Undergrad Dartmouth vs. Columbia

Colleges and Universities A-Z Dartmouth College
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<p>Hi all,</p>

<p>I've been thinking about early decision, and Dartmouth and Columbia are at the top of my list. I am interested in majoring in Economics, and would love to work on Wall St. in the future. I had always wanted to go to Columbia, but I've recently fallen in love with Dmouth. For someone who wants to go into finance/econ, which place would be ideal for undergrad?</p>

<p>A little about me:</p>

<p>Live very close to NYC
Rising Junior
Financial Aid not needed (as of now)
Asian Male
Planning on getting MBA, at Wharton in a perfect world
Want to stay close to home (Northeast)</p>

<p>Some of my thoughts on both schools...</p>

<p>Dartmouth Pros: AMAZING student relationships, connections
Huge feeder college for Wall St.
Love the small campus LAC feel, intimate relations
Computer science minor available (pretty important to me)
Great Econ program
Frats
Better ED stats
Still relatively close to home
Mainly tailored towards undergrad studies</p>

<p>Dmouth Turn-Offs:
Frats (yes, I listed it as a pro and I plan on joining one, but I've read a few bad things about Greek Life: wanna have fun in college but stay focused on my career while doing it)
Location: Cold Weather, kinda in the middle of nowhere (no close-by job opportunities)
"White, rich kid" stereotype (don't want to be the only minority, but not a huge deal)
Drinking/drug culture (don't mind it, as long as it isn't pervasive and dangerous)</p>

<p>Columbia Pros: Super close to home
LOVE NYC, excitement
Job opportunities and internships a subway ride away
Grew up near city, the city doesn't scare me; know the area pretty well
Diversity
Strong Econ program
The Columbia Core
Close to Wall St., get a taste of business life and see if its really for me</p>

<p>Columbia Turn-Offs:
Mainly tailored towards graduate students
Not as great of a "college" feel, not as intimate with Profs.
Lower ED acceptance stats
No Computer Science Minor available
Lots of people (don't know if good thing or not. On one hand, you get to make more friends and meet more people but less intimate feel i guess)
Not as great relationships for undergrads (not saying anything against Columbia, but from what I've read, Dmouth is unparalleled in this department)</p>

<p>Either, I will be blessed if I can attend either, and I know I can be happy at both schools. BTW, I'm asking this in the Dmouth thread, because I want actual Dmouth students/ alumni to give me advice. I know outside sources have said bad things about Greek life and about the white male supremacy stereotype, drug culture, and I doubt all this is 100% true. Just looking for confirmation from actual people who go there.</p>

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<p>Speedbump</p>

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<p>I recommend doing a search for a poster slipper1234. He started out at columbia and transferred to Dartmouth.</p>

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<p>The greek life is really what you will make of it. If you join it, you will be welcomed into a community where you will have a lot of fun and friends for life. You are able to become distracted or you are able to focus on your studies and it remains as a valuable and enriching EC. You can choose not to join it and find other fulfilling groups and societies.</p>

<p>Sure, Dartmouth is far from a large city but it has a reputation that means so many top employers come to campus to recruit that it really is negligible. Where can you see yourself living for the next 4 years? For me, it was that I wanted to work in the big city after graduation and I wasn’t going to have the chance to live in a smaller community unless I did for college. That and I wanted to be in a college town. Cities are great but I was looking for the whole traditional thing. The city is still there for internships and after college. It also helps that I am a keen hiker and love anything to do with snow. </p>

<p>So think of what suits you. If you want to stay in the city and be close to all it offers year round, columbia is better for you. </p>