Columbia College
Category: Colleges & Universities [Edit]
Neighborhood: South Loop600 S Michigan Ave Fl 5
Chicago, IL 60605 (312) 663-1600
- Nearest Transit:
Roosevelt (Red, Orange & Greens)
24 Reviews for Columbia College
I just finished my first year as a product design major. Here are my general thoughts on the college.
It is an extremely liberal arts college that has an excellent geographic location. You can't get much better than downtown Chicago. The college has an open admissions policy which gives a lot of students a fighting chance at a solid education who otherwise would not be able to attend a four year institution. As with anything, you definitely will get out what you put forth. However, I think that the classes suffer because of the open admissions policy. With the exception of one or two courses I did not feel challenged enough, but the instructors were quite enjoyable. The student body is quite diverse, I was usually the oldest student in my classes, but in general they were all a very sweet bunch of kids.
Now for my one main complaint about the school. Because the classes and instructors are a bit too lax at times, I really noticed a lot of laziness from the students, which had a bit of a negative impact since I like to be challenged by all sides and would have liked some friendly rivalries when it came to presenting major projects.
The product design department had some really cool instructors and I thought that the model shop was great and run well. I have decided to transfer to a more serious design school for my own personal growth but would recommend columbia in general.
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I am a graduate of Columbia College, in fiction writing none the less, and I hate when people have such negativity about the school, because THEY chose to go to the wrong place. Columbia is all about what you produce. It's not a normal college or university where you just study and test, it's about production, making something to show for yourself, learning by doing. YOU SHOULD THINK ABOUT THIS FACTOR BEFORE YOU APPLY PEOPLE! So many think that just because it's an art's school its here to be easy. It only took me 3 years to get my degree, while I've had friends stay there for 5 1/2 cause they didn't take their work seriously. Sure there are some GenEd classes that don't at all apply to what you're trying to do, but those are classes based mainly on discussion and analitical talk, that's what they're for. The people who drop out or stay there forever are the people who aren't serious about being an artist. Save yourself the time, effort and money, go to a f**king normal school and get your business degree, cause Columbia isn't for you lazy bastards!
Update 4/26/08
Ok, so maybe it took me 4 years to complete my thesis. Hey, at least I finished, right? (And you have 5 years to complete it so I was early;))
During my oral examination I was asked to provide feedback on my grad experience at Columbia. My biggest complaint was not providing a thesis class, like most other schools do. Well, they are finally starting a thesis class in the fall of 2008! Wish they had this when I was there.
Also, faculty seriously said, "you will be receiving your diploma sometime within the next 12 months." !!??????
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I went here for grad school in the AEMM Program for Visual Arts Management. Overall it was a good experience and I'm glad I went. I narrowed down my decision between Columbia and the Art Institute. In my opinion, Columbia is more business oriented and the Art Institute is more artsy (plus everyone I talked to at SAIC was snooty, no one returned my phone calls, and it is more expensive).
+I went full-time and finished in 2 years
+Teachers are working professionals
+Networking
+The month after I graduated I found a job listing on Columbia's job site for the position I currently have (and have happily been at for 4 years--isn't this why I went here in the first place?)
-Administration is messy & fraught with miscommunication
-You have the option to take a long exam or do a thesis paper or project. Still kicking myself that I didn't do the exam (get it over with!)
Here's what I'll say about Columbia: you get out of it what you put in. I love that my teachers are professionals and I also love that I get to get real-life experience in many of my classes. I am a Performing Arts Management (AEMM) major and I love how arts-specific my classes are, while still giving me a good business background. I'm 25, so I feel like I do better in my classes because I can work independently. But, with the open admissions policy, there are a lot of really dumb kids who don't care. This keeps the classes from moving as fast as they could.
Also, super-expensive and really archaic rules about classes you have to take and how many hours you have to put in. The networking is good, but since the school is so spread out- it could definitely be better.
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This is where I started my college career way back when. This school is a fine institution that doesn't get the credit it should. I started out in the film department and from the get go, we were in there making films. Now, I chose rather to find somethign a little more stable in my life but if I had the cajone's to stay in that original direction I would of loved to complete my education there. If you're thinking of film...this is a great school to begin.
I really don't know enough about the other majors to comment on them, but if you want a master's degree in fiction writing, don't go here.
Each semester I learned the same thing. I like to tell people that what is taught at Columbia can be learned in a five hour seminar.
I was pretty excited when I started. Although, I should have known what was coming because on orientation when we filled out info on our schedules, they told me it was a two and a half year program, and online it claims to be a two year program. Like I can even afford this to begin with!
I really began to dislike the school when my program was nearing its end and I realized I didn't have a major epiphany like I expected. I was only a little better than when I started, and I attribute that to my aging and maturing.
The kicker is when I found out I was a credit short of graduating, and the adviser (who is supposed to tell you which classes to take in order to graduate) never mentioned my being short. Couldn't even do their job! So, I paid for an extra class and learned something I could have if I'd picked up a few books on the material.
I'll probably be polite at graduation because I don't want to embarrass my parents, but there are many more things I'd like to say to my teachers.
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Columbia is great... if you know a few tricks. Trick number one: don't count on your transfer credits being counted for anything. Trick number two: get it in writing. If someone tells you that you need 23 more credits to graduate- get it in writing. Someone else will tell you you need 50 in a month. Trick number three: you get what you put in. If you miss class, turn in crap work and generally don't care...you aren't going to learn much.
I graduate in May... maybe they'll get another star after that.
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Ok so a solid three stars isn't stellar, but isn't crappy either....
To be fair, I graduated from Columbia College with a degree in Arts, Entertainment, and Media Management in Spring '07. I also left with $93K in student loans......
Some classes were challenging and fun, but A LOT that I experienced fell victim to the "open admissions" policy at Columbia....meaning I was bored stiff, but forced to show up (3+ absences mean you fail that class). Let's just say that there are reasons that the Facebook group "I go to Columbia and can still form a coherent sentence" exists.
Every college/university I've attended (4, yes, 4 of them) all had a fair amount of red tape and bs that you had to put up with, and Columbia was no different. If you are really into the arts (especially AEMM, Audio Arts, or Photography) it's a great school but do yourself a favor, and go to a community college first to get your gen-eds out of the way.
I've been at Columbia for three years and have had ONE useful class related to my major. This school is great if you have NO IDEA about your major. However, if you happen to be interested in your field of study (imagine that!) and have already learned some basics about it, most of the classes are going to be review for you. I am an AEMM Fashion Business major, and even in higher level courses we just do slight variations of the same projects over and over.
Quality of teachers varies widely as well. The "working professionals" idea that Columbia has isn't always a good thing. I've had totally clueless teachers that didn't understand how to grade ("Great Job! C+" with no other feedback) and teachers that would just tell stories and talk about unrelated issues for 3 hrs and never actually mention the class material.
I also feel the amount of electives and non-major related class hour requirements are too high as well. Its very obvious that they are trying to milk as much money as they can from you.
Some departments are better than others- I've heard good things about the film programs from classmates. Just check out your department thoroughly before applying to make sure you aren't stuck in one of the neglected ones. The only reason I'm staying is because I am fairly close to finishing and don't want to waste even more money.
Additionally, don't even think about staying in the dorms. The door guards are out of control and mean, the rooms are disgusting, and they are way overpriced.
Best Education I could have gotten in Television Studies! I now work for Nielsen Media Research and I learned everything I needed to know about the industry from this school.
If you are going to go make sure you get involved. The College is large and without a way to meet friends it can be a VERY big adjustment if coming from a small town!
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i can't understand how someone can stay at a school for three years if they've only had one good class, and basically hate everything about it. are you chained to the chair?are they holding you at gunpoint? it's not like it's the cheapest institution around, so get off your gripe and go somewhere else.
i went back to take some fiction writing courses in '97, and got some great input from profs who were published authors. joe meno was there at the time, still working on his degree. it was a great atmosphere of give and take, open discussion, creative teaching approaches. so to each his own, but i'll tell you, if i hated it, i wouldn't have gone back.
Gotta tell ya, even though the price is high! The networking contacts, profs and friends are great here!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love the MAM dept! and love the melting pot of artists and just good ol' down to earth people! Miss school!
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Open-enrollment: More good than bad comes of this. It's an art-school where you learn skills and make contacts, not a school to put on your resume for its own sake. The policy of part-time profs that also work elsewhere is the factor that will get you jobs if you impress them.
KLEP tests: They accept KLEP tests as credit. Good test-taker? You can burn a couple year's worth of credits on these and they're only 60 bucks a pop. Great way to skip gen eds that don't interest you and it beats the time and financial investment you'd put into attending classes you can cram for instead.
Lots of returning students: Being 31 and not always the oldest kid in the class has been good for me.
Interactive Media Department (Web Design): Top notch and I've been particularly impressed with the higher level web programming profs I've had to date for JavaScript and PHP. Heh... uh... even if they haven't necessarily been impressed by me yet.
IAM (Game Design): Their game design major is relatively new. Speaking as somebody who wrote for Game Informer Magazine for four years, I wasn't too impressed at first but it's starting to shape up fast. They've been pulling in some strong profs and speakers and the GD students seem like a bright and enthusiastic crowd. There are some great independent developers in town that do a lot of shopping for talent at Columbia which gives you the option of busting into the industry without having to move from the best city in the world to someplace horrible and overpriced in California. There is also much benefit to be gained from taking advantage of complementary skills from other departments like ficiton, film, and all manner of art.
Fiction Department: Columbia wins awards almost annually for their Hair Trigger publication and for good reason. They don't just mechanically assign and criticize your work. It feels a little fluffy for an equal-brained type like me at times what with the word games and other exercises for simply leaping on an idea and going with it in class but the important factor with all this is that you SHOULD learn to take an idea and go with it rather than expect to be able to plot out perfectly intriguing stories in your head beforehand. Both profs I've had so far have been great. This is not storywriting by the numbers but finding your own natural voice.
Journalism Department: I've noticed a lot more brain-drain slowing the classes down as a result of the open-enrollment policy here than in other departments but you'll also meet some smart, dedicated students and you WILL meet profs who can get you hired and the internship possibilities are big. If you want to get into sports writing, they've got one of my favorite profs and human beings teaching this and his copy editing class was the most useful journalism class I've taken to date, even if it convinced me that maybe straight journalism isn't a gig that will keep me satisfied and I'm now scrambling to:
Create an interdisciplinary: I think there probably are limitations to this but my interests have spread out fast and the people I've talked think I'll be able to pull off some kind of reporting for/through interactive media foolishness. Regardless, I'm more excited about my skills than finally completing a BA at this point but it's nice to know that there exists the possibility for greater flexibility.
Downsides? Lame antibush protestors that need to be more creative in their tactics and find ways to express discontent in writing without the use of allcaps and multiple exclamation points. It's the digital age kids. Find ways to mount effective boycotts against right wing campaign contributors and demand campaign finance reform. Impeachment is a pipe dream that we'd all love to see happen but there are wiser targets out there. Fortunately but also sadly, there aren't many of them.
It's not cheap. Nor is it getting cheaper. (the high-ups are doing a lousy job of finding donors and tuition has been climbing almost annually)
The elevators really do suck.
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I just started at Columbia College, attempting to complete a master's program in Arts, Entertainment and Media management. I don't know much about arts schools. I attended Washington University for undergrad and didn't interact much with the arts students there, but from what I know it sounds like arts schools in general are a little up in the air as far as requirements and such go. I mean how can you really regulate art in that way? My program is a little more strict considering its a business-related management program. The school as a whole seems to be a little disorganized. It took me about 3 hours just to get my student ID and CTA card and there are very few signs around the campus pointing out departments or easily navigated pages on the web site. As a grad student, I have learned how to figure things out on my own and my classes are pretty much completely outlined for me since my program is so specific, but I can imagine how the undergrads might be a little confused. I am glad I went here for graduate school and not undergrad. I will say that the faculty has been amazing so far. Very funny and friendly and clearly care about the students learning what they need to know but also having fun while they do it. Which I appreciate highly.
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I just moved to Chicago from Michigan 3 weeks ago and started school at Columbia. I transfered from Michigan State, which does not have the program I really want to go into. Columbia has an intensive musical theatre program which allows the student to fully explore the art, gain experience through all the shows put on my the school and in the surrounding area. It does cost a lot of money, I'm going to be up to my ears in debt when I get out of college, but I am getting work, my name around, and making connections. So far, it is worth the money.
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I went here for my first year then transferred to DePaul. I would say I would have enjoyed my time at Columbia more if I didn't change my major during the first year. This is definitely and arts school and if you are looking for challenging courses that are not art/performing arts driven, then you need to go elsewhere. That said, the people who are there for arts are definitely in the right place. My friends who have moved to LA to be in "the biz" are definitely successful!
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A lot of people don't realize this, but Columbia College has a photo museum on it's campus that is open to the public and actually gets some really cool exhibits. It's just a little bit south of the art institute. Check it out if you're in the neighborhoodie.
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My firstborn and only is soon off to college, and we toured Columbia College, along with several other universities, and it looks like he will attend here. I must say I was pretty impressed with the college, it was much larger and varied than I had originally perceived. My son is a writer and musician and overall creative type, and he felt at home here moreso than other places we toured. I was impressed by the creativity and seeming lack of administrative strictures that some schools have, and I am excited for him! Accountants and attorneys will not fit in here; but if you are a creative type looking for a career in the arts, this seems to be a place for you. It is pricey, though; and dorms for freshman are not the best; he'd like to get into the multi-school University Center, but other than that, they are more like apartments. But they have mainly professionals in the field teaching the classes, so for an ambitious and smart college kid, it's a great way to get a real world exposure to the field. How come college wasn't this cool when I went?
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Taking film classes here could be very beneficial and possibly prove profitable down the road. I know someone who works in administration here and is very happy being a part of these students lives and their classes. Many students who have attended here have success in the film community or other aspects of the performing arts currently.
I'm attending Columbia for grad school and so far I've found my program to be pretty disorganized. Sure, they have us on a 'track' and we know which classes to take and what not, but the general feeling seems to be that no one in charge really has a grasp on what's best for the students. We're sort of this experimental cohort that's too big for the amount of professors we have and the classroom space that's available to us. But, I can't complain too much, there are only 4 other DMT programs in the country and I can't imagine any of them are much better since Movement Therapy is such a new concept.
i went to columbia. i enjoyed my time there...including the general ed. classes i had to take. it wasn't as expensive when i went, i stayed in the dorms for two years which worked well but it was cheaper to live off campus.
i went for theatre with a concentration in set design and i was able to get quite a bit of hands on experience working on shows (although i got a slow start because i was so shy). i also worked one year in the scene shop so i got a lot of experience with carpentry and large scale painting. the theatre design department was pretty small so all of the students had pretty good relationships with the teachers.
During my time there I also made sure that I took a few classes just for fun because my true love is comic art, so i made sure i took one class each semester that would be a fun class like drawing, comics, figure drawing and paper making to name a few.
I only wish that I had taken more art business classes...because I feel sort of clueless about how to get a job in my field. The year I graduated there was a class for business in theatre that was made available for BFA students, which i'm kicking myself for not taking. also i think that it is a rip off that they make students take senior seminar, although it was a fun class it really isn't very necessary.
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I hear a lot of students here piss and moan about how this school is a ripoff. It IS expensive, but if you manage your classes well and make the most of it... You'll be very glad you attended.
Columbia is the biggest liberal arts college in America right now and is continuing to grow. Their admissions are open, meaning you don't need a portfolio or experience in your field to enter: you're here to gain some. The film department is particularly good, well equipped with a giant catalog of classes to suit your specific interests. The school offers many well-rounded courses and tries to help you specialize in whatever areas of your craft you like. The teachers are all currently working in their field and come from a variety of backgrounds. The general ed. courses tend to be good also (there's always that one or two teachers who won't do you any good, but I've had plenty of positive experiences). Many gen eds. are tailored to interest the artist and relate to what else you're learning. Again, you have to spend time looking at what they have and not just take courses you hate so you can graduate. I am convinced there is something for everyone here.
Columbia is a great place to make connections, experience the city (it's right downtown!), and participate in events. Lectures, discussions, galleries, screenings, and all sorts of fun events go on all year. And regardless of who you are, be sure to head downtown in mid-May for Columbia's MANIFEST festival! A colorful parade, live music, exhibits, and activities abound when the students display their final works!
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i've toured the skool and i must say that im not pleased. the dorms are small and the curriculumn isnt all that great. i mean you stick to your strand and thats that. what about other types of majors but, i guess thats what you get when you go to a perfroming arts skool
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I went to school here for 3 years. I must say the school was the best, yet the dorms were not so hot. I moved out of th dorms after a semester. Columbia College offers all sorts of degrees and training programs. Awesome School!
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