<p>UChicago is a lot like Columbia in terms of the core and workload. It is generally thought that Columbia students are more city-like (think New Yorker), although I’m not sure that’s true or not. The atmosphere seems less cozy and more competitive (think Investment banking).</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Why does it seem like there are so many Columbia haters on these boards!? I guess some people resent the fact that it is perhaps one of the sexiest schools out there. I just finished watching a silly movie “Post Grad” on HBO and one of the characters is going to Columbia Law. Many people have this misperception that it is “graduate school” focused. This is utterly false. People fail to realize that there are multiple campuses, including the main campus in Morningside Heights and the medical campus in Washington Heights. How exactly does the fact that there are more grad students at a school affect the ability of students in the college to get a top-notch education? The student-faculty ratio is 6:1, which is identical or exceeds that of most peers. Do you think the fact that there are 2000 students in the business school or 1000 students in the Journalism school going to diminish one’s experience? In fact I think it is better to have access to people from these schools since I, for one, have personally benefited from attending Columbia networking events.</p>
<p>Also, those who would like to belittle the athletic conference known as the ivy league should be aware that there are numerous all-ivy networking functions (as well as dating websites apparently) throughout the country, which allow for further networking opportunities across all members. At the end of the day, you will get a great education at a handful of top institutions. However, what distinguishes places like Columbia from others is the “social” capital, in addition to the following:</p>
<ul>
<li>Rock star faculty (Stiglitz, Sachs, Shama, Jackson, etc.)</li>
<li>Greatest number of Nobel affiliations</li>
<li>Alumni in leadership positions in all facets of American life (i.e, the POTUS and past two attorneys general)</li>
<li>An actual intimate campus (with trees) in the greatest city on earth</li>
<li>Ability to attend functions that attract world-wide attention (world leaders, entertainers and business leaders)</li>
<li>Ability to be in the news since things are magnified when they happen at Columbia (could be good or bad) and</li>
<li>Hands out Pulitzer prizes, for crying out loud!<br></li>
</ul>
<p>Also, the notion that Columbia is “competitive” is down right hilarious!!! After being among only 6-9% of applicants admitted to a school, of course, you should expect that people will be incredibly driven and talented. This logically applies to any of the handful of elite schools. In my experience, students were not competitive and hardly anyone discussed grades. </p>
<p>As far as school spirit, yeah, C could be a little lacking in that area. It hasn’t helped that the football and basketball teams have not been great over the years, but over 10,000 people went to Homecoming. (I think some people have this belief that Columbians are too cool to root for their teams.) Coming from LA, I think your daughter would love spending four years in the Big Apple. I know I did and I was from the Bay Area. Many students from California (and around the world) are there and experience the “core” together. Congrats to her!!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I would hope that a self-proclaimed ‘Smart Guy’ could figure that one out. :)</p>
<p>If you’re the type of person who can be happy in many different environments, I would not rule out Columbia yet. Visit first.</p>
<p>as a recent Columbia alum, I can attest that many of these stereotypes for Columbia are inaccurate generalizations. I loved my time there, I made great friends, collaborated in most classes and found a strong sense of community as well as a fair bit of school pride. I also found campus to be like a cocoon, separated from the city, and led a very traditional college social life - frisbee, pick up soccer, dorm parties, local bars, frat parties here and there, late night debates etc. </p>
<p>You will find unsatisfied students like you will everywhere, but the vast majority of students look at their overall experience very positively, even if they don’t wear it on their sleeve. Students have no reason to undermine their peers (most times your peer is interested in something completely different like acting vs. med school, or bio research vs. working in pharma consulting).</p>
<p>The best way to judge campuses is to see them first hand. There are enthusiastic, high-achieving students and unhappy demotivated students everywhere so clearly some people fit in well and thrive others clearly fit in badly. </p>
<p>I could cite several amazing things about our bio department or some incredible undergrad research opportunities at Columbia, but these shouldn’t push a decision between penn, columbia, wash u and NW. All are fantastic, have strong bio departments, great undergrad educations and research opportunities. But they are each very different schools and your daughter might be miserable at one but inspired at another, this is the difference maker.</p>
<p>I think the clear outlier here is Columbia. A great school academically, I strongly (also) disagree with aniger. All four universities will offer great academic opportunities in her area of interest and don’t see a “winner” in this regard. But Columbia is not a standard campus based experience. Wash U is probably the most campus focused of your group, followed by Northwestern, a school which offers easy escapes into the distractions of Chicago. Penn’s inner city location belies a surprisingly strong campus focused culture as well. Columbia empties out on the weekend. NYC is an extended campus. The good is obvious. The bad is primarily a lack of campus based socializing.</p>
<p>If your daughter has a personality that would thrive in a more “edgy” environment and likes the idea of more independent off campus explorations, I’d probably favor Columbia followed by Penn and Northwestern. If she’s looking for a more traditional campus based experience and eschews big city distractions, I suggest Wash U followed by Northwestern and then Penn (and toss Columbia). And if she’s a little of this, a little of that? Probably Northwestern and Penn offer most “balanced” experiences of this group.</p>
<p>For someone in CA, travel time for holidays and breaks should be considered. I am happy that my D can have one leg flight between Philadelphia and CA. Furthermore, getting to or from PHL airport and UPenn is short and easy.</p>
<p>One persons’ view from inside the grad halls of Columbia. But quite frankly, this is probably true at most major research Unis. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/graduate-school/1121802-graduate-school-where-future-academics-learn-their-disrespect-teaching.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/graduate-school/1121802-graduate-school-where-future-academics-learn-their-disrespect-teaching.html</a></p>
<p>Can anyone talk about the different Neuroscience programs at each school?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That’s not a decision-maker for any of these schools. You can fly non-stop to New York, Chicago or St. Louis from California and all of these schools are an easy distance from an airport. Honestly, that’s kind of an odd comment. It would be relevant if one of the schools at hand were located hours from an airport (like, say, a Grinnell), but it’s completely irrelevant here.</p>
<p>^ “Honestly, that’s kind of an odd comment.”</p>
<p>I speak from my own experience. It took my a long time to go from O’Hare to downtown Chicago. My plane was delayed by the windy city. It also took a long time to go from JFK to Manhattan. I had to pay toll road fees while taking taxi cab. And I only found popcorn and pork BBQ in St Louis airport. That’s a long time ago and I am not sure it’s better now. I live in CA and I know what I should worry. Image you have only 3 or 4 days for Thanksgiving and you get stuck in the airport.</p>
<p>Well, how would Philly be any better? (And as a frequent traveler, I personally find Philly airport closes down at the mere sight of a few drops of rain. That’s where I was stranded at the airport for 3 days last year.) Airport delays can happen anywhere, and all 4 of the schools under consideration are in major cities with major city airports with direct flights to most anywhere.</p>
<p>You can see here.</p>
<p>[Top</a> 10 Airports for Flight Delays](<a href=“http://www.weather.com/activities/travel/businesstraveler/slideshow/flight_delays.html?page=10&scheme=image-horiz-plain.css]Top”>http://www.weather.com/activities/travel/businesstraveler/slideshow/flight_delays.html?page=10&scheme=image-horiz-plain.css)</p>
<p>In some other statistics, PHL is listed in the top 10 but not the first like ORD. In Chicago, you have to wait for the storm to end to take off.</p>
<p>I vote for Penn, as you’d expect from any happy Penn alum :D</p>
<p>Congratulations to your daughter, these are four great choices. She should pick one and not look back.</p>
<p>I have two children, a girl junior and a boy freshman, who are science majors at Columbia College neither of them studying bio or neuro. Someone earlier suggested that Columbia is the outlier amongst these schools. I agree but not for the mentioned reason. To be sure, the campus is compact, but this is not really a negative to most people. If one needs space, Riverside Park and Morningside Park are each a couple minutes away. The real outlier feature is the requirements of the core curriculum. Your daughter should review the Columbia web site info about the core. These are non-negotiable required courses for all Columbia undergraduates. My daughter says (in a typical Columbia smartass way) that the Core is both the best thing and the worst thing about Columbia. Many CC students take 5 or 6 classes a semester to allow them to fulfill the core requirements and get a heavy dose of classes in their majors. If your daughter is not interested in taking a significant amount of literature, philosophy, music and art history, then she should not go to Columbia.</p>
<p>Research opportunities for serious undergraduates abound. My daughter says shes not aware of a single science major who has been unable to obtain a lab/research job. Both of my kids work really hard at Columbia. The school does have an intense feel, more so that most of its peers maybe the core curriculum is responsible for this. </p>
<p>The common complaints about CUs food, housing, War on Fun all have some validity. Both of my kids feel that the amenity features of Columbia are merely OK and dont stack up to its peer schools. That said, most of the kids at Columbia have a very happy time there, make friends, and take advantage of the unique NY environs. The class is diverse in every imaginable way and there should be a niche for every personality. My kids are very happy there.</p>
<p>Good luck to you daughter.</p>
<p>For that combination of neuroscience/biological sciences, collaborative atmosphere, and strong student support, Id choose WUSTL. Congrats and good luck!</p>