<p>hello~ im kinda new to this forum and i was wondering wuts the difference between SEAS and CC? is one harder to get into than the other? which would be better for a pre-med student?</p>
<p>Ah, it's good to see new RD members to breather some life into this board...but to answer your questions:</p>
<p>CC (Columbia College) - "Resembles" a liberal arts school where one have a choice of specialized education or a general dosage of everything. World-famous for its CORE curriculm.</p>
<p>SEAS (Fu Foundation School of Engineering & Applied Science) - Not your average one-dimensional engineering school, meaning that the school tries its best to give the engineering students the "dual-threat" of a modified CORE and an engineering education. Many potential SEAS students have the flexibility to go into pre-/law, business, and yes...pre-med.</p>
<p>"is one harder to get into than the other?"
I'm not gonna answer that for many reasons...however, others can.</p>
<p>I would have to say SEAS would be better for a pre-med.</p>
<p>anybody else feel free to add [or argue] things.</p>
<p>I'd say that CC is better for a pre-med because (not to insult liberal arts, I have great respect for it, which is why I'm coming to Columbia =p) liberal arts is easier and can get you a higher GPA compared to engineering. As we all know, medschool admissions is very very GPA-driven.
On the other hand, engineering gives you great background and truly pushes your analytical skills to great levels, which can help you a lot indirectly.</p>
<p>Just pick the school that you think you're more interested in. Do you want to major in the humanities, pure sciences etc. or applied science and engineering?</p>
<p>Considering that applicants to both schools have to pass through the same admissions officers, the same scrutiny, the same committee, I would say that difficulty of admissions is equal. You have to work just as hard for the past 4 years to get in either way--as a SEAS acceptee, I compared with CC acceptees and found that we all have pretty much equal stats and ECs.</p>
<p>I hope that answers your questions.</p>
<p>hey all! i've been reading this thread for about a week now, and i just found out a few days ago that i'll be joining you acceptees next fall :)</p>
<p>unfortunately, my boyfriend got a 'no' from cornell engineering's adcom. we're debating whether he should apply to seas or cc. cornell engineering's program is supposedly more reputable than columbia's, but columbia college is more competitive than cornell's arts and sciences. </p>
<p>stats:</p>
<p>white male, texas
sat i - 1460 [740 m, 720 v]
sat ii math iic - 660 [considering retaking in january]
sat ii physics - 720
sat ii writing - 790
ap english - 5
ap us history - 4
ib physics sl - 5
ib math sl - 6
rank - 25/520, gpa - about 4.5 weighted </p>
<p>full ib student, good recs, ecs like key club, nhs, biggest strength is piano, which he's been playing for about 10 years. </p>
<p>the problem is that in terms of scores, i think he's more balanced than the average engineering applicant, but not lopsided enough on the math/science side. he's also heavily focused on music. does that make a better engineering or arts and sciences applicant?</p>
<p>also! if you could offer any suggestions for other engineering schools [less competitive than columbia or cornell] that he should look into, that would be great.</p>
<p>ooo.. icic.. thanx for the replies</p>
<p>Lizix, a person can have AMAZING math/science scores but if that person doesn't show his/her love for engineering then it's not going to work out.</p>
<p>Now the opposite can be said for your bf. He might not have stellar engineering grades/scores, but if he have enough that his passion for engineering will drive him further and also...convince that to the colleges.</p>
<p>Hmm...for other schools, I would have to give him Stevens Institute of Technology...it's a very good school for engineering students and a lot less competitive than the ivys (it was my secret plan if I didn't get into SEAS.) But if he still wants the ivy affiliation, Brown engineering is also good.</p>
<p>with that said, welcome and please leave your sn on the Colubmia contact list!! good luck to your bf!</p>
<p>Good call on Stevens: very good school, and right across the river. A lot of both my kids friends go there. The co-op program is supposed to be great.</p>
<p>I don't think you can really show a 'passion for engineering' with most of the EC's available in high schools. I guess lab research/work can be noted down in the activities column. Mostly, they want kids who have achieved a lot in terms of EC's, not neccessarily math/science related. This is coming from a Columbia speaker dude.</p>
<p>I'm sure having a great math 2c and math sat 1 score isn't enough, but not everyone has worked at a lab or done something very significant in engineering already to get into Fu.</p>
<p>What do you guys think?</p>
<p>You should have some way of showing that you want to study engineering--be it from the teacher recs, your activities, your explanation of Why Engineering...</p>
<p>Sorry, going back to the original question, with the question about pre-med, I know that SEAS offer applied science and CC offers pure science..and so...</p>
<p>What's the difference between applied science and pure science? And which is better for pre-med?</p>
<p>"I'm sure having a great math 2c and math sat 1 score isn't enough, but not everyone has worked at a lab or done something very significant in engineering already to get into Fu.
What do you guys think?"</p>
<p>i absolutely agree with you, I didn't have many wonderful opportunities presented to me at my high school, all of them i had to get on my own. so i guess the adcom understood that.</p>
<p>"What's the difference between applied science and pure science? And which is better for pre-med?"</p>
<p>applied science is a pratical use for science, one example would be using science to make better products (i.e. consumer electronics?)
Pure science is sometimes abstract. Astro-physics would probably considered pure-science. Pure science for the purpose of science (if that made any sense).</p>
<p>Which is better? I don't know, maybe the question is which is more suitable for YOU.</p>
<p>But that's just my 2 cents, anybody else?</p>
<p>easily, applied pure science is much better for pre-med. my parents are both part of a huge practice and they urged me to major in pure/mat. science, but im not convinced. i'm EA harvard. my 2 cousins both go there and basically im in. my parents want me to go there but im starting to really like columbia and penn's engingeering programs.</p>
<p>"applied pure science"</p>
<p>???
lol I'm not familiar with that term, was that a typo?</p>
<p>"basically im in"..why does that hurt my body..sorry..hehe.:):(</p>
<p>Applied science is used to create and modify real products and such, while pure science includes theoretical and focuses more on just the science and the subject itself, not so much its application into the real world. Thats what I've come to believe, as applied science is included with engineering, whereas 'pure' science isn't.</p>
<p>does 'applied pure science' exist? hmmm. I'm not sure if it does.</p>
<p>applied pure science = oxymoron ;p</p>
<p>Pure science deals with theory and nature. Applied science is how to use pure science for application in the real world. IE a pure scientist knows how the atoms in the uranium decay ... the engineer knows how to make a nuclear reactor. Neither know how to draw blood from a patient ;p</p>
<p>For med school, it really doesn't matter which school you attend--you can take courses anywhere. CC students can take SEAS courses and vice versa.
There's nothing exclusive about them (nothing that, say, a SEAS student gets that a CC can't have) that will put you at any advantage/disadvantage when it comes to med school.</p>
<p>The only difference is in the curricula--as an engineering student, you are on a rigorous engineering curriculum that is highly structured. As a liberalarts(CC) student, your curriculum is far more open, leaving room for you to take the minimum requirements for medschool while taking humanities courses. </p>
<p>You could argue that engineering gives you a better background for medicine, complete with technical and analytic skills and the ability to think quickly--you could also argue that a liberal arts education better prepares you for the human aspect of interacting with people and treating the patient and communicating with others.</p>
<p>Whichever suits you better.</p>
<p>thanks alot guys!</p>
<p>obviously, it exists</p>
<p>Some people have told me that SEAS students get looked down on by the CC students. It seems as if CC is the real columbia, and SEAS is just a cash cow for increasing revenues. SEAS students get lower finaid, aren't allowed to switch into CC, and their stats aren't reported to USNews. I've heard that on-campus sentiment is pretty much that CC students are the real students. Now, don't shoot the messenger...ask on campus for yourself.</p>
<p>"aren't allowed to switch into CC"</p>
<p>VERY True [Almost Impossible to switch]</p>
<p>"their stats aren't reported to USNews"</p>
<p>sort of true, but not exactly. Since SEAS doesn't even make it to USNEWS as one of the ranked universities. The college being reported as number 4 (or is it 7) is Columbia College, not Columbia University.</p>
<p>"SEAS students get lower finaid"</p>
<p>False, I'm living proof. [the fin-aid office evaluates the students equally]</p>
<p>"I've heard that on-campus sentiment is pretty much that CC students are the real students." "Some people have told me that SEAS students get looked down on by the CC students. "</p>
<p>Yeah, I definitely heard of this, but I'm trying my best to see if this is true. So far, I asked a teacher, who was a CC '97, and he told me he and others didn't look down on them. But what I think is this: If a minute number of CC students are THAT snobbish, then who cares what they think? But I know that if a person is friendly and "chill" enough, I really don't care what college or university they are from, I'll befriend them.</p>
<p>"SEAS is just a cash cow for increasing revenues"
LOL, they DEFINITELY not getting any money from me, maybe donations when I'm filthy rich, hehehe.</p>