Pros
Despite the problems, you can find a way to squeeze out some good work here and a lot of the coworkers are driven and bright.
Cons
Low pay for NYC, and an unbelievably incompetent bureaucracy. Columbia is a house of cards and they assume that people will just deal with it for the prestige of being there. Not worth it. Every time that I had to deal with benefits, payroll, IT, etc was a disaster. I was often told to contact people who did not exist - so I was just sending emails and phone calls to the abyss and my problems were never solved. These problems include not being paid for months on end, so it's not trivial. It does not feel like CU takes care of the employees at all. The buildings are also falling apart and very dirty because the custodians are not supposed to clean the floors unless you pay them extra and schedule it. ** This is for the medical campus. The Morningside campus is run dramatically better.