<p>Hey I was accepted for Columbia CC (thinking information health science) and UPenn SEAS for transfer into 2nd year. I'd really appreciate any insight / advice on making this decision.</p>
<p>I've read so much about Columbia and love the campus but I know very little about the student life. I know that Columbia consistently ranks higher on a bunch of things but I've read some threads which claim there's a very poor community, lack of the "Ivy" feel and such..</p>
<p>I've never visited Penn, but I hear it's more tight knit and less cut-throat. This sounds like it'd be a better place to be for 3 years. But then I don't understand why Columbia is often thought of as the more prestigious. Thoughts??</p>
<p>Also is anyone familiar with transfer differences? E.g., is it easier to make up the requirements in one school or the other. I don't get a credit assessment for a while so it's a little hard to tell..</p>
<p>Columbia undergrad is nothing special compared to Penn undergrad. Every time I have visited my friends at Columbia to party, I have been struck by how weird a lot of the students are at Columbia. I think my peers at Penn are more equipped to handle the world post-grad. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, Columbia’s grad programs are more prestigious and the Manhattan location attracts the world’s top profs. Penn’s professional schools are better(great med school and great MBA program). Also note that Columbia College is definitely harder to get into than Penn CAS(but probably not harder than Wharton).</p>
<p>Columbia made a leap in the rankings this year, which I personally attribute to its staggeringly low admission rate (something like 5.6%). There are a pool of roughly 35,000 students that apply to Ivy league schools, but Cornell and Penn have significantly larger incoming classes than the other Ivies. Thus, it is not overly surprising that Penn and Cornell have the highest admit rates in the Ivy league. </p>
<p>I don’t know, they’re both great schools. If you think you would like living in NYC, go for Columbia. But Philly is fun too. If there is any chance at all that you can visit the schools, I think you should try to do it. I find that very quickly, within an hour or two of being on a campus, I develop a “gut feeling” about whether or not I would be happy there. Good luck.</p>
<p>really depends on what you’re looking for, but if you’re interested in post-grad opportunities, as in if you’re pre-med/pre-law/business, definitely consider penn over columbia. penn has the one-university system so undergrads can enroll in any classes offered at any of the grad schools, i dont think columbia offers that kind of an opportunity? plus penn has wharton, which, even if you’re not in wharton or an mba, gives you immense advantages over other ivies. seriously.
and penn has a central campus so everyone will be living near you/there’s a lot going on, on campus, tons of student activities and the social scene is great.
columbia is in a great city, but there’s no central campus per se, its more scattered in the city. so it really depends on what you’re looking for.</p>