How to pick between Columbia, Cornell or Princeton?
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Anonymous
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So my kid got pretty lucky and is trying to choose between Cornell, Columbia and Princeton for the fall. Is leaning towards majoring in CS.
Any thoughts or advice? Before anyone reflexively slams Cornell because it is supposedly a “lower ivy” my kid really liked it when we visited and their STEM facilities are pretty incredible. Tough decision as all 3 schools have pros and cons. |
Anonymous
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Cornell has a very highly ranked CS department. We looked at Princeton too. My DD did not apply because it had more of a liberal arts focus. Columbia has the NYC vibe. My kid did not want that so I know less about it. Right now I have to say the virus would be a big factor there but in general if you want NYC, Princeton NJ and Ithaca NY are not that.
But most important...my kid is wait listed at Cornell for comp sci so you should give up that spot  !
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Anonymous
| Any one of them would be a fine choice but they have very different campuses. I would let your DC choose based one what kind of campus experience they would prefer, really can't go wrong. |
Anonymous
| Princeton. And open a slot on the waitlist for my DD. |
Anonymous
| People who go to Princeton seem to love Princeton more than the other two. |
Anonymous
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Take the time to dig into the actual courses your kid would take at each school and map out a 4-year plan. Look at the core requirements, major requirements, and any additional special programs that might be of interest. It will really give a feel of the difference between programs and highlight which seems the most interesting or flexible.
My student had multiple ivy/top 25 schools to decide between, but one particular program at one school was clearly the best fit, even though the school wasn't the top ranked one. They are pretty excited about that program. |
Anonymous
| DS recently graduated from Princeton. One of his main gripes was that he wanted to get to know other college students besides those at his school and he wished that he would've went to Penn instead. So keep in mind that Cornell and Princeton are kind of in their own island so to speak. He did visit NYC often as it's a train ride away, but it's not the same as knowing kids in a closer area. He liked Cornell also, but it's a bit more rural than he was looking for |
Anonymous
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If you're in the DC area, it's much easier to get back and forth to Princeton than to Cornell. It's not like being at UVA or UMD in terms of convenience, but it's only 3 1/2 hours by car and an easy trip on Amtrak. Ithaca is over 6 hours by car, and otherwise your primary options are things like flying to Syracuse or Rochester and catching a bus to Ithaca.
Engineering at Princeton is very good. Obviously they have separate departments and their own facilities (the E-Quad) but otherwise the engineers are very much integrated with other students on campus. |
Anonymous
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Princeton CS is very theoretical, I think Cornell is more applied. Further Cornell is bigger and has business school and relevant resources.
Does he love computer science and applied math or does he want be software entrepreneur? Though to become a SV brogrammer, playing lacrosse at Princeton and majoring in CD is not bad path. |
Anonymous
I chatted with Michelle Obama once and she disagreed. And my ex always regretted that her parents made her choose Princeton over Cornell. The eating club things seems awful to me, so I'm on team not-Princeton unless your kid is sure it's his first choice. |
Anonymous
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I had many friends at Princeton major in CS, although my personal interests were very different. They are all working at very top tech companies, some in fairly senior roles.
I can’t speak to theoretical or not, because honestly I don’t really know what that means. But I can say our CS people have absolutely no trouble getting the jobs you would want after graduating. |
Anonymous
There's actually a dorm at Princeton named "1981 Hall"; the source of the money was never made known but rumor was it came primarily from a CS major who was an early Microsoft employee. It just got a lot of attention because most of the dorms with class names were from the 1800s or the early 1900s. |
Anonymous
Do you actually have any experience with the eating clubs? It really bugs me when this becomes a reflexive criticism, often by people who really don’t know what it means. The “eating club thing” varies tremendously depending on which club you are talking about. Some are pretty exclusive and not my cup of tea, or likely yours. But more than half are not exclusive at all. If you want to join, you simply sign up. The only reason you wouldn’t get in is if they had room for 100 people and 110 signed up, and then it would be chosen by lottery. Enforcing fire codes is very exclusionary, but sometimes has to happen. You can also make the club as much or as little of your life as you want. For some people, it is a social focus. For others, it’s mostly meals and occasional special events. And about 15% of people choose not to join, although at most clubs they can still attend almost all events/parties. |
Anonymous
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It depends on your child’s personality and what they like. They are all really different. In terms of job prospects all are good although I would put Cornell below the other two even if their CS dept is highly ranked on paper (CS as a field seems to ignore those rankings. Look at where graduates go.). Princeton and Columbia would each be much better for professional networking. Both are good for academic CS as well. But none as you are aware are bad choices. If your child loves one and really feels it a fit, go with that.
- former CS major |