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!

24 Comments
 
Most Helpful

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.

 

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)

 

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.

 

3 things

  1. 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.

  2. NW is going to place better for Chicago IB and consulting

  3. Core is inflationary, not deflationary. Up to you on the “bad press” aspect. Prestige has not changed

 
Controversial

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.

 

Columbia 100%

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

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