columbia college (Chicago, Urbana, Harvard: high crime, neighborhoods, theatre)

[binarybelle]

I wasn't asking.

[skipcromer]

Originally Posted by binarybelle

I wasn't asking.

Whoops! Sorry, I meant the OP.

[eevee]

Originally Posted by EyesInTheSky

In academic circles, Columbia College does *not* have a strong reputation. If you hope to attend a really good, top-tier graduate school after your undergraduate degree, you'd have a very difficult time getting admitted with a degree from Columbia, regardless of your grades. By far the best two schools in the immediate Chicago area are Northwestern and the University of Chicago; these two schools are in a class by themselves compared to all other Chicago-area schools. The next tier down are the University of Illinois at Chicago, Depaul, Wheaton, Loyola, and perhaps IIT. The next tier down include a bunch of small schools such as Elmhurst, North Central, Lewis, and so on, along with perhaps Northeastern (a public school). I'd place Columbia at even the next tier down and at the lowest tier of accredited schools in the Chicago metro area. However, I'm sure Columbia has its supporters and they probably will rebut my opinion. But my advice to you is if you're thinking of moving across the country to attend college in Chicago, there are many schools to choose from that have a much stronger reputation than Columbia.

well, I'll be completely biased, given that I currently attend Columbia, and disagree w/ you. I moved here from Boston to attend Columbia and have yet to regret the decision. no, it doesn't have the academic prestige of schools like NYU, Emerson, or Depaul, however, it's a different type of school from these. Columbia is an art and media school, so pulling in students w/ creative talents is more important than pulling in students that aced their SAT's, for example. the school is open admission, which is good and bad: good because, again, if you have the talent, but didn't have the best GPA in high school, it wouldn't hold you back; bad b/c it seems like a lot of kids, thinking that open admission=easy as hell come to find out that some of the classes are actually hard. not to say the school is a last choice option for kids w/ bad grades; there are kids here that excelled in high school and chose to come to Columbia (and unfortunately, there are kids who really shouldn't be in college going here, though these tend to get culled as the semester move on due to the work load)

as for what happens after you graduate from Columbia, yes, you can get into a grad school w/ a degree from Columbia. I know a couple of fiction writing majors that are going to grad school at Emerson or other schools. put in the work and effort, and you'll find something

I think the local reputation of Columbia is pretty good. the school holds a lot of major events throughout the year including Manifest (where students perform and show off their work at the end of the year and where famous musicians have performed) and Story Week (week long panels w/ visiting authors, many local, but some, like Junot Diaz, who are well renowned). so it's not some little-heard-of school of poor repute

it really depends on what your major is. I can't speak for any other major other than my own, but I'll say that my department is fabulous. is it the best in the nation? no, but I'm fine w/ that. if you have in interest in music and can get into Julliard, go to Julliard. if you're interested in film and can get into the film school at UCLA, go to UCLA. likewise, if you want to act and can get into the drama school at NYU, go to NYU. but you may find that Columbia has what you're looking for or that the "name brand" doesn't matter much.

I suggest you do some research and decide on what you want, in particular to your major. one of the main reasons I chose Columbia was b/c they offered a BFA in writing (didn't find many schools that offered those). as mentioned, there are a ton of threads about Columbia if you search for them. I'd tried to come out for a visit if possible also

[whatsthebigdeal]

they have an excellent film school... and that is about it.

[vcuhoney]

Thanks!
Well currently my major is Marketing/Advertising, but i'm very artistic. I like that major but i want to get into a more artistic major. I have always been very interested in Film (i want to direct music videos, && get the best of both worlds), but i also like to write and i've written 6 or 7 plays/scripts although they are unofficial, but friends have told me that they were very good. So i want to get into writing screen plays or fictional writing, like writing for TV sitcoms and such. The current school i go to, the admissions were OPEN. Alot of people give my college slack because locally it has a good reputation, but nationally it's one of those schools nobody heard of, but probably the school your doctor graduated from. LOL. I originally went to be a physical therapist (to appease my parents), and ended up doing poorly. Due to my low GPA because of all the chemistry/bio i have taken that i hate, i've decided that i want to pursue my own goals and i searched and searched and from the outside Columbia looks like a great school. Are there any alumni or current students who can tell me about job opportunities after graduation, or internships and job opportunities while in school? Thanks!

[whatsthebigdeal]

they are going to move the film department in a huge multimedia studio on 18th street by next spring. I have several friends at Columbia. The film school is just blossoming, especially cinematography, though everyone I know is a directing major. I have heard bad things about the writing side of the school, especially when it comes to fiction and screenwriting, but hey, I don't go there, so I wouldn't know. But, it seems like if you are going into film than the time is now to attend.

[EyesInTheSky]

BinaryBelle & Eevee: Sorry, I didn't mean to sound excessively harsh about Columbia, and I figured my comments would meet with some rebuttal. But if this person is looking at uprooting their whole life and moving across the country to attend school in Chicago, I think it fair to give them the perspective of someone who's worked in and around major research universities for most of their life, as I have.

I've always viewed Columbia as something of a trade school, heavily skewed toward the performance arts, film, TV, radio, writing, and so forth. However, if a student is willing to relocate across the country to study such things, I'd hope you'd agree there are much stronger universities where such training can be obtained that have far better academic reputations than Columbia. I don't doubt there are some Columbia grads that found good jobs in Chicago media, but this students long-term prospects will be stronger if they choose a school with a better academic reputation, especially in such highly competitive fields. I'm not claiming a Columbia degree will be worthless, only that the huge investment in time and money this student will be making could be better invested elsewhere.

Note to the original poster: If the VCU in your screen-name denotes Virginia Commonwealth University, actually I have heard of your school! (And you might consider that VCU actually has a far stronger national reputation than Columbia College in Chicago.)

[jlawrence01]

VCUHoney,

After a year in your chosen field, NOONE will really care where you attended school. They'll be far more concerned with what you can do with the knowledge and skills that you picked up along the way.

For example, VCU has a pretty strong reputation for medical related fields. (I spent a couple of years at MCV.) However, once you get your license from the state of Virginia to practice, noone cares if you were educated at VCU, VSU, or UVa.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by EyesInTheSky

In academic circles, Columbia College does *not* have a strong reputation. If you hope to attend a really good, top-tier graduate school after your undergraduate degree, you'd have a very difficult time getting admitted with a degree from Columbia, regardless of your grades. By far the best two schools in the immediate Chicago area are Northwestern and the University of Chicago; these two schools are in a class by themselves compared to all other Chicago-area schools. The next tier down are the University of Illinois at Chicago, Depaul, Wheaton, Loyola, and perhaps IIT. The next tier down include a bunch of small schools such as Elmhurst, North Central, Lewis, and so on, along with perhaps Northeastern (a public school). I'd place Columbia at even the next tier down and at the lowest tier of accredited schools in the Chicago metro area. However, I'm sure Columbia has its supporters and they probably will rebut my opinion. But my advice to you is if you're thinking of moving across the country to attend college in Chicago, there are many schools to choose from that have a much stronger reputation than Columbia.

It's kind of irrelevant what Columbia's reputation is in academic circles because it's not really an academic school. It's more of an arts and media vocational school. It's Columbia's reputation in those circles that matters.

[whatsthebigdeal]

Originally Posted by EyesInTheSky

BinaryBelle & Eevee: Sorry, I didn't mean to sound excessively harsh about Columbia, and I figured my comments would meet with some rebuttal. But if this person is looking at uprooting their whole life and moving across the country to attend school in Chicago, I think it fair to give them the perspective of someone who's worked in and around major research universities for most of their life, as I have.

I've always viewed Columbia as something of a trade school, heavily skewed toward the performance arts, film, TV, radio, writing, and so forth. However, if a student is willing to relocate across the country to study such things, I'd hope you'd agree there are much stronger universities where such training can be obtained that have far better academic reputations than Columbia. I don't doubt there are some Columbia grads that found good jobs in Chicago media, but this students long-term prospects will be stronger if they choose a school with a better academic reputation, especially in such highly competitive fields. I'm not claiming a Columbia degree will be worthless, only that the huge investment in time and money this student will be making could be better invested elsewhere.

Note to the original poster: If the VCU in your screen-name denotes Virginia Commonwealth University, actually I have heard of your school! (And you might consider that VCU actually has a far stronger national reputation than Columbia College in Chicago.)

Obviously you have never worked anywhere in LA where half the people who claim to be from Chicago usually went to COlumbia. It is a school that teaches you to work in the film industry. To hell with research and academics, all the students I've talked to get real jobs out of school, at least those I have met from the film department. If you want to learn meaningless film theory class than something like University of Chicago would be more apt, but if you want to actually pick up a camera and shoot, and shoot correctly, and shoot to get the attention of those in the media business, than go to Columbia. Of course, I am not sure how it goes with other departments, I just know that the film department is more than competant preparing students for careers in the LA based film industry. I know this because when I was out there I kept running into them.