logo and banner, they are up and running. Feel free to send in your own graphics and I might put them up.

I am sick today, deciding whether or not to go to school. I do my best not to miss school or classes. Yesterday, I was going to stay home, but I changed my mind last minute and when I got to school that wise-guy drama teacher stopped me even though he let the people in front of me go upstairs. My patience towards people drop when I'm sick. Throughout second period I had to stay in the lunchroom, I hate his guts now, he let his students/friends go up with a warning. I'm usually never late, infact, I've recently been arriving at school at 2 hours early. My advisor did not see me the whole day, so my parents got a phone call.

I'm hoping that today is a better day than yesterday, and get some work done. I should have listened when I was told to wear my coat this weekend :(

I lied

Okay. I lied. Five days ago I said that I will be writing about Columbia. I've been working on the blog. I am in the process of making a spiffeh banner for CollegeWalk. I run on a Mac, if anyone would like to donate for an adobe photoshop/flash use paypal at the bottom of the page. I started on the banner this morning, should be done by tonight, tomorrow the latest. I'm just posting to let you guys know that I'm still here and working on it, and I have not abandoned this blog.

College Search

It's never too early. Today, our class is starting themes for our blogs. My theme is College research. This blog targets teenagers who are interested in going to college. If you don't want to go to college, and become a rapper, then this website isn't for you. Each blog post will focus on one college.

I am fourteen years old and I live in NYC. I am considering applying to Columbia, Cornell, Boston University, Virginia Tech, and NYU. I have a high knowledge of Columbia University, so I will start with Columbia, expect a blog entry tomorrow about Columbia University.

TechDeck Fingerboard

I got hooked. You might have heard of or seen these skateboards for your fingers. Well, that's hip at school. I decided to see what all the fuzz was about, and I can see why. Although I can agree with people that TechDeck is a fun product at only $2.99 a piece, I feel as if it can be addicting. I bought three, and can tell that this is replacing the toy car we all used to play when we were little, hot-wheels and that sort of crap.

I did notice though a funny feeling I received when I saw the video tutorials on the TechDeck website. When it was explaining how to ollie, it got to me how they jumped over their other fingerboards. One can ollie nearly over anything. I was trying to practice over my mouse, and that is fine. Do we really need to BUY more fingerboards to have fun? Could the videos be a sign telling people to "Get more Tech Deck"?

This is an example of sending messages to consumers which are not verbal. There are many corporations which try hard to express their products positively, that it becomes extremely noticeable. This research I did influenced me in analyzing products from other sorts of communication.



Why should I "COLLECT THE DECK". And why is your font and layout so attractive and appealing towards young adults?

Back from camp

Time now is Monday, 6:45 AM.

I had fun. On Saturday, we went rock climbing. Not that kind of rock climbing that you have to tie yourself up. It was basically walking and leaping over big stones up a mountain. It was kinda slippery because it was very cold that night and it had rained, so some spots were shining ice. Overall, it was fun, just tiring. That same night we played laser tag in the woods.

Today, my shoulders hurt, I slept on a couple of rocks, my group should have chosen a better spot for our tent. I'm not going to stress about it though. I think I should be in a good mood this morning, maybe slight signs of tiredness. Today is a high of 48F and a low of 31F.

Am I prepared for Gym?, I don't know yet.

Homework and Camping

Math, Global and English (SO FAR). My math teacher was not here, she still managed to give us a worksheet for homework. I have to design a European Cathedral/Castle inside and out. And for English, we have to read a ten-page story and do a worksheet.

I am going camping later today out in Jersey. I'm not coming back until Sunday afternoon. It is however, going to be fun! On camping trips, my troop usually plays Lazer tag, or infrortration out in the woods. For Lazer tag, we rent a set which includes a gun and an armor. Whoever looses the lives, loose. We go around through the woods in teams. For Infortration, one person must have a strong flashlight and guard a tree. Then, people have to get to the tree and say infrortration. If they get caught, they have to back to a base. Camping is a lot of fun in my Troop.

Today afterschool, I might quickly go to Toys-R-Us to get some finger-boards. After that, I am going to my brothers house, his friend send him some Belgum chocolate which I really want to try. After that, it would be time to go home and pack, pack, pack.

Wish me luck on the homework!

Balance

I got a 97.7% in my progress report yesterday for Algebra. It is hard to balance classes especially during a time in which one tries their best to raise one class. I failed Math last semester, that means summer school. Now, this semester, I have raised my Math grade very dramatically. Other class grades however, have been going down. How do people balance classes, when one tries so hard to bring one up, do the others must go down? Four pages of math a day, then where is the motivation to do the others? I did get an award for "Most Improved" in Math. Which, I can say that I'm proud of.

This year I've had my schedule switched many times, and it is hartd to adjust. For example, if one day it's really cold outside, and the next day, its really hot people are wearing white-t's outside, people are bound to get sick due to the temperature changes. Many changes can be harmful. I'm experiencing this through my grades. Hopefully, I will manage to get all the grades equivalent to what I want.

I made a deal this summer with my stepmother, any computer that I want if I finish the year with a good grade (atleast a B). I am trying hard to get through this phase of switches and get the grades I want. But, my question is, when will it be time to adjust, and get the grades I want? Is this fair?

March 12, 2008

Well, this is my first entry. You can call me Brandini, I am a mac user, get online for about 4-5 hours a weekday. I am 14 years old attending high school in NYC. I lived in the city all my life.

Today in school, I had a test in Algebra which I checked about three times to make sure its correct. I'm pretty confident on that test. I did some extra work for 10 points extra credit, so I am feeling good about the test.

Soon after, I had a quiz in Global which I know I failed due to the fact that I don't study Global and we reviewed them after the quiz, thats when I remembered all the proper answers.

At the moment I'm enjoying my favorite class and writing my first blog entry. In this class, I've learned much more about M. Word and Gmail, even though I was a prior Gmail user. In this class, I've also learned many photography techniques and uploaded some photos which I took onto Flickr, feel free to check them out.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/brbrandini/