Harvard, Princeton, or Columbia?

<p>Got into all three with full financial aid. Interests lie somewhere within computer science/entrepreneurship/finance; need to learn more about these fields before I decide which direction I should go in. So far, I find Columbia's location, Princeton's undergraduate focus, and Harvard's seemingly slight edge in brand name appealing. Apparently, since I am from NJ, I will not have to fulfill a work-study job requirement if I attend Princeton (I don't know how big this factor is). My parents are immigrants who did not attend college, so they are (understandably) pushing for Harvard because they see its prestige as paramount; I, however, want to give the three schools equal consideration and am afraid of falling into this trap of perception of prestige. I will definitely visit all of the schools to gain a better understanding of where I would "fit" best.</p>

<p>Any advice or informational at all, especially that relating to the relative strength of the CS/finance programs and tech/finance recruiting at the schools and the relative quality of education and prestige of the schools, would be greatly appreciated.</p>

<p>Harvard has only a slight name brand advantage over Columbia or Princeton, certainly not enough to make you select it on the basis of that alone. If you really prefer Princeton or Columbia, go to one of those!</p>

<p>Princeton is pretty close to New York - you can get to the city in 1.5 hours using NJ transit trains, and it’s pretty easy. So if you wanted to visit the city on the weekends, you can do so. I go to Columbia (grad student) and have been to Princeton and the campus is absolutely gorgeous, in a nice quiet suburban area. Philadelphia is also easily accessible by public transit.</p>

<p>Columbia is great, too. It doesn’t seem very undergrad-focused, but I didn’t attend here as an undergrad so I can’t really speak to that at all. The campus is very pretty but small. However, there’s a pretty strong tech focus here in especially the last few years, and especially with SEAS. A few professors and wealthy alumni have recently begun an institute for big data here, and there are all kinds of initiatives to encourage students to start or join tech start-ups.</p>

<p>Any of these places would be a good launchpad for finance.</p>

<p>I agree, Princeton is very undergrad focused, and so you would get a lot more attention there, unlike Harvard and Columbia which are very grad focused. Nevertheless, you will be heaped with opportunities at every school! Congratulations and best of luck. </p>

<p>Obvious answer here is the visit. 3 locations and general atmosphere are very different. The impressions you draw more than anything else should decide this. Walk off each campus asking how happy you’d be to spend next 4 years there. </p>

<p>an admission to Harvard is given only to a very select, special few. Don’t waste it away. </p>

<p>It depends on what you want from a university really. Columbia has the best location, Princeton is the most undergraduate focused, and Harvard is the most prestigious and probably has the best networking. Now, I want to put one thing through your head, these universities are essentially all peers. We’re talking about universities whose rating are essentially between 9.8, 9.9, and 10. The differences in academic excellence among them is highly negligible, so you should choose for other factors.</p>

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<p>That might be a nice advantage. You could spend the time that you might be doing work study at the other universities doing something more productive, like perhaps an internship.</p>

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<p>Very narrow-minded people have noted that Harvard, Yale, and Princeton are essentially the big three universities you want to apply to if you want to get into Wall St. That being said, I have a very difficult time believing that graduates of those three schools are held in a significantly higher light than Columbia grads. The latter’s graduates are likely found in high proportions in Wall St. as well.</p>

<p>All in all, choose for fit. You have three excellent choices and I don’t think you can make a bad decision.</p>

<p>In your shoes I will definitely go for Princeton…</p>

<p>Princeton seems to be more of a Computer Science powerhouse these days than Columbia or Harvard.
Look at the NRC/Chronicle CS department rankings.
Princeton now ties with Stanford in a couple of categories. It is either very close to or way ahead of Stanford in the others. (<a href=“NRC Rankings Overview: Computer Sciences”>http://chronicle.com/article/NRC-Rankings-Overview-/124721/&lt;/a&gt;)</p>

<p>Brian Kernighan is at Princeton (look him up if you don’t know who he is).
In fact, he’s the undergraduate department rep.
Here is a list of projects and senior theses he has advised:
<a href=“Independent work projects and senior theses”>https://www.cs.princeton.edu/~bwk/iw.html&lt;/a&gt;
(It’s one thing for a university to employ famous professors; it’s another thing for those professors to teach, let alone work closely on projects, with undergraduate students).</p>

<p>Princeton people developed (or co-developed) the TCP and IP protocols (the comms protocols at the heart of the Internet), the BASIC programming language, the C programming language, and the LISP programming language. Princeton people have been very influential in the field of Artificial Intelligence. Alan Turing got his doctorate from Princeton. 9 computer scientists affiliated with Princeton University have won the prestigious Turing Award (the Nobel Prize of computing). Harvard affiliates have won even more (13), but then, Harvard is a much bigger university. </p>

<p>Prestige is not an issue at this level. The issue is fit. Unlike what one uninformed poster said above, admissions to ALL THREE are given to a “very special, select few.” The admissions results show that all three are extremely selective: Harvard admitted 5.9%;Columbia admitted 6.9%; Princeton admitted 7.2%. In other words, their admissions rates are comparable and each admits and enrolls exceptionally talented students. Any of the three will provide a spectacular education.</p>

<p>Let me stress, as someone with ties to two of the schools (Harvard and Columbia) the environments of the three are very different. As for Princeton, on Columbia’s semi-satirical wicicu pages, Columbians describe Princeton as the “anti-Columbia,” and there is some truth to that. Princeton’s historical reputation is for social exclusivity. I say, its HISTORICAL reputation. With its eating clubs and manicured suburban campus-scape it looks like that stereotype. But looks are very deceiving. It has changed and offers an extraordinary undergrad-focused education. Columbia is in NY and has a more urban, hip intellectual vibe. Columbia also has a required core curriculum. So, for all the historical complaints that Princeton is homogenous, snobby and exclusive, it is Columbia that requires immersion in the texts of “dead white males” through the reading-heavy LitHum and CC core courses. As well as music hum, art hum…You are required by Columbia to get a thorough grounding in the classic texts and works of western civilization. For those who attend, that is a major selling point of Columbia, you will graduate very liberally educated in the various intellectual and artistic traditions of western civilization. For me that is a huge selling point. For some, not so much. It might be argued that Princeton’s community is more collegial, because it is focused on the campus and those eating clubs, whereas Columbia students do have that streak of individualism that, also because they have NY, makes the experience less dorm-centered, and more de-centered. </p>

<p>As for Harvard? Like Columbia it has huge graduate departments (the law school, business school, med school…), therefore both Harvard and Columbia are less “cozy” for undergrads than is Princeton. As someone who taught there I can say Harvard’s students are exceptional, but no more so than Columbia’s or Princeton’s. What I noticed is that a lot of the students are DRIVEN to devote as much time cultivating their extra-curriculars as their academic studies, and for most of these one has to “comp” (or compete for spaces). There is also a huge stress level at Harvard, but I would expect that Columbia and Princeton have their stresses as well. Harvard has Harvard Square, an intoxicating little enclave full of energy and vitality. The rigor? The hardest thing about Harvard is getting in. It has notorious grade inflation which is not the case for P or C. Newsweek and other publications have labeled Columbia the most rigorous college, though this year it was number 2 to Stanford. The course load at Columbia is notoriously rigorous, five per semester as opposed to H and P’s four classes per semester. These publications also suggest that Princeton is more rigorous than Harvard. But…each is what you put into it and get out of it.</p>

<p>They are all exceptional institutions. But very very different. The story for you is FIT, FIT, FIT! Visit all and make your choice an informed one based on experience, not advice or “reputation.” </p>

<p>I don’t know if the kinds of celebrities they attract say anything. But Harvard is historically the home to generations of Kennedys and Roosevelts and Gores. One of Princeton’s more famous acting alums is Brooke Shields and its historical aura was immortalized by F. Scott Fitzgerald, not to mention by scientists like Einstein in the vicinity. Columbia has creative types like Alicia Keys, Jack Kerouac, Jake and Maggie Gylenhaal (sp), Joseph Gordon Levitt, as well as the current Prez. Is it relevant? Do they typify their alma maters?</p>

<p>Oh, and for what it is worth…In the most recent USNWR survey the schools were ranked as follows: Princeton #1, Harvard #2, and Columbia #4. In other words, they are peers. So, pick on fit.</p>

<p>Excellent job swingtime, kudos.</p>

<p>Kid, don’t pick as if you were attending the grad school. Do not worry about how many angels dance on the head of a pin. Your parents are not in it for the right reasons. Enjoy your visits then go with your gut.</p>

<p>Report back!</p>

<p>Thanks for the detailed replies. I guess the impressions I get when of the schools when I visit them should help me decide. I am personally not a demanding or quirky individual, I just want to go where I will get the best education and the best opportunity to get my professional life started on the right track. I am, however, VERY afraid that my parents will pressure me into choosing Harvard simply because it is Harvard.</p>

<p>my kid and I got back from Boston last night after a weekend tour of the colleges there…I have to say (and I’ve toured Columbia though not princeton), I would go for Harvard…because Boston is the most incredible college town in the world…approx. 250,000 students there from 40+ colleges…you will literally be in the middle of the world…and could make friends from MIT, from Tufts, even from the Berklee School of Music…I envy you your choice and congratulate you greatly! </p>

<p>I would get rid of Columbia — NYC is not going anywhere and you can basically have that same “experience”. </p>