Northwestern vs. Columbia is there a clear winner?
rising senior here looking to early decision northwestern or columbia college.
i know northwestern is a great target, but will that still be the case if i dont get into NUIBC? and is the student body getting more competitive?
i know columbia is a great target, but will that still be the case in a one or two years after more and more bad press? and if core curriculum classes take a toll on my gpa?
considering brown as an alternative ed but prefer the above institutions.
any advice would be appreciated!
You will place the exact same from both schools and the rest of the Ivy/Ivy+ type schools so just ED to whichever one you like more.
yes, but no two schools are created equal though. columbia has grade deflating core and northwestern only has one club that has the EB/BB/PE pipeline
Visit. Apply ED to the one which you like more. It isn’t Ross vs Wharton. The point they are trying to make is you are trying to weigh intangibles, trade-offs with no good choice, points where there isn’t enough good data/people will argue both ways, or making a mountain out of a molehill (e.g. 2 BAML SAs vs 3 BAML SAs). The result is that there is 1. No clear winner, or 2. The difference is so small that whether or not you like the school/student body/location—which will affect your performance/effort towards recruiting, GPA, etc.—will play a far larger role.
both are great options and the difference is likely insignificant, but historically columbia has had better placements (likely combination of proximity to NYC + more students interested in finance)
Columbia
pm
I would prefer Northwestern tbh. Chicago is great! Columbia isn't a place I want to be at rn.
What about georgetown?
What is the point of your comment?? Georgetown is a great school, particularly for NYC IB, but it has nothing to do with this post.
Kay Columbia reject thank you 💀
Both are great schools. Columbia might have an edge in placement due to its location but Northwestern still places strongly into BB/EB and even some buyside firms if you get into a top club. I’d prefer to go to Northwestern for a multitude of reasons, namely culture, but it’s your decision on where to ED at the end of the day. If your profile is competitive enough, you should consider shooting your shot at other top schools in RD and forego ED (or REA somewhere instead) to preserve some optionally for yourself come time to commit to a school.
Columbia will be slightly better, but you should choose based on fit. Great options. I wouldn't let current events sway you as by the time you're a junior or senior the students will be focused on some other political issue like Myanmar. And it's not like Northwestern won't be super liberal either. It's not the finance kids protesting.
would it change the picture now that i tell you im international?
3 things
Columbia places lights out compared to northwestern for the places that this forum cares about. Multiple kids into everyone GS/JPM/MS and every single EB + Multiple into buyside. For NW, only few make it out to NYC.
NW is going to place better for Chicago IB and consulting
Core is inflationary, not deflationary. Up to you on the “bad press” aspect. Prestige has not changed
You have no idea what you are talking about. Northwestern sends 95% of kids that recruit finance to NYC. The only kids that sign Chicago are those who are from Chicago and want to stay in the area. We arguably have the best buyside placement after HYPSW. Kids get BX/KKR/Bain/Ares/etc every year. In fact, Northwestern sends the most kids to Blackstone every year after Harvard and Wharton. Also send kids to every single EB, and are a target school for GS/MS/JPM with 7 kids alone signing GS Classics this year. But sure, keep on speaking on a school you don’t know a thing about.
Ok intern. Buyside placement thing just not true.
i understand that prestige has not changed, but would columbia still be worthwhile to attend as an international?
I remember another recent thread where it became very clear that there are some dedicated NW fanboys on this site who care more about pumping their school, and particularly their school's mythical placement abilities, than about giving you good information. Be cautious about where your info comes from.
Don't pick a school for tactical reasons. By "tactical" I mean like, these weird arguments that XYZ school has an advantage because the banks don't realize that way fewer kids want IB that that school and thus the seat/competition ratio is better. You hear this shit all the time at both undergrad and MBA schools and it's nonsense. Not saying the banks are perfect, but they have been building big classes from the same schools for years and they more or less know the deal. This isn't a good method for choosing schools.
Both schools should place you well if you do well.
For that reason I've generally been very opposed to choosing schools for small differences in prestige. I'm always that guy saying it's all about the individual, trust your gut and go where you feel comfortable and will excel personally. And I still say that today . . if one of these two places feels more right to you, absolutely go there.
But if you don't feel your gut pulling you one way or the other, and you're really torn . . Columbia does have a brand edge. The schools may be close in whatever ranking or placement data today, but one will always be the best school (by a good margin) in the top finance city (by a good margin) and the other will be sharing the top place with a neighboring school in a city that may or may not remain an important finance hub as it hurtles toward municipal bankruptcy.
And I say that as a guy who loves Chicago and expects it will probably be fine as a finance capital in the future. And I say that knowing that NW primarily places in NYC, not Chicago. But if we're looking for a tiebreaker I think there's a bit of daylight there.
I would bet against headline risk being an issue for Columbia for any lasting period of time. Libtard movements come and go. They'll get tired of anti-semitism soon enough and find the next thing.
Columbia 100%
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