Yale vs. Columbia - any thoughts?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think Harvard and take are far better known in Europe than Columbia

Harvard yes, Yale I don't think so.

[Anonymous]

Harvard, Yale & Princeton are no doubt the top ivys to the rest of the world & to the people who went there themselves. I say this having gone to one of the 'lesser ivys' - and have seen the trajectories of the relative privileges granted to the graduates of both tiers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Harvard, Yale & Princeton are no doubt the top ivys to the rest of the world & to the people who went there themselves. I say this having gone to one of the 'lesser ivys' - and have seen the trajectories of the relative privileges granted to the graduates of both tiers.

But Columbia is not a lesser ivy in a sense of Cornell, brown and Dartmouth. It's kind of in the middle. And then, Yale is not Harvard, and even Princeton is not Harvard. And Columbia is the only one in the world class city, probably the most important, iconic city in the world at the moment. Hence, the dilemma.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Harvard, Yale & Princeton are no doubt the top ivys to the rest of the world & to the people who went there themselves. I say this having gone to one of the 'lesser ivys' - and have seen the trajectories of the relative privileges granted to the graduates of both tiers.

But Columbia is not a lesser ivy in a sense of Cornell, brown and Dartmouth. It's kind of in the middle. And then, Yale is not Harvard, and even Princeton is not Harvard. And Columbia is the only one in the world class city, probably the most important, iconic city in the world at the moment. Hence, the dilemma.

There shouldn't be a dilemma. You go to college for opportunity, not for a nice city. Yale and Harvard are YALE and HARVARD. And you don't turn that down. Columbia is a great school, and maybe there could be a great debate about the pros and cons for Columbia v. Princeton or Stanford or other top U.S. News school, but against Yale? Game, set, match. The tennis team is probably better at Yale, too.

[Anonymous]

The tennis team is probably better at Yale, too.

Nah, it's gone downhill as the prominence of the WASP elite has waned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also new haven is supposedly way nicer now than it used to be

And second prize is 2 weeks in New Haven.

Sorry to be so snarky -- I know everybody can't go to school in Palo Alto.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Harvard, Yale & Princeton are no doubt the top ivys to the rest of the world & to the people who went there themselves. I say this having gone to one of the 'lesser ivys' - and have seen the trajectories of the relative privileges granted to the graduates of both tiers.

But Columbia is not a lesser ivy in a sense of Cornell, brown and Dartmouth. It's kind of in the middle. And then, Yale is not Harvard, and even Princeton is not Harvard. And Columbia is the only one in the world class city, probably the most important, iconic city in the world at the moment. Hence, the dilemma.

There shouldn't be a dilemma. You go to college for opportunity, not for a nice city. Yale and Harvard are YALE and HARVARD. And you don't turn that down. Columbia is a great school, and maybe there could be a great debate about the pros and cons for Columbia v. Princeton or Stanford or other top U.S. News school, but against Yale? Game, set, match. The tennis team is probably better at Yale, too.

Yawn.

[Anonymous]

New Haven is am armpit of a town. Columbia all the way!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Harvard, Yale & Princeton are no doubt the top ivys to the rest of the world & to the people who went there themselves. I say this having gone to one of the 'lesser ivys' - and have seen the trajectories of the relative privileges granted to the graduates of both tiers.

But Columbia is not a lesser ivy in a sense of Cornell, brown and Dartmouth. It's kind of in the middle. And then, Yale is not Harvard, and even Princeton is not Harvard. And Columbia is the only one in the world class city, probably the most important, iconic city in the world at the moment. Hence, the dilemma.

There shouldn't be a dilemma. You go to college for opportunity, not for a nice city. Yale and Harvard are YALE and HARVARD. And you don't turn that down. Columbia is a great school, and maybe there could be a great debate about the pros and cons for Columbia v. Princeton or Stanford or other top U.S. News school, but against Yale? Game, set, match. The tennis team is probably better at Yale, too.

But Yale is not Harvard, I am not sure where are you getting that equivalence. Certainly, internationally, they do not compare at all. For one, Harvard has much more prominent graduate programs. This might or might not be relevant when deciding about college, but it certainly affects international recognition. International university rankings reflect this, too - Harvard is almost always #1, but Yale is never #1, nor #2, nor #3 nor #5. It just does not compare. USA <> the world.

[Anonymous]

Yale is much better for undergrad than Harvard. Everyone I know who went to Yale undergrad loved it, and everyone who went to Harvard is sort of "eh" about it. It doesn't make sense, since Cambridge is much nicer, but I've seen this pattern repeatedly.

Pick Yale over Columbia. No question.

[Anonymous]

Columbia is offering a more generous aid package. OP, since this is an acquaintance and not a friend, you may not know what that means for the decision. If your acquaintance's daughter goes to Columbia, she will get a great education at a renowned school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Columbia is offering a more generous aid package. OP, since this is an acquaintance and not a friend, you may not know what that means for the decision. If your acquaintance's daughter goes to Columbia, she will get a great education at a renowned school.

Yes but she may be able to get Yale to match columbias package. Suggest she politely bargain with Yale, op.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yale is much better for undergrad than Harvard. Everyone I know who went to Yale undergrad loved it, and everyone who went to Harvard is sort of "eh" about it. It doesn't make sense, since Cambridge is much nicer, but I've seen this pattern repeatedly.

Pick Yale over Columbia. No question.

I would love for my child to attend either Harvard or Yale, Yale or Harvard (or any other Ivy League, SLAC, etc.). In my generation, we had one family member each attend Harvard and Yale. In our case, the Harvard student absolutely lived for the experience, it was wonderful. The Yale graduate is not as fond of their undergrad days, though perhaps for some reasons unrelated to the school itself. The point is only that you cannot generalize, all colleges have graduates who loved, or did not, their college years.

[Anonymous]

You have failed. Focus on the degree type, not the school.

[Anonymous]

If the kid is an energetic, mature, self-starter, Columbia. Columbia doesn't "make" the adult, but it's the right school if the applicant is already an adult.