The Columbia College Student Experience: What questions do you have?

Most of the world uses firefox, at least in business. Not supporting firefox as a browser is horrible! I am not going to downgrade my broswer and my computer life for Oasis, this is just too much to ask. The college seems to have so many piece-meal systems and software that do not speak to each other that I have to bookmark all sorts of pages for every little thing....nothing is coordinated for information....!

Hello! : )

I have had a great move in experience, thank you! : ) The only suggestion I would have is advice on how to go about forming my create posse. Otherwise everything else is going great, thanks! : )

Need to find your classes? Read one of our entries from the New Student Guide

How do I find my classes?
So you’re a little confused in the big city of Chicago. Not a problem, we were once too. Luckily, one of our Weeks of Welcome events, conveniently entitled “Find Your Classes”, will help you do just that! All you have to do is meet September 2nd at the 623 South Wabash, Room 311 and the Orientation Leaders will help you figure it all out. If you can’t make it, check out the student handbook, which conveniently has all of the building codes listed and should make the experience a lot easier. There is also www.colum.edu/buildingcodes, a wonderful website for you rapscallions looking for the tech solution!

If you are looking to change your major, stop by or call the College Advising Center at 312.369.7645 or visit www.colum.edu/advising. All of the college advisors can help let you know what you'll need to take in any of the majors you're looking for.

For books! Bring your schedule to Columbia's bookstore. They will have all the books set up based on course names, numbers, and schedules. They will be able to help you find all the information you need.

You can also go to their website here: www.columbia.bkstr.com. Click on "Find Your Textbooks and Course Materials". Have your schedule and course information ready and it will take you straight to all of the books you need!

I know from attending orientation that I am an extreme minority at Columbia, an older student. I am 59 and orientation, except for registering for classes and lunch, simply did not relate to me. Week of Welcome sounds really nice for a single young person, but what about an older student with obligations of work and family? I appreciate my college advisor but there is no way he can relate to my situation and circumstances, he's too young. Everyone is too young at this college but it is one of the very few that offer my major as a degree, ASL-Interpreting.

I would be glad to work with others to help form a program for older students.

Barbara

Yeah... There are five questions for the pole, but no answers. I voted, "How to find out what books to get for my classes" and still I don't know what books I need.

How do I know what books to purchase for class?

Hey I'm switching my major but I don't know what classes to take for freshman year. What are the classes I should take for marketing communication?

My parents bought me and my brother a lot of cool yet expensive things for move-in day, but when we showed up to our dorm room thinking we would have a secure place to but out new stuff, we discovered that the bedrooms in the apartment didn't have a key, so you can't lock and unlock the door from the outside. I wish we would have known that in advance so we wouldn't have spent all of that money, but other than that the apartment's great.

I'd like the comment on the disappointing scheduling of the welcome week events in relation to when we receive our U-Passes.
Unless I'm confused we do not receive our U-Passes until at the earliest September 4 and they will not be activated until September 8. This seems a little inconsiderate, especially to those of us who live off "campus". Being required to attend "Connections" and " Convocation" would not be so frustrating with an activated U-Pass.
Keep in mind that we are college students. Many of us have taken out multiple loans and favors in order to attend this college. Our budget limits may not allow for a lot of extra traveling.
Yes it is possible to cycle, walk, or drive to these events, but considering the cost of tuition I would hope that Columbia would take into account the benefit of distributing and activating our U-Passes during welcome week. Not only to easily find transportation to required events but perhaps to learn the train and bus schedules the week prior to classes.
I am very excited to attend Columbia and proud to call it my school, but I have thus far been met with some frustrating situations.

Where is there a pool i can swim laps in?

Being a off campus student is kinda frustrating when you are not from Chicago, but i would like to have had just a little help finding a place around the school. Find some kind of off campus affordable places. And also a little more help with financial aid. Not having to call back to different representatives and having different number thrown at you *which is what happened to me*. And having more bilingual representatives so those who do not speak English very well can understand better. This would help a lot. Thanks for taking your time on helping others.

For me, the orientation was a little... disorienting. There was a lot of information and music going, but somehow the important things were lost. For example: instead of registering for classes, I was trying to get my transfer credits approved towards my major. Since the professor was approving classes for about 30 students all at once, it was pretty much a mad house. When I finally got a few credits approved, everybody else was done registering and I was just starting. Of course this means I got the very last picks and half the classes I wanted were full. I think being clearer that students are there to register and that they only need a transfer credit approved if it is a prerequisite may be an improvement to the current system. Otherwise it can be frustrating for both professor and student. I still have to get the other half of my credits transferred, but it wasn’t until later did I discover that isn’t urgent and registering is. Also, Group 1,2 and 3 is not near as effective as say group Green, Blue, and Purple. The leaders could then be associated by the color of their shirts. Trying to remember their name and faces and then setting them apart from all the other people you are meeting is actually a lot harder in practice then in theory. I lost my group pretty much right away and missed a few events because of it.

Thanks so much for listening and considering. Overall I had a good experience at orientation, I met some students, and I feel welcome at Columbia. There are just a few things I would have done differently had I the information before hand.

I've been trying to find out what books I need for my classes. One teacher has already e-mailed the class and told them that the books were listed on the Oasis class page. I checked, they were there, so I clicked around the other class pages, but none of them had been updated yet. I keep checking back to see if there is any activity, but alas, there is none. My question is if there is a page on the website somewhere that lists the classes and what books are needed for each, or should I just assume that those classes don't have any books for them.

Thanks!

(Oh, I also e-mailed the remaining teachers who haven't updated their pages, and none of them have gotten back to me yet.)

I guess my only question/comment would be whats the quickest way to get from class to class. For example, i have a class that ends at 10:20 in "TC", and i have to be all the way at "C" by 10:30. Is it possible to walk and get there in time, especially during the winter?. Then after that class, somehow manage to go to the UC, grab a quick bite to eat, and then run to another class back on the south side. I think if we had an activity where RA's helped students pin-point what the best way to do all this is, whether it be by bus or a quick walking route, it would be a HUGE help. Thanks!