Thanks for the info on Columbia!
And I wish I could be as confident about my chances of admission as you seem to be... this year was a tough year and it seems like LOTS of highly qualified people got flat-out rejected from their top choices. Just based on your description, I think I'd love Columbia, but in case the waitlist doesn't work out, I'll be happy going to Berkeley too. The only problem with Berkeley is that we have to pay $50K a year for me to attend, so I will have to find some scholarships and/or try to accelerate my degree so I can graduate early instead of hanging around for 4 years (which would put me in a massive boatload of debt). Money-wise, Columbia's the much wiser choice for me. Now if only I could get in...
LOL at the lawyer/math comment. That's actually really true! It's an outright lie to say that math is not worth studying if you're not a math/engineering/science major, because it teaches you how to think in a certain way that is useful for virtually all fields.
It's just sad that there aren't very many talented math/science educators in this country these days. I feel like a lot of students are missing out