<p>I've just been offered admission off Amherst's waitlist and am struggling with the decision.</p>
<p>I know I'd be happy both places and it would have to come down to academics and career advantages.</p>
<p>I plan on studying applied math + economics at Amherst or Operations Research at Columbia.</p>
<p>Is a Columbia degree really worth $30k more (over four years)? If anyone wants to share their thoughts, I'd greatly appreciate it!</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>i did my econs undergrad in amherst and now a FE in columbia for grad. i remembered that i turned down seas for amherst when i was a pro-fresh as I liked the traditional college exprience which columbia lacks as i see it now in columbia. 30k is quite significant and i do not see why columbia is worth that. to be frank, i was offered a quant job in NYC after my undergrad so i consider a degree from top LAC like amherst does take u to finance industies.</p>
<p>the difference in prestige between amherst and columbia is non-existent</p>
<p>Thanks for answering! I’m leaning towards Amherst atm and I appreciate your thoughts.</p>
<p>@angelking: Did you only study Econ at Amherst or CS / Math / Stat as well?</p>
<p>if you’re planning to do finance, columbia would be a better choice than amherst.
ps you could do applied math and operations research at CU.</p>
<p>I haven’t decided on finance, just on probably studying some sort of operations research. Mathematical modeling of supply chains or power/phone systems interest me more than finance.</p>
<p>so its about 8k more a year. is that affordable for you?
in regards to your interests, operations research, industrial engineering, or ems seem like the perfect majors for you. i dunno if amherst offers those majors. the ieor department at seas is very good. and if you decide you don’t like it, you could become an applied math major, and if you would like, you could also become an econ minor. there is a lot of overlap.</p>
<p>@johan, officially econs but i took some classes in applied math and stats, u can pm me if u have further questions</p>
<p>30k/4 = 7.5 k per year. Considering tuition is much larger than that annually, the 7.5k is not a big cost proportionately. So, I don’t see the logic in turning down Columbia. If you truly cannot afford it then pick Amherst but if you can then pick Columbia. Columbia has one of the best IEOR departments and is #1 in FE (a concentration in operations research) for undergrad. Amherst is a good school, but Columbia is even better in the IEOR and economics side, and will give you the best job opportunities in NYC. You stated that you have already taken the other factors into consideration, so based on pure academics and career advantages Columbia WINS.</p>
<p>yes. it’s worth it. </p>
<p>not only the name on the diploma but also the networking of the huge CU alumni base. </p>
<p>also it’s easier to find a job in NYC than in Amherst</p>
<p>If attending Columbia would pose a financial difficulty for you and your family, you could always appeal to the Office of Financial Aid at the university, and use Amherst’s F.A. offer as a bargaining chip to force their hand.</p>
<p>As for academics, you appear to be choosing between humanities+social sciences v. a highly-specialized, pre-professional track.</p>
<p>As for career advantages, the strength of a career network (or lack thereof) means nothing if one does not know how to network. Now, I am not going to make judgments or conclusions about a Norwegian’s savvy of American mores and “rules of the game.” Columbia’s network and location will not save you if Wall Street employers refuse to hire you, whatever reasons they may have.</p>
<p>–</p>
<p>And, Amherst is not just a “good” school." It is an excellent school. You are not talking about “academics,” columbia1992, you are talking about IEOR. If you want to talk about academics, talk about the College.</p>
<p>In fact, the teaching quality in IEOR is notoriously bad (search for posts by beard tax, or go on CULPA and read a couple of reviews). It still boggles my mind that so many people that post here think IEOR is hot shiit. I can almost guarantee that you will get a better education at Amherst Math+Econ than at Columbia IEOR (simply because it’s kinda hard to teach worse than some IEOR professors). If you’re the kind of person who likes/needs good teachers to enjoy your classes then go to Amherst, because in IEOR you will be teaching yourself most of the material from the book and homework. </p>
<p>I will say that the Columbia Econ department has some absolutely incredible professors. You may get to take their classes if you’re in IEOR, but that doesn’t make up for all the extra nonsense you have to do, in my opinion. Basically for academics, Columbia College > Amherst >>>>> Columbia IEOR. The first two are light years ahead of the third when it comes to teaching quality.</p>
<p>As for job placement, if you’re a stellar student it makes no difference whether you’re coming out of Amherst or Columbia; you’re going to end up somewhere decent. But if you’re a mediocre student in IEOR (3.5 with nothing else going on) you’re not going to get those highly coveted jobs anyway. Can’t speak to what happens to mediocre students at Amherst, but the point is that I don’t believe IEOR gives you a significant edge over Amherst. It’s true that Columbia has a broader alumni network due to the sheer number of people it churns out every year, but I wonder if the Amherst network is stronger (like Dartmouth’s) due to the comparatively intimate setting.</p>
<p>Also consider the culture of each school. Amherst is a far smaller school than Columbia, and I’m not sure if there is some prevailing culture there. kwu can fill you in if he/she feels like it, but you should make sure you fit in with that. On the other hand, I don’t feel like there is a stereotypical Columbia student, so you should have no trouble finding your niche if you come here. Then again if you’re in SEAS you won’t have much time to socialize anyway (if you want good grades).</p>
<p>just so you know, IEOR is ranked top 10 in the country (in both IE and OR). and their MSFE program is one of the very top in the world.</p>
<p>I know what the rankings are. I doubt they take teaching quality into account.</p>
<p>the teaching quality is great. There are many students doing ieor, so there is obviously going to be varying opinions. theres no question that seas students work hard, which is a good thing imo.</p>
<p>Yeah the teaching quality is so great that people write such stunning reviews as these:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.culpa.info/professors/4995[/url]”>http://www.culpa.info/professors/4995</a>
<a href=“http://www.culpa.info/professors/2497[/url]”>http://www.culpa.info/professors/2497</a>
<a href=“http://www.culpa.info/professors/3158[/url]”>http://www.culpa.info/professors/3158</a>
<a href=“http://www.culpa.info/professors/2026[/url]”>http://www.culpa.info/professors/2026</a>
<a href=“http://www.culpa.info/professors/1666[/url]”>http://www.culpa.info/professors/1666</a></p>
<p>By the way, these guys all teach core IEOR classes.</p>
<p>Check the following link</p>
<p>[SAT</a> Scores](<a href=“http://www.satscores.us%5DSAT”>http://www.satscores.us)</p>
<p>You will find that your chance (with SAT score of 2190 and class rank of top 5%) to be accepted by Columbia is 25%, but by Amherst is 40%. </p>
<p>[What</a> are my chances?](<a href=“http://www.satscores.us/mychances/My_Chances.asp?MyChances_Profile_ID=103865&College_ID=164465]What”>http://www.satscores.us/mychances/My_Chances.asp?MyChances_Profile_ID=103865&College_ID=164465)</p>
<p>No, it isn’t. Go for Amherst. And I say this as a proud Columbia student. </p>
<p>Prestige: Amherst=Columbia
Job opportunities: Amherst=Columbia
Student life: Amherst>Columbia
Vibrancy of setting: Columbia>Amherst
^ Last two even out.</p>
<p>Simply put, Amherst at 30K less than Columbia is a very attractive bargain.</p>
<p>I agree with Iamanapp. You don’t know if you’ll even stick with your major. The number of kids who change their minds is huge in college. Then you are stuck with the additional $30K cost. Also in terms of setting, there are many who do prefer the more bucolic, small town campus over the big city campus. You can bank the $30 and have a lot of options for that money in 4 years.</p>
<p>Amherst is a complete no-brainer here. You will be getting arguably one of the best if not the best undergraduate educations in the world and getting amazing job opportunities while saving $30k.</p>