<p>I was accepted to MIT via early action and also received a likely letter from Columbia College. I'm having difficulty choosing between the two. I'm mainly a math/science guy but also love writing and analyzing texts. I will definitely major in a math/science subject though. I'll be brief.</p>
<p>MIT:
-Love the locale. Great college town.
-Can cross-register with Harvard
-Love the perceived sense of community and geekiness of everyone. I feel like I'd fit in.
-Best math/science education in the country?
-Strong computer science department (potential major) and new biological engineering department (also potential major)</p>
<p>-Don't like the dispersed campus</p>
<p>Columbia:
-Love the access to NYC
-Love the Core and strong humanities in comparison to MIT
-Campus seems nice and contained</p>
<p>-Don't like how NYC can dilute school spirit and sense of community
-Don't like reports of undergraduate education not getting as much attention as graduate</p>
<p>What are some other information I should consider when choosing between these two schools? Thanks.</p>
<p>Even though both are very urban these are two really different places. I would really encourage you to lay out the courses for your intended major at both schools. MIT courses are a little tricky to piece together (cool though once you know the sequences, 5=chem, etc) but make sure you know which school will best support your interests.</p>
<p>If there’s any chance you might not want to pursue math/science, or are less than interested in getting your *** kicked by the academics at MIT, might want to think hard about C. You didn’t mention money/aid either so I guess that’s not an issue for you.</p>
<p>If you are mainly a math and science guy, then MIT. </p>
<p>The campus is not that spread out. The academic buildings are grouped by department, so after freshman year so kind of spend more time in one area. The dorms and athletic areas are across Mass Ave., again kind of grouped together. You end up walking a lot anyways, mostly off campus to go places, so walking becomes a way of life. </p>
<p>Be aware that MIT grad education gets more attention from a lot of the profs than undergrad. However, get involved in project work, which I HIGHLY recommend. You’ll get plenty of attention and enhance your education tremendously.</p>
<p>I don’t think this is accurate. There seem to be more Nobel-prize winning scientists teaching undergraduate courses at MIT than at any other top-tier university I can think of. During one semester, my daughter had a Nobel-prize winning physicist – Wolfgang Ketterle – as a TA. Unreal!</p>
<p>Moreover, students at MIT, starting the first semester of the freshman year, can participate in the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) and join a small group of researchers that will often include a faculty member, one or two postdocs, some grad students, and 2 or 3 undergrads. According to my daughter, who joined a UROP in machine vision her freshman year, she participated in group meetings about all aspects of the project, and she felt that she was treated the same as anyone else.</p>
<p>I’ve followed my daughter’s progress as she has taken on more and more research projects through the years. She spent two years in a physics project (still ongoing), and the department has funded her travel, along with that of grad students and postdocs, to Hamburg, Germany. These sort of opportunities are available to students who want them. In my daughter’s case, the opportunities she has had at MIT have opened doors to amazing programs in grad school. She’s going to have a tough time deciding where to go. :-)</p>
<p>If math and science is really your thing, then there’s really no question about where to go. But that doesn’t mean that MIT is ONLY math and science. You can be involved in theater, dance, art, music, and literature as well.</p>
<p>Absolutely. It is a common misconception that MIT humanities aren’t as good as at many other schools. Many departments are quite superb, and often they are not well attended. </p>
<p>For example, take the MIT writing program. Almost all of the engineering and science programs offered by MIT are in the top 5 in the country. The writing program definitely is not. So it tends to be overlooked. </p>
<p>But there is Junot Diaz teaching fiction writing (who won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction), Science Fiction Writing is taught by Joe Haldeman (2010 winner of the Damon Knight Grand Master award for SF writing, which will go nicely with his 5 Hugos, and 5 Nebulas amongst many other awards), Playwrighting is taught by Laura Harrington (winner of a Massachusetts Cultural Council Playwriting Fellowship whose work regularly opens off-Broadway). (When I was on campus this was taught by A.R.Gurney whose work was on Broadway at the time). </p>
<p>For a “minor” department, this is pretty amazing. MIT humanities departments are pretty darn good, and while there are plenty of good reasons that might lead someone to conclude that MIT does not match with their interests and needs, going somewhere else for “strong humanities” is not necessarily one of them.</p>
<p>Yeah, I would Agree… MIT is not that disperse. Unless you have a class in the MIT museum (like World Music), you won’t be going too far. </p>
<p>I was debating between Columbia and MIT for the same reasons, but I choose MIT. I like the atmosphere here more, and that the humanities are good but you are not forced to do a core like Columbia’s. You can mostly take the Humanities classes you want. If MIT doesn’t offer it, as you said, you can cross register with Harvard (there are more schools you can X-register too).</p>
<p>Also, note that Columbia offers Biomedical Engineering which is different than Biological Engineering (Biomed is a minor at MIT).
I would also add that they are looking at a combined program in Biology and Computer Science (im not sure when that it is going to start, but it was in the Tech not to long ago).</p>
<p>The difference in atmosphere between these two places is pretty stark, and I think despite the fact that both have good classes in humanities in science, one should strongly consider what kind of atmospher they prefer. Don’t think what you should prefer. Go with your gut.</p>
<p>Lulu was a physics major with a serious interest in writing; her blogs include some discussion of writing classes at MIT. After she graduated in 2009, she worked for a time as a science writer for a California newspaper before accepting a research position in a technology company. She posted a link to her blog in one of her last MIT entries, if you’re interested in following her articles.</p>
<p>If it helps, my brother was rejected from MIT and accepted into Columbia. Although he is perfectly happy at Columbia, he says he would have chosen MIT within a heartbeat had he been accepted. :P</p>
<p>It’s much easier to change majors here. At Columbia, of you want or change to a major outside of your college ( let’s say you are in SEAS, and you want to switch to a major in the college) you have to apply to transfer to the the other. At MIT, you just change your major lol. </p>