<p>What are the pros and cons of applying to SEAS as an undergrad or applying to College if you intend on becoming an engineer or at least having that background as an undergrad? Does SEAS mean graduation in 4 years as opposed to 5yr BA for College in engineering? And is the 5 year inherently worse?</p>
<p>I have no idea what you're asking and what you're taking about regarding 5 years, but if you intend to become an engineer, why would you want to be in CC where you can't major in engineering?</p>
<p>Well when I researched and also checked off the box for "intended majors" on the application, one of them was a 5 year Bachelor's plan for engineering.</p>
<p>here is a link
Columbia</a> University Office of Undergraduate Admissions - General Information</p>
<p>I am referring to the 3-2 combined program with a liberal art affiliate school (one of which is of course Columbia College). I would study 3 years to get my BA and then 2 years to get my BS. Columbia 2002 i know you are alum, please let me know if my interpretation of this program is accurate.</p>
<p>then that might give a better understanding of my question. correct me if i'm wrong b/c this is an important decision.</p>
<p>Ok, I get it. My personal take is that the combined BA/BS programs are a waste... college and attending Columbia are great and all that, but 5 years is overkill. Not to mention a waste of money. Get one degree in 4 years and move on with your life. Go get a grad degree. Go work and make money. Go join the peace corps and save the world.</p>
<p>I think I just want to make myself a more complete engineer. I suppose this also gives me more options. While I'm taking prereq engineering, I can see if I really like engineering, if not, I have an out.But of course, Columbia is one of the best liberal arts schools in the world so leaving with a BA is really not a bad deal if I can take advantage and get into a good law school (which is also a serious option for me).</p>
<p>Does anyone know how competitive it is to get into the engineering school at the end of Jr. Year? The site says to just mainatain a 3.0 GPA and get teacher recommendations...it doesn't seem like another high octane admissions process besides doing well in class.</p>
<p>I'd like to see if anybody else can also throw an opinion out for this 3/2 program..these people make up 10% of the engineering class and if there are any young professionals out there, is a BA + BS useful?</p>
<p>You can easily go into law or any other non engineering trade with a BS from SEAS and without the BA from CC. Yes, Columbia has great liberal arts, but Columbia's engineering program requires you to take a lot more liberal arts than most other schools' engineering program. You'll take at least half the CC core... you can take econ classes from Nobel Laureates... you can do a minor in a number of liberal arts subjects... Getting a certificate that says you have a BA in Art History isn't really going to make you a more complete engineer, in my opinion. The question is whether you want to major in engineering. </p>
<p>Yes, I think getting into the joint program is pretty easy. Columbia will take your money, and there isn't anything (e.g., space) that keeps them accepting everyone qualified. You just have to be interested and show that you're capable of handling the math and science. I don't know anyone who has tried to get in and failed. I mean, someone who sucks at math isn't going to be applying for a joint engineering program.</p>
<p>"You'll take at least half the CC core... you can take econ classes from Nobel Laureates... you can do a minor in a number of liberal arts subjects... Getting a certificate that says you have a BA in Art History isn't really going to make you a more complete engineer, in my opinion. The question is whether you want to major in engineering."</p>
<p>well said. second everything said in the post above.</p>
<p>An adcom told me that I needed a 750 in Math to get to engineering and I only have a 720..how disappointing.</p>
<p>I think I've been pushing too hard to make myself an engineer based on what people tell me. My strengths are honestly in the humanities and I think I am likely to go to grad school to capitalize on it. I just want to leave some options for myself. I really feel no doubt that after three years of Columbia and core curriculum mathematics/science I will be much more improved in those fields and could take on the challenge of engineering. The more options the better maybe.</p>
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An adcom told me that I needed a 750 in Math to get to engineering and I only have a 720..how disappointing.
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<p>completely untrue.... which "adcom" was this? where did u meet this "adcom"?</p>
<p>true admissions officer at an information session with multiple college tour. prefer not to throw out the name of course.</p>
<p>i wish Columbia would let you apply to both schools at the same time. Or at least give you a chance to get into one or the other. That seems to make more sense in some respects.</p>
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true admissions officer at an information session with multiple college tour. prefer not to throw out the name of course.
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<p>i'm still confused...was this a columbia admissions officer? The multiple college tour statement is throwing me off. Either way though there are many people who got in to SEAS with < 750 in math....including myself. </p>
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i wish Columbia would let you apply to both schools at the same time. Or at least give you a chance to get into one or the other. That seems to make more sense in some respects.
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<p>well they want students to actually be committed to engineering if they are going to apply there rather than trying their luck at both schools. besides, its the same admissions committee that decides on admission to CC and SEAS so if they don't like you for one school chances are they wont like you for the other either.</p>
<p>Yes this was an official admissions officer from Columbia U. They are touring with Rice, UChicago, Cornell, and Brown right now and they stopped by my city recently. Al the other schools had directors/assistant directors of admisions as the rep but columbia brought an admission officer. He is pretty new, he joined the team last year or maybe this year.</p>
<p>"He is pretty new, he joined the team last year or maybe this year."</p>
<p>this explains it, silly man. there's no cut off, I think I know a few people with 700-750 math scores. If you're applying with less than 650 to seas, then we're in serious trouble. If you think you can survive in seas a 750 on SAT 1 math should be easily do-able. If you're careless and can't make 750, at least make it up with an 800 in math II</p>
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this explains it, silly man.
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If you think you can survive in seas a 750 on SAT 1 math should be easily do-able. If you're careless and can't make 750, at least make it up with an 800 in math II
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<p>its great how you make fun of the admissions officer for saying something dumb and then you go ahead and say something similar. There are no such rules and 750 is a completely arbitrary number.</p>
<p>^shraf, I never said anything to do with a cutoff, but I could probably count the number of people who get into seas with 650- on math on one hand (if any). why would someone apply for engineering if they aren't great at math? I'm not saying it's a cut off, but chances are close to zero if you are applying without a strong math/sci background. </p>
<p>if you think you can handle the rigors of college math at an engineering schools, the 8th-9th grade math on the SAT 1 should be a no-brainer, careless mistakes should not bring you down below 700.</p>
<p>You guys are arguing over nothing. You both agree that there's no cutoff. You both agree that 750 M isn't any sort of cutoff. You both agree that someone who gets close to 750 M but doesn't quite get there isn't eliminated from serious consideration because they didn't hit the magic number of 750. You both agree that a 650 M is very unlikely to get in, even though there's no such thing as a cutoff. I'm not sure what the disagreement is........</p>
<p>despite this talk about SEAS, I think i am more than likely to apply to the College now. I'm still trying to get another opinion on how people feel about the 3/2 program. I have heard from you guy that it might be a waste of time, that if engineering is the goal than I should focus only on engineering.</p>
<p>To be honest, I might be a stronger humanities student than a math student (although my science is pretty good). I just get nervous at learning material that isn't practical to the max so I kind of want to take a little bit of both. I think I would feel more confident about math after my studies 3 yrs in Columbia. I'd rather not screw myself at SEAS if i'm not ready.</p>
<p>i tend to agree with C02 that the 3-2 program is generally a waste of time. but i want to note that doing engineering in no way limits you in your career... SEAS graduates have gone on to do a very very wide range of things but if you are a humanities major there is a huge segment of careers that is completely off limits. In SEAS you get a decent amount of humanities courses built in and you also have the option of minoring in a humanities (philosophy seemed like a pretty popular one with BMEs). Though if you have doubts about whether you can cut it in SEAS then that should make the decisions that much easier.</p>
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SEAS graduates have gone on to do a very very wide range of things but if you are a humanities major there is a huge segment of careers that is completely off limits.
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<p>This statement is completely true. However, it's misleading because it could be read to suggest that attending CC would put a huge segment of careers off limits. If you major in something technical in CC (math, programming, physics, chem), you have a lot of options that SEAS kids have except for being a pure engineer.</p>