@TomSrOfBoston If I am not sure what I want to major in, would a core curriculum be better than an open one? Or does it really not matter.
There is a tiny amount of merit aid at some UC’s that is for the topmost students. The UC’s are looking for full pay OOS students to help them with their budget.
Look at the Columbia website to see what the core curriculum involves.
@Cubbybear I suggested liberal arts colleges for a couple of reasons:
- You said you don’t know what your want to major/do…liberal arts colleges offer a lot of flexibility, and support/guidance
- You said you want to go to law school…liberal arts colleges place very well into the top law schools – punch way above their weight when it comes to the graduate school placement, especially at the top graduate programs
Continuing with @fivesages train of thought:
- @Cubbybear wrote: “I guess I’m just looking for the best eduction I can get…”
https://www.college.columbia.edu/core/core
I agree with TomSr; definitely look at the core and see if it interests you.
For someone who is undecided, the pro of the core would be being exposed to academic areas you may not have considered and may come to love but the con would be that it will take up around 1/3 of your schedule and won’t leave you with much time to explore other subjects you might be interested in.
Alternatively, the pro of Brown’s open curriculum is that you have plenty of time to dip your toes in multiple departments and are actively encouraged to try new things with their Satisfactory/No Credit grading option. But the con would be that you may find yourself not giving all areas a try and staying in your safe zone due to no distributional requirements.
Utah is a great safety at a little under $20K a year. Denver could be a safety in that you have a good shot at merit aid that takes it down to $35-45K a year. The question is whether your parents are willing to pay that much more for Denver, or if you have enough financial need that you can get some need-based aid to lower that cost.
You really should establish what your parents are willing to pay for which schools. For example, Pitt and Washington are really good state schools that cost $45-50K, which is less than every private school on your list. But would they be worth more than $100K more over four years than Utah? NYU, at $70K and known for poor financial aid, might be about $200K more than Utah over four years.
The quickest way to narrow down your list is to get an idea of how much schools will cost you and see if they are worth it (or at least if your parents think they are worth it). Some of the schools on your reach list might have better financial aid and also be worth spending somewhat more for. But your chances of getting into any extreme reach are not that great, so maybe you should focus more on finding matches that are more affordable and seem worth it.
UC’s are forbidden by law from providing financial aid to OOS applicants, although Merced may offer $5,000 off the 55k price tag as merit aid. UCSC sometimes does merit along those lines and for those amounts.
Pitt now gives merit aid to 34+/1500 :(.
Liberal arts colleges tend to be generous in merit aid and punch way above their weight in law school admissions. Don’t mistake them for safeties, either. Top 40 LACs offer a superior experience and are highly selective, those ranked up to 75 may be more amenable to merit aid for you.
Run the NPC on every single college from your list and bring the results to your parents. It’ll quickly cross out a bunch of Universities.
@MYOS1634 @fivesages thanks for the input! Do you have any recommendations for reach and match liberal arts schools?
@Wilson98 Thanks for the help! It seems like most match out-of-state schools are so expensive. Do you have a recommended match that isn’t as expensive as a place like U of Pitt, U of Washington, etc. I’d personally prefer the West or East coast…
@TomSrOfBoston @TheGr8Gatsby The core doesn’t necessarily interest me, but would it be good to take those classes if I am still undecided. I hate literature classes for example.
@TomSrOfBoston @TheGr8Gatsby Also, I was wondering if you guys knew where other schools fall in terms of open curriculum vs. core. For example, does a place like UPenn have a core?
Run the NPC on Pomona or Pitzer or McKenna ( depending on whether you’re more intellectual, social justice or conservative), Hamilton, Williams, and Amherst for reaches, pick the cheapest of the bunch; same thing, run the NPC on Dickinson, Macalester, Skidmore, American.
Your stats, gpa and ACT score, are fine for most of the liberal arts colleges. While US News ranking is not perfect, I would look at the top-5/10 like Amherst (east) and Pomona (west) for reaches and top-10-25 for match. I suggest you do some research on them and pick based on what type of environments you like. If you haven’t already, visit a liberal arts college or two to get a feel for the environment.
@twoinanddone I agree about the U of U! It is very underrated. That being said, I love the west coast and would love to go to a UC. Is there no way for me to go to a UC assuming I can’t pay 50k a year? I have some family in California that I could potentially live with for a year if that helps.
The majority of the schools on your list have distributional requirements (like Penn) and pretty much all colleges. The core is pretty much unique to Columbia and the open curriculum to Brown.
If the core doesn’t appeal to you then I would strongly recommend not applying to Columbia. It is possibly the main reason why the majority of Columbia students choose Columbia and plays a huge part in the community aspect. Don’t force yourself to like it because it is definitely not for everyone and is one of the main aspects of what makes Columbia, well, Columbia.
@TheGr8Gatsby Thanks, your information is really helping. However, I’m still confused about the difference between distributional requirements and the core. If distributional requirements require you to take certain classes, how is that different from a core?
The Columbia core requires everyone to take the same courses. A distribution requirement gives you a choice of several courses in different categories. For example as a science major you must take a certain number of courses in the humanities and social sciences but they do not require you to take specific courses. You have choices.