<p>Initially, Columbia was my dream school and I was waitlisted. The hardest decision I ever had to make was to turn down Duke and send in my SIR to UCLA. Now, I find myself off Columbia's waitlist and confused as what to do.</p>
<p>UCLA has what I always thought college would be, great sports, great greek life, and a great education. But now, I find myself worrying more and more about overcrowding in the UC system and the daunting statistics about the number of students graduating in five years not four. Also, I've been semi-intimidated by the quarter system and by current students telling me how hard it is to get into the classes they need. Also, UCLA is only about an hour and a half away from home, and I can't decide if I like that or not.</p>
<p>Columbia is the opposite. Small class sizes, individualized attention, thousands of opportunities, but lacks the "traditional" sense of college with little to no school spirit/support of sports and not much of a greek life that I've heard of. Also, I've never been to NY before let alone Columbia. I'm terrified of showing up and hating what I've gotten myself into. I'll admit, I cried out of joy when I read my acceptance letter, but I'm not sure if it's what I want anymore.</p>
<p>Any and all advice would be much appreciated. I only have until Friday to decide. Ugh.</p>
<p>There is a very active and growing Greek scene at Columbia. My first year son’s frat has been a centerpiece of his ecstatic experience with college life so far. He’s also really enjoyed his club sport (which included tournaments in France and Italy over spring break). I have the clear sense that there are a significant and visible minority of kids who are building the “traditional” college experience at Columbia. Now you can be one of them!</p>
<p>You really should not decide on a school without visiting it, much less the city. Especially when you are talking about NYC. You might hate NY. I would never advise choosing a college without visiting it. Go book a flight now.</p>
<p>I did do my the “necessary homework” a long time ago, hence it being my dream school… Regardless, I haven’t visited any of my schools, besides the ones within driving distance, due to financial contstraints. </p>
<p>Once they informed me I was off the waitlist, I began looking into the school again… it wasn’t my plan to make the decision in a week, that’s just all the time they’re alloting.</p>
<p>I understand financial constraints, but if it was your dream school, you should have planned, worked whatever to get the necessary few hundred bucks to see the school long ago. A few hundred dollars vs spending 4 years and possibly tens of thousands of dollars regarding your future is a drop in the bucket. Plus, how can a school you have never seen be your dream school?</p>
<p>What major are you planning on? That will have a pretty big affect on how easy it is to graduate in 4 years at UCLA. Most people that don’t graduate in 4 years do so because they decide to take lighter class loads and/or switch majors late.</p>
<p>Will UCLA cost more in loans? If money is a big issue, seems like Columbia may be the better deal, especially since UCLA may well take an extra year.</p>
<p>yeah as a graduating senior 100% second this post. I have a huge amount a school pride and wear it on my sleeve, despite our sports teams sucking. There is a decently sized and growing greek scene at Columbia. Columbia can’t give you a vast campus of greenery, but the rest of the traditional college activities are there if you want it. Don’t expect amazing sports, but athletics are still Division 1 and well supported. A couple of our basketball games were sold out at capacity this year with people cheering their hearts out, there was also a strange burst of school spirit when we beat princeton 38-0 at football - it died after we lost homecoming to penn :p. But Columbia is not as bad as the stereotypes portray.</p>
<p>If you expect to automatically have an amazing college experience, it will not fall into your lap (as it might at smaller schools), but a little initiative will take you a long long way because your are surrounded by amazing opportunities and amazing people.</p>
<p>I wish you had time to visit NYC too jillnett. Out of curiosity, why did you say no to Duke? It seems PERFECT for what you are looking for in a college experience in every way. It’s a happy medium between UCLA and Columbia; it has a good social life/school spirit/athletic success along with the academic prestige/financial resources of Columbia.</p>
<p>It sounds like UCLA is a better fit to you than Columbia. Why was Columbia your first choice anyway?</p>
<p>I’m undecided on my major, but leaning toward psychology or environmental studies.</p>
<p>The financial aid for both is about the same, with a couple thousand less in loans to Columbia.</p>
<p>The only reason I turned down Duke was because I couldn’t afford it and I don’t have anyone to cosign a private loan because of my parent’s credit.</p>
<p>Columbia was my first choice because of the core program and I had always hoped to get out of California for college just to live a little more. But now I’m finding myself doubting what I really want for the next four years.</p>
<p>By the way, thank you so much everyone for all your input</p>
<p>It’s scary choosing a place you haven’t visited but many people get little more from the visit than they would have from a video tour and a careful read of the website. If you researched it and it’s your dream school, go for it! It’s such a fabulous education. New York is great!</p>