<p>Which one is better for me to ED, Columbia or Wellesley? Both are my dreams.
I'm an international student. Chinese citizen, also permanent resident of Canada.
I don't apply for aid.
I think women's school is kinda elegant, but wonder if it will be a little bit weird... On the other hand, Columbia seems too expensive... You know, life in NYC.
My intended majors are International Relations, History, Urban planning and Environmental Studies.
So, would you kindly give me some advice? Thx~</p>
<p>Well, take into account what life would be like for you at each school. The first thing that comes to my mind when debating the two is where each is located. Would you prefer to be in a fairly quiet and wealthy suburb with easy access to a larger city, or would you prefer to be right downtown in a city? Do you like the hustle and bustle of urban life, or do you prefer some green spaces? </p>
<p>There are many other qualifications, of course, but location is often a deciding factor for students.</p>
<p>Have you visited both schools? You are international so that may be difficult to do, but those two schools are very different from each other. As phanatic said, location location location is probably a key factor. Also, size of the school will be a consideration. </p>
<p>You will get a great education at either school. If you have friends currently there now, I would talk to them and see what their experiences are like.</p>
<p>Thanks for your advice! I’m going to contact some friends currently at either school and learn more about school life.
About location, I live in a big modern city since I was born. I do enjoy urban life. But life in a fairly quiet suburb also seems appealing, since I don’t have that kind of life experience before…wanna try…</p>
<p>If you’re having this much trouble deciding you shouldn’t apply ED. Apply to both RD to give yourself a few more months to sort everything out.</p>
<p>I would choose Columbia though if it was just between those two :D</p>
<p>Yeah, I think that it’ll really just come down to location. And the uni vs. LAC thing. </p>
<p>This is my Boston vs. NYC spiel… </p>
<p>Boston -
While I love NYC, here you can actually see the sky beyond the buildings. Boston’s a village compared to NYC, but I’ve grown to love it. It’s more historical, New England-y, and slower-paced. You can wander the streets in Cambridge Square without seeking a destination and you’re bound to come across some cozy cafe. It’s also pretty safe in general. It’s essentially a giant college-town (there are so many colleges and universities here.) Cons are that virtually everything closes at 10 PM and the subways suck (especially the Green line). They’re cleaner than the ones in NY but much slower. (But both subway systems are just primitive compared to the ones in East Asia… although I haven’t taken the subways in China but in Japan and Korea.) Still, for me Boston is the perfect city to explore for my undergrad days. There’s lots of cafes, Newbury St, museums, and more. Having lived in NY, I think the city (while vibrant, exciting, blahdeblah) would wind up as a giant distraction for me. Maybe when I’m in grad school and have more self-control I’ll attend Columbia…</p>
<p>But I mean, if you were to attend Wellesley, you’d spend most of your time on Wellesley’s campus. I think one benefit of going to school here is that the campus almost becomes your ginormous home. There are funky couches everywhere. You can leave your laptop unattended in the library for an hour or more and no one will steal it. Doubt this is true of Columbia…</p>
<p>Note: we don’t have an Urban Planning major.</p>
<p>You can do an Urban Studies interdisciplinary major though.</p>