<p>Okay guys, so happily I got into Tufts and surprisingly I got into Columbia (mostly because I was waitlisted at Barnard and rejected at the other ivies I applied to). I was also admitted into Vassar, Wesleyan, and Wellesley, but Tufts and Columbia are the strongest of the bunch.</p>
<p>COLUMBIA
PROS: ivy league, like the artsy type of student
CONS: its about 20 minutes from home, and its in new york city (not sure i want to go to college in the city because i don't feel like its a true collegiate experience). also the lack of undergrad focus.</p>
<p>TUFTS
PROS: boston is fab, GORGEOUS campus, very undergrad oriented.
CONS: way cold, students are more preppy/sporty.</p>
<p>Discuss. I'm a bit suspect of going to Columbia because I really don't want to be in New York City because its very very close to home and because I heard its not a good undergrad experience. But then again, it is ivy, and also Columbia students are more artsy, more my kind of people.</p>
<p>Columbia is extremely undergrad oriented, and it is a great undergrad experience, it is however a place where no one holds your hand, but opportunities are abundant and all yours for the taking.</p>
<p>You seem to be a bit disillusioned by Tufts. Indeed, Boston is a great city, but so is NYC. NYC is just as cold Boston. Are you sure you were visiting the Tufts campus? I wouldn't go so far as calling it a gorgeous campus. If you are looking for undergrad orientation, and don't like what Columbia offers, Wellesley and Vassar are better choices over Tufts, in my opinion--and I think many others would agree with me. And if you like the "the artsy type of student" Wesleyan may fit that bill for you. I think your predicament should be between Columbia and Wellesley or Vassar, not Tufts.</p>
<p>neither place is that much more warm or cold. Don't choose between them based on weather.</p>
<p>However, I'm trying hard, and unless Tufts has recruited you as an athlete and/or showers you with money, I honestly can't think of any reason to attend Tufts over columbia. Seriously. I grew up in the boston area, a bunch of my friends live in Somerville, I like Davis Square enough, etc. But there really is no comparison.</p>
<p>You grew up in NYC and don't want to go to college close to home. I respect that - I wouldn't have wanted to go to anyplace in the boston area either. If it was between Columbia and (say) Penn, Brown, Harvard, or a comparable school within driving distance but not so close you'll be going home for dinner... then I'd see the argument. But Tufts simply can't offer you the same value out of your undergrad experience that Columbia can.</p>
<p>Consider:</p>
<ul>
<li>Public transportation. You're a 10-15 min walk from the T at tufts, takes a while to get downtown (or anywhere once there). Columbia is right on the 1 line.</li>
<li>Highly regarded departments. Take a look at the nobel prizewinners. Or the renown of the professors in the field you're most interested in.</li>
<li>Graduate schools to explore or get benefit from while an undergrad. Aside from the Fletcher school at Tufts, Columbia destroys Tufts in every regard here, and perhaps not even with Fletcher (SIPA is pretty well-regarded too)</li>
<li>Intellectual caliber of your fellow students. The classmates you meet at Columbia (and become lifelong friends with) will tend to be more interesting, motivated, inspiring people. While not every single member of the class, there is a sizeable percentage who are clearly going to be the movers and shakers of tomorrow. Visit Tufts or read about it, and the same will essentially never be said about Tufts except by their admissions dept propaganda</li>
<li>Internship and job opportunities. Many more kinds of businesses, and opportunities with those, can be found in New York. Especially hard-to-get-into industries like media, journalism or finance. About the only thing Boston has over NYC in that regard is venture capital. And Columbia's alumni network will get you into every single opportunity better than Tufts does</li>
<li>If you grew up a city kid... well, Tufts is essentially in a suburb. You'll need to have a car, or easy access to one, to get around. And pay for insurance, gas, repairs, parking, etc.</li>
</ul>
<p>But yeah, they have more acreage for trees and fields on their campus. Can't dispute that.</p>
<p>I would personally take Columbia, not because its an Ivy, but because of the fact that NY is a hotspot for job recruiters, especially in business. Not that Tufts isnt good in this area, its a great place, just in my opinion, inferior. Columbia... Unless you are REALLY sure why it isnt for you, isnt a place to pass up.</p>
<p>"Actually mok, oddly enough I was admitted into Columbia (the college) and was WAITLISTED at Barnard!"</p>
<p>you are definitely an exception.</p>
<p>Barnard or tufts would be a tough decision in my mind.</p>
<p>I too would take a look at vassar, wesleyan and wellesley. I wouldn't choose any of those schools over columbia, but i'd say they're comparable to Tufts.</p>
<p>Well, I like the fact that both Tufts and Columbia have 1200-1300 students in their freshmen classes.</p>
<p>Wellesley---won't go, the campus is certainly amazing and better than both Tufts and Columbia, but I decided I'd rather go co-ed.</p>
<p>Vassar---won't go, I don't understand why only 91% of freshmen returned this year. </p>
<p>Wesleyan---I visited and will visit again during open house, but I don't think I'll go here. Besides, I went up there because I have my best friend's older brother goes there and didn't think there was enough of a balance of different types of people. I liked that Tufts didn't have one type of student, can't say the same about Wes.</p>
<p>in terms of different types of people, columbia takes the cake in my mind, Tufts would not have as many students as involved in science and engineering. Columbia is strong all round, and i've found a pristine balance between students pursuing fine arts, humanities, social sciences, sciences and engineering. Regardless of what you do there is a serious benefit to diversity of interest and expertise; I also can't think of a univ that's more internationally geared. Tufts has a fantastic school of international affairs. However, as an undergrad the exposure you get to international research projects, or international students or depts focusing on global in addition to domestic issues, or high profile speakers from around the world (because it's in new york, and new york also houses the UN) is unrivalled.</p>
<p>confidentialcoll, I'm certainly aware of the all the great things that New York offers, since I am from New York. City aside, what's good about being an undergrad at this ivy? Is there a community?</p>
<p>The Columbia community doesn't revolve around Columbia itself, which is a little different than most schools. Instead there are hundreds of little solar systems revolving around any and every interest you can imagine. Like Den said above, the calibre of the students around you is incredible. And you already know the resources that NYC has to offer. if you're a go getter, the world is your oyster here. </p>
<p>Your camaraderie will will come from 10 or 15 people who are absolutely obsessed with one or another subject that you also are obsessed with. Jane Jacobs, a titan of urban studies in NYC, passed away in April 2006. One of my best friends was a hard core urban studies guy. Decided to hold an impromptu candle light memorial for Jacobs that night, and emailed a few of us. About 10 of us got together, lit candles, read passages from Jacobs' most famous book and cracked some jokes. It was half solemn, half silly. That kind of community will be there for you.</p>
[quote]
confidentialcoll, I'm certainly aware of the all the great things that New York offers, since I am from New York.
[/quote]
Being from new york doesn't necessarily mean you understand all the ways Columbia leverages its location. Sophomore year, I spent about 10 minutes talking to the president of Ghana after his speech at the World Leaders Forum, in which Columbia every year hosts presentations by about a dozen world leaders. You don't get that at (say) a queens high school, no matter how wise you are to the subway system.
[quote]
City aside, what's good about being an undergrad at this ivy? Is there a community?
[/quote]
I wish to correct the typical misconception that because columbia happens to be in the ivy league, it can be grouped with the other schools also in that league. each one is a very different place, something also true of its peer schools that don't happen to compete with us athletically.</p>
<p>As for your second question, if my first post didn't get at it, go to the Helpful Columbia Threads thread stickied at the top of this forum and check out the Life/Atmosphere threads. Much more detailed opinions can be found there (on every subject).</p>
<p>There are plenty of other schools that leverage great speakers like the President of Ghana in spite of their convenient location. </p>
<p>In classic condescending fashion that seems typical on this board and in this Columbia thread, you try to reduce me to the status of just another kid from Queens. Your attempt to claim that Columbia will show me the city in a new light is quite laughable! I'm just looking for a good, fun, collegiate experience that will challenge me.</p>
<p>"There are plenty of other schools that leverage great speakers like the President of Ghana in spite of their convenient location."</p>
<p>no school does it as well or in as great a quantity as columbia does. Each year you have over a douzen heads of state visiting. This is impossible to accomplish without both the caliber of columbia and it's locations.</p>
<p>I think Denzera's point stands, that the combination of columbia and new york is greater than the sum of individual parts. I don't think he was being condescending, merely pointing out something significant that you could possibly have overlooked.</p>
<p>"no school does it as well or in as great a quantity as columbia does. Each year you have over a douzen heads of state visiting. This is impossible to accomplish without both the caliber of columbia and it's locations"</p>
<p>For some reason guys assume that I care about this. Why? I didn't mention that I wanted to study International Relations or Political Science, so why are you telling me I should go to Columbia because there are so many heads of states. LOL. </p>
<p>I'm not going to a college because of the speakers, I'm sure that every school I was admitted to brings great people in to speak. Is there camraderie at Columbia? Do the faculty actually take time to interact with undergraduates? Why are Columbia women hating on Barnard students (I'd like a school with a culture where women work together, not where they put each other down). This is what I want to know.</p>
<p>Hey tough guy - that was an example. There are others, but you don't seem interested in discussing them. I didn't attend college on the basis of what speakers go there either, but it's illustrative of the fact that growing up in NYC does not mean you've gotten the full benefit of it that you would at Columbia.</p>
<p>Show up to DoC and ask other students what they think, if I'm not reaching you here. In response to your other questions:</p>
<p>(1) Yes, there's camraderie at Columbia. It's not rah-rah sports-fan mentality like at (say) Ohio State, but it's not like we're a bunch of mindless grinds who consult mommy before having ourselves a good time. I still live with one of my college roommates and at the last Young Alumni thing I went to, something like 500 people showed up (hey, 3 free drinks at the open bar, not too bad).</p>
<p>(2) Faculty take time to interact with any student who shows up to Office Hours or stays after class to ask questions. They're not going to come knocking on your dorm room but they're available if you seek them out. In 4 years I had exactly one professor who was somewhat hostile when you went to OH (Padma Desai, in Principles of Econ). The rest were friendly and happy to explain things ad nauseam.</p>
<p>(3) Columbia and Barnard women are highly competitive, just like Columbia men, and that'll get expressed any way it can. They also play on sports teams together, take classes together, live together, and all sorts of other things. Any negative emotion is an extreme minority position.</p>
<p>(4) Seriously, read the Helpful Columbia Threads thread. Every useful thing we've said in the last 2 years is linked there.</p>