As school is set to start in a couple of weeks, Columbia University is already dealing with a tragedy, as a freshman, Martha Corey-Ochoa, fell from a 10-floor window to her death earlier this week.

Dean of Student Affairs Kevin Shollenberger informed students of the death in an email sent around 2:15am, calling the death a tragedy.The university also released the following statement:

"Martha Corey-Ochoa, a freshman in the College, passed away last night. Dean Shollenberger informed students of her death in an email, after notifying her family. Her death is being treated as an apparent suicide. Dean Shollenberger writes, "Martha was passionate about mathematics and literature, and recognized as a very talented writer."

Corey-Ochoa, 18, had a promising future, as she was the valedictorian at her high school, Dobbs Ferry, also located in New York, and was planning to double major at Columbia University in English and mathematics.

The young girl left no suicide note, and there were no witnesses, according to the Daily Mail.

Two freshman found her laying on Amsterdam Avenue.She fell from the university residence John Jay Hall in an apparent suicide at about 11pm, police said.

Corey-Ochoa later died at nearby St. Luke's Hospital.

"Everyone was out here seconds after it happened," witness Efraim Ramos, 54, told the New York Post. "Everyone was in the street, it was packed."

A neighbor of the young girl's family, Roberta Reynolds, told the Post that "she was completely devoted to her parents, she was always with her parents. She was a quiet girl, a very studious girl. Whatever happened, she was not used to being away from the family. If she did do this, it's because she didn't want to disappoint her family. I don't know how the family will cope without her."

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