<p>I have a big dilemma. I'm trying to decide if I should apply to Yale or attend Columbia. I know both are amazing schools. My quandary is this: my parents work at Columbia so I would get free tuition of I attend (160k~). I would get half tuition at Yale. ASSUMING (without any basis) I get in both... do you guys think there's a "tangible" difference between Yale and Columbia? I hope to do Law/Business in the future and would likely major in Econ undergrad. Both Yale's and Columbia's econ programs are on par (not in the top 5) although CU did get 4 Nobel Econs in the past decade (yale 0). </p>
<p>But I also love yale (spent a month there for JSA), the campus, the relaxed atmosphere, yet also the intellectual atmosphere. Columbia is a bit... cramped although different (and theres the internship opp. in NYC every Friday). So given all of this, and assuming I want to attend Yale Law (or I-banking), which do you think I should attend? Personally I don't think it would make a difference at all if I work hard at either school (once again assuming i get in). Advice?</p>
<p>Columbia has an outstanding reputation and if you do well you should be able to get into a great graduate school from there. It is also in one of the most exciting cities in the world. The question is whether or not you like New York City. Columbia is really a place for those who want to take advantage of what it has to offer. The social life at Columbia is not the same experience you will find at Yale. A lot of Columbia students go off campus and into the city to socialize and that causes a lack of a feeling of a community on campus. There is also not a lot of school spirit. Columbia seems to attract a lot of International students who want to be in New York City. There are also a lot of communters.
The amount you will be saving in tuition is huge. In terms of reputation Yale may be ranked higher, but Columbia is still considered one of the best Universities and still has a fair amount of prestige.</p>
<p>Do you live in / spend time in NYC, or do you go to school somewhere else (boarding maybe)? I mean to say: are you familiar with Columbia's atmosphere and social scene, and NYC? I know some people from NYC who want a change from it for college. I don't understand why, but they do... : )</p>
<p>I live in Fort Lee NJ, its right across the George Washington Bridge from Columbia. It's literally a 10 minute drive- i go there for classes for a Science Program Columbia has for high school students. I think the campus is okay... but I haven't really gotten any chance to calibrate the "social life" there.</p>
<p>This is a big decision for you. Quite simply, you need to visit the schools and see for yourself. It doesn't hurt to apply. First you have to get into Yale, afterall, since Yale is the most selective university in the United States. </p>
<p>Once you get in, visit each of your choices for 3 days - preferably including weekday and weekend days - so you can sample both the quality of undergraduate academics, the overall vibe, the student friendliness, and the quality of social life.</p>
<p>If you really make the effort to visit and understand how the students actually live, you will notice vast differences between Yale and Columbia that aren't readily apparent just from reading the guidebooks.</p>
<p>Also, in terms of reputation, Yale is far enough ahead of Columbia that the financial differences are worth it. Yale students won 3 Rhodes and 4 Marshall Scholarships last year, for example, more than the entire rest of the Ivy League (which is 10 times larger in terms of enrollment), combined. Yale is a very small school, but led the country this year in the number of Fulbright Scholarships awarded to its students (31), which is sort of unbelievable if you think about it. Anyhow, if you look at where students end up after college, Yalies have a much, much higher acceptance rate into the top programs. Partly it's because there are fewer students to compete against if you're at Yale than if you're at a larger school like Duke, Columbia or UT-Austin, but it's also a factor of the prestige, resources, smaller classes and quality associated with the school. For example, Yale will pay for any of its students, if they are motivated enough to apply for a research grant, to basically travel anywhere in the world free of charge each summer. I think another reason is that overall, students are just plain happier there.</p>