Early Decision
Admissions application: Friday, November 1, 2024
Financial aid application: Friday, November 15, 2024
Admissions application: Friday, November 1, 2024
Financial aid application: Friday, November 15, 2024
Admissions application: Wednesday, January 1, 2025
Financial aid application: Saturday, February 15, 2025
Admissions application: Saturday, March 1, 2025
Financial aid application: Saturday, March 1, 2025
Spring 2025 admissions application: Friday, November 15, 2024
Fall 2025 admissions application (priority): Tuesday, April 1, 2025
Fall 2025 admissions application (final): Sunday, June 15, 2025
Apply to join our community as a full-time first-year student to Columbia College or Columbia Engineering.
We welcome over 125 transfer students to Columbia College and Columbia Engineering each year.
Combined Plan students receive a B.A. in Liberal Arts and a B.S. in Engineering.
Broaden your undergraduate experience with one or two semesters in the Visiting Student Program.
It is important for all applicants to understand that, beyond academic excellence and preparedness, there is no one factor that determines whether they will receive an offer of admission. We do not admit students based on any single factor or to fill quotas. Rather, each application is assessed holistically based on the entirety of its substance and context. To that end, we encourage all prospective students to use their application as an opportunity to present the best and most complete version of themselves. Our dedication to academic excellence in all its facets is intrinsically tied to our commitment to diversity in its many expressions. This interplay forms a cornerstone of our academic mission.
Ashley's advice: "Ask yourself, "Who do I want to become?" I applied to Columbia because I knew that I wanted to become someone who engages with and learns from the arts, someone who could reconcile ancient philosophical texts with modern issues and someone who could appreciate cultural diversity because I’d lived in a city that valued it."
Why Columbia? "At Columbia, there’s a true abundance of opportunities—both within campus and in the city—something that really excited me. I still got the campus atmosphere I desired to develop a strong sense of community, while very much being a part of one of the most bustling cities in the world."
Sarah's advice: "It's crucial to keep an open mind. In my own case, for part of high school I was sure I did not want to go to a school in a big city... and then I toured Columbia, and my mind was completely changed!"
Why Columbia? "One of the biggest reasons why I chose to come to Columbia was because of how many resources are available. As a student who is first-gen, low income and coming from a single parent household, financial aid and the diversity of the student population was really important to me."
Why Columbia? "I chose Columbia because there are endless opportunities in our very own backyard. New York City is often called the capital of the world, and that's because of everything here—entertainment, art, business, music, internships... The list goes on!"
Use the Request Information form to receive emails about academics at Columbia College and Columbia Engineering, undergraduate life and upcoming events.
The Columbia University first-year class of College and Engineering students is chosen from a large and diverse group of applicants. Columbia employs a holistic approach in assessing candidates in order to evaluate which students are the best matches for Columbia's unique educational experience.
In the process of selection, the Committee on Admissions considers each applicant's academic potential, intellectual strength and ability to think independently. The Committee also considers the general attitudes and character of the applicant, special abilities and interests, maturity, motivation, curiosity and whether they are likely to make productive use of the four years at Columbia.
The financial aid application process collects information about your family's income, assets, family composition and other circumstances. All requirements and submission instructions are detailed on the Financial Aid & Educational Financing website. Learn more about affordability and aid at Columbia.
We understand that students personally affected by natural disasters, community disturbances or other extenuating circumstances may have challenges in completing their applications on time; they are invited to email us at ugrad-ask@columbia.edu if their application will be arriving late.
Online admissions document tracking is only available during certain times in the admissions process. Applicants will receive an email notifying them how to access their applicant portal. If, at that time, you discover that any items are listed as "not received/processed," please have your school submit a duplicate copy of this missing information to us via email at ugrad-confirm@columbia.edu as soon as possible. Emailed materials will take up to one week for processing. You will have time to submit the missing credentials before decisions are released without being penalized.
Welcome to Columbia University in the City of New York. Our campus is located specifically on the island of Manhattan, which means "island of many hills" in the language of the Lenni Lenape people. We recognize that Manhattan is part of the ancestral and traditional homeland of the Lenni Lenape and Wappinger people, who are still active members of our community throughout New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Learn more by watching this video.
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Columbia has been a place of deep intellectual curiosity and wide-ranging academic inquiry since 1754.
For educators, administrators and counselors supporting your students.
Finding the right-fit community for your child and your family.
Whether it’s finding the right program for you or navigating the application and financial aid process, we’ve got the answers you need.
If you have a question that isn’t answered by this website or have updates to your application, reach out to Undergraduate Admissions directly.