<p>As a Teachers College Columbia and Yale graduate, I was wondering, how many of you would have gone to Yale instead of Columbia, and why?</p>
<p>Although the Columbia grounds and buildings are beautiful, I would think that the Yale campus is a more relaxed atmosphere with plenty of space, affording the students, graduates and non graduates a more pleasant place to coexist.</p>
<p>The curriculum and professors in both universities are excellent, so what makes many students choose Yale over Columbia? Is it the campus atmosphere, the mystique, the Yale-Harvard sports rivalry, the secret societies? In the end what were your choices and why?</p>
<p>**Sorry for rambling, this has been on my head for a while, and I need to get some feedback. Thanks.</p>
<p>New York is better than New Haven, I go to school in New Haven and don't particularly want to stay there, music in New Haven is okay but the music in New York is better. I like both places, but just Columbia better.</p>
<p>I attended Columbia over Yale for three main reasons. 1) The bio and neuroscience programs are world renowned, far more so than yale's. 2) The military training programs are far closer to campus at Columbia than at Yale (45min-1hr compared to 2.5hrs for yale) and 3) NYC has FAR more to offer, educationally as well as in the entertainment area.
Would I have been happy at yale? Yes. The gorgeous architecture quiet grounds etc would have been great. But I like being a step away from the "real world" too. The columbia campus is enclosed enough to make it our own, but then you've got broadway right outside the gates. I liked that combination.
Had my focus been more in the area of humanities than in science, though, I would have likely chosen yale. So the academic program was still my primary focus. And I can't complain now - one of our neuro professors just won the Nobel prize. The second one since 2000 in the neuroscience faculty alone!</p>
<p>When you ask people about the merits of Yale's location, you frequently hear something along the lines of, "Well, it's this and that...and it's only an hour from New York!"</p>
<p>That about sums up my preference. The academics are comparable, with each school having greater strength in some fields. It's the location that really makes all the difference.</p>
<p>It's 1 hour and 45 minutes from New Haven to NYC by train, and trust me, the train IS the preferable way to get to New York from New Haven. A round-trip ticket will cost 26.60 to 35.16 online, but then at least when you get to New York you won't have to pay for parking or figure out how to navigate the roads or deal with traffic. Don't buy tickets on the train. It's much more expensive. You can buy them at the station, too. The New Haven train stationUnion Station is better with more trains available, State St. just a little extra one past Union Stationisn't too bad to get to on foot from Yale. Now you know exactly what to do to get from Yale to New York. The subways in NYC are 2$ per entrance into the subway system. Enjoy the commute. I recommend sleeping on the train, but bring a jacket or something nice to lean on.</p>