<p>I want to be an english major with a concentration in creative writing. Two of the schools I'm most interested in are Columbia and Cornell. Any thoughts on the two compared to each other, not only in terms of their writing programs but in regards to other aspects of college life as well?</p>
<p>I’ve been to neither, but I’ve looked at both pretty extensively. I’m pretty sure Columbia has a better creative writing program. And it’s in NYC, where tons of major publishing firms have some sort of office. Columbia’s in NYC, which offers near-endless things to do. Ithaca is a small town, which promotes a stronger sense of campus community. It really depends on what sort of college experience you’re after. Another thing to keep in mind is Columbia’s Core - meaning a wide variety of required classes, not just those related to your major.</p>
<p>Sorry I don’t have a lot of actual details, but hopefully this helps. =)</p>
<p>Thanks for the help. Out of curiosity, which of the two colleges do you find most interesting?
Parts of Columbia would be nice - the great program and the many things to do, for instance. However, it is in NYC so everything will be so, so expensive!
Cornell is gorgeous - I love the campus. And I also heard they had a great program.
I just can’t decide…
do you know much about Columbia’s greek life/social scene?</p>
<p>I would suggest visiting both … their locations are pretty much polar opposites … most people will have a strong preference for one of the locations over the other … academically the schools are very similar in many dimensions.</p>
<p>^ visiting would be a good idea.</p>
<p>I personally find Columbia more interesting, mainly because of the Core and the location. I haven’t heard a whole lot about Cornell’s program, but that might have to do with the fact I’ve spent far more time looking at Columbia (you could say it’s my dream school). As far as I know, Columbia’s greek life doesn’t hold a candle to Cornell’s.</p>
<p>Here is some info on Cornell’s programs, FWIW:</p>
<p>[Creative</a> Writing Program honored](<a href=“Home | Cornell Chronicle”>Home | Cornell Chronicle)
[Cornell</a> Writers | Entire List](<a href=“http://www.writers.cornell.edu/entirelist/]Cornell”>http://www.writers.cornell.edu/entirelist/)
[Department</a> of English at Cornell University | Creative Writing](<a href=“http://www.arts.cornell.edu/english/creative/]Department”>http://www.arts.cornell.edu/english/creative/)
[Department</a> of English at Cornell University | Ithaca, NY](<a href=“http://www.arts.cornell.edu/english/]Department”>http://www.arts.cornell.edu/english/)</p>
<p>Don’t know about Columbia’s program. FWIW D2 took Creative writing courses at Barnard and at Cornell, liked them both but preferred the one at Cornell which she said was her favorite course of her entire undergraduate career. Don’t know the extent to which Columbia & Barnard share resources in this particular area.</p>
<p>When D2 was considering transferring to Cornell, she was advised in the affirmative by a friend of mine who was an English major with a Creative Writing concentration there, and is a published author.</p>
<p>As noted, the experiences of life as a college student at Cornell vs. in Morningside Heights are tremendously diffferent. D2 preferred life at Cornell but YMMV.</p>
<p>Greek life at Columbia is much smaller, but based on anecdotes on CC and a relative’s experience it would seem that it is very valuable for those who wind up in it, as it bolsters the degree of community experience there substantially.</p>
<p>Curricularly, the most glaring difference is The Core, a series of specifically required classes, vs. the more conventional distribution requirements at Cornell where one fills “buckets” with courses of your own choosing. If you affirmatively want to devote a significant portion of your curriculum to taking this specific series of courses, then Columbia is the obvious choice, over virtually everyplace else in the country.</p>
<p>Finally, with regard to Cornell generally, a couple of just-graduated seniors have offered us this:
[This</a> Is on Vimeo](<a href=“http://vimeo.com/23897683]This”>http://vimeo.com/23897683)
Note how fast people at Cornell learn to walk, these days !!</p>
<p>Got timed out, I wanted to mention one other thing regarding “other aspects of college life”:
A significant portion of Cornell upperclassmen wind up living in rented houses/ apartments in Collegetown, the “student ghetto” area immediately adjacent to campus.
These are not university owned, there are no building guards, no swipe access, no university rules or RAs who are at least nominally supposed to enforce them, etc. Collegetown house parties play a significant role in upperclassmen social life, particularly for the majority of students there who are not part of the fraternity system.</p>
<p>Having attended both Columbia and Cornell as an undergrad (albeit back in the 1980s), I found living in Ithaca to be dreadful. Aside from parties and and a few other activities (going to Cornell sports, some outdoor things), there was really was nothing to do other than study and attend class. The weather from November to April was either rain or snow, and so naturally greek life and the Collegetown party scene tends to dominate.</p>
<p>D2 has found tons to do, as did I, sorry you didn’t.</p>
<p>For a start “There are currently 930 registered student organizations.”</p>
<p>[DOS:</a> Student Activities](<a href=“Identity Resources | Student & Campus Life | Cornell University”>Identity Resources | Student & Campus Life | Cornell University)</p>
<p>If you choose an all-consuming major and choose to take 8 zillion credits per semester, you can certainly engineer for yourself a situation where you find there is little else you can do than study. But that is a choice of your own making, and was not a choice D2 made, or that most English/Creative writing majors make IMO. But you are free to do that. At either school.</p>
<p>D2 was always busy with stuff outside of the classroom. Actually she felt more strapped for diversity of stuff to do when she was in NYC, because, though it was all there, she felt like she couldn’t afford any of it.</p>
<p>Thanks for all your thoughts on cornell, Moneydad! I’ll look into all the links you posted, but thus far cornell sounds awesome! The cost of everything in nyc was a major concern of mine when looking at columbia. It does sound like I’d never run out of things to do and ecplore at cornell. And also I find the campus to be gorgeous!</p>
<p>It’s M-O-N-Y, not $$.
You’re welcome.</p>
<p>As above indicates, what is “awesome” for one person may be less “awesome” for someone else. There are distinguishing features of every situation which may be variously perceived and evaluated. The challenge is for each of you to guess what will be awesome for you.</p>
<p>Sorry MONYDAD, I was responding on my phone and the words are just so tiny.
I watched the “this is” link and that link alone made me want to go to cornell. I really appreciate all the insight you provided about the program.</p>
<p>MonyDad, it’s true that as an engineering student on work study, my schedule was pretty packed with either classes, labs or work (cafeteria, chem lab). Most engineering students like me were envious of the CAS (Liberal Arts) students who seemingly had more time to pursue extracurricular activities. I will add that some of my more memorable experiences involved snowball fights that spontaneously broke out during a football game, in front of my dorm and next to Goldwyn Smith Hall (the Arts Quad)! I bring this up because I recently saw an article in the Cornell Daily Sun of a massive snowball fight in the Arts Quad, and I had a flashback!</p>
<p>Thank you for the video, Monydad. The video was touching.</p>