Need some advice in choosing Undergrad

If you like studying liberal arts, then Columbia is the winner. In terms of an education in liberal arts, Columbia will top out UPenn CAS, especially since they have that core system where you have to read things like Plato etc etc.

No $ problems? Have no problem with being on-campus in the middle of the city / a few blocks from the hood?

Columbia (no doubt).

Columbia.

Any more opinions? Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Bumping this up. Any further advice will be welcome. Thanks in advance!

• Seedy UB.

Columbia seemed to work fine for Warren Buffer (for his MBA)

This is undergrad though. And, lol, that was Buffet. I'm a mere mortal.

I'm starting to lean towards Penn. Great liberal arts. Good social life. Ability to take 5-6 Wharton/Engineering classes. So, good choice?

How would Penn CAS compare with Richard Ivey in terms of recruiting, in your opinion?

hope this doesn't turn into another ivey vs. queens thread

Nah don't worry about that. I cut out Queen's already! =D

But Ivey is pretty impressive and I'll be gunning for Toronto offices as a back-up. So, it's hard to decide between the two.

way easier to go from US-->Canada than Canada-->US

Kk. Thanks.

So I guess the consensus is,

Penn CAS >>> Richard Ivey ?

yup no question.

I'm just a lowly college student but from reading this site I would say Columbia. Apparently getting into IB from a Canadian school is harder and as for Penn I know people in CAS feel at a real disadvantage to the Wharton kids in terms of recruiting.

Again those opinions are just from reading this site. Personally though, go for Columbia. Great school, great curriculum. A bit too far uptown for my tastes but being in Manhattan allows for more networking/internships/fun.

edit: double post

If you want to work in the US, take Columbia. Ivey is good for Canada, but sends less than 20 kids to the US each year for IBD (and these are the top kids at Ivey). Penn also does significantly better than this.

If you want to work in Canada, take Ivey

That's what I'm having difficulty with. NYC is my first choice, but there's a high chance it wont work out, so I have Toronto as my back-up. I just hope Penn and Columbia have as much clout as Ivey does in Toronto. If so, then I don't think I'll take Ivey.

Colombians

Kk, I just eliminated all my Canadian schools.

Does it matter that I like Penn more, as a school? At Columbia I'll be studying Financial Econ, which is a new major. And at Penn I'll be studying Economics and IR with a few Finance and Accounting courses.

So, I like Penn more, but Columbia's more relevant to my interests. Lol, I know I shouldn't be complaining, but I just can't make this decision.

If you guys can offer up some real reasons for picking one school over the other, it'd be great.

Columbia--opportunity to get internships during the school year, great recruitment, relevant courses. If you like Penn better, you can go there and still land a solid offer, but I think Columbia is the better option.

I would not bank on the Penn to wharton transition. i think you need a 3.8 freshman year to have a chance of an internal transfer so it's very tough

that said, i don't think columbia and penn are THAT different. if you go to penn and interviewers ask "why not wharton" just say you wanted a broader, liberal arts education, but you have the best of both worlds bc you took wharton classes and held your own. penn also has a much more traditional campus, fraternity social scene while columbia is a city school (though more campus oriented than say NYU) so depending on what you like thats a big deal

Hey, thanks for those responses! I think I'll be going with Columbia, since I applied to US schools to study the Liberal Arts without forgoing career opportunities, and Columbia seems most like that kind of school.

P.S: Do you guys know where I can get a career survey report for Columbia undergraduates? [I saw one for Penn CAS and SEAS, and wasn't too impressed.]

Thanks again for all the help. I really appreciate it.

Bumping this up. Anyone have any link to career survey reports for Columbia undergraduates?

Thanks in advance!

Honestly, you don't have to be choosing between Penn CAS and Ivey cuz you definitely will go to Columbia.

Think in this way - if you choose Ivey.................. you are giving up NYC before even trying.

How about Ivey comparing to Columbia? No brainer.

As a CC alum, I can say with authority that Columbia, while it has perfectly intelligent engineering students, does not have an equivalently presitgious engineering program (none of the Ivy's do except Cornell iirc).

I turned down two jobs in Toronoto this winter at two major banks, I think the ability to move to Canada is a given.

Columbia Career services is good at placement, but poor at student or external relations (if you go to CC, you will NEED to be aggressive, but once you are, the world falls in your lap).

That's the core of it. Are you a self-starter and are you aggressive? Can you handle a labyrinthine bureaucracy? If so, then CC>*.

Last piece of advice: apply to live in the LLC (Hartley/Wallach). Carmen if you really party hard. Do not rush, Greek life is the UBS of Columbia. Furnald is a death trap socially. Your time at CC depends strongly on what dorm you start out in.

Columbia is undoubtedly the right choice man :) Congratulations!

First, congrads!

I don't know much about the other schools but can input on Columbia and Penn:

I was admitted as a transfer student to CAS (awaiting scholarship info) and have seen Columbia/know people studying there. if you like NYC and aren't big on college campuses/traditional college experiences and LOVE the idea of an almost puuure liberal arts education via the core, go there.

If you're looking for an academic powerhouse that also parties hard, a relatively large beautiful traditional college campus and no issues with being able to afford the surrounding city - go to Penn.

In terms of undergraduate recruitment, I'd assume both are heavily recruited, being such great schools and relatively close to Wall Street. I do however have a friend that interned at UBS IBD as a sophomore doing HR stuff among other things, and said that UPenn is THE most recruited undergraduate university for finance - probably because of Wharton - and as such as a CAS student you'll have no issue getting access to the financial worlds bustling team of HR and campus recruiters. You will though have to kick butt to compete with your Wharton peers. That being said, you can take advantage of the "one university policy" and take courses in Wharton, and try and leverage that on your resume.

No one can choose for you, but I love Patts cheesesteaks and the beautiful hogwarts like campus -- I'd go Penn :)

Guys, I need help again. :/

Duke finally matched Columbia and Penn's aid package last week after refusing to do so twice. I enrolled at Columbia but I can withdraw before tomorrow. I've been thinking about this, and researching this, for three days and have somewhat developed a preference for one of them. But I'd still love to hear from you guys, since I don't know much, and you guys are actually in the industry.

So, Columbia vs Duke for the I-Banking hopeful. Which one would you recommend?

Thanks one again. Your opinions have been invaluable in my college selection process!