Columbia GS vs. Michigan vs. Emory vs. SCPS vs. SCS vs. SMU

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I am interested in working for a top financial firm in LA, NY, or Miami. Please consider location, job prospects, recreation, financial aid, ranking, etc.</p>

<p>I have been admitted to the following schools, please indicate which one I should attend. Assume that I am already approved for the private loans to pay for any of the colleges listed below.</p>

<p>Columbia University School of General Studies - Economics. Have not received financial aid award yet but I have to make a decision on some schools tomorrow.</p>

<p>Michigan - Economics or Finance. Total cost to me $10,000 per year</p>

<p>Emory - Economics or Finance. Total cost to me $18,000 per year. </p>

<p>NYU School of Continuing and Professional Studies - Economics. Have not received financial aid award yet.</p>

<p>Washington University in St. Louis School of Continuing Studies - Managerial Economics. Have not received financial aid award yet.</p>

<p>Southern Methodist University- Finance. Total cost to me $19,000.</p>

2

<p>A good friend of mine who just graduated from Columbia GS just got a highly coveted job at JP Morgan, but she had an outside scholarship that covered her entire tuition. At Columbia GS, with a high enough GPA, you will be recruited by top financial firms, and have almost exclusive access to certain job interviews, but you’ll be paying student loans for a long time after graduation. If you’re in a position to take such loans than GS is s great option for finance.</p>

3

<p>Thanks for the reply. Of course, two questions immediately occur to me. May I ask which job and which scholarship?</p>

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<p>I was accepted as well to </p>

<p>Northwestern School of Continuing Studies - Economics. No financial aid award yet.</p>

5

<p>Any advice? Emory University requires a response immediately.</p>

6

<p>Excuse my ignorance, but what is with all the acceptances to schools with continuing education programs and general studies colleges? Are they done online?</p>

7

<p>Despite its misleading name, Columbia GS is not a “general studies school,” rather it’s far from it. Per Wikicu - Columbia’s ostensible encyclopedia:</p>

<p>“The School of General Studies, commonly known as General Studies or simply GS, is one of the three official undergraduate colleges of Columbia University. It is a highly selective liberal arts college known for its non-traditional and international students. GS confers the Bachelor of Art and Bachelor of Science degrees in over seventy different majors. GS students take the same courses with the same faculty, are held to the same high standards, and earn the same degree as all other Columbia undergraduates. GS students, who comprise of approximately 25% of all Columbia undergraduates, have the highest average GPA of all the undergraduate schools at Columbia.”</p>

<p>[School</a> of General Studies - WikiCU, the Columbia University wiki encyclopedia](<a href=“http://www.wikicu.com/School_of_General_Studies]School”>School of General Studies - WikiCU, the Columbia University wiki encyclopedia)</p>

<p>With regards to the school’s name:</p>

<p>“The school’s name refers to its diverse student body by alluding to medieval universities, which were also known as studia generalia. Studia generalia were degree-granting institutions that served a much broader, often international group of students and scholars.”</p>

<p>And finally, to furhter expand on AshelyE’s question regarding job placement in finance: </p>

<p>“More than 70 percent of GS students go on to earn advanced degrees after graduation. Columbia GS students have been admitted to top graduate programs all over the country including law schools at Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, the University of Chicago, NYU, the University of Pennsylvania, UC Berkeley (Boalt Hall), Duke, and Cornell. They have also been admitted to medicals schools at Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins, Duke, Stanford, UC San Francisco, Yale, Columbia, the University of Chicago, Cornell, and many others. In recent years, GS graduates have been recruited by investment banks such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, UBS, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and Citigroup.”</p>

<p>[School</a> of General Studies - WikiCU, the Columbia University wiki encyclopedia](<a href=“School of General Studies - WikiCU, the Columbia University wiki encyclopedia”>School of General Studies - WikiCU, the Columbia University wiki encyclopedia)</p>

<p>The school’s name is anachronistic and misleading. In reality, Columbia GS, academically speaking, is a very traditional liberal arts college. Per the school’s website: “GS students take the same courses with the same faculty, are held to the same high standards, and earn the same degree as all other Columbia undergraduates.”</p>

<p><a href=“http://gs.columbia.edu/admissions-faqs[/url]”>http://gs.columbia.edu/admissions-faqs&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Side note, to answer your question AshelyE, the job that my friend got was as an analyst, pm me and I’ll direct you to her and some other people’s resume’s from GS who were able to land highly competitive finance jobs - Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Barclays…</p>

<p>Also, I’m not sure which scholarship my friend had, but I believe that it was a scholarship for students matriculating from India.</p>

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<p>Thank you for both of your replies. You have provided me with a lot of good information. I am wondering tsar if you could private message me and lead me to her and other people’s resumes from GS. I cannot start a private message at this time because I haven’t made enough posts.</p>

9

<p>What type of benefits do I gain from going to Columbia as opposed to any of the schools I listed? Is it worth the extra money to go to Columbia to study there and be in the NY environment where I can get internships and job prospects?</p>

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<p>For many of my friends, it was worth it. But, they all had 3.8+ gpa’s. In fact, all of the finance girls I know had 4.0’s. They were also very dynamic people who interviewed very well. One of them, the Indian girl, was a famous Indian actess and had a lot of carisma. </p>

<p>GS is worth it if you can maintain a high gpa in a really competitive milieu. As with regards to opportunities, I know that a few finance jobs are pretty much solely recruited within the Ivy League. The aforementioned Indian girl, for instance, went through 20 rounds of interviews with students exclusively from Harvard, Yale, UPenn, and Columbia, and she was the only one who got the job. </p>

<p>I’m a little busy right now, but I will pm you shortly. I could even provide you with the girl’s email, and maybe you could speak with her directly.</p>

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<p>But, as a Columbia alum who loved my time there, I would go with Michigan if cost is an issue. The amount of debt that you’ll acrue at Columbia will be astronomical. If you can’t lock down an outside scholarship, go to Michigan and don’t look back.</p>

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<p>Columbia graduates are smart!</p>

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<p>Tsar, very interesting insights. This has become such a difficult choice. Please private message me her information. I am in need of intelligent and knowledgeable advice. A part of me says pay the extra money for a great education at Columbia and another part of me says go for Michigan which only costs $10,000 a year. Columbia is so hard to pass on. I am really interested to know where your friend found an outside scholarship.</p>

14

<p>$40,000 to go to Michigan vs over $200,000 for Columbia SGS? Pretty easy decision if you ask me. Additionally with the cost of living in NYC, you are talking about a humongous debt load.</p>

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<p>I expect to go to both school only 2 years so perhaps $20,000 and $100,000, although I have not received Columbia’s FA offer which will lower my debt although perhaps not substantially since FA for transfers at CU is supposed to be abysmal.</p>

16

<p>Any more advice?</p>

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<p>What are the deadlines for the other schools? Can you get Columbia to give you a financial aid offer before then? If not, have you at least run Columbia’s net price calculator?</p>

18

<p>Emory is due right now, but if I get it in by Monday I think I am fine. The rest of the schools are due on July 1st. </p>

<p>I have run Columbia’s net price calculator. The total cost to me is $45k per year of which $33,000 I will need to find outside scholarships or private loans.</p>

19

<p>If you decide on Michigan and end up attending Ross, you need to know that it is a three year program. You start Ross as a sophomore. It appears that you plan on transferring elsewhere after your second year, no matter where you attend. I am a bit confused about what exactly your goals are.</p>

20

<p>Looks like the OP is a transfer student.</p>

<p>But if Columbia’s aid offer matches its net price calculator, it would be very expensive compared to the other schools, and large amounts of private student loans are not generally considered a good idea.</p>

<p>The only real decision that needs to be made now is Emory versus non-Emory, since all of the others have later due dates (but try to get all of the financial aid offers before any other due dates come up).</p>