<p>Monyday, I did not say it was imposible that bunnygirl would switch to a humanity, I said it was unlikely. It can certainly happen, but what are the odds? 1 in a 100? Maybe 1 in a 1,000? Engineers who switch majors generally switch to a science, Economics or Business, not to a humanity. </p>
<p>I also knew a lot of Engineers who took classes in Literature and History when I was in college. MIT Engineers may not have the same depth of courses in the Humanities that Columbia has…but Harvard does, and MIT students can take several courses at Harvard over their four years. </p>
<p>At any rate, if the OP wants a well rounded school, Cornell (not Columbia) is the way to go. Columbia is not that well rounded. Of course, it is an academic powerhouse, as are Caltech, Cornell and MIT. However, Colubmia’s Engineering program is good but not great and its campus atmopshere is not condusive to providing a well-rounded undergraduate experience. And I am pleased that you mentioned Kurt Vonnegut. If memory serves, he is a Cornell alumnus. Of course, Isaac Asimov attended Columbia, also as a science major. </p>
<p>At any rate, if the OP wants a large city, I think MIT is the way to go. If the bunnygirl does not mind a smaller setting and favors a well rounded undergraduate experience, then I say Cornell.</p>
<p>MIT students can also take courses at Wellesley. But there is travel time involved, and the various different colleges may not all be on the same schedules, semester-wise or class-time wise,which can be a disincentive with these arrangements.</p>
<p>FWIW Vonnegut found his path at Cornell, via working on the school newspaper, but left to go to war and then never came back to complete his degree.</p>
<p>Whenever I see Vonnegut mentioned, I can’t help but thinking about Bridget Jones.
How many people actually understand anything this guy ever written? And pretend to walk around quoting Vonnegut like pseudo-intellectuals I occasionally run into.<br>
Columbia Fu is terrible. Don’t even kid yourself. Most went there hoping for some kind of banking jobs. Now that that ship has sailed, there is no reason to study engineering at Columbia. Think you can compete with real engineers from traditional engineering schools, better think again.</p>
<p>I have heard the quality of life isn’t so great at Columbia. MIT sounds fabulous in many aspects; however, you do have to evaluate some not so great aspects. The rigors at any of these schools will be almost insurmountable. I do feel because MIT is so heavily gear towards engineering you might not have the diversity found at Cornell. I am just a big fan of Cornell, but you have to choose for what seems best for YOU!! Try to talk to some undergrads from both institutions.</p>
<p>This is 2009 not 1975. In the current world, the differences between most departments at these schools are very minor, with a few exceptions both ways. Throw in all the rankings you like, but the fact is that most employers would be highly impressed with a degree from either of these schools. Saying one is significantly better than the other is ignorant and unfounded.</p>
<p>middsmith, I don’t think you have a clue about what you’re talking about. I take it you’re not an engineering major? Engineering jobs care the least about school pedigree compared to other jobs and no one turns a blind eye at Columbia (or any of these other schools mentioned for that matter).</p>
<p>It has always seemed to me that Columbia Fu was a second rate engineering school relative to Stanford, Berkeley, Cornell, and the like.</p>
<p>I have friends and colleagues currently enrolled at SEAS who complain about the lack of opportunity for academic exploration outside of engineering. At, MIT, however, one would have far greater freedom to create a cursus occasionally driven by both whim and curiosity.</p>
<p>Comparing MIT to Columbia, it’s a total no-brainer to choose the former.</p>
<p>Wow, a lot to think about…I’m currently interesting in Civil Engineering, but I’m largely undecided when it comes to my career. At Columbia, I was looking at a Civil Engineering major with a minor in Architecture or perhaps Art History. I haven’t really looked into MIT that much (applying there was pretty much a no-brainer).</p>
<p>I think I’d definately feel more comfortable in a more urban area (i.e. NYC or Boston) and I like that MIT has the option of taking courses at the other colleges in the ares (Harvard and Wellesley), but talking to alumni from both sides, it doesn’t seem to be that popular of an option so I don’t really want to count on it.</p>
<p>At this point, I think I’m leaning more towards MIT, but I can’t really say if I’ll still be intersted in engineering 2 or 4 years from now. Also, the asian in me can’t let go of the dream of attending an Ivy league school…</p>
<p>This the for the asian in you. MIT is more prestigious than all the other Ivies, save HYP. In engineering it is more prestigious than any place on earth! ;-)</p>
<p>They are all great schools. I guess it all depends on what you are looking for in a college…be sure to look beyond academics because that is what really makes your college experience worth while. You also might want to take into account the core requirements at columbia and caltech–ok for some, but not everybody’s cup of tea.</p>