<p>
</p>
<p>cmburns, seriously there is no kool-aid here.</p>
<p>Princeton is simply a much better school than Columbia and provides a much bettern learning environment for undergraduate school, which is why the cross-admit ratio is about 90/10 in favor of Princeton and will continue to be so in the future…</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>cmburns, there is no conversation here</p>
<p>you have only posted false and misleading information and I have posted the factual data that has proven you wrong…that is all</p>
<p>Princeton is simply a much better school than Columbia? </p>
<p>huh? at least I’m objective since I don’t have a horse in this race.</p>
<p>Unless you are one of the top 5 math students at Princeton, competitve to place as a Putnam Fellow, I highly doubt you would have the academic background to draw such a distinction.</p>
<p>If your writing is indicative of a typical Princeton student, it suggests a place of tremendous undeserved superiority complexes.</p>
<p>For undergraduate education, Princeton is certainly better, as it’s main focus are undergrads. Regarding prestige: both are extremely prestigious, but Princeton is slightly -?- more prestigious: it’s one of the “Big Three”, and everyone knows that it provides probably the best undergraduate education in the US. It should cause no surprise that most likely you will have better chances on the workforce with a Princeton degree. </p>
<p>The settling of course differs heavily: one suburban paradise (not just the Princeton campus is gorgeous, but the town is pretty good too, the safest in the Ivly League, together with Ithaca) in contrast with some of the…interesting parts of NYC. You can’t go wrong choosing either.</p>
<p>When you talk about the top 10 universities worldwide, it’s pretty tough to draw large distinctions at an undergraduate level in just about every field other than perhaps math and maybe physics. Chesterstreet, if you want to do neuroscience research, there might be no better place to do so than at Princeton’s brand spankin’ new neuroscience facility, scheduled for completion in 2013. And if you want to pursue the neuroscience certificate, not only is research an option, it’s a requirement for independent work: [Undergraduate</a> Announcement](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/ua/departmentsprograms/nup/]Undergraduate”>http://www.princeton.edu/ua/departmentsprograms/nup/)</p>
<p>I don’t know much about the pre-med program here, but maybe this link to the health professions advising site will help you out: [Health</a> Professions Advising](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/hpa/]Health”>Health Professions Advising)</p>
<p>I never really read into Columbia because the core curriculum was a big turn-off for me, and I really didn’t want to live in NYC. I’m sure there are plenty of big things to consider between Princeton and Columbia that don’t have to do with miniscule differences in engineering rankings.</p>
<p>I don’t understand how people can even argue Columbia and Princeton are similar when it comes to a career in engineering or finance because Princeton is so clearly better. The difference isn’t dramatic (ie: Columbia won’t prevent you from have a successful career, Princeton won’t guarantee it), but it’s clear. Of course this is just my opinion, and I can’t objectively prove my opinion.</p>
<p>As far as pre-med, I’ve heard pretty bad things about Columbia pre-med classes being cut-throat and gigantic. I was pre-med for 2.5 years here, so I took all my pre-med requirements and I really enjoyed all my pre-med classes here. Our organic chemistry class is open notes, open book because the professor says straight up “organic chemistry is not about memorization” - the class is all about problem solving and application of concepts.</p>
<p>My absolute favorite description of Princeton is “suburban paradise.” Sounds delightful.</p>
<p>Chester, I apologize to you for the rants about which is a better school. There are pluses to both Columbia and Princeton. Rather than say which is better I will attempt to provide YOU with information so that YOU can decide which is better for YOU.</p>
<p>Where do Princeton pre-meds go for work experience and research?</p>
<p>Princeton pre-meds stay on campus to conduct medical research. Medical research is not done off campus at a medical center a mile away. Review the program of study for molecular biology students: [Princeton</a> University - Department of Molecular Biology - Research Opportunities](<a href=“Department of Molecular Biology”>Department of Molecular Biology) and the the paid summer research jobs available: [Princeton</a> University - Department of Molecular Biology - Summer Undergraduate Research Program](<a href=“Department of Molecular Biology”>Department of Molecular Biology) </p>
<p>Medical research is conducted all over the Princeton campus. The Princeton Neuroscience Institute offers a plethora of courses and summer research opportunities. See: [Undergraduate</a> Education –<em>Princeton Neuroscience Institute](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/neuroscience/education/undergraduate-education/]Undergraduate”>Undergraduate Major in Neuroscience | Neuroscience) The Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics is researching the frontiers of quantitative biology. See: [Genomics[/url</a>] The Chemical and Biological Engineering Department is doing interesting bioengineering research. See: [url=<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/cbe/research/bio/]Bioengineering”>Cellular and Tissue Engineering | Chemical and Biological Engineering]Bioengineering</a> -</em>Chemical and Biological Engineering](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/genomics/]Genomics[/url”>Lewis-Sigler Institute) If you like physics the Princeton Physical Sciences-Oncology Center is conducting National Cancer Institute research on cancer on the Princeton campus. See: [Physical</a> Sciences-Oncology Center](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/psoc/]Physical”>http://www.princeton.edu/psoc/) </p>
<p>More than 20 percent of Princeton’s engineering faculty are engaged in health-related research. I will provide just one example. Professor of Electrical Engineering Claire Gmachi, a MacArthur genius Fellowship winner, is working to develop a key chain size quantum cascade laser to detect breath chemicals to guide clinical treatment without blood tests. The laser is expected to detect diabetes, kidney, liver, and lung disease. Professor Gmachi has received a grant from the Schmidt Fund to develop a mid-infrared cascade laser to enable diabetic patients to conduct non invasion continuous glucose monitoring. The goal is to develop a clip-on sensor for the fingertip or earlobe that can serve as a prototype for commercialization. </p>
<p>If you like mathematics consider the research conducted by Professor Floudas. Christodoulos Floudas, a member the National Academy of Engineering, combined concepts from optimization theory with those of computational biology to develop a method of discovering new drugs for a range of diseases by calculating which physical properties of biological molecules may predict their effectiveness as medicines. Out of millions of possible peptides, the Princeton researchers used their formula to narrow their search to five promising drug candidates, each 12 amino acids long, one-third the length of Fuzeon. Their collaborators at Johns Hopkins then tested whether the peptides were truly effective at preventing HIV from entering human cells. The Johns Hopkins scientists found that four of the five designed peptides inhibited HIV and that one of the peptides was particularly potent, even against strains of HIV that are resistant to treatment with Fuzeon. They also found that peptides designed by the Princeton researchers were nontoxic to cells. “One could never test all the possible peptides to see if they are effective against HIV,” Floudas said. “But this model was able to sort through millions of possibilities and identify just a few that show promise.” </p>
<p>Visit Princeton during the Princeton Preview days. You will find that medical research is being conducted on the main Princeton campus in almost every scientific and engineering department!</p>
<p>policoco, Buffett graduated from Nebraska, Gorman went to Xavier, Bob Stevens went to Slippery Rock, and Mike Duke went to Georgia Tech. We’re talking about undergrad study here, not business school.</p>
<p>Hey guys,</p>
<p>so i was just skimming this thread and was just blown away by how awesome (<—soo the right word) you guys are @ getting these acceptances; I’ll be starting my 3rd year at UCSD but when i was in high school, Princeton and Columbia were not even realistic, and for you guys to be discussing Harvard v Princeton v Columbia, is just so sick;</p>
<p>i just wanted to stop by and congratulate all you guys for doing soo incredibly amazing these past years to get into such amazing schools as these;</p>
<p>kudos guys and keep up the great work!
-BE</p>
<p>beautifulday: I am painfully aware of the nature of the Columbia neighbourhood, while, in contrast with many NJ cities, Princeton is a fine town…</p>
<p>FightTheTide11 and PtonAlumnus —</p>
<p>Thank you so much for all your advice. Thanks for taking the time.
This is all very helpful</p>
<p>BioE91—</p>
<p>Thanks!! But seriously, if I can do it, anybody can. Personally I feel very privileged to be able to go to college, stunned at getting to Pton and Columbia and am honestly a bit intimidated at the thought of studying alongside these geniuses. I’m going to try to make the most out of my opportunities.</p>
<p>Buffet went to Wharton and U of NE… Plenty of Princeton grads went to Columbia b-school…</p>
<p>Princeton graduated 3 of the 9 current supreme court justices, CEOs of Google, Amazon, and eBay.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>so konradph, why don’t you take the time to show us the proof that Columbia undergraduates are far more successful than Princeton undergraduates…</p>
<p>oh, and by the way, when you list alumni of Columbia, please list undergraduate alumni, not the graduate alumni that you have listed above…</p>
<p>thanks</p>
<p><a href=“WSJ in Higher Education | Trusted News & Real-World Insights”>WSJ in Higher Education | Trusted News & Real-World Insights;
<ol>
<li>Harvard - 21%</li>
<li>Yale - 18%
3. Princeton - 16%</li>
<li>Stanford - 11%
.
.
.
.
.
.
11. Columbia - 7%</li>
</ol>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/12392038-post18.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/12392038-post18.html</a></p>
<p>antonia7
New Member</p>
<p>Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 18 </p>
<p>I visited Columbia for an official visit (athletic recruit) a couple of months ago, so I don’t know that much, but I will share what I do know.</p>
<p>The campus is pretty small (still nice), but extremely crowded/busy with people who don’t even go to Columbia. People who work in Manhattan continuously cut across the campus to use it as a short-cut to get to wherever they’re going. And there are tons of graduate students sprawling about the place.</p>
<p>Classes are HUGE! I sat in on three classes, each with around 200 students. The professor had to use a microphone, lol. I felt a real disconnection between teacher and student, but maybe I just visited the wrong classes. A lot of focus seemed to be on graduate students, but I’m sure you’ve already heard that.</p>
<p>The dorm I stayed in was pretty crappy: the bathrooms were old/dirty, the main television was broken, and they were extremely small (again, I can only talk about the dorm I visited. I don’t know about the rest).</p>
<p>The food was awful! Haha, this may sound trivial, but I thought I should point it out. For the 3 days that I was there, I lived on granola bars and fruit. Even the students told me, “Don’t judge us by our food.” </p>
<p>I didn’t get a sense of school pride. The athletic facilities are a 20/25 minute bus ride from campus, so games don’t get packed. That said, there is a nice underground facility on campus that has gyms and stuff.</p>
<p>A lot of the students do go out into the city instead of staying on campus, but I’m assuming that’s a reason why they chose Columbia. On the floor I was staying on, pretty much every person was out on Friday night at a baseball game, restaurant, clubbing, etc. My host told me that’s pretty common.</p>
<p>In the end, I chose Dartmouth over Columbia because it seemed a better fit in terms of focus on undergrads (Teachers recognized their students by name walking around campus. The 2 professors I met even stopped me on the green to tell me that I should go to Dartmouth), opportunities, love for the school, etc. Don’t get me wrong, I love Columbia! They were my top two choices, and it was an extremely difficult decision. </p>
<p>All three of your choices are fantastic, and you should choose the one that you feel the most comfortable in. I get the sense that you will be happier at JHU (or maybe Penn?), but that’s just me lol.</p>
<p>I really hope I helped, and let us know what you decide. Good luck! and Congrats!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>konradph, now why would you lie?</p>
<p>As per Columbia Univesity themselves, Columbia College and Fu Engineering are about 1,400 students per class, not 1,200:</p>
<p>[Admission</a> Statistics | Columbia University Office of Undergraduate Admissions](<a href=“http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/admissions/applications/stats.php]Admission”>http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/admissions/applications/stats.php)</p>
<p>and Columbia’s school of General Studies adds another 25% of the undergraduate class.</p>
<p>Why would an undergraduate school that makes up 25% of the Columbia undergraduates, takes the same classes with the same factulty and uses the same facilities (and receives a Columbia Bachelors Degree) not be included as Columbia undergraduate students in the Feeder Rankings?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>konradph, wrong yet again.</p>
<p>Once Princeton added its waitlist students to the final Class of 2014 count, it reported the final acceptance rate of 8.8%, up from the initial 8.2%. Columbia, on the other hand, even to this very day, STILL REPORTS its initial Class of 2014 acceptance rate of 9.16% as the final acceptance rate, instead of the final acceptance rate of 9.44%, after the 75 waitlist applicants are added to the class.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/admissions/applications/stats.php[/url]”>http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/admissions/applications/stats.php</a></p>
<p>It is Columbia that continually fails to report the correct figures, something that is underscored by the FACT that up to this day, Columbia fails to issue a Common Data Set - something that most major high ranking colleges do.</p>
<p>This lack of transparency on Columbia’s part is something that might fool a few people, but will eventually have a very negative effect on Columbia. In fact, Columbia’s cross-admit rates with HYPSM are in the neigborhood of 10/90, losing about 90% of its cross-admits to these schools.</p>
<p>Japanoko, your relentless attempts to accuse Columbia of duplicity in its admissions reporting is tiresome. I encourage you to do some research into the GS program and its history. I applaud Columbia for making this program available, for the benefit of both the late bloomers and former soldiers, artists, entrepreneurs and other second-career students who participate, and for the “traditional” college students (like my son). The GS program makes Columbia unique among its peers, and is one of the reasons my son loves Columbia. It is much more difficult to have an older friend who was a sniper in Iraq at schools other than Columbia. </p>
<p>More importantly, why should high school kids care what the admissions stats for GS are? Those kids are not competing with GS applicants when they apply to the college or SEAS. Do Harvard applicants care what the admissions stats are for the extension school? Do Yale applicants care about the Whitney stats?</p>
<p>If you want to be a Princeton homer, go for it. There are many great qualities surrounding Princeton, but its “pristine” admissions reporting protocol is not one of them.</p>