Columbia or SMU undergrad
Hi y’all,
I’m torn between choosing between SMU and Columbia. I will be studying History at both schools, and finance (at SMU).
My goals in the short term (2-5 years) are to work in REPE and be established in the Metroplex. Maybe someday open up my own shop? Not sure, but I am open to it. In the long term, I will scratch a dream of mine and go to law school and practice law.
I always hear great things about SMU and their connections in North Texas but I also hear about the elite networking opportunities from Columbia.
I have also spoken to some Columbia alumni and have been told it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. However, I don’t want to overlook the opportunity given in front of me.
Now my question is, given these two schools and some of my aspirations, what do you think and why?
tuition is covered for both schools
First thing I would do is anonymize your WSO username. Took me about 60 seconds to find all your socials etc.
Personally I would never turn down an undergrad Ivy admission. It will open tons and tons of doors for you. SMU is a great school for real estate and has a great network in Dallas, but an Ivy League resume in a stack of resumes is going to get bumped to the top of the pile at most places.
SMU has excellent North Texas and real estate connections, but is also fun & very social school. You know yourself better than I do, but that can be a distraction to some people when it comes to grades etc. Columbia is much less focused on social life.
Also seems like you need to figure out what you actually want to do longer term. Do you want to work in REPE, do you want to open your own real estate show, do you want to be a lawyer....?
I second this as an SMU alum. Take Columbia offer, can always make your way to Texas if you want to experience Dallas post-grad
I'm in a similar situation, SMU (Finance) vs. Columbia GS (Financial Economics), whole ride at both with housing money. I'm looking to transfer as a Sophomore, and I'd like to know what school I should attend. I'm leaning towards Columbia GS because I want to be at a good school for IB recruiting that starts this fall for summer 2027. But I've never lived in NY. After recruitment for IB this fall as a sophomore, I would also consider transferring to Harvard or UPenn as a junior to have that resume prestige. With all this being said, can I get your take on this situation?
Just take the Columbia admit, don't overthink it.
You're really already thinking about trying to transfer to Harvard or Penn? Kids these days are insane.
From what I've heard, AOs would never accept a transfer from an ivy because they want to give students the opportunity to go to a top school. If you're already at Columbia, they're not helping you as much as a cc kid.
I appreciate the advice.
Since you asked, overall, I see myself opening up my own shop down the line.
Now let me rephrase my question, would an Ivy League degree be that big of a boost when it comes to beginning and running my own shop?
If you ever want or need to raise institutional capital, having an Ivy League school on your resume will absolutely help.
For the same cost hands down Columbia.
Columbia will have your brand on a different stratosphere for the rest of your life. Just do it.
have noticed that Columbia alumni tend to dunk on it more than other school's alumni - maybe due to less school spirit. But they're taking it for granted, Columbia opens up way more doors and prestige unfortunately does matter in a lot of cases
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Do you do anything with your time that doesn't involve scraping WSO for opportunities to dunk on people 20+ years younger than you? My god man you seem genuinely miserable.
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SMU is #91 by US News
Columbia is #13...
SMU is a definitely a good school with a great social life- but to be blunt, if you don’t take Columbia here you are out of your mind. Hope this helps
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