New York, NY · Private · 8,973 undergraduates · urban
Columbia University in the City of New York
Extremely selective
Columbia is the Ivy in New York City, but the defining undergraduate experience is not simply access to Manhattan. Columbia College students share the Core Curriculum, reading and debating many of the same works in small seminars while the city presses against the edge of campus. The combination suits students who want a common intellectual language without giving up the scale and friction of New York.
Institutional profile
Top tier Exceptional in career outcomes, and exceptional in academic standing.- Admission
- 4.2% admitted
- Price by income
- Varies across five income ranges
- Completion
- 93.1%
57,613 applicants in the reported year
Compare recent average annual costs by household income
$102,491 median earnings 10 years after enrollment
What sets Columbia apart
A shared intellectual foundation
The Core places literature, philosophy, art, music, science, and civic questions into a common undergraduate conversation.
A campus with a city outside the gate
Morningside Heights supplies a central quadrangle and residential center without separating students from New York.
Academic-year access to employers and institutions
Museums, laboratories, media organizations, hospitals, nonprofits, and companies remain reachable while classes are in session.
The Columbia combination
Common books in an uncommon city
Columbia places a prescribed seminar tradition inside a city that constantly tests its assumptions.
Enter the Core
Small seminars give students shared texts and repeated practice in argument.
Build within a chosen school
Majors and school requirements turn that foundation toward a specific course of study.
Use New York during the week
Work, research, performance, and public life extend the education beyond campus.
Can I get in?
4.2% admitted
The academic record must show readiness for demanding reading, writing, and quantitative work. The application becomes stronger when it explains why this curriculum and this city fit the student’s habits, not merely their ambition.
Recent applicant pool
57,613About 4 in every 100 applicants were admitted.
Academic range
Of admitted students, 40% submitted an SAT, and 21% submitted an ACT. Use your score when it adds strength to the application; withhold it when it does not.
In the season card
Where your GPA sits in the entering class
The full entering-class GPA distribution for Columbia, in nine bands from 4.0 down, with your own record marked on it.
See where I landIn the season card
What Columbia weighs when it reads a file
See how this college describes the role of grades, testing, essays, recommendations, activities, and demonstrated interest.
- Course rigor
- GPA
- Test scores
- Essay
- Recommendations
- Extracurriculars
- Demonstrated interest
What moves the application
The evidence that separates a strong file
Readiness for the Core
Show sustained reading, writing, discussion, or inquiry rather than invoking the curriculum by name.
A specific academic home
Explain how the chosen undergraduate school and intended fields fit work the student has already begun.
A real use for New York
Name the work, institution, community, or question the city makes possible.
Judgment under pressure
The file should show a student able to make choices amid pressure, opportunity, and competing demands.
How to apply
Rounds, route, and required materials
Columbia offers Early Decision and Regular Decision. The writing should connect the student to the Core, the chosen undergraduate school, and New York through concrete choices rather than city-name enthusiasm.
Fee waiver: accepted
Can I afford it?
Compare annual cost by household income.
Need-based aid can move the actual price far below the published total. New York living costs still deserve attention when comparing travel and personal expenses.
College funding
Scholarships and financial aid
Review available aid, application requirements, and renewal terms.
In the season card
Average annual cost by household income at Columbia
Compare recent average net prices across five federal income ranges and estimate a 4-year cost for yours.
- $0–30k
- $30–48k
- $48–75k
- $75–110k
- $110k+
Is it worth it?
Completion, debt, and earnings
The city supplies internships during the academic year as well as after it. Finance, technology, media, research, public service, and graduate study all draw heavily from the undergraduate population.
Degree completion across the reported entering cohort
First-year students who return for year two
And what that comes to against what they earn.
Reported 10 years after enrollment
Academic portfolio
Largest bachelor’s fields
How many students finish in each field, and median earnings four years after completing the program.
Computer Science
Admits separately
Economics
Political Science and Government
Research and Experimental Psychology
History
What is campus life like?
Columbia beyond the classroom
Morningside Heights provides a defined campus rather than a scattering of city buildings. Residence halls and the Core create recurring contact; the subway turns the rest of New York into an extension of the schedule.
A defined campus inside Manhattan
First-year housing clusters students close to the central campus, helping a large city feel manageable at the beginning.
Campus meals meet neighborhood choice
Dining halls handle the daily routine while Broadway, Amsterdam Avenue, and nearby neighborhoods expand the options quickly.
Organizations can operate at city scale
Publications, performance, politics, service, entrepreneurship, and cultural groups draw on both campus membership and New York institutions.
The city disperses the weekend
Residence halls and organizations create campus life, but concerts, restaurants, museums, and internships pull students into many smaller circles.
The subway changes what is practical
Students can fit museums, events, work, and professional meetings into an ordinary week rather than reserve them for occasional trips.