Should I transfer?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Columbia University
1

<p>Hello,</p>

<p>I'm currently a sophomore at NYU (cas) and am debating on transferring to Columbia.</p>

<p>Granted, successfully being admitted is tough to say the least, but I'd like to put that variable aside for now.</p>

<p>If granted admission, should I transfer? Is it worth it?</p>

<p>If I stay at NYU, I can take summer courses and graduate early. I feel very comfortable academically here, and miss home (Los angeles) terribly. </p>

<p>As I contemplate transferring, I'm wondering if staying in college longer, and possibly sacrificing my GPA (classes will be tougher there) will really help me in the long run. Will a degree from Columbia open doors that NYU cannot? Will it make going to business school (very down the road) easier? </p>

<p>I'd say that besides graduating early, the most important concern I have is my internship, which started a month ago. I took an offer from an early stage private equity firm, working directly with the managing partner. I feel that this extra curricular is tough but manageable with my school schedule. The location of the internship though would make it impossible to continue if I transfer to Columbia. Because I'm moving back to LA after graduation, having someone make phone calls for me/work experience is vital to getting hired.</p>

<p>I feel as though I'm lured by Columbia almost entirely because of its prestige, and the social opportunities at Columbia (NYU has zero sense of community). My cousin went to Princeton and has friends that went to Columbia. He stated that opportunity wise NYU and Columbia are essentially identical (especially since I'm planning on moving back to LA). He said the only real difference or advantage would be Columbias small undergraduate college, and the ease with which one can make life long friends. NYU is a cold, dark, and (for me) lonely place.</p>

<p>I apologize for my rambling, but this is a pretty tough and important decision for me. I'd love to hear the thoughts of those who attend or attended Columbia, or simply feel they have some insight. </p>

<p>Thanks for your help!</p>

2

<p>lol uh well i haven’t attended columbia yet but have you read the article by the northwestern professor that was a pretty uproar thread on this forum awhile back? said top business firms gladly takes harvard, princeton, yale, wharton, and stanford graduates, hesitates a bit on Columbia, and basically says no to everyone else…I feel the article is a bit too extreme but it may have a bit of truth to it, lol. Although away from the north, on the west coast, im not sure how they will weigh nyu v. columbia. But in NY at least, i would say Columbia on your alma meter place looks a lot better. Even tho u’ll be moving to LA, NY is still a vital place of businesses, and you might end up having some contact with ny. Also, since ur not even at stern in NYU, I would say definitely go for Columbia if u really want to do business…</p>

<p>And I think the biggest thing right now for you should be getting in lol, if you think there is any possibility you might want to transfer. Then worry about whether or not to transfer. If you spent too long worry about this, then finally decide you do really want to go to Columbia, it be pretty bad for youre morale if you get rejected lol. Good luck man!</p>

3

<p>I completely understand your response regarding getting in, and was expecting that.</p>

<p>I’m not going to be crushed (the least bit) if I don’t get in, which was my mentality applying to colleges in the first place. I’m simply wondering if I want to go, and would rather decide that sooner than later (as to avoid all the time required to apply). </p>

<p>I’d love anyones input!</p>

4

<p>There doesn’t seem to be anything you stand to lose in transferring, much less applying. I’d say go for it.</p>

5

<p>Second. Columbia is way better than NYU in just about everything.</p>

6

<p>a) is money an issue? are you on aid? you should know that columbia does not (though usually always does) guarantee funding for transfer students.
b) unless you want to be in filmmaking side of things (and looks like you’re not in tisch anyhow) columbia has a better network out in LA, let’s think practical there.
c) you will have to do columbia’s core from beginning to end…which means
d) your chance of admission depends on how well defined your major interest is right now, if you are not sure yet, columbia might not take the chance on you; and…
e) your experience might not be that which you are anticipating, taking general requirements and not fully being able to involve yourself in your major or explore various things academically. so have clear academic expectations.</p>

<p>f) this means the onus is on you to compartmentalize things in some ways - realize that your goal is to finish classes to get a degree, and perhaps not as much of the life of the mind kind of sense you might want. and then use your outside time to become involved, to find internships, and use your one summer very wisely taking advantage of various opportunities columbia has including the CU IN (la) programhttp://careereducation.columbia.edu/findajob/cce-internship/cuin. because the latter will help you get that headstart leaving columbia and use columbia to do what you might not feel you can do at NYU.</p>

<hr>

<p>in the end i’d say apply, but you should think about a lot of things if you are admitted. don’t go just because it is columbia.</p>

7

<p>Honestly, I don’t think it makes any sense to transfer. Yes, Columbia has prestige, which can sometimes lead to connections, but you know what else leads to connections? Working with the managing partner of a private equity firm! As a transfer student at Columbia, you won’t find there’s that much of a greater community here than what exists at NYU. That’s not to say there’s no community here; there is. But there’s also community at NYU. If you’re unhappy, then you need to try to meet new people, join new clubs, and somewhat reinvent yourself. You’ll have to do the exact same thing if you transfer to Columbia, only without any links to your social group at NYU. Columbia certainly has advantages over NYU, which especially matter to high school seniors considering where to apply. For a college sophomore who’s comfortable at NYU, though, I’m not sure Columbia’s possibility of greater “prestige” and maybe “community” are worth walking away from some very good networking opportunities.</p>

8

<p>said top business firms gladly takes harvard, princeton, yale, wharton, and stanford graduates, hesitates a bit on Columbia, and basically says no to everyone else…</p>

<p>This isn’t even close to true, seeing as top business firms recruit at many universities other than these places.</p>

<p>Business school admissions are going to be predicated almost entirely upon your GMAT scores and work experience. The top business schools rarely admit people straight from undergrad; they want to see several years (usually 2-5) of progressively responsible work experience. Having a degree from NYU will serve you well in getting the kinds of work experience you want regardless of whether you stay in New York or move on to LA, and your undergrad college won’t have a very large impact on your business school admissions.</p>

<p>But yes, ask yourself - other than the social opportunities and the prestige, why do you want to go to Columbia? I don’t think it makes any sense to transfer honestly; there are other ways to get social opportunities at NYU and what makes you think social life will be easier here? You’d still have to meet people, with the notable addition that you will be trying to break into peer groups that formed 2 years before you ever arrived.</p>

9

<p>Firstly, thank you all so much for your input.</p>

<p>You all have given me so many different angles to approach this with, and I’m almost certain I’m staying at NYU now. </p>

<p>Juillet, your completely accurate in your statement in regards to recruiting. Yes, prestige helps, but doesn’t solidify anything. A great example is my cousin. He received his undergrad at Princeton and graduated nearly at the top of his class. His dream was to work at Blackstone, but found its nearly impossible to do so straight out of undergrad - so he was fortunate enough to receive an offer from JP Morgan as an analyst. Now, after two years of 100 hour work weeks and crazy networking, he’s received an offer from Blackstone.</p>

<p>My best friends roommate at UCSD (undergrad) just signed an offer from Blackstone working the same job, in the same group as my cousin.</p>

<p>I realized I’m really interested in transferring simply because I’m insecure about my undergraduate education. I have “those” kind of grandparents that look in awe of those whom attend Ivy League schools, and feel the only way to make them proud is to attend one myself. Working in an environment surrounded by people with educational backgrounds from Ivy Leagues and the like has made me feel somewhat like a black swan as well, aside from the fact that so far as I understand I’ve been doing very well at work (I ask my MP every Friday). I guess being around people like this has made me less proud of responding with “NYU” when asked where I’m attending college.</p>

<p>Granted, I’d love to go to a college with a much smaller undergraduate class and more of a “community”, but I’m so set on moving back to California as quickly as I can that these social reasons, personally, don’t warrant such a big move. I’d love to meet life long friends and experience more of a “college” life, but that’s not what is making me consider moving in this instance. </p>

<p>I suppose working in a competitive, results driven environment surrounded by people with extremely impressive educational backgrounds has made me narrow minded, insecure, and judgmental. </p>

<p>“Don’t go just because it is Columbia.” — Such a great point</p>

<p>I think this whole process has actually been a great learning experience, especially recognizing that I’m still quite immature and insecure. If I transferred to Columbia, would I then become unhappy and want to go to Harvard? Will I always be insecure, and is Columbia simply a short term answer to a long term problem? I definitely need to do some soul searching.</p>

<p>Thank you all for your input. I’m completely open to anyone else’s input on the subject. Thanks again!</p>

10

<p>You really don’t have a strong enough reason to start the transfer process. Weighing your current experience at NYU (especially including that internship) against a possible experience at Columbia seems to be a wash; neither is clearly the better decision. So it would be a tough choice if you actually had a choice between both. But you don’t; you have the option of either sticking with your current, great situation, or trying to transfer to a school that accepts far less than 10% of transfer applicants. Without a truly compelling reason, you won’t even be admitted to Columbia as a transfer, so there’s no reason to agonize over this decision. Unless you’re miserable at NYU and Columbia has specific programs that you’d appreciate, there’s no reason to even consider transferring.</p>