I have been accepted off the waitlist to Columbia, but am already committed to Notre Dame. The financial award from Columbia is about the same so is not a factor worth considering, though I know the cost of living may be. The major issue I have is that I am not fully sure of what I want my major to be, though I have applied to both with econ. I am stuck between chemistry, economics, English, and history, which is why it’s hard to decide between the two universities because of not being sure what direction I want to take, though I know my dream is to be a college professor.
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Would you rather be in a city or a small town? ND has an amazing dorm program and culture, at Columbia you’d be off campus more in the city.
I know it’s strange, but I don’t care about location as much as career preparedness, success in my postgrad, and competitiveness. I would prefer a bigger city, but that’s not a major factor.
The culture and vibe is definitely different between the two schools. What drew you to each of the schools when you chose to apply? How do you feel about the Core at Columbia? How do you feel about parientals at ND?
Are you interested in pursuing a PhD? If so, it might be worth looking into how successfully students are placed in those programs post grad.
If it’s a job post grad, both have well developed alumni networks. But if you’re interested in working in NY for example, Columbia might be the better choice.
Both are fantastic options. It really comes down to where you’ll feel most comfortable.
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If you had gotten into Columbia up front, what would you have chosen? It’s hard once you are further down the line to change. Nothing wrong with UND. On the flipside, Ivy is Ivy.
Looking at websites, it seems Columbia is a bit more open to undecided but you might call Notre Dame and see if that’s true…perhaps their website isn’t robust.
As the previous person wrote - you have two great choices. Both are going to get you great outcomes. Since you prefer the bigger city, I’d go to Columbia. Besides, how many people get a chance to spend four years in NYC. It’s an opportunity of a lifetime.
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Columbia 100%
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This sentence doesn’t make sense to me: neither college is dramatically better than the other in any of those fields (and don’t be @ing me, fellow posters! yes, there are distinctions, but at the UG level both schools are plenty strong across these subject areas. Neither is going to better for getting the OP into a PhD program either.
OP, you have the choice of two super schools. Both will be really good at what you need most right now: the chance to explore a range of subjects and figure out what you are really interested in.
These metrics are much more about what you do than about the school.
You really can’t see any difference between 4 years in a tight community with a strong catholic ethos and obsessive relationship with their football team, all in an out of the way place vs an urban, deeply diverse college whose best sport is tennis? No opinion on the Columbia Core vs Notre Dame’s Core?
All of those things- and more- will materially affect your college experience, which in turn will affect the field you choose to specialize in, which (if you keep the same dream), will affect your choice of PhD programs.
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Notre Dame is a great school, Columbia is an Ivy. That and being in NY (assuming you want to work in Finance) would lean towards Columbia. However, since you mentioned academia, I think that you have to dig deep into what research activities are at both unis.
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Several have mentioned that Columbia is an Ivy. I don’t see how that helps the OP, a non-athlete, decide. OP, these are very different schools. I’m surprised you can’t make a decision. Flip a coin then and see how you feel. You can’t go wrong with either.
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I’m surprised there isn’t a clear preference either. How do you feel about the theology and philosophy requirements at ND? The strong focus on service/mission? Being undecided on a major doesn’t matter at ND because you don’t declare a major until second semester sophomore year so plenty of time to test out classes and see what you like.
We have a family member starting at Columbia. Absolutely wanted urban campus, lots of diversity, and the core.
I agree that the academics and preparedness for grad school is comparable.
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Because you want to pursue academia but remain uncertain as to major area of study, Columbia’s core curriculum might be helpful.
OP: You have not offered any information which suggests that one university might be the better option for you.
Notre Dame offers a more traditional undergraduate campus focused experience, while Columbia might be more attractive to you for graduate school.
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In a field such as economics, for example, Columbia’s faculty make it a school of note: Economics rankings: US Economics Departments | IDEAS/RePEc.
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If academia/PhD is a real interest as OP noted, Columbia will be more prestigious, and academia does factor prestige of pedigree from what I am told by friends on the field. As an employer in the finance industry, I would also be more impressed with a strong Columbia transcript than with a strong Notre Dame transcript, personally speaking. If OP only cares about career prospects as noted, I would only pick ND if I thought that the quality of life there would drive me to a better transcript outcome, as at that point the scales would be even or tip in favor of ND.
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@gablesdad that is more on the graduate school side. Then it is completely department level, not university.
I think a more interesting question is what Math class is the OP going to take? The suggested Math sequence is way different for someone that has aspirations as a Professor of Econ vs English.
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Columbia seems like a no-brainer if this is the case. It’s stronger in virtually all liberal arts disciplines except religion and medieval studies, and its NYC location is a nice bonus since you’d prefer an urban environment.
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I don’t know if you can say that categorically, there are definitely feeder schools into say Phd programs in econ, where there’s been some research done on this. Basically the best places to get undergrad are large research universities that have good Phd programs, like Columbia or LACs like Williams. The strength of the grad programs could be a factor here even though the OP has to make a decision on undergrad, and in that case Columbia is clearly better.
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I did a little digging into where the current crop of PhD candidates in Econ at UChicago went to undergraduate. I think I have most of them. They have about 25 PhD’s per year. This is what I got from looking at the CV’s on the job placement page.
BYU
UChicago (2)
Cornell
Dartmouth
Foreign U (16)
Georgetown
Rice
I did the same for Harvard and got this list.
uTexas
UChicago (2)
Princeton (2)
MIT
Harvard (2)
Yale
Williams
Cornell
Swarthmore
Stanford
UCBerkeley (2)
Foreign U (5)
Here is MIT. I think I am missing some because I could only find 11 and they normally have in low/mid 20’s each year.
UChicago
Harvard (2)
Michigan
UCSD
Wellesley
Columbia
Foreign U (4)
Remarkably Ivy/tippy-toppy