I was recently accepted to Northwestern’s school of journalism and to the Columbia-SciencesPo Dual Degree program (the Menton campus — Middle Eastern specialty). I’m not sure if I want to work in diplomacy or journalism or law something else entirely as an adult, but political science/international affairs seems to be the direction I want to go in. Another factor is that I am from New York and originally had no interest in going to school in New York. Because I will be doing two years in France first, it’s not that much of a concern, but I do worry about the high-stress nature of Columbia especially being in New York. I know that Northwestern is a lot of work as well but I feel that the balance between social life and school work is much MUCH better. Finally, I hate the cold, but I don’t know how much this will affect my life at Northwestern. I am really torn between these two options and I know I will be happy at both but I don’t know how to choose one. I am scared that I will have less flexibility at Columbia-Sciences Po or that I will be overworked, but I don’t want to miss out on the opportunity just because I am scared. As for Northwestern, I am scared that I will be underwhelmed/bored or hate the environment because of the cold, but I am confident that I will be happy there, and I’m not sure I can say the same about Columbia. Please advise!
I mean, it gets cold in NYC too. Chicago wouldn’t exactly be an adjustment. BTW, try to find stuff in the teaching quality at French institutions like Science Po. It seems that they don’t measure up to what you’d expect at top American colleges.
At NU, you have the flexibility to change majors and challenge yourself as much as you want (so no excuse for being underwhelmed/bored, which I really doubt you will be; the academic rigor at NU isn’t any less than at Columbia).
OP: I think that your assumption about the academic rigor at Northwestern University is incorrect.
I suggest that you matriculate at Columbia University / Sciences Po.
You won’t be bored unless you choose to do nothing. There are so many things to do on and off campus. Evanston isn’t NYC of course but it’s fairly urban for its size with many eateries and Chicago is an easy subway ride away. There are intercampus shuttles transporting students between the Evanston campus and downtown Chicago campus.