<p>Hi!
I have the good fortune of being able to choose to transfer to some excellent schools. My choice right now is between UCLA, where I'm being offered 20k in gift aid, or Columbia School of General Studies, where it's unlikely I'll get any significant amount of aid from what I've heard. To give some more background, I'm currently living in LA and attending a community college here. I have great friends in LA, so that's another bonus to me staying, but I feel like Columbia would be a better choice because I'm an Art History major and Columbia's program is excellent. I also feel like learning about the art world in NYC would be a big bonus, and I'm hopeful that a Columbia degree would help me get into grad schools. On the other hand, the fact that UCLA would be paying me to go there essentially is a real benefit, and it's still an amazing school. Does anyone have thoughts on which school would be a smarter choice for me? I was feeling really enthusiastic about Columbia until I saw the gift awards from UCLA and now I'm totally torn.
Thanks!
Olivia</p>
<p>My advice is wait until Columbia makes a financial aid offer before you make any decisions.</p>
<p>Also, i imagine that UCLA and Columbia would provide the same (or similar) opportunities for grad. schools.</p>
<p>How would you pay for Columbia without aid? Would you be borrowing? How much? Who will be co-signing the loans?</p>
<p>No school is worth large debt, no matter what the major is.</p>
<p>And, as an Art History major, you shouldn’t be borrowing much since art-related careers are notoriously lowish paid.</p>
<p>I also feel like learning about the art world in NYC would be a big bonus, and I’m hopeful that a Columbia degree would help me get into grad schools</p>
<p>The “art world” exists in LA as well. And a Columbia degree won’t help you get into grad school more than a UCLA degree would. Not at all.</p>
<p>olivia724-uc berkeley decisions come out the 27th of this month. Did you apply there?</p>
<p>Columbia traditionally holds a bit more heft in the art world, especially in NYC, than UCLA. Even the Getty draws heavily on Columbia, Harvard, NYU, etc. for its curators. Museum curating is still far too much of an old boy’s network, and certain schools - such as NYU - have a long history of catering to wealthy and powerful patrons, which in turns provides them with funding and connections. That is something that need not concern you, however, since you’re not a PhD student. As M2CK pointed out, both Columbia and UCLA do well in graduate school preparation. </p>
<p>Art history at UCLA is quite strong, and one can’t do much better at the undergraduate level. As you know, there are many excellent museums in the area, including both Getty museums, LACMA, UCLA’s own Hammer Museum, Norton Simon, MOCA, MOLAA, etc. LA’s ridiculous number of art galleries should also be familiar to you. </p>
<p>If you are at all interested in art conservation, which I encourage art history students to consider, UCLA is much the better option.</p>
<p>^ Excellent post.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your thoughts. Warbersrule, you made some excellent points – the fact that Columbia is better respected for museum/curatorial work is indeed one of the big reasons I’ve been considering it heavily. I do also think I may fit in better at Columbia and I would love an excuse to move to NY and study at such an amazing school. That said, I know that I will need a PhD to do much in Art History, so as much as I want to move to NYC right now, I guess it’s more pragmatic not to spend money I don’t have on an undergrad degree. </p>
<p>Pinoiako – I did get into UC Berkeley, and was also given about 19k there. I know they have a stronger AH program - one that is sometimes even ranked above Columbia. However, my reservation for moving is that I grew up in Berkeley, and my family life there was extremely tumultuous. I’m not sure that moving back to my hometown would be entirely healthy, but it’s possible I will tough it out for two years if it would set me up for a better grad program</p>
<p>Oh, and to update, Columbia is offering me 17k in the first year there, and it’s supposed to increase in the second year. That would still mean hefty loans though, given the tuition and cost of living in NYC.</p>
<p>Unless you’re okay with taking out heavy loans, i say just stay in LA and go to UCLA.</p>
<p>The undergraduate academic environment and mentoring that Columbia provides is far superior to that of UCLA’s. I would choose Columbia in a heartbeat; its a once in a lifetime opportunity.</p>
<p>Just be aware that GS targets non-traditional students and has a average age of 29 (according to other posts on cc). Thus, I think it would be a significantly different undergrad experience than Columbia College. (Dunno for sure, but worth inquiring about.) For example, the Columbia janitor who recently received a Columbia University degree took 12 years, because he was working full time. (Big Congrats to him!)</p>
<p>You should also inquire whether the AH courses that you want to take at Columbia College would be open to you in GS.</p>
<p>If not, Go Bears!</p>
<p>Don’t look at costs in terms of the amount of aid – look at the net cost after subtracting aid at each school.</p>
<p>Would it be correct to guess that the net cost per year at each school is:</p>
<p>UCLA with $20,000 aid: $9,000 off-campus, $12,000 residence hall
Berkeley with $19,000 aid: $9,000 off-campus, $13,600 residence hall
Columbia with $17,000 aid: $30,000 plus whatever room, board, personal, and transportation costs in NYC are (it seems oddly difficult to find an estimate of that on Columbia’s General Studies web site)</p>
<p>?</p>
<p>Would all of these costs be borrowed? If so, Columbia would likely burden you with a heavy debt load that will limit your options after graduation.</p>
<p>Here is the tool you need for comparing the various costs: [FinAid</a> | Calculators | Award Letter Comparison Tool](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Award Letter Requirements - Finaid)</p>
<p>UCLA and Berkely are easily affordable living off campus with just a Stafford Loan and what you can make during the summer and school year. On campus will be a bit trickier, but may be manageable depending on the kind of job you can come up with and the amount of money your parents can kick in. Columbia is only possible with significant help from your parents either in cash (they pay for it) or by co-signing loans for you (both you and they are responsible for paying it back).</p>
<p>The career field you anticipate entering is not well remunerated. If your family is not prepared to pay the difference for Columbia, the debt load that you would end up will significantly limit future choices. There are a whole bunch of threads on that topic in the Financial Aid and Parents Forums. I suggest that you go read through them before making your final decision.</p>
<p>IMHO, in something that is so pedigree-oriented, like the art world, especially curating, I would think a degree from UCLA’s College of Letters and Science would carry more weight than Columbia’s School of General Studies.</p>
<p>Of course, I think, this is silly, but certain industries seem to revolve around elitism. I would look into seeing how well graduates of Columbia’s School of General Studies fare compared to graduates of the College.</p>