<p>Thank you all very much for your helpful comments! I was very delighted to find that this thread has reached its 2nd page. :)</p>
<p>scalbardlutefisk, I completely agree with you that the academic strengths of specific departments should not be a main factor while choosing a college as an undergraduate. All these schools have nearly identical academic excellence, and the small differences between rakings or prestige are of very little significance. However, I am very glad to learn more of specific academic strenths through your and Lord Asquith's comments. :)</p>
<p>I would like to understand more about the specifics of "social scenes", "student life", "qualitiy of dorms", and "quality of food." I am going to college to get an excellent education and work hard to learn more about life and the world, but somehow these small things are quite important to me. ;)</p>
<p>Stanford, Princeton, Harvard and Columbia are all amazing schools, and I would be excited and honored to attend any one of them. I would just like to understand them more, so I can find out which one is the best fit. Thank you all for helping me with that!</p>
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[quote]
On the other hand, you have absolutely no evidence to back up your claims, except assertions. I admit that it's hard to know exactly how strong various programs are relative to each other, but to simply assert that Princeton is "much stronger" in the humanities and social sciences is a groundless and patently untrue statement.
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Very well, I stand corrected. I don't think there's data to support assertions in either direction, really. But I would still say that Princeton physics and math are top-notch, due to the professors we have and our history. :)</p>
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[quote]
Very well, I stand corrected. I don't think there's data to support assertions in either direction, really. But I would still say that Princeton physics and math are top-notch, due to the professors we have and our history.
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I never meant to suggest otherwise. Princeton is an excellent school with strong programs in a wide variety of areas. The same is true for all of the other schools the OP is considering, including Stanford.</p>
<p>Columbia University Faculty have won many Nobel prizes in the last 10 years, e. g. Horst Stormer (Physics) Richard Axel (Medicine), Edmund Phelps (Economics), Joseph Stiglitz (economics-although he just came to Columbia), Orhan Pamuk (literature-new Faculty addition in SIPA), Eric Kandel (Medicine), William Vickrey (Economics-awarded 1996 now deceased), RObert Merton (SEAS grade-Economics 1997/I know this is not fair, but it's a recent one), RObert Mundell (Economics-1999), Richard Hamilton (foundation for Poincare Proof-over 40, but would have received Fields Medal otherwise with Pearlman), wow....Columbia University is def slipping...lol. What is wrong with playing of the fact that Columbia is located in NYC (the greatest city by an objective measure in the US and maybe, just maybe the world)? Part of the college experience is gaining real-world (read internship) knowledge while in college to apply to various fields. While it is true any IVY will allow one to be competitive for a Wall-Street position, most other industries require work experience prior to the entry level job, e.g. Journalism, TV, Marketing, Fashion, etc. Perhaps all students want to go to Wall Street? Also, the Columbia area has improved (due to gentrification) by leaps and bounds. The endowment investment returns have finally started growing competitive to Columbia's peer schools, e.g. 18% last year. Renovations to labs and facilities throughout campus etc...</p>
<p>Stanford's Taiwanese Cultural Society is one of the most active clubs on campus. They're hosting this year's West Coast ITASA Conference, in fact.</p>
<p>Thank you all so much for your most helpful advice. Your comments have helped me enormously in making my decision!!</p>
<p>I confirmed my decision for Stanford last night. Turning down the other schools will be very painful, but I hope I will be happy enough at Stanford to not regret my choice. :) I am certain that each school will give me a great education and allow me to meet many amazing people, some of which have given me excellent advice on this board. In the end I could only choose one school, and I chose the school I think will fit me best.</p>
<p>Thank you again for all your help! This has been a very exciting and challenging process from start to end, and it would have been much more difficult had it not been for your help. :)</p>
<p>Congratulations, ROC. College will very likely end up being the best 4 years of your life, no matter where you go (particularly among the impressive options that you had!). But FWIW, I personally think you made the right choice. :)</p>