I turned down a scholarship at UPenn to attend the more expensive Columbia. I still wonder if I made the right choice.

The author chose Columbia University over a scholarship at the University of Pennsylvania. Courtesy of Santiago Barraza Lopez When I applied to grad school, I knew I wanted to go to Columbia University in New York City. But then the University of Pennsylvania offered me a scholarship that would reduce my costs. I still chose Columbia because of the New York prestige, but I wonder if I made the right choice. When I decided to pursue a master's degree in the US, I was not simply looking for a good school. I had built up an idea of what studying there could mean for my career and, if I am being honest, for my life. I applied to several universities, but Columbia University and New York were the dream I had absorbed from years of movies and television while growing up in Mexico.