My third best choice was Rice, but I have narrowed my decision to these two schools. I have been admitted to both schools, but am still undecided. I am a potential humanities/social sciences major. I am worried that if I go to UChicago I will be surrounded by anti-social people and be over-worked. I worry that Columbia does not have enough of a community because it is in such a major city and that it has too much of an elitist attitude.
Financially, there is no substantive difference between the two for me
Go for Columbia. NYC has the extra glimmer for your resume.
I disagree that Columbia provides any advantage over Chicago on your resume.
Do you like an intense intellectual atmosphere? If so, Chicago could be a good fit. It is rigorous, but the âwhere fun goes to dieâ is more myth than reality. My D talked to current and former students when applying there, and didnât get the impression it was anti-social.
The idea that UChicago is anti social is absurd. In fact. at UChicago there is a Midwestern vibe which is very welcome when you factor inb the intensely intellectual atmosphere. By and large the UChicago students are less competitive than Columbia students, and Columbia does not have a real campus vibe as does UChicago. Both schools are academically amazing. There are a lot of rich international students at Columbia and it tends o be socially stratified. UChicago is a globalt leader in economics, top of the country in English and History and very strong in most areas you are interested in. Columbia has the edge in international affairs. UChicago has tremendous momentum in rankings and leads Columbia in the undergraduate (UNSWR) , world university and law and bus school rankings. UChicago has made enormous efforts to provides undergrads with academic counseling and amazing career counseling and opportunities which start the first week. At Columbia you are by and large on your own. This is a huge difference between the two.
They are both great. Question is also NY vs. Chicago.
1 Like
I agree with Chrchill. Those two schools have so much in common intellectually and academically. Socially, the people I knew who attended Chicago were friendly and social, and the few parties I attended at the University of Chicago were definitely fun. It boils down to Chicago vs New York.
I was in this position as well! It was agonizing but so humbling! I chose Chicago, but I think my reasonings for doing so are so intangible and subjectively personal, coming down to the social philosophies and character of schools as well as econ programs and how I felt in each atmosphere, as both schools are so great and equal in academics. My advice is to visit both! That is how I finally was able to make a decision. See which one you feel like you belong in. There is no wrong decision!
I know that you eliminated Rice, but it seems like a happy medium between your choices. It offers the collaborative and supportive community that youâre scared Columbia wonât through its residential college system, and does not have the reputation of being as grueling as Chicago. It is also good for the social sciences. Just thought Iâd throw that out there.
Rice is not in the same league as either Columbia or Chicago. It also has a very pre med vibe.
@Chrchill Columbia and Chicago are more typically prestigious than Rice, but that doesnât mean its academics are worse than either of them. Itâs still a top 15 school. All I said was that it addresses OPâs concerns with Columbia and Chicago.
Have you had an extended visit to both campuses? Can you possibly attend the admitted students events? Chicago has broadened its outreach in recent years and attracts students a very similar student body so I canât imagine the âfun goes to dieâ has any legitimacy (any longer). My own experience with Yale, Columbia, and Chicago students has the latter being the most âintellectualâ. While my Yale friends would have heated discussions on the merits of spending money on things or experiences or about world affairs, my annual visits to friends at U Chicago would involve talk about Hegel or Kant over pizza. I had fewer contacts at Columbia but I assume they are more like Yalies. Iâve lived in or in the suburbs of NYC and Chicago and excepting for the great depth of theater in NYC, Chicago wins as a beautiful and livable city hands down.
1 Like
Chicago is a beautiful city with great art and architecture and the school has many fine qualities.
But I disagree that at Columbia âyouâre on your own.â Thatâs just false. Thereâs a nice community at Columbia, great career services and the City is part of your education. Itâs the first city, not the Second City. Itâs also the place where youâre more likely to find work and itâs not limited to the region itâs in, as much as Chicago. CU is an incredible intellectual community and doesnât have the (to my mind) slightly apergerâs quality of the Chicago folksânice people! Great city! But the âintellectual discussionâ thatâs bandied about here, might also be conflated with âoverly technical and rigid, nerdy to the point of obsession, verging on the bombastic and bumptious.â Columbia students are more well-rounded and flexible, IMHO.
Food is great in both places. Chicago may be more muscular, but NY has more style. Only one place has warmer winters, access to the ocean, green space, is in a super safe neighborhood, has the worldâs best drinking water straight from the mountains, and the best bagels. Iâll let you figure out which city that is on your own.
Columbia and u Chicago were my sonâs first choices so congratulations, but rice is a fantastic school. It has the feel of a liberal arts college while being one of the worldâs best (better then Columbia IMO) research universities. The personal attention and research opportunities my daughter has had are beyond compare. It totally does not have a pre med vibe. I went to Penn and I know a pre med vibe when I see one, but a nerdy vibe? completely different story. The whole school I absolutely obsessed with star wars. Granted their admission rate is twice that of u of c at 15%, but when itâs February and you are in the windy city I donât think anyone at Rice is going to be jealous of you. But of coarse you need to narrow this down and itâs hard to turn down the Ivy league or Chicago. But how do you fell about the stringent course and distribution requirements at Columbia. Rice has a completely open distribution requirement and takes ALL of your AP credit. My daughter could have chose to graduate in three years is she just wanted one major at Rice. Anyway again congratulations.
@violetclaire while what you are describing are stereotypes for both an schools and do not apply 100%, stereotypes exist for a reason, so it boils down to what you value most.
Fit is the only consideration here.
Btw i donât think Columbia people are more elitist than Chicago people just cause Columbia is an ivy.
I agree. However, Columbia people may be more elitist than UChicago people because Columbia is the Ivy that happens to be in Manhattan. Or not. 
To me, the biggest differences I saw between the two were space, class size and campus life. Columbia is a very large school crammed in a very small space. Space is at a premium for everything. There is only one main quad which is literally is packed to the gills every day, as are the campus cafes and the gym and everything else we saw. In that way, it is a microcosm of Manhattan. Lower level classes can be very large, with several hundred students in many of them. Finally, many people say that the campus life is more about getting out to clubs in Manhattan, and those without the money to do that on a regular basis will feel left out. There is no âresidential collegeâ system like UChicago and Yale have, which makes it harder for some people to feel like they really belong. One person described it as âthe best commuter school in the nationâ in the sense that campus is not the focus for student socialization.
Hereâs a long article about this subject.
http://features.columbiaspectator.com/eye/2015/02/18/a-house-is-not-a-home/
Of course, to be fair, to the extent that Columbia has problems with elitism and social cohesion, UChicago has its own issues with its own stereotypical issues of rampant nerdery and excessive intellectualism.
Columbia is far from super safe. The access to the Ocean is a huge effort. Lakes are easier in Chicago! Chicago is much cheaper. NY is the capital of the world and very sophisticated. Chicago is marginally colder most of the time, although in the past two years it has become quite bizarre and different. I agree with @penn95 (and I rarely do) that Columbia is not more elitist. In fact, some at Columbia have this ongoing subtle inferiority complex that they are not at HYP, even though Columbia is at least as strong academically.
Fun can live or die at both schools, elitism is rampant at both, and community/social opportunities will be there if you make them happen in equal measure. Despite the shift in personality, I still do see Chicago as potentially more welcoming for an introspective, intellectual type. But these days, non jocks of all stripes can thrive at both schools. Forget the stereotypes, hopefully youâve visited, go wherever you feel most at home.
There are no serious jocks at either school â and thatâs a unifying plus âŠ
@Chrchill in all fairness it is not just Columbia,there are people in all non-HYPSM top schools that have a slight inferiority complex because they are not in HYPSM. It is to be expected from very driven and competitive people that know there are other schools more prestigious than theirs. Even some people at Yale have an slight inferiority complex because it does not have the prestige of HarvardâŠ
I (for once haha) agree with you that Columbia is not very elitist but due to the inferiority complex, but rather the fact that there are strong liberal, hipster and alternative elements in the student population that kind of clash with the idea of elitism⊠But like in all ivies there is an element of elitism too, but obviously not as strong as HYP
Please, please donât base your decision on hearsay by parents/students like us who have either graduated from these schools ages ago, barely know anything about the 2 schools apart from rumors from friends, and people who havenât interacted closely with students from both schools, especially when youâre trying to determine something so intangible as âelitistâ or âanti-socialâ attitudes.