Columbia College of Columbia University is an Ivy League research university in the heart of New York City. It’s a top school, in a top city, on top of a hill on the island of Manhattan — basically the top of everything. There are 6,700 undergraduate students between Columbia College and Columbia Engineering. The student body is comprised of many of the best students in the world, and many of the best athletes including 46 Olympians, 16 NCAA Championship Teams, 60 Individual NCAA Champions, and even professional athletes in non-collegiate sports.
Within the athletic program, students from Barnard, Columbia College, and Columbia Engineering compete alongside each other as teammates. So, everything we talk about here in this post is relevant to all three schools, Barnard, Columbia College, and Columbia Engineering (and Barnard is the only women’s college with a DI athletics program). Together, over 800 student-athletes compete at the Division I level in 31 varsity sports teams, plus intramural and club opportunities.
But before you can play at Columbia, you need to get into Columbia. In 2024, the acceptance rate continued its downward decline to a mere 3.85%, and the admitted student pool included applicants from all 50 states, various territories, and 108 countries. This wasn’t an aberration. The acceptance rate has been under 8% since 2013.
In this post, we’ll breakdown what you need to know — and what you need to do — to pursue continuing to play the sport you love once at Columbia.
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What is Columbia looking for in Student Athletes?
At Columbia, student-athletes are held to an extremely high bar. As a student-athlete, you will have all the same expectations as any other student, with much less time and flexibility to complete them. If you don’t like morning classes, too bad. If you want to study abroad, that may not be an option. The bar is exceptionally high, and they expect you to juggle a lot of things successfully. You need to be up for the challenge. If you are, you’ll graduate with an Ivy League degree and, possibly, a championship. Columbia also does a lot to support you, including academic support, mental health support, nutrition resources, and career development opportunities.
Recruited Athletes
Being recruited is the process of garnering attention from, and commitment from, Columbia with the intention of joining an athletic team. If you have started ninth grade, or secondary school, and want to play a sport in college you’re a “prospective student-athlete,” and you should start to learn the rules of NCAA recruitment. For men’s basketball, and under special circumstances, this designation starts earlier.
Recruited status is ‘triggered’ if you go on an “official” visit to campus, they meet with your parents or guardians in-person and off-campus, and the coaches initiate a phone call more than once. That can all sound quite confusing, so it’s super important to read up on Columbia policies and really study the literature on NCAA eligibility, but we’ll also break it down more here.
As a Division I school, all students who want to play in college need to confirm their eligibility through the NCAA Eligibility Center. Once you’ve confirmed your eligibility, you’ll want to complete the athlete questionnaire for the sport you’re interested in competing in. Columbia has every sport you’d expect, and many you may not — including fencing, archery, and rowing. Except for in exceptional circumstances, filling out the questionnaire is your first point of entry into the Columbia athletic recruiting program.
Walk-Ons
As a Division I program, walking onto Columbia sports teams, or joining once you arrive on campus as a first-year, is more likely to be difficult than it is to be easy. The top-performing teams are heavily stocked ahead of time through recruitment, so there aren’t a lot of open spots. Less popular teams can be more accessible, but we highly recommend reaching out to Columbia through the athlete questionnaire before arriving on campus even if you are already accepted or missed the window for recruitment.
If you have reached out to Columbia already and there isn’t an interest in recruiting you as an athlete, understand that the door to playing in college may still be open — but it also might not be, too. Walking on is sometimes possible, but often not at top tier school. If you are a top student interested in being a walk-on athlete, it’s worth looking at leading smaller liberal arts schools with DIII athletics as another option for you.
Club Sports
If recruitment isn’t your cup of tea or doesn’t work out, and walking on isn’t an option, club sports can be an amazing way to continue playing the sport you love — and even to try out new ones! Some club teams are purely recreational, some are instructional, and some are competitive. Some are informal pick-up style practices, and some are super competitive, participating in intercollegiate and tournament competitions. There are dozens of programs, including everything from common sports you may have played in high school to archery, seven different martial arts groups, and even a triathlon club.
Like all Columbia athletics, the programs are open to students at Columbia College, Columbia Engineering, and Barnard College. Most teams have a low participation fee, most often less than $100, but the fee can be waived for students with demonstrated need.
Columbia is a DI top-tier athletics program paired with one of the best academic programs in the world. But going varsity isn’t the only way to be an athlete at Columbia. If you do want to participate at the highest level, it’s a lot of work. It can be very worth it for student-athletes, but it isn’t an easy ride balancing earning an Ivy League degree with showing up to practice daily (or more). So, it’s important to weigh what you want from your college experience academically and socially with what you’re striving for athletically.
Applying to college is stressful, especially if you’re navigating athletics. We help make it easy.