Northwestern vs. Columbia

<p>So, I need to make a decision -- I'm hoping some of you have helpful insights and opinions. The Columbia forum has a lot of insightful people browsing it, but naturally it's going to be somewhat biased, so I have a combined thread on the engineering forum.</p>

<p>Northwestern</a> vs. Columbia</p>

<p>Hi Phaese,</p>

<p>sounds like you would be a solid match with Columbia SEAS. It is a great school for people who want the engineering training, but perhaps do not see themselves in core engineering jobs. I don’t know much about McCormick, so can’t tell you to choose for or against there. What I can say is that Columbia SEAS is a fantastic place and offers a lot to its students. You will have exposure to a lot of things outside of engineering, and have that tight and small engineering experience as well. If I had to do it all over again (I was in columbia college) I would, as I have said a few times on here, choose Columbia SEAS if I had any choice in the world. I think it has the right view of engineering as both a great technical training, but something that comes hand in hand with the liberal arts and other conversations. Also, the NYC internship market really surpasses everywhere in the world (no offense Chicago). So you have more opportunities to test out your knowledge.</p>

<p>I guess in the end the question is to go back to why you submitted that transfer app in the first place, what excited you about the prospect of going to Columbia - New York, SEAS and the whole package. If the idea is still intriguing I would run with it. Regardless, you are not going to lose going to either place. It is really how hard you work now that will determine how far you go. If you slack, it doesn’t matter the name of the school or any kind of prestige, you wont succeed out there.</p>

<p>Adgeek is spot on here, Columbia SEAS is awesome, there is a lot of school pride. It does seem like NU is not for you from your other post. In terms of quality of education, the two are ranked pretty much the same, but Columbia SEAS takes in more qualified students. Getting a job in civil, apma, CS or IE will not be a problem at Columbia, I don’t think NU offers any advantages here. If you do decide somewhere down the line that you’d like to do business, finance or law, Columbia would be the place to go. The only thing to consider is that transitioning as a sophomore, while definitely not impossible, is difficult. If you are unsatisfied with life at NU, now might be a good time to give college a new shot.</p>