<p>I am a junior in high school. I am being recruited to play baseball at Brown and Columbia. Anyone out there play varsity sports at either school? How about a little advice.
Thanks.</p>
<p>I think the Columbia team tends to be better, but what you should really think about in this case, honestly, isn’t the sport. It’s the academics. Brown and Columbia are sort of polar opposites within the Ivy League. Want the structure and liberal arts that the Core provides? Go with Columbia. Want more academic freedom - designing your own major, pass/failing college, etc.? Go with Brown.</p>
<p>I really don’t care who is better in baseball. It is the whole college experience from a varsity player’s point of view I am interested in. I know about the core vs. open. Stuff like that I can read about on line. I’d like practical advice. For example, I heard you have to take a 20 to 30 minute bus ride every day to the fields at Columbia. Does that become a real pain after a while? Stuff like that. Real advice from players past and present, or people who know them. Thanks.</p>
<p>I’d go to Brown’s and Columbia’s baseball roster and add some of your potential teammates on facebook so you can get multiple perspectives from both schools.</p>
<p>If you are into a little history - Columbia at one time had a pretty good baseball player who later went on to have quite a successful career in the major leagues. Perhaps you have heard of him. His name was Lou Gehrig. By the way, both he and his mother worked for a local fraternity while he was at Columbia - she as a cook, and he as a waiter. Needless to say that didn’t work out for very long. Much to his mother’s chagrin, he never graduated from Columbia.</p>
<p>baseball… ? </p>
<p>Columbia of course. Brown’s athletics programs are at the bottom of Ivy League.</p>
<p>george, sorry you aren’t getting more help regarding day-to-day life as an athlete at Columbia. All I can add is that my younger son, an athlete for a relatively intense club team at Columbia, enjoys the comradery entailed by the ride up to Baker Field and back for practices and games. His club team travels to exotic locales, and some of his best friends are on the team. He loves his experience as a club athlete. I suspect the baseball experience is even more so.</p>
<p>I might add that one of my son’s friends, a swimmer, chose to attend Columbia this fall even though the coach did not offer him a likely letter (although Brown did). He likes the team at Columbia. Getting to know your potential future teammates at Columbia and Brown will help.</p>
<p>thanks a lot for that post. i think my official visits will really help me choose. i may just click with one set of players over another. thanks to everyone for the advice.</p>