Columbia: the only Ivy in a major city (Manhattan). Direct access to internships on Wall Street, the UN, NYT, Bloomberg, MoMA. Mandatory Core Curriculum. Need-aware for internationals (be careful!). Binding ED.

Harvard: Cambridge MA, larger, the most diverse professional network. Need-blind intl.

Yale: New Haven CT, Gothic atmosphere, Yale Law #1. Need-blind intl.

Princeton: Princeton NJ, the smallest, focused on undergrad. Need-blind intl. The most generous FA.

For journalism, business, international relations, finance, performing arts: Columbia is ideal. For intensive pure liberal arts: Yale or Princeton. For a tech or medical career: Harvard.

The Core Curriculum is the set of courses required of every Columbia College student (not SEAS). All students take the same subjects, in the same order:

Literature Humanities (full year): Homer, Greek tragedy, Plato, Virgil, Augustine, Dante, Shakespeare, Cervantes, Austen, Dostoevsky, Woolf. Contemporary Civilization (year): Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Marx, Foucault, Du Bois. Art Humanities (semester): the history of Western art. Music Humanities (semester): Western classical music. Plus Frontiers of Science, University Writing, a foreign language and Global Core (non-Western texts).

Nearly a third of the 4 years is spent in the Core. Advantage: all your classmates read the same books, so you can discuss the Iliad with anyone on campus. Disadvantage: less flexibility than at Yale or Harvard.

Columbia College (CC): roughly 4,500 students, liberal arts. You complete the full Core Curriculum and choose your major at the end of year 2 from roughly 80 options. Maximum flexibility in the first 2 years.

Columbia Engineering (SEAS, Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science): roughly 1,700 students. You apply directly to an engineering specialization (Computer Science, Biomedical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, Mechanical, Chemical, Civil etc.). SEAS has its own shorter Core plus intensive math requirements.

SEAS is slightly more selective than CC. You apply to one, not both. Switching from CC to SEAS is very hard (it requires specific prerequisites). From SEAS to CC is easier. For Romanians interested in Computer Science, both have excellent departments.

Columbia uses binding Early Decision, unlike Harvard, Yale and Princeton, which use non-binding Early Action. Binding means: if you are admitted in ED, you are REQUIRED to accept the offer and withdraw all other applications you have submitted.

The only exception: if the financial aid offered is insufficient for you to afford Columbia, you can withdraw from ED. For need-aware Romanians applying with aid, this is a real option.

Columbia's ED acceptance rate: roughly 10-12 percent, significantly higher than Regular Decision (~3.5 percent). ED deadline: November 1. Decision: December 15. Apply ED only if Columbia is absolutely #1 on your list and you are financially prepared.

Important: Columbia is need-aware for internationals, unlike Harvard, Yale, Princeton and MIT. Your financial situation is taken into account in the admissions decision. The more aid you request, the stronger your academic and personal profile needs to be.

But for internationals admitted with aid, Columbia covers 100 percent of demonstrated need, with no loans. The average aid for internationals in 2023-24: roughly $79,000 per year. Total international aid: $19 million in 2023-24.

Tiers (from 2022-23, after the April 2022 expansion):

Families with annual income below $66,000 and typical assets: zero parent contribution. Plus a $2,000 start-up grant for new admits.

Families with annual income below $150,000 and typical assets (up to ~$250,000): no tuition. The family pays partially for housing/meals.

Families above $150,000: considerable aid depending on assets and specific circumstances. No strict cutoff.

CRITICAL for Romanians: you must apply for aid AT THE TIME OF APPLICATION. If you are admitted without having requested aid, you cannot request it in years 2-4. Decide in advance whether you will apply for aid.

Columbia announced in February 2024 that it remains permanently test-optional, being, together with Cornell, the only Ivies that do not require SAT/ACT (Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Brown, Dartmouth and UPenn require testing for the Class of 2029 onward).

If you have a competitive score (SAT 1500+, ACT 34+), you send it, it confirms your academic calibre. The median for Columbia students who submitted scores: SAT ~1530, ACT ~34. For highly competitive internationals, it is recommended to submit a good score, especially given the need-aware status.

Columbia's College Board code: 2116. ACT: 2717.

The Columbia Supplement has 4 list-type requirements (each roughly 75-100 words). These are unique among the Ivies and define Columbia as an institution obsessed with intellectual curiosity:

List 1: books read for pleasure in the last 2 years (not for school).

List 2: journals, magazines, newspapers, websites and podcasts you read or listen to regularly.

List 3: films, works of art, music, performance arts, novels, podcasts that impressed you.

List 4: 3-4 specific things you would discuss with new friends at Columbia.

Plus short essays: Why Columbia, a community that shaped you, your view of New York as an academic laboratory. The lists reveal who you truly are. Columbia looks for authenticity, not names dropped for effect.

Columbia is the only Ivy where the city is an integral part of the education. Internships at the UN (10 km away), JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, NYT, Bloomberg, MoMA, the Met, Carnegie Hall, all reachable by subway in 30-45 minutes. Internships during the school year (not just summer), direct networking with industry, unmatched cultural events.

Trade-off: you live in Manhattan, on-campus housing is more cramped than at Yale or Princeton. The cost of living is the highest of all the Ivies. The university bubble life is less intense. Many Romanian students at Columbia have mentioned that the first year in Manhattan is overwhelming, but transformative.

For Romanians: the Romanian community in NYC is large (estimated at over 50,000 in the metropolitan area, in Sunnyside Queens, Astoria, Ridgewood). Romanian Orthodox church, restaurants, shops. Direct TAROM Bucharest-JFK flights or a short layover via Frankfurt/Vienna.