<p>I won’t comment on relative prestige (not very interested) or the campus environments (go visit), but here’s my take on the academics.</p>
<p>Columbia is a world class research university with a first rate college that has influenced undergraduate instruction throughout the country for many years. They have decades of experience with their Core program. Georgetown is the country’s #2 (arguably #1) Catholic college with a few pretty good graduate programs. Key facilities (such as Lauinger Library and the science labs) are adequate for most undergraduates but not all you’d expect at an Ivy or a top LAC. It does leverage its DC location well with good internship programs; this is a significant strength. However, its faculty does not have the breadth, depth, or academic distinction of Columbia’s (few schools do.) The Jesuits are respected as teachers, but the most prominent instructors tend to be political celebrities brought in from retirement or when their careers in public service are at a lull. These are not tenured faculty. More importantly, they usually are not distinguished scholars (or professional teachers, either). Now, you may be o.k. or even more than o.k. with that. If you don’t care much about original scholarship, if you think Madeleine Albright’s war stories would be more interesting and you could parlay the connection into a good reference, then go for it. </p>
<p>Georgetown is a very good school for smart, well rounded, career-oriented students. It seems to lack the quirky, brilliant characters (aspiring novelists, physicists, anthropologists and gadflies) you’d probably encounter at a school like Columbia. Still, for some top students (and it gets its share of them), GU would be a better fit and maybe a happier place to spend 4 years. I’d choose Columbia but a case can be made for either school so you are fortunate if you do have the choice.</p>