<p>so right now, i'm going back and forth between Penn and Columbia.</p>
<p>i know both schools are equally great academically, so it's ultimately going to come down to which school is the better fit. i'm going to visit both Penn and Columbia obviously, but in your opinion, how do they compare in terms of social life and general campus atmosphere? can anyone do a compare/contrast of these two schools?</p>
<p>please people answer. I am in the exact same situation!</p>
<p>Honestly, Penn will give you the better social life…everyone I met when I visited was upbeat, helpful, down to earth, and just appeared happy! Penn has so many traditions (football games-throwing toast on the field!), Greek life if you want it, downtown Philly, which, while not NYC, offers more than enough restaurants, stores, museums, history, internship opps, community service opps, etc.–and get this–you won’t blow you’re life savings on one night on the town like NYC. At places like Columbia, it’s hard to be strapped for cash and not be able to see all that NYC has to offer, whereas at UPenn, you can go out a lot more for a lot less cash. </p>
<p>Also, b/c Columbia does attract a lot of rich city people, the campus community is not as strong as UPenn’s, and the campus can empty out and get a bit lonely…</p>
<p>Also, Penn’s campus is waaay prettier–Locust Walk! </p>
<p>Safety is pretty much not a huge concern at either school, but you need to use common sense. Crime shouldn’t deter you from one school over the other…</p>
<p>From what Ive perceived, Penn has more down to earth, normal people than Columbia which I find to have a lot of stereotypical sociall inept nerds…was that a nice enough way to put it…Everyone at Penn was nicer, including the administration as well as the students. I love Columbia mainly b/c of NYC b/c of my prospective major, but I love Penn’s campus life and everything in general waay more…and lets be honest, is the CORE at Columbia really worth it? At UPenn, you have more academic freedom at just as prestigious a university with the best of both worlds: a city with an actual campus community…</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>I’m not sure who CoffeeAddict is, but he’s come out of the woodwork and started trashing Columbia in various places.</p>
<p>There are probably two dozen Columbia students and recent alums on this board who can give you a much better picture of the school, one much less based in stereotype and hype and more in personal experiences.</p>
<p>that said, it’s late and i’m tired so I’m just going to suggest you do a quick search on Penn-related threads in here. there are a number of very good comparison posts and discussions on the subject and you can get a great sense by reading a few of them.</p>
<p>^^^^haha yes. I feel like this forum has the best current students/recent grads posting helpful info (more than the other ivies)…denzera, Co2002, confidentialcoll, admissionsgeek, cerebus, and I’m forgetting a couple more names. you guys are so helpful in relating your personal experiences! thanks.</p>
<p>^^awwwww you gave me a shoutout!! :)</p>
<p>but yeah, coffeeaddict, although I agree with your religious views (coffee) I think you’re wayy off. </p>
<p>I’m an international student (or was…:()and, no joke, I was too lazy to check out enough of the city for the first year because there was SO DAMN MUCH going on in and around columbia in terms of campus life, activities, events, cute boys, making friends and all the rest. Columbia has a pretty solid greek life, though much smaller than Penn’s–it’s more of a sub culture, but that doesn’t make it less fun. I hung out at the frats on occassion, and had a great time.</p>
<p>“From what Ive perceived, Penn has more down to earth, normal people than Columbia which I find to have a lot of stereotypical sociall inept nerds…was that a nice enough way to put it…Everyone at Penn was nicer, including the administration as well as the students”</p>
<p>Actually, I htink any ivy that you go to will have more than it’s fair share of socially inept nerds. That being said, most Columbia students are well rounded and engaged with their environment and pretty darn down to earth. The ‘rich, NYC kid’ argument is as true of Columbia as it is of any other Ivy–in fact, a lot of the rich NYC crowd tries to move away from the city for college. Penn, btw, has a lot of the rich NYC kids at Wharton. That being said, I found Columbia to have a really good mix of kids from across the socio-economic spectrum.</p>
<p>I happen to have chosen Columbia over some of its peer schools precisely because I felt like people were more down-to-earth, approachable and took themselves less seriously than other places I could mention.</p>
<p>Each top school has a very distinct atmosphere and everyone will fit in differently. Gotta visit, talk to a lot of people, and decide for yourself where you felt most comfortable.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Yeah…you are. :mad:</p>
<p>My purposeful silence is so you * never *make that mistake again.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>In terms of pure prettiness I give the edge to Columbia (and I’m a Penn grad). I just love neoclassical. But Penn’s campus is functionally excellent and Locust Walk a prime example of creating amazing public spaces with smart planning.</p>
<p>I chose Penn, and knew it was the right decision for me. Everyone is different. I think visiting might help. I liked Penn precisely because the city was big and awesome, but not THAT big and awesome.</p>
<p>Penn and Columbia people are equally distributed between down to earth people and pompous gasbags from what I have seen.</p>
<p>I’d say go to Penn for undegrad, but it’s certainly not as open-and-shut a case as coffeeaddict might think.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Agreed.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Is this really true?</p>
<p>
Yes. They just have different academic emphases and styles (and even there the differences are half-stereotype, as you can find anecdotes to counter every general statement comparing the two)</p>
<p>I’d say Penn will give you a better academic experience, and I would choose that unless NYC gas some great appeal to you.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Yes.
To answer your question, I’ll use the departmental rankings. The most popular majors at Penn and Columbia, according to their websites, are: Psych, Econ, Bio, History, English, Biomedical Engineering.</p>
<p>Psychology:
Penn = 8
Columbia = 17</p>
<p>Economics:
Penn = 8
Columbia = 12</p>
<p>Bio Fields:</p>
<p>Physiological Biology:
Penn = 3
Columbia = 10</p>
<p>Neurobiology:
Columbia = 6
Penn = 10</p>
<p>Molecular Bio:
Columbia = 11
Penn = 16</p>
<p>History:
Columbia = 5
Penn = 12</p>
<p>English:
Penn = 8
Columbia = 9</p>
<p>Biomed Engineering:
Penn = 5
Columbia = off the charts (ranked lower than 40)</p>
<p>So, for the intents and purposes of nearly all students: yes, it appears as though Penn is on par with Columbia, wouldn’t you agree? </p>
<p>Of course, if you’re going to be one the 30 students/year that major in Linguistics or Anthropology, Penn is number 5 and Columbia is 20 - and if you’re going to be one of the 30 students/year that major in Physics or Math, Columbia is number 5 and Penn is 20. But that is not the majority, and it seems pretty clear that for most fields, both are incredible.</p>
<p>ilovebagels… so, wait, if you went to Penn for undergrad, and you’re in Bangalore now… not that you’re not welcome here but what the heck are you doing on a Columbia board?</p>
<p>This thread is obviously related to Penn, and the OP started an identical thread on the Penn forum. But this one is far more lively.</p>
<p>Plenty of people cross boards all the time: slipper, for example.</p>
<p>yeah but i’ve seen him around the board a number of times before so he clearly reads the Columbia threads. And he’s not being a ■■■■■ about it, in fact i’ve laughed at some of his posts. So I’d like to know his story, out of curiosity.</p>
<p>Hey Muerteapablo, can you give a citation for those departmental rankings? I’m interested in reading more.</p>
<p>I get the sense that a lot of Columbia students love their school, but they’re not as rah-rah about it. I feel like that is coming across on these threads, where Columbia students (with a couple exceptions) heartily endorse their school, but with maybe less vehemence than other schools’ students. Do any Columbia students wanna agree or disagree about this?</p>
<p>If you need to use an online forum to convey your ‘rah-rah’ enthusiasm for your school, you’re a loser. Columbians are proud to be at Columbia (maybe just not on collegeconfidential). Get your head outta your ass, please.</p>
<p>Honestly, unless you plan on transferring to Wharton, just flip a coin. The two schools are very similar and you will be just as happy at either</p>