<p>I visited Columbia, (didn't get accepted though) and I loved it. However, I have heard from people who attend Columbia that you can get "lost in the sauce" so to speak; it's very easy for you to forget that there are things you can do on campus. However, Brown is in Providence, and though Providence is considerably smaller then NYC, it is still a major city with many things to do outside of school that can ALSO distract you.</p>
<p>When I visited Columbia, they were a friendly inviting bunch. I got invitations to several rallies including one that would have speeches by "two former members of the neo-nazis and a former holocaust survivor." I stated this to show that, yes, Columbia is VERY politically active. And as I mentioned before, though NYC is large and filled with many things that can lure you from campus and distract you, it is also a place of limitless opportunities and experience. I am telling you this because I have lived in NYC ALL MY LIFE. I am not saying that Brown and Providence don't have any to offer. I am simply saying that Columbia and NYC have MORE to offer.</p>
<p>Additionally, COLUMBIA is more well-known nationally and especially internationally!!</p>
<p>I don't want to seem as if I am a BROWN HATER. I LOVEEEEEE BROWN. After all I did apply and get waitlisted. I love that there is no core-curriculum. I love that Providence is still a major city. Brown is a great school, but I think that for the music (i mean Columbia does have Julliard) and the Research Opportunities that you are seekings (Columbiaand NYC have more as a collective whole), that Columbia would be the best place for you.</p>
<p>Ultimately, I would say visit both campuses. Who knows, Columbia and NYC might be too big and you will choose to attend Brown, or vice versa.</p>
<p>As was said before, either way, you will be attending an ivy-league school!! I wish you the best in luck in making your college decision!</p>
<p>Some possible additional points to consider:</p>
<ul>
<li>Columbia has world-class graduate and professional schools as well as its undergraduate program. Brown does not have a business school, law school, or medical school of comparable quality. This doesn't mean the world, but it does make a difference in terms of research opportunities, possible class options, resources to consult, etc.</li>
<li>Columbia is an extremely dense campus, with nothing being more than 5 minutes away from anything else. This means more people everywhere and maybe a little less privacy, but it also means less time spent getting to places.</li>
<li>Stuff is open all night in new york, even in the columbia neighborhood. If at 3AM you decide that, darnit, you want some pizza or some lemonade, there are like half a dozen places you can go to within a 10 block radius. It may sound silly, but you'll be appreciative when you've been reading for class all night and want a break, or get back from a night out and have the munchies.</li>
<li>Brown has more space on which to build, so anecdotally I believe their dorm rooms have more space. However, I think Columbia has more singles in its system, and even freshman can actually get singles if they want them.</li>
<li>Columbia has the reputation for a very politically active campus, but I don't think it entirely deserves that reputation - there are a few people who care very strongly and protest very visibly, but the vast majority is pretty apathetic. Conversely, the students at Brown have more of a reputation for a hippie-ish culture, and may not get as much press but definitely have a different student culture. Ask more questions about the student atmosphere and culture if this is important to you. It was a major factor to me; you couldn't have paid me enough to attend Yale once I got into Columbia, for instance.</li>
</ul>
<p>Overall, the biggest difference between a Brown or Columbia and a 2nd-tier school is the intense passion of the students and the infectious way that motivates everyone on campus to pursue a high-octane, high-achieving lifestyle while at college. Everyone is doing something all the time, everybody has a good reason to be there (a way they stood out to the admissions committee), and so everyone has some sort of activity or passion or skill that makes them an interesting person to talk to. This is true of both schools, but in different ways. As you talk to students at both schools, try to get a sense of the sorts of things that Columbia students or Brown students value most highly about themselves or each other, and that will be fairly revealing. As with the culture, I'm not going to tell you one's better than another, but they will "fit" different types of people.</p>
<p>Hope that helps,
D</p>
<p>Providence is a major city? I've been there a couple of times and there's nothing much there, just a big mall.</p>
<p>Most people would consider it to be major, yes. I am from New York, so to me, it's not really major. I just said that because most other think it is!</p>
<p>wow thanks you guys for all ur help. really, im so happy that u guys are taking the time to help me out! truazn, ur such a great help haha. yea there are definitely a lot to think about. i will actually attend columbia's open house and see how it is. i wish i could visit brown too, but im not sure if i can find the time to travel to rhode island...... my parents also want me to go to columbia and based on my research on both schools, i do find columbia to be more attractive. since i don't really know for sure what i want to do yet, i find the Core Curriculum attractive because it will allow me to experience a variety of different fields! the "free" music lessons really appeal to me too, and so do the opportunities for research. the fact about me having to find the opportunities myself because they aren't "handed to me" is very interesting and helpful! but i'm a person who really wants to take any opportunity he can find, so i'm not worried. but you're right, both schools are great schools and i'd probably be happy no matter which one i go to. thanks again guys for helping me out!</p>
<p>Providence a major city? Perhaps a major satellite of Boston...</p>
<p>In all seriousness, it has some interesting neighborhoods and is certainly superior to New Haven. I imagine I'd get sick of the mall, Thayer Street, and Federal Hill after about a month, though.</p>
<p>there are enough good bars in providence that you will find a few that fit you and won't get bored. bunch of movie theaters, malls, pool halls, businesses, even some museums and a good ballpark up in pawtucket... boston's a great place to go for a night (i'm from the boston area), etc. providence isn't new york, but it's better than (say) new haven or palo alto or pasadena, and certainly princeton and ithaca. (i'd say hanover NH too except i can understand those who love being immersed in nature).</p>
<p>Brown's biggest disadvantage isn't its location. I would say it's probably its narrow focus on a few limited things for undergrads, as opposed to being a true university. There are those who like that, since it implies that a Brown or Princeton would care more about its undergrads and take better care of them than an institution like (say) Harvard, but I think it limits the quality and quantity of the research opportunities.</p>
<p>Brown will give you a great college campus experience with access to fairly attractive small city Providence and a bigger cultural center in Boston--but it will be essentially a suburban experience with mostly suburban type fellow students.</p>
<p>Columbia will give you a less cohesive campus life , probably a more competitive academic atmosphere and the chance to have
a wide ranging big time urban experience at what can feel like the center of the universe!</p>
<p>I'm sorry, but the range of activities in even Boston is pathetically lame compared to New York. I mean, the bars close at 2 and the subway shuts down hours before that. And it's not one-fourth as cosmopolitan. There are like, what, one or two Ethiopian restaurants in Massachusetts...there are more than that around Morningside Heights alone.</p>
<p>As for Providence, some people are satisfied with two bars, a mall, and a movie theater...but I'm sure most students can find the same in their home towns. Like any number of places, it offers an adequate and hardly exciting or stimulating environment. It's not the place to go looking for "city life," really.</p>
<p>Columbia also has more international recognition...my relatives who live in the desolate country scape of China even know of it and have high regards for it. ("Ni shang Ge Leng Bi Ya da xue a?!...You go to Columbia University?!) I met a ton of people in China and they all expressed the same reverence for Columbia, but when I mentioned Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, and UPenn I just received some blank stares. So my relatives in rural China would agree to Columbia over Brown.</p>
<p>What about Jia Zhou Li Gong Da Xue? Have they heard of that? Haha, that's funny - picking a school because your Chinese relatives know about it. That's what I'm doing.</p>
<p>Caltech isnt really known in china guys.</p>
<p>its pretty much</p>
<p>"ha-fu"
"ye-lu"
"ge lun bi ya"
"pe lin si tun" (did i even spell that right?...) -- less well known cuz no grad programs and less nobels
"bro-ke-ly"
"mah-shen-li-gong-xue-yuan"-yea this one gets a lot of Oohs and aahs
"stan-fu"</p>
<p>I'd say that covers the big ones. By the way, picking a college based on what ur chinese relatives know probably isnt the greatest idea in the world.</p>
<p>No, becos they'd send you to MIT, Berkeley, Harvard or maybe even CalTech, ^^... Also isn't it stan fu te? I'm not sure though...</p>
<p>What are "Jia Zhou Li Gong Da Xue" and "mah-shen-li-gong-xue-yuan???"</p>
<p>Mah shen is MIT, I dunno why they call it this way though. And you wanna be a proper Chinese, :D? Come on, you gotta at least know MIT, Berkely and Harvard to fullfill the stereotype, ^^.</p>
<p>^ LMFAO you guys crack me up. When I told my Chinese relatives I'm deciding between Columbia and UPenn they were like "OOOO AAAAA Ge Lun Bi Ya... very nice very nice. What's the other one? U... what?"</p>
<p>Yea, what is it in Chinese? Peng si wei ni ya?? I have no clue</p>
<p>Well I'm not Chinese and I don't want to fulfill any stereotype. That being said my question is still unanswered lol.</p>
<p>Jia Zhou Li Gong Da Xue = Caltech
mah-shen-li-gong-xue-yuan = MIT</p>
<p>Massachusetts Institute of Technology.</p>