<p>I've been accepted to 9 schools and waitlisted at 1. I'd say these are my current top choices. I've already visited UCLA and I love it. I am going to visit Berkeley and USC this week. If I had to eliminate one right now it would probably be USC but it's still an amazing school and I don't want to do that until I've actually seen it. I currently live in California and I was accepted into the engineering departments at each of these schools. I never thought of applying out of state until this year. I love California but Cornell is so fantastic I definitely must consider it. I'm slightly leaning towards Berkeley at the moment but it's really too soon to jump to conclusions. I will probably make a new thread after I've visited them and narrowed it down, but for now I'd just like some input. Feel free to ask any questions ^0^ Thanks so much!</p>
<p>Berkeley engineering is tough to beat. Congrats!! Go Bears!</p>
<p>Visit though… The Berkeley campus is nice park-like but the city is a bit gritty.<br>
More interesting though than LA and the public transportation is way better. Access to airports and the city with BART. (Crappy) Football is played on campus. 
</p>
<p>I’ll leave the engineering comparisons to posters more knowledgeable than I. </p>
<p>Culturally, these schools attract similar students, but Cornell’s location and physical environment is vastly different from your California choices. </p>
<p>Have you visited Cornell? If yes, how did you like it? If no, can you visit before you make a decision? The isolated rural small town location is either a plus or a minus. My son got his graduate degree from Cornell, and for him the spectacular scenery and access to nature was a huge positive, but for sure the winters are long, cold and snowy.</p>
<p>It also depends on how you feel about stepping out of your safety zone and trying another part of the country. Cornell as an ivy league school has a strong reputation all over America and internationally. Not that the others don’t, but there’s a slight east/west bias. Internships and summer jobs would skew somewhat more toward east coast for Cornell and west coast for the others, so you should also think about where you are most likely to end up after graduation.</p>
<p>And lastly, how’s the money? Equal or one more than the others?</p>
<p>Agree with above posters. All are great engineering options and don’t see Cornell as any “greater” from academic standpoint. If you love California, make sure you’d be ready for long, cold, snowy and (toughest of all for me) gray winters before considering Cornell. Personally really do like Cornell campus though, well, at least come May. </p>
<p>I’d love to visit Cornell but I’m not sure when I’d be able to. Money is definitely a consideration. I can still apply for scholarships but I’m from a middle class family and didn’t receive any grants from these schools. For tuition alone, not including housing or anything, Cal and UCLA are about 14k, USC 23k, and Cornell 47k. I think that’s one of the reasons USC is kind of iffy for me because it’s not really any better in prestige or engineering but it costs a lot. The price and distance of Cornell are definitely biasing me towards Berkeley. I picture myself here rather than the east coast after graduation but there’s no way for me to know I won’t love it over there. People here have been siding with Berkeley but that’s probably because they don’t know much about Cornell so I’d definitely love to hear from those on the side of Cornell as well so I can get an opposing view. </p>
<p>Cornell is not worth 30k more per year than Berkeley.</p>
<p>Agree with @UCBChemEGrad Go to Cal! #GoBears</p>
<p>I have a friend with those choices among others too! Pretty interested in the away experience, but the cost will be opposite of yours. Not engineering. Sure entertain all your options but that Cornell cost really seals your fate for a middle class family. Look into doing a semester on the east coast or abroad. Or summer REU. </p>
<p>The Bay Area is a really special place. Don’t take things at face value.</p>
<p>Do you mean Cornell is $47K in total for 4-5 years? Or is it $47K a year? The former is not good, but maybe. The latter, no way! </p>
<p>OP:
You have the same options as my daughter. Although she dropped USC and Berkeley and is deciding between UCLA and Cornell. Like you we’re not qualified for any need based aid. She also got the 1/2 tuition scholarship as you at USC.</p>
<p>@momrath
OP is not qualified for any need based aid so 47K for tuition/Fees per year for Cornell. That’s just for tuition/fees. I think full COA is about 63K per year.</p>
<p>@2018dad why did she decide against Berkeley? </p>
<p>Hi!</p>
<p>I’m currently a freshman at Cornell and I had to make a similar decision last year (UC Berkeley vs. USC vs. Cornell). I’m a native Californian from the Bay Area so it was definitely a hard decision.</p>
<p>As for money, definitely wait for the financial aid package! I come from a middle class family and Cornell actually gave me the most financial aid (~30K in grants) out of all the schools so it was actually cheapest to come here.</p>
<p>Aside from money, I really love Cornell and I’m so so so glad I went so far away for college. Sure it’s far, but you get to experience something completely new. I actually never visited the campus before the first day of school. And to this day, I still can’t believe how beautiful it is. Berkeley’s campus seems so puny compared to Cornell’s campus and I personally love the sprawling gorges and trees. Fall in Ithaca is simply breathtaking–the orange trees and beautiful sunsets… Winter’s are pretty as well (and very cold!). But here are some things that I think would affect your decision.</p>
<p>Going to Cornell meant a completely fresh start and an opportunity to learn and grow. None of my high school classmates came to Cornell, while I would know at least 20 people if I went to Berkeley. It’s so freeing to completely reinvent yourself. Also, for the first time in my life, I felt unique. I’m an Asian female and in the Bay Area, I was one in a million… But at Cornell, I’m different. People are always so curious about what California is like or what my culture is like.</p>
<p>Going to Cornell also means exploring the east coast. People on the east coast are different from people on the west coast and I am able to meet people that I never would’ve met in California. Also, Cornell is much more diverse than Berkeley/USC/UCLA, thanks, in part, to affirmative action, so you get to meet people from all walks of life and ethnicity. You can tell that each person’s application was read carefully and not put into a machine that only looks at numbers (Berkeley/UCLA). People here are very well-rounded; I have friends who have written books, are on the board of major medical associations and won science competitions such as Intel/Siemens while graduating from the top of their class. The people around you will push you to be better and many truly love what they do.</p>
<p>I too want to go back to California to work, but going to Cornell gives you so much perspective in life. You realize the world is a big place, filled with opportunities and different people. It’s easy to get trapped in the California bubble, but going out of state makes you rethink that.</p>
<p>Hope it helps! If you have any specific questions let me know.</p>
<p>
Unlike you, she’s not an Eng’g major. She wants a blend between CS and Linguistics. She found this major at UCLA (Linguistics and Computer Science). She’s also a Regents scholar at UCLA so she has 2K/year plus priority enrollment. She also doesn’t like UCB’s sorounding area.</p>
<p>@apple56
Great post. We too are Asians, so in that regard she can relate.</p>
<p>Go to Berkeley - the better school overall, more prestigious, superior engineering department, better weather, is in California, etc…</p>