Columbia University
New York, New York · Founded 1754
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Test-optional
Columbia is test-optional for the 2026-27 cycle and says applicants who do not submit scores are not disadvantaged. That changes for the following cycle: first-year AND transfer applicants in the 2027-28 admission cycle will have to submit SAT or ACT scores, though a waiver can be requested at the time of application for financial or personal hardship, lack of access to a test center, or community disruption. Source: undergrad.admissions.columbia.edu (verified September 2026).
About
A private Ivy League research university whose undergraduate colleges - Columbia College and Columbia Engineering - sit on one city campus in upper Manhattan. It is the oldest university in New York and the fifth-oldest in the United States.
History
Chartered in 1754 as King's College in Lower Manhattan, renamed Columbia College in 1784 after the Revolution, and renamed Columbia University in 1896. The Morningside Heights campus opened in 1897.
What stands out
- A required Core Curriculum taken by every undergraduate, capped at 25 students per seminar
- Columbia College and Columbia Engineering apply separately but share the campus, housing and the Core
- More than 80 areas of study across 58 academic departments
- A compact campus in Manhattan, so the city functions as an extension of it
Popular majors
Campus life
Everyone starts with the same Core courses, which gives classmates a shared set of books and arguments across every major. Housing is guaranteed for four years on a campus small enough to cross in ten minutes, and New York begins at the gates - internships, museums and performances are a subway ride away rather than a trip.