Anonymous wrote:The atmosphere at Columbia right now is miserable. Take the washu scholarship.

That's not true--and it's certainly not true for every student. There's a lot of good reasons to take the Wash U scholarship, particularly if 80K/year is meaningful to your finances (as it is for most people without the surname Bezos). But Columbia is a vibrant high caliber University, despite the Trump administration politicizing its attacks on academia, and with 2024 data, it was the 3rd most selective American university. How to value that for a student, only OP knows.

Be practical. Take Washington U. It won’t turn heads the way Columbia will, but it’s decent and you will save money for grad school which is where the name brand/prestige matters more anyway.

The atmosphere at Columbia right now is miserable. Take the washu scholarship.

Incredibly different environments but hard to know which one a current high schooler would prefer.

Do you love in the city now, or suburb?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In my experience, kid that want to go to Columbia really want to go to Columbia.

Unless your kid is begging and pleading, this seems like a no brainer to stay at WashU.

This. My DC got into Columbia RD and turned it down because in the end it wasn't his dream and we came to the conclusion that Columbia is the dream for most kids who attend it. I don't think you can go to Manhattan for college casually. You have to be all-in.

We talked to a lot of current and past students as well as their parents.

Agree - Manhattan is not an impulse choice. Better choice only if kid wants to live and work in NYC after graduating.

I would avoid Columbia at all cost! WashU with a scholarship and the program you want to be in?! How is that even a question! Congratulations!

Anonymous wrote:Wash U for the money. Otherwise, for me personally, no question Columbia.

+1 Columbia is a much higher caliber of school and has global name recognition and internationally renowned staff. Wash U is good too and saving 80K a year is nothing to sneeze at, but if you have the money, I would do Columbia, particularly if your child is planning to do a finance, business or STEM field--there's a lot more going on in NYC than in St. Louis.

Anonymous wrote:Columbia has lost a lot of credibility and is definitely not worth 80k more a year than WashU.
I personally wouldn’t want my kid at Columbia with a bunch of crazy protesting terrorist sympathizers.

The "terrorist sympathizers" are the ones criticizing the protests.

Anonymous wrote:Wash U for the money. Otherwise, for me personally, no question Columbia.

👆👆

Op here, thanks for the responses, many which affirmed what we were thinking.

If he loves Wash U, then there’s your answer.

Are you serious? WashU. Who knows if he'll even be able to get to class at Columbia or if protesters will be blocking the door.

Anonymous wrote:In my experience, kid that want to go to Columbia really want to go to Columbia.

Unless your kid is begging and pleading, this seems like a no brainer to stay at WashU.

This. My DC got into Columbia RD and turned it down because in the end it wasn't his dream and we came to the conclusion that Columbia is the dream for most kids who attend it. I don't think you can go to Manhattan for college casually. You have to be all-in.

We talked to a lot of current and past students as well as their parents.

Anonymous wrote:WashU. Take the money; Columbia won't recover any time soon.

This. At any other time, my answer might have been different. Columbia is effectively dead for 4+ years

In my experience, kid that want to go to Columbia really want to go to Columbia.

Unless your kid is begging and pleading, this seems like a no brainer to stay at WashU.