UChicago vs Columbia

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Chicago ✅
1

Got off the Columbia waiting list, and am weighing it against UChicago right now (where I am currently SIRed). I am planning on studying econ +cs at UChicago and Financial Engineering at Columbia. I plan on getting an MBA sometime down the road. Here is my pro/con list, please help me out with the decision:

UChicago

Pro:

  • 10k cheaper yearly
  • More flexibility in picking courses
  • UCIB-FM program + Dougan Scholars
  • I like the profs here better
  • Big upward trend in general

Cons:

  • I think NYC > Chicago
  • Weather is marginally worse
  • My parents’ friends think I am dumb when I tell them the college I am going to

Columbia

Pro:

  • Engineering education
  • Ivy League network
  • Location
  • More well known

Con:

  • 10k more expensive
  • Lots of negative comments on atmosphere recently
  • Seems less accommodating/flexible in general
2

You can’t go wrong with either school. It’s a beauty contest, pick one based on your preference.

3

Do you want to do engineering or business? Columbia is ostensibly better for recruiting on Wall Street, but ultimately both schools will get you where you want. If your heart is set on engineering though, then shouldn’t the choice be easy?

4

I would choose UChicago, a school that wants me in the first round.

5

@ramboacid I am interested in working in finance, but much more on the quantitative side where an engineering/math-intensive education is helpful- thats why I am looking at the FE program at Columbia. From my knowledge so far, the Columbia program is top-notch for this, but Chicago is the prop trading capital of the world.

6

If money matters and the 10k increase is a 40k increase in debt, follow the money.

If not, take a coin and make one side UChicago and one side Columbia. Flip it. If your first reaction is disappointment, you found out which one you really want to go to. If not, the coin has spoken.

Edit: Also by going to SEAS you’ll be giving up the core. Is this a pro or con?

7

" My parents’ friends think I am dumb when I tell them the college I am going to" LOL.Should not be a problem and probably will not be as more of their kids get rejected every year, LOL. However it is annoying

Where are you from? Does being closer to home matter

8

Hi puzzled123: Which school did you decide to attend?

9

UChicago- at the end of the day it came down to the 10k extra yearly and Chicago’s upward trend. Otherwise the schools seemed pretty similar in most other aspects, although I will be missing out on NYC and not completely horrible weather.

10

I think you made a solid decision.

Chicago is very strong in Math, so you’ll have no problem bolstering the Quant aspect of your Economics education. (And what an Econ program it is!)

When two schools are pretty even, as UChicago and Columbia are, fit and finances should be among the top deciding factors. It sounds like you weighed both and made your decision accordingly. Good luck!

11

Congratulations. I hear the student body at UChicago is friendlier and the facilities seem to be better there, especially the dorms.

12

Congrats. Also remember that cost of living in NYC is very high. Since you mentioned the extra $10k with going to Chicago, I assume cost is a factor in your decision.

13

It is surprising that Columbia wound’t match UChicago’s financial aid.

14

@hzhao2004 they roughly matched my FA, but they wouldn’t match the merit scholarship.

15

You made the right decision on every level. Both Chicago’s math department and economics department are superior to Columbia’s. The same goes for FE.

Forget the neighbors. You’ll never see them again, anyway.

16

Chicago’s economics is not superior, it is superior if you want to study and learn neoclassical economics (monetarist and fresh water economics type). Columbia’s economic department is a saltwater one and has its huge share of New Keynesian economist. Both are considered mainstream economics department and will be teaching those outdated basic intro neoclassical theories from the textbook for UG. So, there is really no difference since you will get the grounding in marginalism and general equilibrium models. The RBC, NK, and DSGE models is the core of mainstream economics which all focus on general equilibrium, you do not have to worry about this unless you go on to graduate school in economics. However, I would assume at the UG level, the department will at least have a bit of those preaching of Freshwater vs Saltwater ideologies.

Neoclassical vs Heterodox Economics and which program that gives you those perspectives.

1.Neoclassical (Mainstream Traditions)

Freshwater Schools (Monetarist, Rational Expectations, Supply Side Economics) - Chicago, Wisconsin - Madison, Minnesota, U Mich, Rochester

Saltwater Schools (Neo Keynesians and New Keynesians) - Columbia, Yale, Harvard, Berkeley, MIT, Stanford, NYU

  1. Heterodox Traditions

Left Heterodox (Post Keynesians, Marxian, Feminist Economics, Ecological Economics, Institutionalist) - U Mass Amherst, U Missouri - Kansas City, The New School, Colorado State University, University of Utah

Right Heteroodox (Austrian Economics/libertarianism type) - George Mason U, Florida State U, Auburn U, NYU (used to have some big name austrian economist there for their phd program faculty and teaches austrian economic at graduate and ug level)

  1. Some reading before you take nonsense advice from people about any university's economics department. Learn some of their history and what they are teaching.

http://noahpinionblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/what-i-learned-in-econ-grad-school.html
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/09/economics-debunked-chapter-two-for-sixth-graders.html
http://www.slideshare.net/UmkcEconomists/2014-introduction-to-heterodox-and-post-keynesian-economics

Most if not all PhD student or professors in economics use these two literature to compare program rankings. If you are a neoclassical you would use grijalva-nowells ranking if you are heterodox type you would use fred lee:

http://ricardo.ecn.wfu.edu/~cottrell/OPE/archive/0409/att-0052/01-Heterodox_GRADUATE_PROGRAMS.doc
https://openeconomicsnd.files.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/2009/06/grijalva-nowell.pdf

17

@puzzled123, Can you please give an update oh how you like u chicago so far. Thank you!

18

I am enjoying it very much, happy to PM for specifics.