Columbia College vs Columbia Engineering

yaoqian
Wed, 29 Dec 2021 05:34:05 +0000

As a current Columbia student, I’ve never heard anyone say CC (college) is better than SEAS (engineering), and you can take classes offered at both schools no matter which you’re in. It might be the case that the college has a slightly lower acceptance rate (haven’t checked the exact numbers but wouldn’t surprise me since, well, there are just generally fewer people studying engineering anywhere…)

CS major is offered in both CC and SEAS. For the major, CC has 40+ required credits and SEAS has 60+, thus you might argue that CC allows more room for double majoring/minoring. Other than that the difference is minimal since all CS classes are offered jointly and CC/SEAS students take the same classes.

Just as skieurope said, SEAS also has many core requirements, although much more STEM-focused, such as physics and chemistry. I guess it comes down to, are you more applied math/physics or theoretical? If applied, go for SEAS, vice versa. In addition, are you more willing to take calculus/chemistry/STEM oriented core classes or humanity centered (literature humanities, contemporary civilization, etc.)? If STEM, go for SEAS, if humanities, go for college.