<p>Which one is better for me to ED, Columbia or Wellesley? Both are my dreams.
I'm an international student. Chinese citizen, also permanent resident of Canada.
I don't apply for aid.
I think women's school is kinda elegant, but wonder if it will be a little bit weird... On the other hand, Columbia seems too expensive... You know, life in NYC.
My intended majors are International Relations, History, Urban planning and Environmental Studies.
So, would you kindly give me some advice? Thx~</p>
<p>1) columbia doesn’t have to be much more expensive than wellesley, i know a lot of kids whose family are not rich who don’t just make by, but take the city by storm. i was explaining this the other day to a friend of my family. she spouted off the usual “i couldn’t live in new york, its too expensive.” to which i responded, maybe inappropriately, but pride for the city is strong: “i never saw the amount of money i had as an obstacle, it never prevented me from going out, making friends who were more generous finding things that were free.” if you live in new york you learn to stretch your budget in ways you can’t anywhere else because you have so many options and choices. and if worse comes to worse - you have all the free things to do on campus that are more than enough to take up your time, or the things that columbia gives you free or low cost access to like museums, plays, etc.</p>
<p>2) very interesting collection of majors, columbia has them all to some degree and is strong in all (though urban studies is not quite planning you should look into the curriculum, IR is a subfield within political science). perhaps unbeknown to most: columbia’s environmental studies is probably one of the best programs in the world, weird for an urban campus, but true.</p>
<p>3) i think if you want to have the most engaging, intellectual, chaotic and riveting experience in the world - you should apply ED to columbia. if that doesn’t sound like fun - there might be things at wellesley that are more appealing. and if you’re not sure and want to see if you get into either school; maybe doing RD isn’t a bad idea.</p>
<p>4) if you apply to aid at columbia you would be considered ‘foreign’ so its a good thing you aren’t thinking about applying, as cu makes clear, foreign students who apply to aid do face a more rigorous review.</p>
<p>I would also recommend columbia. Not that I have much experience myself, but I have family members who have gone/are in Wellesley and the impression I get is that its a feminist, old-money kind of school (that’s a stereotype, but I think plays out a bit in reality). That being said, I get the impression that Columbia is more of a diverse, dynamic student environment. If you want to be in sync with world culture and society, I feel that Columbia is a better choice. </p>
<p>Of course, Wellesley has a lot of options as well. As part of the sisters of female schools, you can gain experiences from many other all-girls colleges. Also, because of its location, you can also take classes in MIT and Harvard. So, its really up to what you prefer in your college experience. Either one will give you a unique experience.</p>
<p>Just a thought, but if you like the idea of a women’s school but would like to be around the diverse atmosphere of Columbia, have you considered Barnard?</p>
<p>Thanks for your opinions~ I will think more before making a decision.</p>