<p>I really like Columbia University's urban location, core curriculum, and general campus. What are other colleges like it? </p>
<p>I also like the atmosphere, and the variety of student events.</p>
<p>University of Chicago</p>
<p>core curriculum + urban; don’t know about campus. incidentally, they’re tied for #8 on usnews and are #1 and #2 in terms of affiliations with nobel laureates (i think?)</p>
<p>best of luck! (:</p>
<p>I’ve never visited U of Chicago, so I don’t know, but the Core Curriculum isn’t a necessity. I would just like to take some non-major classes instead of focusing just on one subject. Urban, but safe, greenery, solid campus area are more important.</p>
<p>Re: campus, for example, I like Columbia but not NYU</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Georgetown University would also be worth considering. Probably Emory too, although I haven’t seen that campus.</p>
<p>I second Emory. Fantastic reputation, urban location, campus is beautiful.</p>
<p>Relevant personal background: I currently live in NYC and have for multiple years. I’ve also lived in Chicago for multiple years and visit the area frequently. Partly as a result, I’ve met many students at both Columbia and the University of Chicago. I’ve also been to both campuses numerous times for various reasons.</p>
<p>There are indeed quite a few similarities between Columbia and the University of Chicago. I agree with those similarities cited above. But I’ve also noticed some differences. Specifically:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Both universities are intellectual, but I’ve observed the University of Chicago to be noticeably more so.</p></li>
<li><p>Neither university is a rah-rah school. But the University of Chicago is even less interested in athletics than Columbia is.</p></li>
<li><p>On the average, University of Chicago students tend to be somewhat more quirky than Columbia students.</p></li>
<li><p>Neither university is in the heart of its city. Both universities are in residential neighborhoods which are quiet, yet offer basic services, restaurants and the like. That said, Columbia has easy access to NYC, while the University of Chicago is somewhat isolated from the city of Chicago. Columbia is only three subway stops from the heart of the “city” (which is generally considered to begin at 96th Street in Manhattan). The University of Chicago is in a somewhat isolated neighborhood which is connected to the rest of the city by buses and suburban trains.</p></li>
<li><p>There are significant cultural differences between NYC and Chicago. It’s a matter of personal preference as to which city one would rather inhabit for four years. That said, NYC is much safer than Chicago in general.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Take3’s comments on UChicago seem generally accurate.</p>
<p>Just one thing to add: Hyde Park is quite safe overall. It borders some sketchy neighborhoods, but I found Hyde park uneventful, crime-wise. I don’t think it is any less safe than a typical urban campus.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the responses! It doesn’t necessarily need to be a rah-rah school, since I’m not that into athletics. I just loved standing in the middle of the Columbia campus and felt like I could go there. Now if only I could get in.</p>
<p>I don’t agree with Emory being similar to Columbia (and it’s location is more suburban than urban). It’s a good school, though.</p>
<p>Penn. Urban but not as dense or busy as Columbia’s location, a much more typical college campus than Columbia’s (more spread out, much greener), very safe despite people’s perceptions of West Philly. You have the opportunity to take a huge variety of classes from any undergraduate school (Arts and Sciences, Wharton, Engineering, Nursing) and several graduate schools (Law, Education, Annenberg come to mind).</p>
<p>Pick any city and you might find a similar feel:</p>
<p>Boston,Harvard…DC.Georgetown…Atlanta, Emory…Nashville, Vanderbilt…Chicago, UChicago…Phily, UPenn…LA, UCLA…Baltimore, JHU…</p>
<p>One thing to realize is that these universities ^^^ have a beautiful campus. There are also other city-schools that are completely urban. NYU and BU come to mind</p>
<p>Rice … Houston ^^^</p>