REPOST: Neia Balao, "Woman sneaks into Columbia University’s surf-and-turf event, reflects on institution’s ‘hypocrisy’"
I should not judge MBAs or my own executive MBA program until I am halfway through. Yet I can not help but proclaim to all I meet: MBAs are hot garbage that the ultra wealthy produce to keep jobs in their own hands. Somehow, despite believing MBAs are horrible, I will defend the institution later on.
Picture a classroom of students with different goals, income levels and responsibilities, treated the exact same, despite these major differences. Even within “executive” programs, there is no selection of when you take exams. Instead they come at 9am on a weekend, an extremely unideal time for many.
Before considering one of these programs, read the fine print. Universities are institutionalized money grabs. The career coaching, travel opportunities and other MBA “package upgrades” they tend to throw in cost extra. The electives do not come until you’re half way through. You basically pay for the best professors in the world and a brand. In return, you lose sleep, weekends, and play a game of “Today, should I miss my job that pays me or should I miss the school I’m paying today?” Good luck expecting the school to accommodate.
My advice if you want to start a business — join a bootcamp.
My advice if you want to learn programming and/or data science — join a bootcamp.
My advice if you want to excel in your career — improve your KPIs and don’t get distracted by academia.
Who am I to give advice? I don’t even have a second degree!
I spent a week at Columbia University back in January, taking one economics course. It felt like watching National Geographic. The subjects were highly-diverse, ultra wealthy, students taking a class few were interested in. There was a retired doctor, several bankers, a Turkish immigrant managing a major logistics company and, I’m pretty sure, a celeb using a fake name and identity. The vast majority of my subjects would tell me, “I’m an analyst.” To which I’d ask, “What does that entail on a day-to-day?” And they’d answer, “I have no idea.” So while I still don’t know what an analyst is, I know that they’re the primary makeup of possibly the most prestigious MBA Program in the world.
Within my 6 day course, we had 8 professors (2 primary teachers + daily guest lecturer) join us in our opulent building… in Harlem. I guess 8x the lecturers is what you get when you spend $240,000 on tuition, a fee going up 5-7% yearly. This does not include housing (in NYC). The executive students got one weekly lunch. I snuck in to this lunch and sent pictures to my class, back in Israel, in awe at the grandiose lives these people live. I was also graciously provided meal cards for my visit. I could not get the staff to take the cards, so I wound up making some extra trips to redistribute meals to the Harlem locals.
I could go on and on about this experience. It turns out, someone else already did. TikToker? Brenna Lip made a viral video about it. I can’t stand TikTok, but I’m reposting Neia Balao recapping Brenna Lip’s TikTok anyways. If you make it to the end, I’ll tell you what I disagreed with and, the most important takeaway from my week long, advanced econ class at a very fancy school.
Original link from Yahoo’s “In the Know” (which I do not know anything about): https://www.intheknow.com/post/woman-sneaks-into-columbia-universitys-surf-and-turf-event-reflects-on-institutions-hypocrisy-and-treatment-of-low-income-students-i-wish-cuny-suny-had-columbia-money/
The business school I visited
Woman sneaks into Columbia University’s surf-and-turf event, reflects on institution’s ‘hypocrisy’ and treatment of low-income students: ‘i wish cuny/suny had columbia money’
Neia Balao
Tue, April 25, 2023 at 1:24 PM PDT·4 min read
One woman is getting real about her thoughts on the nation’s second-most expensive university after infiltrating a ritzy event they were hosting for their students and faculty.
Brenna Lip (@brennalip), a New York City-based content creator, posted a TikTok in which she admits to attending a surf-and-turf brunch at Columbia University despite not being a student herself. What started off as a harmless ruse, however, soon turned into an eye-opening look into “the hypocrisy of this whole place.”
To put it into perspective, Columbia University clocks in at second place on The College Investor‘s list of most expensive colleges, with an annual tuition of $65,524 USD for first-year students.
“So, I snuck into Columbia University’s surf and turf, where the students got shrimp, lobster and steak, just to become reflective about how horrible these institutions are and learn that Columbia is trying to get rid of a preschool to gentrify the area even more,” Brenna reveals.
The Red Balloon Early Childhood Learning Center is situated “near the southern edge of Columbia’s decades-in-the making Manhattanville campus.” According to Brenna, it is a preschool that “addresses lack of affordable, high quality child care in the area.”
“…and the fact that it was normalized during that time for low-income students to risk their health to pack up rich kids’ dorm rooms to make sure that their rich kids belongings were OK.”
“As a low-income student on financial aid at the start of COVID, they caused her to have housing instability and wouldn’t even give her money for a laptop when this place has unlimited money,” Brenna says of her twin sister’s experience as a freshman at Columbia University in 2020.
“I thought about how I was paid to pack up some rich kid’s dorm because they didn’t wanna come back from their spring break trip, and the fact that it was normalized during that time for low-income students to risk their health to pack up rich kids’ dorm rooms to make sure that their rich kids belongings were OK,” she adds.
Per the Columbia University financial aid website, students who come from families that make an annual income between $66,000 and $150,000 are eligible to attend the institution “tuition-free.”
“Columbia’s wild to me because it’s literally gated off from the rest of New York. There’s, like, this beautiful campus, grass, these bouncy houses, games to play, but as I was talking to people I learned about what’s going on in this campus,” she continues, before adding that professors are sometimes allegedly known to act poorly and creepily toward students.
In a past video, Brenna also calls out the hypocrisy of New York University.
“But I guess my point is, I hope that anyone who goes to NYU, Columbia or any kind of elitist place, and this includes universities and colleges not in New York, looks outside the gates in which they’re protected and gets involved in trying to contribute to the community, not just sitting around eating lobster and steak,” Brenna concludes.
“I really appreciate your videos. I used to dream of getting into NYU or Columbia. But your videos have broken the delusions I had about them”
Brenna’s video has generated discourse surrounding the inherent privilege at institutions like Columbia University that other public colleges in the state don’t have.
“Speak on it!! As a former Columbia and NYU employee, people have no idea how DEEPLY horrible these places are and it’s devastating,” one user revealed.
“omg i saw u on campus and was like “that’s the person that calls out cops and elitist institutions. as they should,” another wrote.
“I really appreciate your videos. I used to dream of getting into NYU or Columbia. But your videos have broken the delusions I had about them,” someone thanked Brenna.
“i wish cuny/suny had columbia money,” a TikToker wrote, referencing City University of New York and the State University of New York.
In The Know by Yahoo reached out to Columbia University for comment but has not heard back as of reporting.
As Brenna continues to shine light on the truth and elitism inherent to commonly sought-over post-secondary institutions like Columbia University, the hope is for prospective and current students to have a greater, more encompassing understanding of the reality of attending places like this, especially for low-income students.
In The Know by Yahoo is now available on Apple News — follow us here!
I can not fully defend the lifestyle of Columbia, Georgetown or any other $50K+/year tuition Uni. For someone on the outside, these Unis are disgusting. We oggle the lifestyles we can not afford. Even if we don’t want those lifestyles, we want enough money to be able to live them, just so that we could turn it down. At least we tell ourselves that. But I’ll partially defend these institutions, solely because TikTokers should not be trusted for their sage wisdom.
To be clear, I spent <$10K on my undergrad tuition, which is seen as a ton of money in Israel.
I currently spent a similar amount on my Executive MBA, and am financially struggling.
I take the bus. The bus does not get to my school early enough for my Friday morning classes.
I will never afford going to one of the institutions I am defending. And if I could afford it, I would talk with the professors I care about directly on LinkedIn, because I do not see any value in academic grades.
From speaking with locals in Harlem, not limited to those I gave my extra meals too, I heard many happy about the gentrification of their area. I was in the business school, not the main campus, but I imagine the responses 10 blocks south would match. The people who sold their homes on or nearby the campus made fortunes. The security and staff are treated well, and were very friendly to me, possibly because I humanize workers before Millionaires. I did not meet a single person upset about the diversity coming in, not even the ultra wealthy, despite the claims of the SJWs that gentrification is the worst thing ever. I don’t know if this TikToker ever bothered to reach out to locals, or did the social media SJW thing of assuming you speak on their behalf. I’m sure she meant well either way.
Should Columbia have bought Brenna’s sister a laptop? IDK
Should Columbia offer low income students jobs? YES! There is nothing hypocritical there.
Should a $60K+ tuition come with seafood and steaks? How else would it still exist?
The big elephant Brenna raised is that Columbia wanted to ‘kick out Red Balloon, a preschool…’ Sounds horrible? To me, it sounded like one side of the story. It was not hard to findColumbia’s take. For example, The New Yorker included a quote by a Columbia spokesperson, “We have had concerns about Red Balloon spanning several years that include a lack of consistent communications, effective management, and steady leadership. Paired with persistent under enrollment, we have lost confidence in Red Balloon’s ability to provide the safe, stable childcare our community deserves moving forward.” Yes, these oft-criticized major institutions almost always provide housing to students on scholarships, and provide amenities for neighbors. In this case, Columbia not only planned to build a better nonprofit school than Red Balloon, but also paid all the parents of students enrolled in Red Balloon to go elsewhere. Do you think TikTok ever got that memo?
Columbia had tons of well-educated students, chasing their best option. The students appeared far less white and elitest than Georgetown, where politicians send their kids, to also become politicians. I did not hear tails of dorms with servants like I would in DC. I heard a lot of stories from people with families, who saw an opportunity, and rich students, vacationing all over the world between working full time and school. There were people I could see myself being friends with, even if I could not afford to live on their blocks.
Remember, I myself said, “How can spending 1/4 of a $Million be an opportunity? People retire on that much money.” And that’s true. I could take that money, move to Buenos Aires, and live like a king for the rest of my life. But this is missing out that 1. People are accustomed to different things 2. Education is an investment.
While I’m struggling to pay rent and tuition, there are many people who scoff at a $250K. They gamble that in Vegas on a weekend. Maybe it should not be that way, but it is. NYC has the most Millionaires per capita. Aside from the talent there on scholarship, and the families with legacy there, even Hollywood celebs like Chloe Bridges (the only alum I remembered before searching), Barack Obama, Alicia Keys, Allen Ginsberg, Alexander Hamilton, Jack Kerouac, Art Garfunkel, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal, Julia Stiles, Amelia Earhart, Isaac Asimov and so many more. It’s a bizarre list that exemplifies people who changed the face of America across fields. I promise, these people are not complaining about the tuition.
Most of my short life, I could not imagine ever buying a $250K watch. Not even if I had a $Billion. Eventually I learned just about every single Rolex has appreciated in value tremendously since purchase. Columbia is a Rolex. It’s a status symbol. And sadly, as I wrote up top, employers are looking to keep people of their status in similar positions. The financial analysts I met, who could not remotely describe their job with 20 minutes of prep time, were not hired because they’re more intelligent than you or I. They were hired because they went to Columbia University (and yes, for sure many are more intelligent than I am). Others will go onto work in the best labs, make the best films and literature, and get jobs they can not begin to describe to someone making less than $60/year, thanks to Columbia.
All this together means that the locals are happy to have some income coming in, and the rich folk are happy to have a place to spend their enormous wads of cash. I can’t speak to Georgetown or every other school, but Columbia and NYU are fairly diverse, and even state schools can bankrupt someone if they do not have the means to pay tuition. These schools are providing an outlet to produce our best representatives, and there is no first-world country lacking an overly expensive college or University. If we want to focus anger somewhere, it should be in the lack of scholarships overall, income inequality overall, and so many problems that persist outside of these highly-selective, overpriced schools. Don’t scapegoat NYU or Columbia for institutional problems. And most of all:
Enjoy your damn surf n turf!
Surf n’ Turf event at Columbia
