47 CommentsMany of you recently received an email from our bffls, the Columbia Trustees, stating that they decided to charge you more to live here next year. The rates increased anywhere from $25-$35 depending on your dorm, and the new price is already reflected on the StarRez Portal. Before you go lawyer up (read: call your dad), be warned that there is a clause near the bottom of your housing contract stating that the rate is subject to change based on decisions by the Board of Trustees, so this little hijinx is totally legal.
Read the email below—the bracketed text was added by us.
Dear [name],
We write to inform you that the Board of Trustees met last weekend to finalize rates for 2012-2013. As a result, there will be a slight increase in room rates of approximately $25 to $35 per term depending on your assigned building.
The room rate for your Academic Year 12-13 room in [dorm] will be $[a bigger number than before]. This room rate will now be displayed on your Status page or Occupancy Agreement page of your Academic Year 12-13 Housing Portal Application (https://housingportal.
columbia.edu ).Since you have already signed your Occupancy Agreement, you do not need to do anything at this time.
Thank you for your attention to this matter. Please let us know if you have any questions.
Enjoy the summer! [ ;D ]
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47 Comments
@Anonymous I’m surprised they bothered.
According to housing, they have 5200 students. http://housingservices.columbia.edu/content/overview-1
Figure an average increase of $30, that’s only $156,000, or a max of $182k.
According to some back of the envelope math (# of students times rent per dorm per http://housingservices.columbia.edu/content/overview), they collect about $39-$42 million per year in rent. So at best (182000/39000000) this is a 0.46% increase in rent revenue, at worst more like 0.37%.
Seems like a good way to annoy students for such little money in an absolute or relative sense.
@yeah but that's MONTHLY you calculated the MONTHLY increase. 180k * 12 = over $1 Million additional annually
@No... …the housing hikes are in addition to the annual rate. You pay per semester, not per month.
@The Dark Hand Dear Columbia Housing,
I write to inform you that I met last weekend with my parents to finalize rates for 2012-2013. As a result, there will be a slight dencrease in what I am willing to pay.
My rate for the Academic Year 12-13 in my room will be the same as it was before. This room rate will be reflected in what I am going to pay.
Since I have already signed my Occupancy Agreement, you do not need to do anything at this time.
Thank you for your attention to this matter. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Enjoy the summer!
P.S. Spec sucks.
@Anonymous Dark Hand, your wit is bad and you should feel bad.
@The Dark Hand Dear Anon, you seem mad.
@"the dark hand" AKA spec troll is, in my 25 minutes worth of meticulous research, data analysis, and raw intuition, one or more of the people who were ousted from the College Republicans.
I, being a republican club member myself, feel like this is related to the same guys who tried to screw Spec over in the iranian debacle.
Plus, the “dark hand” seems to also allude to the “invisible hand” of capitalism, something I believe in and is also something many republicans believe in.
I am not affiliated with the spec but just wanted to give my 2 cents.
that is all.
@Anonymous They needed some extra $ to get PrezBo a better toupée
@Hair plugs are expensive
@L.C. This deal is getting worse all the time…
@Hmmmm “Since you have already signed your Occupancy Agreement, you do not need to do anything at this time.”
Translation: Since you have already signed your Occupancy Agreement, you cannot do anything about this at this time.
@i was like aw, way to be a douche about it!
@Anonymous $35 is a meal and a half at Il Campo. gtf over it, twats.
@Anonymous Fuck this. We signed a housing agreement. So I guess only we have to agree to it?
@my father speaking of which,
is a fucking senior partner at skadden arps in real estate litigation.
@Anonymous Totally worth it for up to $35
@Anonymous Madam, we’ve already established what you are. Now we’re just haggling over the price.
@Gretchen Weiners you dad and my dad– the inventor of Toaster Strudel– should get together on this one. He’s not going to be happy to hear about this.
@did you know? That around 15% (200/1400) of the undergraduate students in the engineering school were admitted to Columbia through a program called the 3+2 combined plan?
The program offers GUARANTEED admission into the engineering school for shockingly mediocre students who successfully complete the prerequirements in 3 years or even 4 years. Yes, students at such fine universities as:
Jacksonville University, Millsaps College, William Jewell College, Doane College, Dillard University, Denison University, Morehouse College, Nebraska Wesleyan University, Pacific Lutheran University, Queens College, Randolph-Macon College, etc.
will all earn the same fucking degree you will. The best part is that they get to party and get shitfaced every day of their high school and college careers and STILL get guarenteed admission to Columbia. as long as they take the comparatively cakewalk classes at their absurdly inferior alma maters.
I despise with a passion whoever came up with such a despicable revenue-generating scheme. It’s good to know all my hard work has been in vain.
@Anonymous im the only person who didnt get into columbia thru a back door
@anon this needs to be on a t-shirt, seriously
@Van Owen The back door is reserved for VIP admits only…sorry.
@Anecdotal Evidence For what it’s worth, BME friend of mine who did 3/2 in SEAS is going to med school at Harvard this fall. Kid’s legit brilliant.
@hmmmm I can’t tell if this is attempted trolling or just douchebaggery. Either way, the notion that “all my hard work has been in vain” because a few hundred people who would otherwise not get the chance are able to attend this school is simply laughable.
@SEAS guy sorry to burst your bubble, but 3/2 kids are some of the hardest workers and have been wrecking the curve
@Anonymous Literally 100% of Columbia students got into Columbia. I have yet to meet a single student who wasn’t admitted in some way, shape, or form. Maybe you should stop making a big deal of it and live your life?
Also, 100% of Columbia students were born. Doesn’t it irritate you how all of these cesarean section babies go around like they’re hot shit? I spent fourteen hours being squeezed out of a vagina to get here, it’s those coddled cesarean and epidural kids that snuck in through the uterine wall or through intense painkillers that are undermining the degree that I worked so hard for.
@Anonymous This is the best comment of all time! Thank you for officially making this day wonderful!
@Anonymous Holy fuck. This comment deserves its own Hall of Fame.
@Anonymous YES.
@cc '13 i mean i went to a super shitty public school and i’m getting the same degree as you, all while paying a quarter the price since i get financial aid
also i got shitfaced every day of high school and continue to do so here
like sorry you’re not as smart as a bunch of regular people
@Anonymous Exactly. The public school kids are going to the exact same college that the Andover, and Exeter, and Horace Mann kids are, all while saving a quarter of a million dollars. Haha!
@holy hell i have never thought of it that way. suck it, prep school bitchezzz
@Anonymous You are not correct. Yes, Columbia, like every school, takes transfers. It is extremely difficult to transfer into Columbia, and usually these students have stellar academic records from their previous colleges. Yes, possibly, they may not have been admitted to CC or SEAS the first time around, but they are generally exceptional students with high GPA’s. Harvard and MIT take transfers and combined degrees too. Go apply. Obama was not accepted to Columbia the first time around, but transferred, and he didn’t do too bad for himself.
@Alum The 3-2 students are only guaranteed admission to SEAS if they maintain a 3.0 GPA while taking the required science and math courses along with the requirements of their liberal arts majors AND if they get their college’s recommendation. Even then, they must successfully complete two years at SEAS. That’s not easy to do. A student as inferior as you claim wouldn’t stand a chance.
The fact that 3-2 students *could* have only 3.0 GPAs at their prior colleges does not mean they actually do. Most probably have far better grades.
Besides, the 3-2 program has brought in about 100 students each year for decades. The rate is not increasing, even though SEAS and the participating colleges have grown considerably. If the program was really a back door to a Columbia degree, wouldn’t more people be taking advantage of it?
@anon scumbag college
@Paul Kulig Thr Trustees should spend some of the endowment!
@GS'15 Well, they actually do spend a portion of the endowment every single year. It is built into the budget.
@CC'15 We should meet up for drinks since we are in the same class and all… #forever alone
@Anonymous …now kiss?
@GS'15 Are you in NY? I’m pretty lonely myself.
@CC'15 YES…. 18[f] bi
@GS'15 22[m]gay… hahaha
@CC'15 Ill be ur wing-girl u wana meet up tmrw night?
@GS'14 if it’s wrong to swoop in on a Bwog meetup, I don’t want to be right
@GS'15 Sounds good, and I’m easy to find. I have a flamboyant mohawk.
@BC 20.20' Trisexual Vampire Slayer private message me if nipple clamps, meow mix and a whole lotta baby oil sounds like you’re kinda party
– love, kisses and rimjobs,
juicy
@Van Owen What’s up? I’m down…I’ll even let the dude with the mohawk tickle my balls.