<p>For all the current students and alumni at this board:-</p>
<p>Do Nobel winners like Joseph Stiglitz and Edmund Phelps actually TEACH the undergrads? I read their names from Columbia's viewbook and website all the time, but it'll be really disappointing if Columbia doesn't even offer courses taught by them (highly likely because I've just searched through the course listing page at the Economics Dept.)?</p>
<p>Stiglitz used to teach Principles of Economics, the most basic econ course at Columbia (basically econ 101)</p>
<p>Here are his reviews: CULPA</a> - Columbia Underground Listing of Professor Ability</p>
<p>Phelps teaches upperclassmen: </p>
<p>CULPA</a> - Columbia Underground Listing of Professor Ability</p>
<p>The thing is I went to a University Lecture by Phelps and you soon realize although the man is brilliant... his lecturing abilities SUCK. Conversely, you have the preeminent Sunil Gulati (Sunil</a> Gulati - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) teaching Principles of Economics. Many people walk away from that class with an inexplicable sense of awe and wonder. I've heard that at the last lecture, people cry. There's also a couple other very very prominent/able professors.</p>
<p>The point is however, that at the freshman level, it doesn't matter who teaches you. Na + Cl = NaCl no matter who teaches it--- a visitng lecturer, or Nobel Laureate. With that said, I've personally spoken to/shaken hands with 3 Nobel Laureates in the 3 months I've been here + saw Ahmendinijad, Natalie Portman, head of UN/Jeffrey Sachs (<a href="http://www.columbiaspectator.com/?q=node/28458)%5B/url%5D">http://www.columbiaspectator.com/?q=node/28458)</a>, Jack Nicholson, Julie Andrews, actors from SVU Law and Order, Brian Greene (The Elegant universe), and much much more.</p>
<p>Off the top of my head, in the 5 classes I've taken so far I can say that at least 3 (LitHum, Principles w/ Gulati, Donald Hood frontiers of science) have been truly awe-insiring, mind-expanding experiences. I know it sounds corny/trite, but taking LitHum and reading the works of Herodotus and moreso Thucydides/Plato/Socrates for me truly allowed me to see where many western traditions of rhetoric and debate come from. And the current Evolutionary Biology, Astronomy, and Brain and Biology Units of Frontiers are freakin' awesome. I went to a math/science magnet HS, yet I feel like I've gained a deeper appreciation of how science and humanity fit together in the past 3 months than I did in 4 years.</p>
<p>How about Brian Greene? Does he teach undergrads? Just being curious..</p>
<p>Yes Greene teaches ADVANCED math & physics classes</p>
<p>CULPA</a> - Columbia Underground Listing of Professor Ability</p>
<p>"The point is however, that at the freshman level, it doesn't matter who teaches you. Na + Cl = NaCl no matter who teaches it--- a visitng lecturer, or Nobel Laureate."</p>
<p>sorry truazn, here i have to disagree, perhaps this is true for an intro or midlevel calc course, where the text book suffices, and you've covered some material in HS/can learn it on your own. in those classes it matters less who teaches you. An intro econ prof should have and does have a massive influence on his/her students. the potential to expand students' minds and make a person interested and thinking about economics, really goes far. i say this because most people don't have substantial background in econ, and come to college barely knowing what it is, let alone how it applies to say politics and hardly how they can apply econ concepts to their lives. In this respect gulati (or the G-force as i like to call him), makes a world of a difference, columbia realizes this and put him in a front of a classroom of 400, that's why they dropped joe stiglitz, Stiglitz is brilliant i'm sure, but the awe of his nobel prize doesn't automatically teach you the econ. Nobel prize winners teach courses, but generally they aren't the most rivetting lecturers, because well often they're very old. profs like gulati, susan elmes, xavier sala-i-martin in the econ dept, who teach principles, micro and macro respectively, are all brilliant, but also inspiring lecturers. I'd bet you'd learn more under one of them, and the columbia econ dept bets on it too. The nobel prize winners help with the school's name, prestige, funding, research and ofcourse intellectual development, since they are the smartest minds out there. </p>
<p>so to the original poster, you have the opportunity to take courses under big shots and nobel prize winners, (jeff sachs, phelps, stig, stormer (physics nobel recepient)), but let that not constrain you, there are awesome profs everywhere, and finding them regardless of recognition is what makes the experience worthwile. for most classes, i've so far been very happy with my profs, esp econ profs, none of them have had nobels, although some are recognized superstars. if you were wondering if ugs are left out of the action and high profile profs - certainly not.</p>
<p>I noticed that when Phelps won his prize, his undergrad course had an enrollment of 9. Not a great teacher, apparently. </p>
<p>Jhl -- S's taking an undergraduate course with Brian Greene that has less than 20 students. Good lecturer, as you would expect. Really hard course.</p>
<p>Thanks for you guys' information..</p>
<p>horst stormer is a good lecturer and a great thinker. his seminar is basically "let's get together and talk about physics", which is pretty cool.</p>
<p>ED decisions will soon be out.. Wonder if I would have the opportunities to participate in these great lectures.. Tho unlikely.. I still remain hopeful.. fingers firmly crossed...</p>
<p>Sac, which course is your so taking? I remember speaking to PRof. Greene and asking him I should take his course and upon hearing my math background he said it would not be that hard...math friends of mine took it (modern Geometry/Physics) and got slayed...lol</p>
<p>I think it's a quantum mechanics course in the math dept. (Greene has a joint appoinment in math and physics.) My S may also end up getting slayed...we'll see. You can't win them all.</p>
<p>Thank you all for the insightful input!</p>
<p>jhl- I agree. These people have made the Columbia experience sound so tantalizing, yet I'll probably never get in. Oh well there's always a chance for Grad School.</p>
<p>^Haha, yea..exactly.. there's still grad school..</p>
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Oh well there's always a chance for Grad School.
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^Haha, yea..exactly.. there's still grad school..
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<p>Being a graduate student at Columbia is a totally different experience than being an undergrad. The "X school is my dream school, if I don't get in, I'll try to go to X for grad school" mentality isn't a good one for a host of reasons. Moreover, getting into any graduate program at Columbia (save the relatively unprestigious ones like Teacher's College or Public Health) is probably harder than getting into Columbia undergrad.</p>
<p>^What you said is true.. but the feeling of being thrown cold water on is not good tho..</p>
<p>"(save the relatively unprestigious ones like Teacher's College or Public Health)"</p>
<p>sarcasm? if not, teachers college has the best education program in the country (according to US news at least), so for its field(s) it's definitely close to the top, and one would compete with the very best to get in. Public health in particular is also rated one of the best there is, and isn't easy to get into. grad school wise, columbia is pretty solid in almost all departments. surprized you chose those two as the relatively unprestigious programs.</p>
<p>right, but Education doctorates and MPH degrees are, relatively speaking, less prestigious degrees than JD, MBA, MD, and doctorates in "harder" academic disciplines.</p>
<p>C02's point is a lot more than that though, don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. It's better to re-evaluate your dreams once you're in college, at least with respect to what institutions you'd like a degree from, rather than assuming that having a Columbia degree (or insert top school here) will be the thing that makes your life complete.</p>
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right, but Education doctorates and MPH degrees are, relatively speaking, less prestigious degrees than JD, MBA, MD, and doctorates in "harder" academic disciplines.
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<p>You got it.</p>
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sarcasm? if not, teachers college has the best education program in the country (according to US news at least), so for its field(s) it's definitely close to the top, and one would compete with the very best to get in. Public health in particular is also rated one of the best there is, and isn't easy to get into. grad school wise, columbia is pretty solid in almost all departments. surprized you chose those two as the relatively unprestigious programs.
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<p>If you had to pick two relatively unprestigious grad programs at Columbia, which would you pick? </p>
<p>In addition to Denzera's point that education and public health grad degrees are relatively unprestigious, they're relatively "light" intellectually and the students are relatively weaker. I'm sorry, but the "very best" don't get MPHs or education doctorates. </p>
<p>It's the same Harvard Kennedy School of Government or School of Education point. Those are top schools for their fields, but if you want to spot an idiot who says he went to Harvard, chances are he went to KSG.</p>
<p>It's the same Harvard Kennedy School of Government or School of Education point. Those are top schools for their fields, but if you want to spot an idiot who says he went to Harvard, chances are he went to KSG.</p>
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<blockquote> <blockquote> <p>Yeah, but that's like saying "that Miss America contestant is the ugliest one." Even if she is, she's still competing for Miss America. So it goes with colleges/programs, even if KSG is the "easiest" or whatever, it's still a Harvard school. It's not like it sucks. And who's to say the very best don't get education doctorates? That's a big insult to any professor. If it's what they like to do and what they are good at, then who's to judge?</p> </blockquote> </blockquote>
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<p>Using your Mss America analogy, there's always one relatively unflattering Miss America contestant who is probably a daughter of a big sponsor and pulled some strings to get where she is. KSG is "still a Harvard school," but anyone in the know realizes that KSG is where you go if you can't get into any other Harvard school and have 6-figures to throw around so you can tell people you went to Harvard. Real Harvard students and alums -- as well as other people in the know -- know KSG people aren't all that bright.</p>
<p>Do you really think the very best get education doctorates? While there are some really smart people everywhere, the most brilliant people in our society aren't getting education doctorates. Who do you really think is smarter -- an average 1st year analyst at Goldman or a TC student? an average Columbia med student or a TC student? an average Columbia law student or a TC student? an average Columbia b-school student or a TC student? an average Google/Microsoft entry-level engineer or a TC student?</p>