<p>To your specific concerns, here’s my $0.02:</p>
<p>“1. With my intention to go into I-banking, NYC is just the perfect place to start. The connections and experiences I could acquire in NYC would help me a lot;”</p>
<p>Absolutely correct. Re. “experiences”, I got an MBA from Columbia, now live and work not far from Stanford, and there’s not a week that goes by when I don’t miss Manhattan. Silicon Valley is a cultural wasteland. Manhattan is the most exciting place on earth, for my money. Those extracurricular, non-professional experiences matter, too - and over the long run, they matter far more than your resume-building experiences, I think. You’re only young once.</p>
<p>“2. Stanford, in my impression, is more of a school focusing on the sciences, engineering, maths, CS and stuff instead of the arts. I am 99% sure I don’t want to and am not able to get into those things considering my intelligence level…” </p>
<p>New York is the world capital of the arts. I don’t know that <em>Columbia</em> attracts many or many more artistic types than Stanford, but in New York you’ll meet at least 10x as many real artists, writers, filmmakers, musicians, playwrights, actors, architects, and photographers as you would in SIlicon Valley. </p>
<p>San Francisco is <em>not</em> close to Stanford, btw: you have to drive (the rinky-dink train takes forever to arrive in a scummy part of SF), the traffic is horrific in both directions before 10am and after 2pm, parking is a nightmare, there are “Big Brother”-style traffic violation cameras all over the place, trolling for the cahnce to slap you with a $400+ fine. </p>
<p>In NYC mass transit is outstanding. I always found it exciting to hop in a cab at night and fly downtown past skyscrapers, Central Park, the M-P-L avenues, Broadway etc. Inching along Highway 101 into San Francisco past dozens of hideous billboards and some of the ugliest urban architecture of any major world city doesn’t compare.</p>
<p>“3. Stanford is on the west coast and is therefore somewhat “isolated” from where I want to build my future (I love NYC and am pretty sure I will go there after graduation no matter what). I will have to take a more than 4-hour flight just to make an interview in NYC;”</p>
<p>“I love NYC.” Listen to your heart on this. Consider also that Silicon Valley is imo at least as obsessed with money and the marketplace as New York is - actually, much more, given that people here have so little interest in culture, the arts, Europe. Do you know that San Jose could not even manage to support a professional symphony - despite the phenomenal wealth here and the hundreds of thousands of east asian families who are keen on classical music? What does that tell you?</p>
<p>“4. I am Chinese but I don’t want to be drowned in a Chinese crowd in college. Considering Columbia’s huge Chinese population, I might not get the American education I was expecting;”</p>
<p>New York is a world capital. You’re right: you may not get the “American” education you expect; you’ll get something far more interesting and more valuable: a world education. There are over a million people in New York who speak either French, German, Russian or Italian. In Silicon Valley, there aren’t more than a few thousand French or German or Russian or Italian speakers.</p>
<p>“5. Stanford’s overall reputation and prestige is higher (plz don’t blame me for saying this) and is usually put along with HYP as a top-tier while Columbia on the next level;”</p>
<p>Probably true. So leverage the Columbia network. Take a class in the business school if you can, and get to know some of the professors who work on Wall Street. These connections will trump the Stanford halo when it comes time to apply for internships and jobs.</p>
<p>“6. As an international student, Stanford’s sense of community might give me a warmer welcoming”</p>
<p>I didn’t do undergrad at Columbia and can’t speak to this. It may well be true that Stanford’s bland suburban campus creates a greater sense of “community” for undergrads. If this is crucial for you, then Stanford might make sense. New York can be a rough place at times. California’s bland warm and sunny 80% of the time.</p>
<p>I don’t know you, and for all you know I’m just an bot skipping across the internet, but to live in New York City as a young person, especially one who’s keen on finance, is the opportunity of a lifetime. When you’re on Wall Street, you’ll be working 90 hours a week and won’t be able to enjoy it the way you will as an undergrad with plenty of free time.</p>
<p>You’d be crazy to choose a vapid California suburb over Manhattan, imho.</p>