Cornell COE vs Columbia SEAS

Marian
Mon, 24 Jul 2006 17:54:43 +0000

It depends on what you prefer.

Columbia is in New York City. Life is focused on the city, not the campus. Cornell is in a nice college town in the middle of nowhere. Life is focused on the campus and its immediate surroundings.

At Columbia, you would live in a dorm for all four years. At Cornell, you would most likely live in a dorm for only one or two years.

Columbia has a small, inconspicuous Greek system. Cornell has a large and thriving one. (However, if you don’t like the idea of fraternities and sororities, you can still be quite happy at Cornell. More than half of Cornellians do not join Greek houses.)

Columbia has the Core, and as an engineering student, you would take half of it. Do you like that idea? Is the Core one of the things that attracted you to Columbia in the first place? Or would you rather be at Cornell, where the more conventional curriculum allows you much more choice (but perhaps, less intellectual coherence) in terms of your non-engineering courses?

Columbia is a bit more diverse in terms of the racial/ethnic mix of its student body. Cornell is way more diverse in terms of the academic and professional interests of its student body (it has seven undergraduate colleges, five of which have no equivalent at Columbia).

Columbia is arguably a more intellectual place (because the majority of the students are liberal arts majors, and not just liberal arts majors but the sort of people who would voluntarily come to a place that has the Core). Cornell is arguably a more pre-professional place (because liberal arts majors are in the minority and the curriculum is more conventional).

Cornell students go crazy about ice hockey. Columbia students do not seem to be aware that sports exist.

The food at Cornell is unusually good. There are conflicting reports about the Columbia food, but of course, there are plenty of other things to eat in NYC.

You can probably think of other differences yourself, but this list should serve as a starter.