required reading: In the Loop

Congratulations and welcome to Columbia, all you international baby lions and bears! Some of you will be traveling across different continents and oceans to join us next fall. To make that transition a little bit easier, Spectrum has put together some advice to ease your worries and help you adjust to college life in a new country.

Want to continue pursuing your childhood dream of becoming the next Yo-Yo Ma? Or perhaps thinking of picking up an instrument for the first time? Whether you’re already an accomplished musician or just looking to begin, there’s an option for everyone. Check out this guide to classical music programs and groups at Barnard and Columbia to help you get started as soon as you arrive on campus this fall.

Committing to transferring schools is a big decision: Something wasn’t quite right at your previous school, you put in the work to apply to colleges again, and you got in. Congratulations! Successfully undergoing the transfer application process is no small feat, and actively making a big change for yourself is to be commended.

As the end of another academic year draws closer, we grow more and more accustomed to the Columbia lifestyle. But we all remember the struggles we faced as first-years to adjust to the unwritten rules of Columbia. College calls for a very different set of norms than high school, which can make for an awkward transition for all.

Have a question? What about a hundred of them? Pretend like you’re not even curious all you want, but we’re on the class of 2021 group pages; we see you guys trying to peep out the scene at Columbia before even rolling up to MoHi. (Wait, what’s that again?)

When you first come to Barnumbia, chances are that you’ll be bombarded with all types of terminology. From NSOP to OLs, even your earliest moments on campus will be full of acronyms. To keep this from being confusing, study up on some CU slang in advance.

Welcome to Required Reading! Even though it’s only March, we have a lot in store for this series. For one thing, we plan on posting from now until the end of NSOP. That’s 20 weeks, give or take a few, meaning that we’ll have a lot of content. Like, a lot.