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Columbia (GS) or Reed College? Help me choose!
Aspiringacademic
116 replies3 threads Junior Member
Hello! I posted something similar to this sometime ago, but I'm looking for more feedback, especially because I've crossed one school (Swarthmore) off my list. Here's the short story: I'm a student who spent two years at Reed and then took a medical leave, which let me apply to Columbia GS as a non-traditional student. Next semester I'll either be returning to Reed or attending Columbia GS. My ultimate goal is to attain a PhD in philosophy at a top program and teach it at either a nationally ranked LAC or Research University.
I prefer Columbia to Reed because it is closer to home, has more name-brand "prestige", and offers a greater variety of courses.. I worry about it because I've heard that it has worse graduate school placement than Reed in philosophy and doesn't have the sheer intellectual intensity of Reed. I also am concerned that I won't be able to establish close contact with professors, do significant undergraduate research, or take enough philosophy courses over two years since I'll be bogged down in the "Core". At Reed, I'll be able to take plenty of philosophy courses since I've fulfilled the distribution requirements, and I'll have a lot of opportunities for undergraduate research and contact with professors since the classes are so small.
I'm really torn between the two: a lot of people want me to go to Columbia since it has that name-brand appeal, but at the same time I'm not sure that Columbia will actually be more efficacious at getting me to my ultimate goals. And though I like the fact that Columbia's philosophy department is so big and vibrant, I'm worried that I'll be crowded out by the graduate students there. Reed has a really strong record of sending people to top PhD programs in philosophy, and I'm not sure that I should pass that up. Any advice?
21 replies I prefer Columbia to Reed because it is closer to home, has more name-brand "prestige", and offers a greater variety of courses.. I worry about it because I've heard that it has worse graduate school placement than Reed in philosophy and doesn't have the sheer intellectual intensity of Reed. I also am concerned that I won't be able to establish close contact with professors, do significant undergraduate research, or take enough philosophy courses over two years since I'll be bogged down in the "Core". At Reed, I'll be able to take plenty of philosophy courses since I've fulfilled the distribution requirements, and I'll have a lot of opportunities for undergraduate research and contact with professors since the classes are so small.
I'm really torn between the two: a lot of people want me to go to Columbia since it has that name-brand appeal, but at the same time I'm not sure that Columbia will actually be more efficacious at getting me to my ultimate goals. And though I like the fact that Columbia's philosophy department is so big and vibrant, I'm worried that I'll be crowded out by the graduate students there. Reed has a really strong record of sending people to top PhD programs in philosophy, and I'm not sure that I should pass that up. Any advice?
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Replies to: Columbia (GS) or Reed College? Help me choose!
That said, I am concerned about your previous health issues. Is there a possibility of recurrence? Does being closer to home put your mind at ease should your health decline again?
Columbia and Reed are both fantastic choices. My daughter had a really hard time turning down Reed for Columbia.
Wishing you the absolute best!
Thank you very much for the advice. I do feel like, deep down, I prefer Reed. But I know that being at Columbia might be better for my mental health since its closer to home, and I do feel tugged toward Columbia due to the name-brand prestige. I'm just not sure what decision to make, honestly. I feel like any choice I make I would end up regretting, even though that's definitely not the way to look at this sort of thing!
Have you sat down with an advisor at Columbia to work out a plan of studies that will get you out of there in two years?
If you haven't done those two things yet, do them ASAP.
Nonetheless, if you'd be inclined to choose Columbia GS in a heartbeat under reasonably promising expectations, then I think Columbia's overall education and reputation could set you on course to where you would like to go also.
Right now, I think I am therefore leaning toward Columbia. But let me know if anyone else has input.
There may be a self-selection effect, in that Reed students who can only get into lower ranked PhD programs go there, while similar Columbia students seek employment.
That's a rather odd policy, which causes Columbia to lose one of the advantages it has versus a LAC like Reed for the strongest students in the major.
You can establish close contact with professors at Columbia. It's a medium-sized university, and I have seen many professors take an interest in talented undergraduates.
However, I will say that choosing Columbia mostly because of the "name brand" isn't a great idea, especially given your goals. Either Reed or Columbia will help you get them - and in some ways, Reed may be better, as it is noted for getting students into great graduate schools AND you have more flexibility in selecting your courses now. The greater breadth of classes at Columbia won't help you if you can't take them. Were I you, I'd return to Reed. You can always take a wide variety of interesting philosophy courses in graduate school.
Also, which universities have the best graduate programs in philosophy ? Thanks in advance !
I crossed Swarthmore off my list for a variety of reasons, the most important of which is that they don't seem to send many people to top 10 analytic graduate programs, at least according to a recent report by Eric Schwitzgebel. I did consider NYU, which has (arguably) the best philosophy program in the world, and which sends undergraduates to very good philosophy programs, but I ultimately decided that I didn't really like the intellectual atmosphere of NYU for undergraduates. So I didn't even send out an application there.
As for who has the "best" program in philosophy, that's a tricky and controversial question. The most well-known rankings are Brian Leiter's "Philosophical Gourmet Report", which does tend to be a pretty decent register of which programs are strongest in the core areas of analytic philosophy - metaphysics, epistemology, and value theory. The top four schools in Leiter's rankings are generally NYU, Rutgers, Princeton, and Oxford. Michigan, Pittsburgh, MIT, Yale, and Berkeley also consistently make very strong showings there. However, there are also hardline "continental" programs out there which barely show up on Leiter's reports, and which are considered very prestigious in certain circles. DePaul, Penn State, Emory, Vanderbilt, Stony Brook and Warwick all fall under this category. And it's worth remembering that which universities do the best in rankings aren't necessarily the best for placement into tenure-track jobs. There's been a lot of research on this recently, and I'd be more than happy to share it if you PM me. Regardless, hope this helps.