<p>So I've got very solid stats for getting into either and they're pretty much my top choices. I'll be hopefully applying early decision in November 2013. Thing is, on paper they both seem to have different things I'm interested in but I wanna know from students about what you don't see from a info session or the fiske book or whatever. It seems to all say the same thing. I do plan to visit to get the feel for the experience but before that..</p>
<p>What makes Penn special? Like as a student what am I gonna find that I can't possibly understand on paper? what makes the school's atmosphere what it is? </p>
<p>I’m not a current PENN student, but I did tour both and the campuses themselves are surprisingly so similar. So one of the big things it comes down to is which city would you rather be in? Philadelphia is smaller and more relaxed. New York is more exciting and hectic, but also full of more opportunities and I’d assume that this gives Columbia a small leg up on campus recruiting (although PENN’s is certainly nothing to scoff at). Penn is also known as the “social” aka party ivy. So if you want an up beat social life to be a big part of your college experience, then PENN would be a good direction; however, NYC isn’t exactly a ghost town lol. You really can’t go wrong with either, so I would just decide based on location and which is better for your intended major. </p>
<p>The general population doesn’t really know what PENN is, like it’s the forgotten ivy. When you tell someone you’re going there, 9/10 times he/she will ask “penn state?” (My friends have told me this drives them crazy lol). So in terms of public recognition, Columbia has an advantage there, but the people that do matter aka recruiters do know so it’d really be nothing more than a trivial annoyance. </p>
<p>Others in this section may disagree, but IMO unless you prefer Philly over NYC, I’d recommend Columbia over PENN for anything except business because Wharton knocks everything else out of the water .</p>
<p>Penn has more of the traditional college experience as opposed to Columbia. It has a big frat/party scene and a diverse student population. Columbia students are generally more independent. In addition, what they do for fun revolves more around getting in groups and exploring the city. Overall, I would probably take Columbia because it’s better or equal for most areas of study barring a few (e.g. Business). Get a feel for the campuses too–Penn is much bigger than Columbia and is nestled in a less hectic part of the city. Good luck!</p>
<p>It’s really a matter of personal preference and fit. Among those in the know, these two schools are really comparable in terms of academic reputation. Leaving aside Wharton and Nursing at Penn (both of which are universally regarded as at the very top of undergraduate education in their fields), the quality of the liberal arts programs at both schools are equivalent. Both schools have the same numbers of top-10 and top-20 liberal arts departments, with Penn being ranked higher in some areas and Columbia in others. But anyone who says, for example, that Columbia is better for liberal arts than Penn, has no idea what he/she is talking about. It’s really a matter of whether you prefer Columbia’s mandatory core curriculum versus Penn’s more flexible distributional requirements. And the two universities’ engineering schools are also comparable, with Penn having the only top-10 engineering program–bioengineering–between them.</p>
<p>So it really comes down to campus and city environments. Penn’s campus is MUCH larger than Columbia’s–300 acres vs. 32 acres–and provides much more of a traditional campus feel. Additionally, Penn has much more of a campus-centered undergraduate student life than Columbia has, while undergrads at both schools take great advantage of the cities in which they’re located. Obviously, New York is a MUCH larger city with a lot more going on than Philadelphia, but Philly does have a significant number of world-class cultural assets and a large and vibrant nightlife, and is much more “user friendly” for college students than New York. In fact, Philly has one of the largest student populations in the country, with several hundred thousand college and grad students.</p>
<p>Also, with its central location, Philly is only a 2-hour, $10 bus ride from New York City, and a 2 1/2-hour, $10 bus ride from Washington, D.C., with both the Bolt Bus and Megabus leaving from Philly’s 30th Street Station, the train station only a 10-minute walk from Penn’s campus.</p>
<p>It is definitely personal preference. I know many people who chose Penn over Columbia (people who are now in CAS here) and I am sure there are plenty of examples vice versa. I personally like being in an urban environment but find NYC very overwhelming, so being in Philadelphia is great. As far as the educational experience, both have many top ranked departments (Penn has a lot of wonderful departments that people gloss over such as Physics, Chemistry, English, History, Communications, Bioengineering, and Materials Science for some examples), but Columbia has a much more restrictive core, which might suit some, but really bother others.
Penn has a ton of research opportunities, many in interdisciplinary fields. It is quite easy to get involved and there is an organization called CURF which exists for this purpose. The campus life is quite vibrant, probably more so than schools in NYC.</p>
<p>I hated Columbia’s campus. Penn’s is much better, it actually feels like a typical green college campus while still being in the middle of a city.</p>
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