<p>Okay, Columbians. Why Columbia over Yale?</p>
<p>Same dilemma for me. I was offered a spot in the Rabi Scholar Program in Columbia, and it looks quite appealing:</p>
<p><a href="http://rabi.columbia.edu/handbook.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://rabi.columbia.edu/handbook.pdf</a></p>
<p>Anybody know how strong the bio department of Columbia is in comparison to Yale? To complicate the issue, MIT is also in the equation..</p>
<p>What did u think conwoman of both schools when u visited?</p>
<p>I got into Columbia College as a John Jay scholar and Yale College. I'm choosing Yale because I prefer its course offerings and, although I love New York, I think you miss out on a lot of college experience, school spirit, and social interaction if you go to Columbia (I'm not the type of person who goes to clubs/bars every night). So I like the residential college system better. Plus, it's Yale!</p>
<p>See I have heard that many times, that you miss out on the college experience. Did u feel that when u visited? I thought columbia was closer together in a centralized campus with everybody just chillin together on the fields or steps. Yale was more spread out. Im a kluge scholar although I dont really know what it means except no loans.</p>
<p>Here's some suggestions, because current students only rarely post here. (too busy):</p>
<p>Do you have students you can e-mail at both schools? This really worked for my son last year, when he was asking some of the same questions that you are.</p>
<p>As for the Kluge, if you go to the scholarship office website there should be a link that lists scholars' events for the week. I know that for John Jay scholars (maybe Kluge, too) last week, they offered tickets to a David Mamet play downtown (meeting first on campus for free food and discussion with a faculty member) and, on a different evening, an outside speaker talking about the role of Muslim women in changing the Middle East. Basically, they stage events for the scholars all year and you sign up for ones that sound interesting. There may be a minimum number you're expected to take advantage of each semester. It's not a big deal, but a nice perk, especially the tickets to plays. I think you should also feel free to e-mail the woman who heads the scholarship office or call her if you have questions that aren't answered on the website.</p>
<p>There's no wrong decision here. Just what's right for you. On the one hand, Yale's known for being undergrad friendly, on the other hand, Columbia's a very exciting place.</p>
<p>I had this same dilemma, and picked Columbia.</p>
<p>Bio is much stronger at Columbia. Sciences are in general. Yale is stronger in humanities, english, history, etc. That is just a generalization. But for the most part it is true.</p>
<p>The two schools are also different. If you want to live in a city, or on a Classical/Renaissance style campus (CU is modeled after Socrates' Academy in athens) Columbia is the way to go. If you want to live on a Gothic style campus, yale is the way to go. I personally couldn't stand new haven, but other people don't mind it. It certainly can't compete with NYC, but if where you live isn't one of your concerns then it wont matter.</p>
<p>"Bio is much stronger at Columbia"</p>
<p>That is just not true.</p>
<p>crimsonbulldog, you DID go to Yale, so try to put aside your bias.</p>
<p>I personally think Yale is really pretty. I love Gothic windows, always have, love big windows in general. But I also go to school in New Haven, and I don't want to stay there. It's okay, but I don't consider it a city. It's generally unattractive, except for a few nice parts (but not as nice as the nice parts of NYC, anyway). It's small. There's a lot more going on in NYC. The Columbia campus is beautiful in a different way. It really is so nice. The gardens are great, too. The trees smell so good in the wind with their flowers. Not that Yale doesn't have flowering trees or anything. I love that the Columbia campus has levels, too. It's not just one big boring flat field. And there's "the green" in New Haven. . . it's tiny and is no where near as gorgeous as Central Park. Central Park is really great. The green is really really small. I also don't consider that a real park. You can get lost in Central Park, and I wouldn't mind doing so. In the New Haven green, there are four corners and unless you're blind or facing the other direction, you can see all of them from one spot.</p>
<p>As for the generalizations: Yale is not entirely a "humanities" school, and Columbia is not entirely a science school. Have you all forgotten about the Core Curriculum? These generalizations, I think, are based on the appearance of the campuses. Columbia looks polished and Yale looks old and bookish. But the origins of humanities are in Classics, so really Columbia, with its classical architecture, should appear more humanities-oriented. Columbia is just the renaissance man of schools, I guess. Oops, my bias. (But it IS true. . .) And its graduates theoretically graduate as renaissance men and women if all goes well.</p>
<p>As I said, I was just working off of generalities. But in general, and historically speaking, Columbia's bio program has produced more, had more nobel laureates, and they are at the top in neuroscience save only for Harvard possibly.
I will be the first to admit that Yale's history department and english department are probably at the top of the league. Columbia has been named number one for Poli Sci in the country last year, but that position was held by yale for many years. These things ebb and flow. I don't think you will find a better bio department anywhere, particularly for undergrads, but yale aint to shabby either. So take my comments for what they are worth. Ask a yalie what they think about their bio department, I'm sure they will laude it...theyve had a bunch of nobel laureates too (just not as many as Columbia ;-) )</p>
<p>Jono - "try to put aside your bias" is BS. Everyone has bias. Its called opinions...</p>
<p>Secondly, Yale has much better program in biology than columbia. Columbia has 32 faculty in the National Academy of Science, of which only 10 are bio-related. Yale on the other hand has 62 members in the academy, 30 of which are in bio fields. Yale has 13 Howard Hughes investigators while columbia has 10. Until this year, both yale and columbia had only one nobel in biological-related (so medicine or chemistry) fields. This year reaffirmed that Columbia's true strength does indeed lie in neuroscience with Axel's nobel. In other fields, columbia lags behind yale historically:</p>
<p>in 1995 the national research council ranked university departments according to the quality/amount/citations in research. In Biology Yale was ranked #6 while Columbia was ranked #11. Since then, Columbia has shored up its cell biology with the recruitment of J Goldman whose work at sloan kettering will likely earn him a nobel </p>
<p>In individual departments:
Biochem and Molecular Biology: Yale #6, Columbia #10
Cell and Developmental Bio, Yale #10, Columbia not ranked
molecular genetics: yale#8, columbia not ranked
Neuroscience: yale #2, columbia #6
Overall Program Faculty: Yale #4, columbia not ranked</p>
<p>So historically speaking, yale has had a stronger program in bio-related departments.</p>
<p>I'm not sure how many nobel laureates each university has produced in biology, but can you provide a link to substantiate that columbia has produced more? Currently, I think, it only has one more.</p>
<p>So what's your final decision? I think I read somewhere that you're choosing Columbia? Hopefully so =)</p>
<p>I would do Yale over Columbia... in my opinion Columbia seems more suited for grad.</p>
<p>I chose Columbia over yale. Columbia simply had a more exciting college life with more offerings and opportunities to get ahead especially with its location in the city. As for the bio, in my first year I was able to get a position to work with a Nobel laureate in the biochemistry and molecular biophysics department (Axel) for the summer. </p>
<p>My brother (who goes to yale and majors in neuroscience) and my dad who once taught at Yale as a biology professor, testifies that Columbia has a better overall science program and told me to ignore the rankings when I made my choice between Columbia and Yale. Yale just has a better name in general, but in the science world Columbia carries a lot more weight in areas such as research. They also told me that such a research opportunity at Axel's lab would not have been as readily offered to me at yale as it was to me at Columbia. In other words, if you're into research and laboratory experience, Columbia has generally more opportunities plus with big name Nobel laureates that are not afraid of taking even a first year into their labs.</p>
<p>Plus Columbia does an amazing job of instilling humanities into their premeds, science majors with the Core, making them more well-rounded and more approachable human beings when they go to med schools or do scientific research. I'm not saying Yale doesn't do that as well, but don't rule out Columbia when you make your choice; this school really makes gold out of its students,
C
<a href="http://www.CUfestival.com/%5B/url%5D">http://www.CUfestival.com/</a></p>
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<p>i chose columbia</p>
<p>I'm afraid not. Enlighten a poor soul?
C
<a href="http://www.CUfestival.com/%5B/url%5D">http://www.CUfestival.com/</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.xanga.com/SoHo%5B/url%5D">http://www.xanga.com/SoHo</a></p>
<p>good choice :-)</p>
<p>Congratulations!</p>
<p>dammmmmmmmm right</p>
<p>Congrats!! Welcome to the class of 2009!!</p>