In case anyone cares, now that I've finished a full school year at Columbia, I thought I'd do a comparison between Columbia and University of Puget Sound. First, academically:
I don't think that it can be summed up as simply as statements such as "Columbia/UPS is easier" and "I got a better education at Columbia/UPS". There's a lot of different things to be factored in. Columbia is definitely more of a grind. That's for sure. While no class I had this year at Columbia was harder than the hardest classes I had at UPS, there is definitely more volume here. At UPS, four classes was the norm, and usually at least one of those was a I-don't-have-to-work-hard-at-all-for-this-class class. At Columbia, you need to be taking 5 classes, and at this level of a Mechanical Engineering major, they are all legit. You can't really mail it in for any of them. So I'd say I was probably busier with school work this past year than I ever was at UPS, but I could handle most of the material. For the most part, I had a pretty good grasp on the concepts. There were definitely a few classes at UPS where I was much more lost, struggling to keep my head above water.
Professors: Another topic for which there is a lot to say. For one, it is pretty easy to say that at UPS, the professors care more about the students than they do here. At UPS, professors were there to teach, and they did research because that's just sort of what you do aside from teaching (get on the tenure track, etc). At Columbia, it seems like the professors are there to do research, and they teach because that's just sort of what you do aside from research (after all, they do need a venue for their research). At UPS, classes were smaller, and, in general, professors much more personable and approachable. This serves well for education purposes. On the other hand, with a few exceptions, the professors are smarter here. It amazes me sometimes to think about how much some of these people know. That does not necessarily translate into being a good teacher, although it often does. Sometimes I'm in class thinking "I could teach this lesson better than you are." But usually that's not the case. I can't say for sure which institution gave/is giving me the better education. Small classes with approachable professors is a huge plus. No question you learn better ("learn better" - it sounds weird, but that's what I'm going with). But as a ME major here, you are just bombarded with knowledge--it's hard to say I'm not learning more.
That being said, I will say this. And it may seem surprising. This point was actually brought up by Bethany, but I have to agree: students here are not held to very high standards. The prevailing attitude when it comes to grading seems to be "Oh you didn't do well on this test. But nobody else did either. So we'll just give pretty much everyone A's and B's." Not that there were never any curves at UPS. But they are much more generous here. I mean, it is no easy task to write a test that's hard enough to separate those who know their shit from those who don't but easy enough so that it actually can be done (within a time limit as well). My suggestion to most professors would be make the tests easier, and curve less generously. One thing I said about UPS after going there was that there was definitely some grade inflation. I can name a few classes where I felt I deserved a grade significantly worse than the one I received. But I have to say grade inflation there is nothing compared to what it is here. Even slightly above average can get you at least a B+. I'm curious to know what the average GPA is among ME majors, the engineering school as a whole, and Columbia University as a whole. Also UPS as a whole and physics majors at UPS. Really, the average GPA should be a 2.0. But I bet here its about a 3.2. That guess is completely blind by the way. It could be way off. But part of the problem is that anything lower than a B- these days is disastrous. A C used to be average. Now it's "what the fuck am I gonna do Im never gonna get into Med school." It'd be nice if we could go back to when there was a nice bell curve centered around C, but the fact is, professors want to look after their students. I read an article in the Columbia newspaper a while ago that said that in Columbia College--not the engineering school--a couple years ago 52% of grades given were an A or A-. Students did exceptional/outstanding work 52% of the time? Really?
Anyway, on a selfish level, I did find a nice little loophole for getting into Columbia. People always seem pretty impressed when they find out I'm at Columbia. But all I did was take what I needed to at UPS and get at least a 3.0. It's funny. Most of us Dual Degree students agree that we would not have gotten into Columbia out of high school. And yet compared to the students who did, we do pretty well. So I guess that says something about education at small liberal arts schools. I think also it helps being a year or two older and wiser, but whatever.
Comparing the schools socially is no easy task either. Mainly this is hard because I spent 4 years at UPS, and I have a lot of friends who I am very very close with. So its easy to say that I had better times back at UPS. But its really not all that different. Play beer pong for a while, then go out. At UPS it was out to a bar or house party. No house parties here. On the rare occasion you do go to a dorm/apartment party, its usually a bit cramped. Columbia being in NYC is the other wild card. Obviously, New York is sweet. For the most part, we usually stick to the 5 or 6 bars that Columbia kids go to around here. But when we do make it downtown or wherever else, its pretty refreshing. Anyway, there's not much direction to this comparison, but I guess what I'm trying to say is that the social scenes at the two schools are pretty similar. And they're both probably about what you would expect. You got your different types of groups, and fortunately, my type of group is pretty easy to have fun with.
Girls are better looking here, but it's nothing to brag about being better looking than UPS. Actually, at UPS, I don't think it really was that bad. But its so small, its like you're never gonna see anything new. Sometimes I wish I went to a big school, partly for this reason. Also, a good sports school would be sweet. I mean I can't imagine what it would be like to be at Florida these days. 2 basketball championships in a row, with a football crown between them. That'd be awesome.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed that.
