Columbia or UChicago?

College Search & Selection
1

I was admitted EA UChicago and RD at Columbia. I live in Chicago and have affiliations with UChicago. I plan on majoring in biochem and pursuing pre-med. I’ve already done research at UChicago before, so I’ll definitely get research if I decide to attend there. However, I’m not sure I’ll get research as easily at Columbia. Which school will better support me when I’m applying to med school? I’ve visited both campuses and I’m indifferent to them. I just really want to think this through rationally and figure out which school will better help me achieve my goals.

Another thing. I got a likely letter from Columbia back in March for STEM but was never named a scholar (john jay, rabi, SRF, etc), which is something that I’ve been really unhappy about. I don’t really like the idea that Columbia’s administration gives more attention to 10% of its undergrads. For example, the scholars get crazy benefits like guaranteed research, paid internships, and they get to meet famous speakers occasionally. I feel as if I’m at a disadvantage by attending Columbia; the admissions committee doesn’t want me enough to name me a scholar :frowning: . At least at UChicago, I’ll be at an advantage since I know my way around there and have already developed connections there. However, maybe its better to leave home and develop new connections at columbia (since I can still retain my connections at Uchicago). Any input at all would be greatly appreciated and feel free to add anything you think would help me in making this decision.

2

its hard though :frowning: . I’m split 50-50 and change my mind like every 15 minutes.

3

It seems like college is a great time to explore a new city and a new part of the country if you don’t have reasons why your family needs you close by. Can you go to both accepted student programs and see what you think then? Stay overnight on campus, even at Chicago. Accepted student visits were huge for my kids in making their final decisions – 24 hours on campus is quite revealing.

4

@Todd87 Thankfully money is not an issue, other than the flights I would have to pay for to get to New York since I’m from Chicago.

@intparent Yes. I’m going to the overnights at both schools in the next week or two. Hopefully it will help me make make up my mind.

5

I don’t think it is quite that simple. But I also would lean toward Columbia.

6

I picked Chicago over Columbia last year. PM for details.

7

The academics are close enough that it doesn’t really matter. To me, the main issue here is how much you’d like going to a new city and basically starting a new life. Chicago sounds like the safe choice - you’re from there, you’ve already worked there, you know people there. Columbia is much riskier - but that could be a good thing.

8

I would lean towards Columbia but would not argue for a moment if you felt UChicago was a better fit for you.

9

Either way you’ll be well prepared for med school.
With that in mind, I’d pick Chicago:

  • you already have access to research – this is very important
  • a truly intellectual college that challenges the mind / I think this has a big impact on the university experience
  • as good a reputation as Columbia (It might be ranked slightly higher [negligable difference] in medical, but I disagree with another poster that Columbia is more highly regarded than Chicago overall)
  • Chicago is not NYC but a great city in its own right
10

@insanedreamer Does the fact that I can always come back to UChicago over the summer to do research change anything, in case I can’t find research at Columbia?

11

in theory, yes - but in practice, chances are it won’t be the same as if you were at UChicago. Despite your current ties with UChicago (is one of your parents a professor or researcher there?), you’ll be able to leverage current connections (and create new ones) at UChicago much better if you’re actually living/studying there.

12

So I went to the overnights at both schools, and I still can’t make up my mind. I think I like the curriculum, dorms, and food at UChicago more, but I feel like Columbia might get me farther since its med school placement is better. I’ve heard a lot of mixed things about the pre-med experience at UChicago from students I met there. Some people there told me that the school is currently making a transition towards pre-professionalism and that their pre-med advising office has improved a lot in recent years (but how good is it now and compared to Columbia?). Another person told me that UChicago’s grade deflation and sad, stressed out environment isn’t as bad as everyone makes it seem. One guy told me that UChicago gets people into top med schools (but how many and more so than Columbia?). However, one person at UChicago straight up told me to go to Columbia over UChicago. So now I’m really torn between the two schools. I also made some other observations. UChicago kids seemed more social at least in the dorm I was staying. The dorms at UChicago have a lot (like a lot more) of open space compared to Columbia which allows people to gather and hang out. At columbia i felt everyone was just on their own and it felt sort of sad. What other aspects should I consider. I honestly don’t know what to do.

13

Based on your comments I would say UC.

14

Given how important the ability to do research is for med school applicants, , particularly these days, I say go to Chicago.
.Med schools KNOW about the grade deflation there, but they also know that the education you will receive at Chicago, cant be beat by any other college.

15

It seems I forgot to mention some positive aspects for Columbia. The dorm I would stay in if I go to Columbia would be the newly renovated one, which would be clean and nice since the school is renovating it this summer. I’m also from Chicago, so it would nice to leave and explore a new city (NYC>Chicago in my opinion). Even though Columbia’s cafeterias weren’t as good when i visited, it has a lot more food options in the neighborhood around (I’m from Chicago and hyde park doesn’t have many restaurants). Research won’t be a problem at either school. If I go to UChicago, I’ll get research there for sure. If I go to Columbia, I’ll be able to get a lab at Columbia and UChicago. I’m mostly concerned about Chicago’s med school placement. I’d like to go to the school that gives me the higher chance to get into a prestigious med school. If I go to Columbia, I’ll have a greater chance at getting into Columbia College of P&S (and perhaps other ivy med schools) and hopefully a shot at getting into pritzker (to someone who asked earlier, yes I am affiliated with UChicago). However, If I go to Chicago, I feel I won’t really be able to branch out as much.

16

As someone who has directly dealt with medical students and medical education in my current and all previous University Hospital employments, I can tell you that there is negligible difference when applications are received from top schools (e.g. Columbia, Chicago, Harvard, Duke, Georgetown, Williams, Swarthmore, Pomona, Johns Hopkins, etc). We all know that students are bright enough to get into them. Name-wise, there is no advantage of Stanford over Yale; or Harvard over Swarthmore, Columbia over Chicago, Dartmouth over Georgetown, Brown over Amherst. I’m sorry to say. I can give you examples after examples. My best 2 best medical students this year came from U Chicago and MIT. I am heavily encouraging them to become neurologists.

At the post-graduate level, last year, my best neurology resident came from the University of Kentucky; the year before that, the best came from U of Pittsburgh. I am hiring the one from U of Pitt to join our faculty when he finishes his training, and next year, I intend to do the same for the UK graduate.

Finally, 2 students worked with me throughout the summer to do research to beef up their resume so they can get into medical school. One was from Ohio State and the other from Stanford. The one from OSU got accepted in 2 top 25 medical schools and the one from Stanford got wait listed in a good but not top 25 school.

The medical school where I currently work (a top 25 medical school) has admitted undergards from Harvard, Yale, U Chicago, MIT (as I mentioned my two favorites this year), Ohio State, UT Austin, Oberlin, Michigan, etc, etc. What got them in is what they did in college, not the name of their college. And a big predictor of how well you will do in college is how best the fit is and how happy you will be in those four years. It is almost never the name of the school.

There is nothing wrong with selecting a school because of its prestige. There are some advantages besides bragging rights, I’m sure. All I’m saying is that an “easier path to medical school” isn’t really one of them, especially when you are selecting between two Top 25 Universities. Maybe when you are comparing a state school versus a Top 25 university, there might be a difference. But in my experience, even that is questionable, as we would accept, in a heart beat, the exceptional student from Arizona State, Ohio University, University of Florida, etc, over an average or even above average student from a Top 20 University of LAC (including the HYPSM and WASP).