I am from Europe and this fall I am going to study in the US as a visiting student. I applied as an undergraduate visiting student at Harvard and Columbia and it looks like I will receive offers from both universities. Because the name of the universities does not really make a difference for me, for only one semester in particular, I wanted to ask about the grade inflation and the overall difficulties regarding both universities.
I have to do 15-16 credits in my semester abroad to get credit at my home institution as well, this means 4 courses at Harvard or 5 courses at Columbia, because they only give 3 credits per class.
1.) Does this mean, they overall work is the same because in total I will have 15-16 credits or will Columbia be even more work because I have 5 classes instead of 4 at Harvard?
2.) Because I want to enjoy my stay abroad and see the city (never been to New York or Boston), I do not want to stay in the library all day, but at the same time I would like to work hard to get good grades. I heard that Harvard has a “larger” grade inflation. Is this still true and how much harder/more work is it at Columbia to get really good grades?
My main focus regarding classes would be economics by the way.
I know grades arent everything, but they are one point to consider, that is why I hope you could help me a bit because I have very little insight.
Honestly, the specific classes you choose will have a much bigger impact on your grades and workload than the university you attend. I have had 4-credit classes with anywhere from 1 hour of work per week to 30 hours of work per week. I have had classes where everyone got an A and classes where nobody got an A.
Most universities have an “add/drop period” at the beginning of the semester. Use it to “shop” for classes and build a schedule that’s interesting and challenging, but not overwhelming.
yes both universities have a “shopping week” at the beginning, but how do you know if a course will be really hard or not just after you visited the class 1 or 2 times?
Generally, a teacher offers a syllabus, first meeting. You can see the range of topics and guage the work. You can look at course listings now, to see descriptions and often whether there’s a prerequisite course (to get an idea of the level of prep expected or compare what you’ve studied.) From that, you can sometimes also see class size limits.
Both cities can be fun and enriching, serve the purpose of expanding you. Boston is obviously smaller, but both are cities of neighborhoods. Are you experienced in big city living? They’re giving you housing, right?
I haven’t attended Columbia, but my gut reaction is that 5 classes will feel like more work than 4 classes–unless as a poster said above, you choose your classes extremely judiciously. I have no idea about Harvard’s grade policy in economics, but one of my friends was a TA who graded an intro chem lab, and she was told by the instructor to curve to an A-…lol. But again, huge variability between classes/professors.
Also think about where you’d rather spend a semester–Boston or NYC. The feel of the two cities is quite different. New York is hectic, grungier, more fast-paced, dirtier, but also with a higher concentration of world-class restaurants, art, whatever. Cambridge is cleaner and has much more of an enclosed campus feel, but with access to Boston with the T.
You can love either city.
If you choose Boston, it’s about 4.5 hours to NYC, by bus or train, for a quick trip or two. Boston, the core area, is much smaller, from one end to the other.
I don’t think 5 classes is necessarily harder. Depending on any requirements from your home U, you can take something simple, in the mix. It’s another reason to look at the course catalog. May be online.
Adding, these are two great choices. So often, kids coming for this reason have such disparate schools to consider, completely different environments.
NYC housing (and most things) are incredibly expensive. I would lean toward Cambridge if you do not have university housing. Outside of the respective schools, the big attraction at Columbia is NYC. The Boston area has a lot more college students, and IMO is a lot more attractive with more widely dispersed open spaces and lower density. If you want to get out, the ski resorts in New Hampshire and Vermont are not too far away.
Regarding housing:
I applied at Harvard when registration opened and could therefore already secure housing in case I will receive an offer, already spoke with them as well.
Yes Columbia does not directly offer housing, however I recently received an offer from Columbia University and they helped me to get a place in the “international House” which is even a bit cheaper than normal housing and is only a 5 minute walk to Columbia. That is what I meant whit “they offer housing for visiting students”.
