<p>I was waitlisted at Princeton, which is my dream school and where my sister currently goes. I got into Columbia and Yale though, and will go to one of them if I don't get off the Princeton waitlist.
I know Yale, as part of HYP, is more prestigious, but I had a terrible visit there. The kids did not seem nice. Conversely, I like Columbia, but am worried about not getting a traditional college experience because of being in New York. I want to study political science, which both are excellent in. I'm hoping you can give me some guidance (difference in social life, academic quality, law school prospects and employment opportunities after graduation, student happiness, and overal experience).
Thanks!</p>
<p>Prospects are the same between Yale and Columbia - won’t matter a bit either way.</p>
<p>If you’re a more proactive, independent individual, you may thrive at Columbia. If you want a closer community / intellectual feeling, go to Yale.</p>
<p>Your chances at grad schools / employment are identical.</p>
<p>I’m facing the same! Minus the Princeton part. I applied to Oxford in the UK for its intellectual environment because I’m looking for a place where talking about school isn’t just something you have to do. Here’s my take:</p>
<p>I had a very similar experience visiting Yale. I didn’t like the snobby people, the grimy town…none of the professors I contacted even returned my emails. Also, at my interview, my guy told be that he was disappointed in the ‘anti intellectual culture’ at Yale. My YALE interviewer, whom I actually really liked–he wasn’t some snobby guy, just down to earth and smart and looking to chat about Russian lit. </p>
<p>Columbia, however, has been a total change. The kids there are really smart as well, but if you walk through campus you can hear them all discussing Plato and Woolf and Physics so animatedly, it was almost like Oxford’s student conversations. I met with three professors and all were so nice and helpful. And NYC…well, that’s not really a fair contest at all! </p>
<p>I disagree strongly with truazn that Yale is more intellectual, but I agree that both schools are just as good academically. It’s a question of what fits you better! I think I’m going with Columbia :)</p>
<p>Best of luck, and congrats! Even though no Princeton, you got into some awesome schools (of exactly the same quality—Columbia and Yale were both more selective this year and last year than Princeton)</p>
<p>Go to Bulldog Days if you can. I am very surprised to hear anybody say that the students at Yale are unfriendly.</p>
<p>But you can’t go wrong with either choice.</p>
<p>Yale is much closer to such leading cultural icons as the Beardsly Zoo (check out the gophers) and the PT Barnum museum. Don’t forget about culture in making your decision.</p>
<p>Congratulations on your acceptances. You cannot go wrong either way. Vienna Man mentions culture. Good thing to consider. Don’t forget Columbia is in New York City…enough said! Good luck!</p>
<p>@vienna man
Just brilliant.</p>
<p>@OP and @latteandabook
Yale students tend to be more social and communal than Columbia students, though they also tend to be more pretentious and elitist. Columbia students, on the other hand, tend to be more polite, and more critical and intellectual. Columbia is very much a school with the ethos of New York City, which Yale really has that traditional college feel. Without question, Yale is much more similar to Princeton than Columbia is, a fact that we are quite proud of.</p>
<p>Just based on this thread, it sounds to me like the OP would be happier at Yale and latteandabook would be happier at Columbia.</p>