Yale vs. Stanford vs. Columbia vs. UPenn

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hello everyone!</p>

<p>I have been extremely fortunate to have received likely letters of admission to Yale, Stanford, Columbia, and UPenn. At this point, I am not entirely sure which I will attend. I intend on studying Biology or Environmental Sciences , and pursue research as an undergraduate. </p>

<p>I know all of these colleges have immeasurable resources and opportunities academically, but as I will be spending some 4 years of my life there, the social and living conditions are also important at this point. At the moment, I am slightly leaning towards Yale, as I felt that the sense of community was quite intimate, and the general people I met there were smart, yet quite laid-back and quite amiable. I haven't really visited any of the other colleges, so I am not very well-versed in how they are.</p>

<p>So do you guys have any input on which of these colleges you would prefer to attend and why? </p>

<p>Thanks to everyone in advance, and I wish you the best of luck in the admissions process for all of you awaiting results this month!</p>

<p>terminatorp</p>

2

<p>Congratulations on all four schools! If I were you I would post this question in a more objective fashion under “College Search and Selection” or “Parents Forum” to get more diverse thoughts/opinions…I would NOT post this on Yale, Stanford, Columbia, or Penn forums since you most likely will get very biased opinions one way or another. Hope this helps.</p>

3

<p>Truly, this is not about what anyone else thinks, it’s about which school you feel most comfortable at. It’s an almost “go with your gut” type of situation, all else - like cost, being equal.</p>

4

<p>If you applied for financial aid, I’d wait on that information before getting too married to any one school. All of those four offer great aid, but you’ll probably still see an advantage of several thousand dollars over four years at one school or another.</p>

5

<p>The weather is better at Stanford.</p>

6

<p>I think which ones <em>we</em> would prefer to attend aren’t really relevant, because your decision should be dependent upon your preferences wrt environment, activities, the feel of the school, etc.</p>

<p>Stanford has great California weather, a more satisfying sports experience, and is nearby the cities of San Francisco and San Jose. Columbia and Penn are both right in the middle of large urban areas; they both have traditional campuses (Columbia’s is rather small). Columbia and Yale don’t have huge sports traditions. New Haven is technically a city but it’s a much smaller one, and I would imagine that most campus social life happens right on Yale’s campus. At Columbia, a lot of upperclass social life happens at off-campus venues.</p>

<p>Personally, I would choose Stanford. Great weather, nearby - but not in - two pretty awesome cities, near the beach!, but still has the great reputation and academics that the other schools are also known for. But again, that’s based upon my own preferences and the things that are important to me; the schools are about equivalent as far as national reputation goes. (Also, I’m betting that your financial aid will be very similar at the four schools.)</p>

7

<p>They are all great schools so you should visit each one and go to the school you feel is the best fit for your personality and academic interests.</p>

8

<p>Take no notice of other people’s preferences. Take notice of your own instead. </p>

9

<p>Stanford or Columbia. Based on my preferences with regard to location. </p>

10

<p>For your major, I would say Stanford is the best, solely based on its campus. Personally, I don’t like Stanford as much because for all it’s relations with Silicon Valley companies, it isn’t famous for business learning. </p>

11

<p>I think Yale’s residential college system sets it apart. I also prefer its architecture. Stanford looks like a Taco Bell, to me. But to each his own. :slight_smile: I don’t think there is a huge amount of difference, timewise, between taking public transportation from either campus to the big city.</p>

12

<p>

</p>

<p>Stanford had that architecture decades before Taco Bell came into existence.</p>

13

<p>

</p>

<p>40 min. vs 2 hrs. is a bit of a difference. However, I agree that the OP should visit each to determine the best fit.</p>

14

<p>

</p>

<p>I guess that would explain why Stanford is only tied for #1 with Harvard in the US News Business Grad School rankings and not listed by itself.</p>

15

<p>If you can, try to go to the Preview Weekends hosted by the respective schools. I know that Penn will have their RD students stay for two nights with college students to get a feel of the Penn atmosphere! I think that would be your best bet. If you want my opinion, Penn all the way! ;)</p>

16

<p>Wow, what an enviable position you are in! When I’ve visited colleges with my D, the colleges go through the farce of pretending that the student gets to choose the college when it’s much more likely to be a college choosing a student. So I"m happy to see a student being courted.</p>

<p>Two things:</p>

<p>I. I would go to Columbia…for no good reason (give that I don’t know any of your likes/dislikes) but simply because i’ve toured all 4 campuses and I was ready to pitch a tent on the lawn of Columbia and move in.</p>

<ol>
<li>and can i ask (in generic…not getting into personal details), what you believe these colleges are finding so appealing about your application? </li>
</ol>

17

<p>If it was me, I’d rank it Stanford, Yale, Columbia and Penn. I suppose my bias is that I’ve worked at and taken classes at Stanford, while I’ve only visited the other three campuses. (Although Yale may be my favorite physical campus of all.)</p>

<p>As for its business chops, Stanford may be the most entrepreneurial-obsessed school in the country.</p>

18

<p>Well, I’m more than a bit biased here, but here are my thoughts.</p>

<p>IMO, UPenn has the most “preprofessional” student body on your list. The most prestigious undegrad college is Wharton, which is business oriented. It also has a nursing school. IME, even the students in arts and sciences tend to be practical types who are more interested in post grad employment than going on to get PhDs. This isn’t an accident. Benjamin Franklin founded the school and he specifically wanted a school which would offer more practical learning than the curriculum at other American colleges. For an Ivy, Penn has strong sports teams. I love the campus, but it’s the most urban of your choices–I think the campus is even more urban than Yale. Greek life is strong at Penn. About a quarter of the student body belongs. Obviously, this is only a minority of students and you don’t have to belong, but IMO Greeks have a greater influence at Penn than they do at the other colleges on your list. For some people, that’s a plus; for others, it isn’t. See this thread for more info about sororities: <a href=“http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/university-pennsylvania/448246-reps-of-different-sororities-at-penn.html”>http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/university-pennsylvania/448246-reps-of-different-sororities-at-penn.html&lt;/a&gt; Unfortunately, IMO, Greek membership at Penn tends to divide along racial/ethnic/religious lines. IMO, there’s less mixing of different kinds of kids at Penn than at some of the other schools on your list. Philly is, IMO a GREAT city to be a student in. It’s easy to get around without a car and there’s a suburban transit system which lets you get out of the city too. There are a gazillion other colleges in Philly and lots of stuff for college kids to do. Weather isn’t Stanford’s, but a bit better than the other schools on your list.</p>

<p>Stanford has the best weather. It’s the most suburban feeling of the schools on your list. It has the best sports scene. Many students–probably most–see this as a huge plus. However, one of my kid’s friends, who just isn’t that interested in sports, disliked it for that reason. it does have a weaker arts scene–less theatre and music. Because it is in a suburb there’s also less of an arts scene immediately off campus as well. I live in NYC and some of the kids from here have trouble adjusting to suburban life, and find it hard to find restaurants, etc. they can eat at on a student budget. IMO, the Stanford student body also tends to be pre-professional, though less so than Penn and the preprofessional vibe has a decided entrepreneurial cast to it. If you’ve never lived in a major city and you like suburbia, you may feel a LOT more comfortable on this campus than the others on your list.The Stanford campus is bigger and more spread out than the others; it helps a lot to have a bike to get around. A fair number of students have cars–I don’t mean most people do but certainly more students have cars than at the others. It is less like the other schools on your list than they are like each other. </p>

<p>Columbia UG has 3 components: Columbia College, SEAS and Barnard. I’ve not sure how the CC/SEAS division plays out for someone who is interested in biology and environmental science. They are in the College, but things like environmental engineering are going to be in SEAS. I don’t know if that will matter and if it will effect your chances of doing UG research. I’d check that out. As others have said, it has a strong core. Some people love this because it means a more shared experience. Kids I know who have attended outstanding high schools dislike it because they’ve already covered a lot of the core in high school–not enough to get out of it, but enough that they see it as too repetitive. NYC is the major attraction. It’s easy to get around without a car. However, though CC has discount tickets etc. NYC is an expensive city and some kids feel this means there’s kind of a divide between the haves and have nots in terms of social life. Columbia students have little interest in sports. Last fall, they were having raffles giving away prizes for kids who went to football games in an effort to boost attendance. There are a lot of preprofessional types at Columbia, but there are more intellectual types here IMO than at Penn and Stanford, IMO. </p>

<p>Yale. I like New Haven, but there’s no question that some kids who have grown up in suburbia are a bit freaked out by the homeless on Broadway, etc. Yale has really worked on improving its science programs in recent years, but I admit I think Stanford is still stronger. Among the sciences, though, bio is definitely the strong suit and the School of Forestry is a big plus for someone interested in environmental science.The sustainable farm may be of interest to you too. I think there is more mixing of different kinds of people at Yale than at the other colleges on your list, in part because of th e residential college system. Yale makes an intenional effort to have kids on fin aid room with kids not on fin aid first year. This causes some friction sometimes, but overall I think it’s a good thing. There are sororities and frats, but they aren’t especially strong. They don’t have on campus housing and even most members still live in their colleges. Theatre and music are strong and there are some good off campus options for them. I think that Yale has about the same mix of intellectual/preprofessional types as Columbia–so more “I wanna live in academia forever” types than Penn or Stanford. When Yale has a really strong sports team, like hockey last year, the students get behind the team, but there’s less interest in sports than at Stanford or Penn, but more than Columbia. </p>

<p>I’d suggest you think about what ECs, if any, you’d like to get involved in. Some ECs at these schools are highly competitive to join–and it’s not consistent across ECs. </p>

<p>I’m sure others will disagree with my characterizations of these colleges. This is just my personal opinion and I’m not an expert. </p>

19

<p>I’d choose Yale, all other things being equal. </p>

20

<p>I’d personally go for Stanford. </p>