<p>I recently received my admissions decisions and (to my immense pleasure!) got accepted in those two phenomenal places: Yale and Columbia. I intend to study political science and I know both places have excellent departments. I have spent one summer program in each school so I already have gone through housing experiences etc...Any additional advice on my dilemma?</p>
<p>Considerations:
Better Polsci department
Location / Student Life
Prestige
Internships
Debate Society</p>
<p>Yale.</p>
<p>Slightly more prestige. Far better housing options (residential colleges). Larger and more appealing campus. No rigid “core.” And I can’t stand NYC.</p>
<p>Thanks! The problem is I adore NYC and I’m skeptical about life in a semi-rural place like New Haven…</p>
<p>^Dude. No.</p>
<p>Go to Yale. Period.</p>
<p>I can’t imagine why anybody would actually enjoy living in a terrible place like NYC unless they are stinking rich, but that’s just me. Regardless, life in Yale is, believe it or not, does not consist of terrorizing sheep. You think people in Yale spend their off-time twiddling their thumbs out of boredom? Unless your weekly social life consists of underground rock concerts/broadway plays, eating in numerous expensive restaurants, shopping in two hundred different yet identical clothing shops (all located on the same street, of course), and stalking Michael Bloomberg, I really don’t see how your life in Yale will differ THAT much from life in Columbia.</p>
<p>Honestly post this thread in both the Columbia and Yale forums. Ray192 is giving you completely distorted information, Ray192 also goes to Cornell, so it is clear where his/her preferences lie in terms of location. I’m living evidence that you don’t need to be rich or an underground rock fan to squeeze a ton out of NYC, there are thousands of others like me at Columbia, post on each forum and you’ll get perspective from current students, alums, prospective students who’ve done research, and parents.</p>
<p>Choose Columbia. In NYC, you can get an internship at the UN; that’s a major plus for your career in political science. The prestige is about the same. and for safety issues, when you get out of Yale’s campus, you are in a ghetto (literally), whereas in Columbia you have to go a block from its campus to reach Harlem…so that means if you know what you’re doing in Columbia, you wouldn’t get into trouble, and even if you know what you’re doing in Yale, you’ll still be exposed to danger…my aunt almost got stabbed when she walked out of Yale’s campus (that’s just a two minutes walk)…thank god her friends was there or she’d be dead</p>
<p>Yale.</p>
<p>Columbia gives you New York City, but as you may have figured out, you have YOUR WHOLE LIFE to live in New York City. You only have 4 years in a lifetime to do college…make it special. I don’t think you’d find anyone who would say the campus-community spirit is stronger at Columbia than at Yale.</p>
<p>I love Columbia! But going there for undergrad would be too much for me to handle.</p>
<p>I come from a town of a little less than 100k, so maybe you’ll feel differently.</p>
<p>Go to Yale. I honestly can’t understand why people like Columbia, but that’s probably cause I’ve been in NYC my whole life and would like to get out. Columbia is small, there’s barely any green or trees. 20,000 students crammed into 6x2 (or whatever dimensions it is) small manhattan blocks is not a pretty picture.</p>
<p>Yale all the way…</p>
<p>Wow, Congratulations, You’re so lucky ! It’s such a dilemna.
The both schools are the best for me. nevertheless, I’ll choose Yale. I heard that the people there are helpful meanwhile in Columbia, there are all competitive. If you really want to go to Columbia, you still can do your grad or your PhD there.
How did you get in ? Do you think that I can get in ? This is my profile : <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/909747-can-i-get-into-nyu-yale.html#post1064636916[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/909747-can-i-get-into-nyu-yale.html#post1064636916</a>
Thank you, and again congratulations !</p>
<p>You either want The Core, or you don’t. I can’t imagine people being indifferent.
Which is it?</p>
<p>Columbia. The US is a big place, and the odds you’ll work in Manhattan are less than 10%. You have written it yourself:</p>
<p>“I adore NYC”</p>
<p>As you want NY experience, go for it now when you’re young, and don’t have family incumbrances … check that bad choice of word… responsibilities.</p>
<p>FWIW, I found the vibe at Yale to be rather depressing when I visited (I ended up at Stanford, but this was a LONG time ago). High School classmates of mine a year above me who were freshmen when I visited Yale couldn’t stop talking about the lack of sleep.</p>
<p>@Ray192: You don’t have to be rich to enjoy NYC. Morningside Heights is somewhat less expensive than the “city” (Manhattan below 96th Street, which includes most of the parts of NYC everyone has heard of.) In any case, there are many fun things to do in NYC which don’t require being rich. And being able to go anywhere in the city (possibly excepting some remote places in the outer boroughs) at any hour for about $90 per month is actually a plus for someone on a student budget.</p>
<p>It is in fact worthwhile to be able to hear a wide variety of live music - the scene includes underground rock and many other genres. It is in fact worthwhile to go see Broadway plays. Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway plays are also interesting and usually much cheaper than Broadway plays. As for restaurants, Morningside Heights has quite a few which cost only $8 to $15 for a meal. As for clothing, I don’t know where you get the idea that all of the clothing boutiques are the same. Actually, NYC is good for buying clothing on a budget because a store called Century 21 sells high-end clothing for 50% or more off.</p>
<p>@BrownPennLover: Harlem actually isn’t even that dangerous anymore. I lived there briefly and regularly pass through to get from point A to point B (I live in Manhattan, north of Harlem.) If you’re still not comfortable with Harlem, it can be completely avoided.</p>
<p>@ilovebagels: The OP was admitted and thus has the option of going to NYC. By contrast, we don’t have any way to know whether they will be offered a job in NYC after graduation. There’s never a guarantee of being offered work in any specific city, especially if you need a job which will advance a specific career.</p>
<p>“You don’t have to be rich to enjoy NYC.”
But it helps. A lot.</p>
<p>From someone who attended college there, for a while:</p>
<p>"Although I love NYC and hope to live there someday, in my experience it makes for a crappy college town. Perhaps your first reaction to this is, “what are you talking about? There’s ALWAYS something to do in the City!” And yes, this is certainly true- if you’re a millionaire and not a poor college student. Movies cost $12.00; Broadway shows, even those purchased at the discount ticket counters, are often more than $70.00; museums are free with your college id, but most of my fellow students went to museums around once or twice a semester.</p>
<p>Sure there are plenty of places to go shopping, like the Village or 5th Avenue- that is, if you don’t mind spending $200.00 on each article of clothing. "</p>
<p>etc. </p>
<p>Just one person’s opinion, who was there.</p>
<p>BTW Century 21 is nowhere near columbia. It’s a good store, my wife shops there. I don’t know that college age people would dig it much.</p>
<p>“Movies cost $12.00”</p>
<p>Which isn’t that much more expensive than anywhere else in the country nowadays.</p>
<p>“Broadway shows…are often more than $70.00”</p>
<p>Broadway does not have a monopoly on theatre in New York. As I already pointed out, Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway shows are significantly cheaper than Broadway shows. For example, one show I frequent costs between $11 and $16 to get in.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>It’s no more than 45 minutes on the subway. That isn’t too much, as people don’t need to shop for clothing very often. Anyway, I’m not sure why college age people wouldn’t be interested because they have numerous brands. They seem to be selling anything and everything that didn’t sell in regular retail stores. If someone just wanted to buy the typical clothing mass-marketed to the 18-22 crowd, e.g., A&F, Hollister, etc., they could just go to any shopping mall. And yes, NYC has shopping malls, and they’re not drastically more expensive than anywhere else.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This doesn’t make any sense. If the person being quoted attended Columbia, they almost definitely lived in the NYC tri-state area.</p>
<p>“This doesn’t make any sense”
She transferred out, to be technically perfect she could have said “hope to live there again someday”.</p>
<p>Regarding her current school, she continues, “movies play on campus for $4.00 for students”</p>
<p>I don’t know what Yale students have to pay.</p>
<p>You have to decide if you want the Core at Columbia or not. If it doesn’t matter to you, or if you want the Core, go to Columbia. Sure, NYC is expensive, but you’ll get free or discounted student memberships to museums, etc., as a Columbia student. And, having gone to Yale (grad student, long ago) I find New Haven to be a depressing place. Most of the blight and crime of an urban area, with little of the magic (at least, outside of the campus buildings).</p>
<p>wow Yale obviously…what does columbia offer over yale? NYC for 4 years is not enough</p>