Undergraduate / "school pride that I had back at home" - Why Columbia [4]

Please edit harshly- thanks!

Please tell us what you find most appealing about Columbia and why:

When our taxi dropped us off in Morningside Heights and we walked onto the Columbia campus, I was amazed- I tripped on the steps of Low Memorial Library because I was too busy looking around. Then, as we listened to an admissions counselor, one thing interested me in particular: the core curriculum. Going to a small, Catholic, girl's school for the past six years, I am able to talk to my friends of every grade level- rant or obsess over books we read, topics we discuss in religion class, and the like. Intimidated at first by the sheer size of the school, the fact that I could maintain the same togetherness and school pride that I had back at home astonished me and was one of my biggest deciding factors in choosing to apply to Columbia. If that weren't enough to dispel any doubts I had with moving across the country, my tour guide, an alumnus from a local school, assured me that, although we stem from Southern California, the weather truly was not that bad- I would survive. In addition, the biggest allure is the location. Being students in a city where art, fashion, culture, finance, business, and media are constantly influenced, there are endless opportunities for pursuing a career and trying to network; there is no place more effective and rewarding to study and to learn about the world. I believe that if I put in the extensive work and effort I intend to, Columbia will help me become a worldly, experienced, focused person; in short, there is no place I'd rather be.