gpa

Columbia College and School of General Studies students will be able to pass/D/fail one fall semester class without restriction until the end of the term and withdraw from courses till Dec. 14, according to a statement released by Columbia College Dean of Academic Affairs Lisa Hollibaugh on Nov. 18. The announcement followed a similar statement made by the School of Engineering and Applied Science earlier this week.

Honors and awards are an important part of résumés and graduate school applications, showcasing the hard work you’ve put into your academic career. They are markers of your achievement, and some of these honor programs also develop skills that can be used for your internships and career. It’s important to be aware of the various awards that you are eligible for so that you can make the most out of your time at Columbia.

Remember your ABCs: airway, breathing, and circulation. In EMT training, you’re told to always check the patient’s ABCs when arriving at a call to ensure that there are no life-threatening issues at hand. As a new member, I was running one of my first calls on Columbia University EMS and I arrived to a patient in distress. Airway: patent. Breathing: labored. My first thought was to administer oxygen. I grabbed a plastic-wrapped non-rebreather mask and began to offer it, but couldn’t when the patient rapidly reached for it themself. I withdrew as my crew chief interjected: Oxygen does not help with panic attacks. Instead, we lead the patient in breathing exercises: inhale (one, two, three) and exhale (one, two, three).

As I was studying for a midterm last Tuesday, Columbia College Student Council and Engineering Student Council candidates knocked on my door and promised, among other things, that they would make the grading curves at Columbia more fair.  Unaware of any grading curve problem, I turned to a popular new grade-distribution website for answers: gradesatcu.com.

You planned your classes perfectly this semester. You got that seminar (four credits, heck yeah). You got that lecture (three credits). You got that class with dreamy Shamus Khan (four credits). You're sorted and—wait. That's only 11 credits. You need at least 12. What do you do? Panic sets in.