Amherst, Rice or Columbia

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think even given the current climate/protests, Columbia is an Ivy and you don’t turn down an Ivy. My second choice would be Rice. I loved Rice when I visited. Amherst is too small and too remote for me.

Disagree. I think Columbia will be notorious and not worth the 90k/yr risk. Rice is excellent and great location. Have know people who enjoyed Amherst, though that was years ago, and it still has an excellent reputation. Beautiful campus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Would highly discourage Columbia. I graduated from there 8 years ago and almost everyone I know regrets going there for undergrad

I hear this quite a bit

Maybe from the same person on this forum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The core is something to keep in mind for Columbia

There's a kid who posts in YouTube about his Columbia experience. He's a transfer from Rice, had a transfer choice among Brown, Dartmouth, and Columbia. After a year, he dropped out of Columbia. His reasonings were vague. Looking at a few of his earlier videos, however, I realized he had trouble with the Core.

So, the student needs to know what s/he wants. Open curriculum? Amherst. Core? Columbia.

Why is the CORE considered so bad? It looks so interesting online.

Maybe for people only chasing for prestige to gain Wall Street jobs, the CORE is hard to swallow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ivy League. Every time.

While I understand your position, I disagree in this case as the environment at Columbia can be a nightmare due to the stress inducing environment.

OP: The student should know whether or not he/she wants NYC. If yes, then the answer is clear. My thought is that Amherst & Rice offer a better environment for undergraduate study.

Do you mean the stress at Columbia is much more than other Ivys?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think even given the current climate/protests, Columbia is an Ivy and you don’t turn down an Ivy. My second choice would be Rice. I loved Rice when I visited. Amherst is too small and too remote for me.

I hope that you are kidding, but know that you are not.

Really depends upon one's major and upon one's other options.

Stanford, MIT, Caltech, about a dozen schools of engineering, Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, specialty schools (all female, military,drama, music, etc.) = are all good reasons to turn down an Ivu League offer.

[Anonymous]

These are such different schools. Even before the current disturbances, Columbia has always been a cold, stressful college. Undergraduates are an afterthought. It can be a very lonely school. There's a big international cohort, which largely keeps to themselves. The Core Curriculum is not for everyone. Neither is Morningside Heights. NYC can be a tough place for four years as an undergrad, particularly for those who are not wealthy. When we visited, we did not get a good vibe. Students seemed unhappy. DC quickly dropped it off their list.

Rice and Amherst seem like much better places for undergrad. The thing about Amherst though is that it seems to be having an identity crisis presently. Not just the school, but the entire community - see The New Yorker article about Amherst. Like it's a very privileged community that's been tying themselves into knots for years now. And everyone is walking on eggshells. I think it would be tedious to spend four years in such an environment. Amherst is not big enough to ignore the cloud that seems to be hanging over it.

Of the three, Rice seems to be the most comfortable in its bones. It's a beautiful campus in a nice area. It's always been primarily focused on undergrads. It has the residential college system, which is great. Yale, Notre Dame, and Rice seem to understand how to build communities. The overall vibe seems friendly and nerdy. It's not a Wall Street pipeline kind of school. Students seem to have different interests. The downside would be Houston - not the most interesting city in America. But the weather is nice for most of the school year - except September, when it's a furnace - and Rice Village seems very self contained. What's weird about Rice is that it's like the superstar school in Texas, but nobody seems to know much about it in the northeast. Not a school for the Ivy or bust crowd.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think even given the current climate/protests, Columbia is an Ivy and you don’t turn down an Ivy. My second choice would be Rice. I loved Rice when I visited. Amherst is too small and too remote for me.

I hope that you are kidding, but know that you are not.

Really depends upon one's major and upon one's other options.

Stanford, MIT, Caltech, about a dozen schools of engineering, Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, specialty schools (all female, military,drama, music, etc.) = are all good reasons to turn down an Ivu League offer.

Sorry I missed where Stanford, MIT, & CalTech were on OP’s list of options? If they were I’d choose any of them over Columbia. I was responding to OP’s 3 choices and of those the Ivy is the best choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think even given the current climate/protests, Columbia is an Ivy and you don’t turn down an Ivy. My second choice would be Rice. I loved Rice when I visited. Amherst is too small and too remote for me.

I hope that you are kidding, but know that you are not.

Really depends upon one's major and upon one's other options.

Stanford, MIT, Caltech, about a dozen schools of engineering, Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, specialty schools (all female, military,drama, music, etc.) = are all good reasons to turn down an Ivu League offer.

If the list was: Stanford, MIT, CalTech, and Columbia there is no way I’d pick Columbia. But the list is Amherst, Rice and Columbia? In that situation Ivy wins. If Stanford and MIT are in the mix, that changes everything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think even given the current climate/protests, Columbia is an Ivy and you don’t turn down an Ivy. My second choice would be Rice. I loved Rice when I visited. Amherst is too small and too remote for me.

I hope that you are kidding, but know that you are not.

Really depends upon one's major and upon one's other options.

Stanford, MIT, Caltech, about a dozen schools of engineering, Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, specialty schools (all female, military,drama, music, etc.) = are all good reasons to turn down an Ivu League offer.

I meant you don’t turn down an Ivy for Amherst or Rice. Not that I wouldn’t turn down an Ivy for Stanford or MIT (because in that case I would turn down the Ivy bc I think Stanford and MIT are better).

[Anonymous]

Normally, I would say Columbia, but in light of recent events, I would at least visit first... and likely consider Rice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think even given the current climate/protests, Columbia is an Ivy and you don’t turn down an Ivy. My second choice would be Rice. I loved Rice when I visited. Amherst is too small and too remote for me.

I hope that you are kidding, but know that you are not.

Really depends upon one's major and upon one's other options.

Stanford, MIT, Caltech, about a dozen schools of engineering, Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, specialty schools (all female, military,drama, music, etc.) = are all good reasons to turn down an Ivu League offer.

I meant you don’t turn down an Ivy for Amherst or Rice. Not that I wouldn’t turn down an Ivy for Stanford or MIT (because in that case I would turn down the Ivy bc I think Stanford and MIT are better).

Why? Simply because it’s an Ivy. That would show a lack of critical thinking.

[Anonymous]

Columbia is an amazing school for the right kid. If you are confident, independent, social, highly motivated, it is a fantastic environment.
Not warm and fuzzy but highly intellectual and rigorous. There is so much going on there all the time but you need to be high energy to take it on.

[Anonymous]

Rice

Residential community

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think even given the current climate/protests, Columbia is an Ivy and you don’t turn down an Ivy. My second choice would be Rice. I loved Rice when I visited. Amherst is too small and too remote for me.

I hope that you are kidding, but know that you are not.

Really depends upon one's major and upon one's other options.

Stanford, MIT, Caltech, about a dozen schools of engineering, Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, specialty schools (all female, military,drama, music, etc.) = are all good reasons to turn down an Ivu League offer.

I meant you don’t turn down an Ivy for Amherst or Rice. Not that I wouldn’t turn down an Ivy for Stanford or MIT (because in that case I would turn down the Ivy bc I think Stanford and MIT are better).

Why? Simply because it’s an Ivy. That would show a lack of critical thinking.

Because, as has been stated in this thread, of the alumni network/the connections post graduation. Like it or not, being an Ivy grad will open more doors for you than being an Amherst or Rice grad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think even given the current climate/protests, Columbia is an Ivy and you don’t turn down an Ivy. My second choice would be Rice. I loved Rice when I visited. Amherst is too small and too remote for me.

I hope that you are kidding, but know that you are not.

Really depends upon one's major and upon one's other options.

Stanford, MIT, Caltech, about a dozen schools of engineering, Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, specialty schools (all female, military,drama, music, etc.) = are all good reasons to turn down an Ivu League offer.

I meant you don’t turn down an Ivy for Amherst or Rice. Not that I wouldn’t turn down an Ivy for Stanford or MIT (because in that case I would turn down the Ivy bc I think Stanford and MIT are better).

Why? Simply because it’s an Ivy. That would show a lack of critical thinking.

Because, as has been stated in this thread, of the alumni network/the connections post graduation. Like it or not, being an Ivy grad will open more doors for you than being an Amherst or Rice grad.

Is there any data to show that or is this pure conjecture?