Is Columbia right for me?

ace48225
Wed, 10 Apr 2013 11:27:41 +0000

I was in a similar decision between Columbia (deffered ED, accepted RD) and Berkeley. I visited Columbia last week and I spoke a lot to my two close friends (SEAS '16 and '15) who attend Columbia now. I ended up SIRing to Berkeley and i’ll give you my reasons.

My intended major is engineering and Columbia SEAS loses to Berkeley’s engineering by a long shot. In general, all non-financial STEM majors will not have as many opportunities at Columbia as they would at west-coast schools, but since you’re choosing between Duke and Columbia, I’d say NYC has more in the ways of networking and job/internship opportunities than Durham, unless your chose something in biological sciences or medicine. You have to decide based on your major, but in general, job and networking opportunities: advantage Columbia.

You’re concerned about school spirit and atmosphere. I was too. And… .ugh… Columbia really does not have a good atmosphere. Everything is divisive: there is SEAS, CC, Barnard, and GS and it seems that everyone has something nasty to say about the others. And you’re right, school spirit. Very few people other than our tour guides were proudly sporting the Columbia blue and showing ‘lion pride.’ In fact, the guides generally avoided talking about school spirit and camaraderie and hammered more on prestige, Ivy League status, and NYC. Also, like most Ivy League and top colleges, much of the student body is somewhat stressed out because they have a lot of their plates. I was okay with that, but Columbia offers no way to diffuse the tension. NYC is all about hustle and bustle and the Columbia campus is pitiful to say the least. It’s a tiny, geometrically organized rectangle dropped into NYC. I preferred Berkeley’s more sprawling and opulent campus. And from what I’ve seen, Duke has a huge and wonderful campus (though Gothic stuff isn’t for me lol). In general, most of your business, be it work, research, or just hanging out will happen on campus. My friends told me that they have too much work and simply don’t go to NYC as much as you would think. It’s usually a once-a-week thing, if at all. And unless you’re interested in fencing, Columbia sports really isn’t too good. Atmosphere, people, and environment advantage: Duke.

My overall analysis was that I would spend four years of my life married to my work without a beautiful campus or supportive student body to get me by. There’s little to no school spirit. If you were to pick Columbia, it should only be because you value academics and prestige beyond all else (which in my case, of course, Columbia lost the academics battle a long time ago). I saw a school that disappointed me once in December and couldn’t even put on a nice face for me when I visited in April. But, most of this depends on major. If you’re going in for pre-law or a financial major, I would drop everything and run to Columbia. If you are going in for STEM or medicine, I would choose Duke.