<p>Access to wall street careers is hardly the only advantage Columbia offers its students, guys. Let’s not get all snobby and risk understating the real case.</p>
<p>I’ve prattled on about these issues elsewhere in far greater depth, but the basic idea is that going to a top institution actually does develop your mind and sharpen your reasoning, your judgment, your wisdom (such as it is 
) and raises your expectations for what you can get out of yourself, your career, and anything else you focus on. It pays off in a ton of ways that can’t be easily expressed.</p>
<p>I came home from my freshman year and found that my brain had an extra “gear” and that I was assuming everyone else was operating at that speed, making the same intuitive leaps, seeing and dealing with potential problems (at home and at my summer job) that Columbia students would… and found that I had to dial back my expectations. Being in an atmosphere like that raises your game.</p>
<p>And it’s not just in how fast you think and how quickly you pick up new concepts. You’ll learn many many things from your classmates about how to work productively, about what constitutes an actually good job on something - higher standards that may not exist at every college, especially if you come from a high school where you’re used to everyone practically applauding everything you do, even when you know, privately, it’s not your best. From your classmates and the example most of them will set, hopefully you’ll learn some humility, too, because no matter how good you are coming in, there will be someone there who’s better than you at most things.</p>
<p>You’ll learn in your classes at a pace that would impress all but the most rigorous of high schools, and learn from instructors who are either brilliant at teaching and inspiring their students, or brilliant at research in their area of expertise, or sometimes even both (Horst Stormer comes to mind).</p>
<p>And once you get out, you’ll have the respect of anyone who knows something about the rigors of a top education. Columbia’s alumni network is powerful because they, too, went through the same process (both the selectivity at admissions and the efforts required to graduate), and have seen it pay off in the form of success in their careers. That network may turn into advisors for you, guides to a particular path, or even job opportunities. Your own classmates, too, will be valuable not just as friends but as allies, by default, in your struggles in the real world. </p>
<p>I mean, look at all the alums on this board, posting to help even those who are merely INTERESTED in going to Columbia. You think we get paid? Think we get some sort of adrenaline rush out of this? No, we just love our school and (nearly) everything associated with it. How many schools out there inspire such devotion to things other than their glamour sports programs? Precious few.</p>
<p>So, in your case, asha, it may be a tough choice. You may not even get in this fall. But if you do, you at least have a fair proposition to make to your parents. Asking them to cough up 20, 30 or even 40k a year to attend a second-rate private college would be a tough sell indeed. But you can at least fairly argue, with reason behind you, that going to Columbia would be a life-changing experience that would make you a better person, open up doors to you, and would more than pay off their investment in you.</p>
<p>They may not buy the argument. But it would be good to at least have the choice ahead of you, no? Soldier on with your studies, write great applications, and strongly consider applying ED. You’re far more likely to regret not giving yourself the option, than you are to regret putting in the effort (and knowing you’re Columbia material) even if you end up going elsewhere because of financial considerations.</p>
