<p>It's been rising pretty much non-stop for the past few decades. It's right in the heart of New York City. Ivy league. Ton of prestige. And it seems to be better now than it's ever been.</p>
<p>In USNews rankings, it just separated from UChicago, standing alone at fourth once again.</p>
<p>Do you think Columbia has a chance at one day breaking into HYP?</p>
<p>What are you even talking about? </p>
<p>“Breaking into HYP”??? WHAT?</p>
<p>As if there’s a guardian at the door? Do you think anyone actually associated w/Columbia gives one flip about whether the ignorant masses who have neural links to the USNWR poll if they “break” into the top three?</p>
<p>"Do you think Columbia has a chance at one day breaking into HYP? " No one who actually is connected to HYP and C cares. Only outsiders – who really don’t matter , IMHO</p>
<p>Lol of course they care. I love the people who act like they’re indifferent to these “meaningless” ratings. If Columbia broke into HYP (which no university has for as long as I can remember, if ever), Columbia would get a HUGE prestige bump. </p>
<p>Everyone considers HYP > Columbia, UPenn, Dartmouth, ?Brown? > Cornell</p>
<p>If Columbia broke into HYP, that could very well chance to HYC or something like that.</p>
<p>Yeah, the rankings aren’t “everything” but if you think they’re meaningless, you’re just kidding yourself.</p>
<p>SSS: We’ll have to agree to disagree. My perspective is formed from the fact that I’m an HYP alumnus. Having “been to the dance” I can tell you that while we can kid about P>Columbia or H>Penn or MIT>Yale or Stanford>Brown – we all know it’s worthless banter.</p>
<p>From the first moment we stepped onto our campuses, we knew there were people extremely more qualified/brilliant/well travelled/well-connected than us. And people felt the same about some feature about me, as well. Humility is a lesson that comes fast and furious. Adapt or perish.</p>
<p>So when we see these popular rankings, we know they are fluff. My graduating year, my college was USNWR #1. Big whoop. </p>
<p>To every Ivy and top school alum I’ve ever encountered, we know the rankings are meaningless. Why? Because in the real world, we’ve had co-workers, bosses, nurses, child-care professionals, doctors who took care of our elderly parents, friends, lovers, neighbors – who were not degreed from this arbitrary list of a dozen US colleges – but we valued them, respected them, were mentored by them and wanted to be like them immensely.</p>
<p>Sure we chanted “Safety School!” at the Cornell football game. But we knew it was in jest and it was as likely that the hiring manager across the interview table was Cornell alumna as much as she might have been a Princeton Tiger.</p>
<p>I stand by my assertion: for those of us who have “been there, done that”, we see these rankings and polls as meaningless at best and inimical at worst b/c it falsely teaches the outside that the qualities of the top schools can be measured and ranked in a linear fashion. Thus, the ridiculous pronouncements by 16 year olds who say they can’t apply to Cornell and must apply to Brown for “obvious” reasons. Pfft…</p>
<p>Frankly, I’m not interested in what people think of these rankings. </p>
<p>I made this topic to get an idea of whether people think there’s a chance of Columbia moving into the third highest position, not whether that “means” anything. </p>
<p>I figured that with NYC essentially as its campus, Columbia would have the potential to become renowned as the best university in America. </p>
<p>That said, I really don’t know much about Ivy League universities and how they hold up relative to each other.</p>
<p>T26E4, I found it interesting that you said the Ivy Leagues seem to consider themselves equal to each other. That’s the kind of information I’m looking for.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Maybe. This goes both ways, right? It’s good that it’s close to the city, but it doesn’t mean that campus life is great—in fact, it might mean that it has a lesser campus life than another college (such as one of these so-called HYPs) that might not have people going to class and then defecting downtown or to Brooklyn.</p>
<p>That’s an interesting point.</p>
<p>I hear a lot about Columbia’s campus life being somewhat lacking.</p>
<p>But really, who would ever stay on campus when you have the all of NYC to explore? I personally don’t see how that’s a bad thing…though I suppose it can take away from the “camaraderie” in the University.</p>
<p>Guess it’s something you’d have to see with your own eyes to really understand.</p>
<p>Yeah, a lot of people that I talk to that eventually went to Columbia say that they go into it thinking “OMG NYC!” and seem to continue thinking that.</p>
<p>As someone that’s lived in NYC for a year or so, I’d rather spend time on campus with people. Grass is always greener :)</p>
<p>Nothing is an absolute. Yes, being at Columbia does mean NYC is our background, therefore a lot of campus life happens in bars down the block from campus (1020, Cannon’s, etc,), however “camaraderie” never lacks. Generally, you’ll spend the first part of the night ‘hanging out’ in your dorms and then head out around 12/1 (if it leads to that). Often students actually prefer hanging out in the various dorms instead of going out.</p>
<p>To the other point. After talking to President Bollinger and Dean Valentini, the overwhelming attitude about ‘breaking into HYP’ isn’t one of great concern. They’re more than happy with letting “that H school, Y school, and P school”, as Dean Valentini says, do whatever they do. Columbia will continue doing what it does, and if it happens to break into the top 3, then awesome. But it doesn’t seem that the University is actively trying to throw a coup and break into HYP.</p>
<p>
Columbia has been in NYC for over 200 years. Why would that suddenly be a factor to make anyone consider it “the best university in America”? This thread is beyond silly.</p>
<p>It’s been rising in the rankings over the past few decades. It’s gaining in prestige. It’s not viewed in the same way today as it was viewed 200 years ago. </p>
<p>And now that Columbia is looking so great…well, doesn’t it seem fitting that the best University in America would be in its most famous city? </p>
<p>When you ask any random person what is the absolute best college in America, 90% of the time the answer is going to be Harvard, Yale, or Princeton.</p>
<p>Yeah, I know, I know, people will get all defensive and say “no no! That’s subjective! You can’t say there’s a ‘best’ university!”</p>
<p>Sure, and you could probably even find someone who’d point to some random community college and say it’s better than Harvard.</p>
<p>But we all know Harvard, Yale, and Princeton are the best, and everything else is below them. You can try to deny that as much as you want, and say that these “ideas” of what’s the best and what isn’t are subjective, but that’s not going to make it any less true.</p>
<p>In this current day and age, HYP are dominant. That’s a fact. But it wasn’t always like that in the past, and it won’t always be like that in the future. </p>
<p>That’s what I’m speculating about - what might it look like in the future.</p>
<p>My goodness you are na</p>
<p>So you really think Harvard and Columbia carry the same amount of prestige?</p>
<p>Who cares??? I certainly do not care what Joe Public or status-fixated high school kids think. Educated persons know Columbia. What uneducated persons think or do not think is utterly irrelevant to me. If you believe that prestige is all that matters in education, you are seriously uneducated. Columbia and Harvard are different schools with different strengths. You seem to be one of those persons who only cares about prestige and not about quality of education. Having attended Harvard, and taught there, I can say that there are other schools that offer undergraduate educations equal to and in some ways superior to Harvard’s. Columbia, with its rigorous core curriculum, is one of those schools. Does the man on the street know this? Maybe not. I couldn’t care less! </p>
<p>Columbia is one of the most selective schools in the country. It is more selective than Princeton, by the way. It attracts a phenomenal student body; many of its students are attracted to Columbia by its unique core curriculum, one of the most rigorous curriculums in American higher education. I doubt any of them are tearing their hair out screaming, “but it is only ranked number 4…” Get real. </p>
<p>If Joe Public’s perception of prestige will define your own college search, by all means try to get into HYP so that you can impress the man on the street. If you want an EDUCATION, however, stop fixating on prestige as defined by the public and look for a school that fits you. </p>
<p>Columbia is a great school. It is not HY or P. Thank goodness!!! And it doesn’t need to be. It is Columbia, one of America’s great universities. If it isn’t prestigious enough for you, so be it and so what.</p>
<p>Lol I’m not exactly sure what it is about this concept that brings about such violent reactions. </p>
<p>Anyways, I thank you and the all other Ivy league people who posted here and shared their thoughts.</p>
<p>The overwhelming consensus among ivy leaguers does seem to be that these upper-tier schools are about even. That’s pretty fascinating.</p>
<p>Though I still have trouble following this “who cares” attitude about prestige. It may not be the be-all end-all, but prestige does matter.</p>
<p>I mean, this prestige isn’t just pulled out of thin air. It’s a direct result of the students and projects that come out of these universities. Of the learning that goes on in these universities.</p>
<p>And when it comes to getting a job, prestige has quite an impact. </p>
<p>But then again, anyone who thinks like that is obviously a silly na</p>
<p>Dude, yes there IS a huge prestige gap between, say, Harvard and your basic state school or community college. Yes, Harvard may be the most famous university in the world, AMONG LAY-PERSONS. I never denied it. But when it comes to getting great jobs in the real world, the persons who do the hiring do not say “HYP are the best, we will not hire anyone from anywhere else because all other schools are lower.” That is ridiculous and shows how little you know about hiring and network-building in the upper echelons of educational and professional achievement. </p>
<p>Do you really want a mathematical parsing of the prestige gap – as it functions in the worlds where Ivy graduates actually live and work – between the number 2 USNWR school (Harvard) and the number 4 USNWR school (Columbia)? What is the point? Degrees from schools at this level get you to the same places, no matter what Joe Public thinks. Or what you think. It is simply a FACT! Are these schools different from each other? Yes. Do they have their own strengths and weaknesses? Yes. Is Harvard perhaps the world’s most famous school? Yes. But in the real world where Ivy grads live and work, the differences between Harvard and Columbia fade into irrelevance, as compared with differences in perception between Harvard and state U. Except among snobs and fools who have nothing going for them – neither achievement or excellence – beyond that initial college acceptance letter. When you have nothing else going for you, by all means coast on a high profile brand name. But within Ivy circles, as has been said by others, these distinctions are meaningless because the other Ivies are not failed Harvards or Harvard wannabes. They are unique schools with histories and traditions and reputations that make them all among the jewels in the crown of American higher education. Each with their own strengths and weaknesses and personalities. Not THE jewels, mind you. Among the jewels. If you are fortunate enough to be accepted by any of these schools, you will get over your silly, misconceived snobbery about a hierarchy that has no meaning in the REAL world of successful post-graduate experience. But first you must be accepted. Good luck.</p>
<p>O_o</p>
<p>(and for what it’s worth, I will in all likelihood be attending Columbia next year)</p>
<p>And you will get a phenomenal education if you do. Just be sure to pick a school based upon fit, not fame. I knew plenty of Harvard students, for example, who picked the school because of its name, only to find themselves miserable because of poor fit.</p>
<p>And you know, maybe Columbia will displace Yale in the USNWR rankings some day. But so what if it does or does not. It is one of the BEST universities in the WHOLE WORLD, whether number four or number three. Whether a few more Joe Publics know of Columbia is irrelevant to the school’s reputation within the academic and professional worlds. And those are the worlds that matter, after you get your degree.</p>
<p>I say sincerely: good luck!</p>
<p>*Just be sure to pick a school based upon fit, not fame. *</p>
<p>I don’t really have any say in the matter. I’m currently in college - I’m in the last year of the 3-2 program, so Columbia is the only place for me to go.</p>
<p>That said, I visited the campus with a couple of my friends and I really loved it. And the core sounds really exciting for me, because I’m not the kind of science person who hates liberal arts classes - I like a rich variety of classes. </p>
<p>I also love NYC. </p>
<p>I didn’t even know the 3-2 program existed when I entered college, and I count myself lucky it’ll lead me into Columbia since it seems to be such a match for me.</p>
<p>show: on this thread you have a Harvard alum (swingtime) and a Yale alum (me) bashing you for your naivete about prestige. We, who have taken our degrees, gone out into the real working world, and have navigated life with the fact that in every introduction for the rest of our lives, someone will say “This is swingtime, he/she went to Harvard” or “this is T26E4, a Yale alumnus” – we’re almost YELLING at you to drop the hair-splitting of “Ivy A>Ivy B>Ivy C” inane comments but you persist.</p>
<p>Congrats on getting into Columbia. You have many lessons ahead of you.</p>