Over the summer Susan, Grade 11, had the opportunity to take part in the Columbia University Pre-College Program. Here she reflects on her experience and time in New York.
“I had a great experience at Columbia University this summer. I studied Introduction to Business, Finance and Economics which was one of the more popular courses in the program. There were around 30 people in my class from all over the world, including Brazil, Japan, Korea, Italy and Greece. I really loved my professor, Michael Bennett, because he was passionate about the topic and added lots of fun activities to the course.
“During the weekends and after classes the Resident Assistants would take us out to popular locations in the city or to see musicals. The highlights of my time there were the MET museum as well as seeing the Broadway show Wicked (which I would highly recommend!). I also went to Coney Island, New York Aquarium, the Whitney Museum of American Art and many more!
“I stayed in a four-person dorm with two rooms, but we had a spare bed so we had an extra shelf to store food! Despite the stereotype of university food being a different breed of “bad” – I would argue that Columbia University provided really good meals. There was a variety of selections every day and always pizza if the main course wasn’t appetizing. There were also convenience stores near campus which led to many bowls of ramen my roommate and I would make at night.
“One of my roommates was on the same course as me and another girl I met through the course (who is also in IB!) and I have still kept in touch to this day. All-in-all I had a fantastic time, probably the best summer I’ve ever had, and I would recommend to any future students interested in attending this program! Thank you to Ms. Leyson for writing my recommendation letter and helping me in applying to the program.”
