<p>I got into Columbia and Amherst, but quite indecisive between the two. As I expect to major in math and economics, both school seem to have comparable standards. While some tell me Columbia has more opportunities for social research and interns, others say Amherst has more individual attention and gives rigorous teaching of theories. Any advice from the board?</p>
<p>Both of these are completely different schools.
I’m biased towards liberal arts schools, however, in that I think they give a better undergraduate experience 
If you really like Columbia, go for it! But otherwise, I think Amherst is an absolutely amazing school - there’s no replacement for the amount of supportive, individualized attention that you’ll receive. There’s internship opportunities at Amherst anyway, and you can always go to Columbia for graduate school. Ultimately, I think it’s up to individual preference. Do you think that Columbia’s location / etc. is more important than a strong undergraduate experience, etc?
Don’t forget to consider Columbia’s core vs. an open curriculum at Amherst as well.</p>
<p>agreed liberal arts schools are truly a unique experience. It is also a complete lie that Amherst has less opportunities for internships. People know that Amherst kids are smart, and that is what most internships want.</p>
<p>columbia is unique among urban universities in that it does a very good job in mimicking a lot of the small liberal arts feel.</p>
<p>1) the neighborhood is very much removed from the hustle of the city, it is kind of like a college town. the campus itself is beautiful, majestic, it feels like a special place, an oasis of sorts. though columbia doesn’t have the manicured lawns of amherst, it is suprising how close an imitation it offers in the heart of a city.</p>
<p>2) small classes, the core really fosters the lib arts values of learning, and a strong pedagogical dimension that i’ve talked a lot on this board. it is very much about ugrads, and you get that sense early on that columbia buys into this idea of learning in small discussion oriented situations.</p>
<p>3) almost all students live on campus, and you’ll always be like within 10 minutes of anything, which emphasizes how intimate the school is.</p>
<p>4) and then you have all the resources of being part of one of the world’s best universities - top flight med, law, biz, foreign affairs schools, great art, architecture, journalism schools with their own faculty (so it is not as if it dilutes the small feel of being in the college or engineering). scholars and leaders flock to columbia to speak, to engage with students.</p>
<p>5) and you’re in nyc…which just explodes your opportunities. i agree, amherst has a lot of cache, but you can’t intern at the place you want to work at while you’re a student in western massachusetts, you can at columbia. it is just hard to imagine how much you have at your disposal - there is so much that you wont even be able to scratch the surface of all the city has to offer when you’re a student (heck people live in nyc for their whole lives and don’t do everything). it is never boring, dull, or predictable, you can do something new every weekend and not finish it all. and that is something that makes columbia in my opinion far more exciting, exhilarating than any other option out there.</p>
<p>come to columbia!
[YouTube</a> - Columbia University!](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZG7gThoGME]YouTube”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZG7gThoGME)</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/881335-columbia-vs-amherst.html?highlight=columbia+amherst[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/881335-columbia-vs-amherst.html?highlight=columbia+amherst</a></p>
<p>Good luck. Hope to see you at Amherst.</p>
<p>So I was looking for jobs and internships in the summer on Columbia’s list for job opportunities for Columbians. I forgot to put the filter on and was faced with a good 40 pages of jobs and internships related to econ.</p>
<p>If you’re really going econ, then where else would you go other than Columbia? One of my freshman friends is actually working at Barclay’s on a $10,000 internship. He had no trouble finding other opportunities either</p>
<p>“If you’re really going econ, then where else would you go other than Columbia?”</p>
<p>Honestly?</p>
<p>Harvard, MIT, Princeton, UChicago, Stanford, Berkeley, Yale, Northwestern.</p>
<p>^ Is there something you’re not telling us about your friend? Connections of some sort? URM? </p>
<p>To be honest, if you’re good enough to get a paid BB internship after just one semester of college, you’ll probably be fine wherever you go.</p>
<p>Columbia has a particularly strong econ-math joint major, that prepares you well for econ grad school, wall street and anything in between. I’ve loved my econ class at Columbia (taken 8-10), they’ve been truly exceptional, I’ve learned a lot, got as much attention as I sought and have a pretty solid foundation in economics.</p>
<p>kwu, the point is that Columbia is in one of the largest cities in the world, and so there will be more opportunities for internships there than almost anywhere else. Only U Chicago and Northwestern are really even close in that regard, of the schools you listed.</p>
<p>Thanks for the valuable information given by all so far. Now I get a lot more informed. Hope u guys can post more opinions… I really appreciate them</p>