Classes

A vast array of classes is available for prospective students to attend while visiting campus during the academic year; you may obtain a list of available fall semester classes at the Visitors Center. Class visits conclude for the spring semester on Monday, April 30.

If you are interested in visiting a class, you must first check in at the Visitors Center. After you have received approval to sit in on a class, you will receive a class visitation ticket. You must report to the class at least five minutes prior to the start time and you are expected to stay for the entire duration of the class. Please note that class visits are for prospective students only.

Fact

Interviews are not required for admission and cannot be requested.

Lunch Visits

Lunch visits are available only to high school seniors in the fall semester. This one-hour experience offers the prospective student an opportunity to learn more about Columbia over complimentary lunch with current students and a small group of other prospective students in either John Jay Dining Hall or Ferris Booth Dining Hall.

Lunch visit dates for the fall 2012 semester will be posted in August. Please check back at a later date for more information.

Overnight Visits

Overnight visits are available only to high school seniors in the fall semester. The one-night experience offers the prospective student an opportunity to learn more about Columbia by staying with a first-year student host and shadowing an evening in the life of a real Columbian.

Overnight visit dates for the fall 2012 semester will be posted in August. Please check back at a later date for more information.

If you already know a current Columbia undergraduate student, we encourage you to make your own arrangements to stay with them. You do not need to notify the admissions office of your arrangements, as Columbia does not track prospective student visits.

Interviews

Interviews are not offered on campus and are not required for admission. Volunteer members of Columbia's Alumni Representative Committee (ARC) conduct interviews throughout the world from October through February every year on behalf of the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. However, because we have a finite number of alumni volunteers to interview the many thousands of candidates who will apply for admission, we are unable to grant interviews to all of our applicants and can provide absolutely no guarantee that an interview will be available in any given area.

Please note that:

• Interviews will be offered only in the area where your high school is located; if you have finished high school and are no longer nearby, an interview will not be available to you.
• The earlier you submit your Common Application and Columbia Supplement to The Common Application, the better your chances are for an alumni interview.
• If the Alumni Representative Committee is able to offer you an interview, you will be contacted directly by an ARC member.
• Please note that interviews are conducted only by Alumni Representative Committee members, are not offered on campus and are positively not a requirement for admission.

Candidates who are not offered an interview are not at any disadvantage in the admissions process. Because the actual assignment of interviews is not conducted by the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, we respectfully ask that you do not call or write to inquire about receiving an interview. You will be contacted directly between the months of October and February if an interview is available in the same area as your high school.

Access

For more information on wheelchair accessibility on our campus, please call the Office for Disability Services at (212) 854-2388.

For More Information

Feel free to contact the Visitors Center at (212) 854-4900 for additional information.