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this year CU-Engineering did not host a career fair...
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<p>Of course it did... there was some ghetto student-run, for-profit career fair that fell through. But I don't think the economy had much to do with it.</p>
<p>I wouldn't call I ghetto, but yeah the usual annual student run career fair fell through because of disagreements between the engineering student council and the career services people overseeing them for it. I don't know the specific details, but it had little to do with the economy.</p>
<p>This is true. I was being unfair. But the point is that it had nothing to do with the economy.</p>
<p>I am somewhat amazed that many people on this thread are saying "Berkeley" so easily, is this not the Cornell thread? I hope those who replied also represented some of Cornell, not just people supporting their own school! </p>
<p>Perhaps some Cornell students (or others) will give their opinions on what some good reasons are to choose Cornell engineering. Aside from the one poster who mentioned "fit" -- maybe some more general reasons. I can't imagine everyone who chooses Cornell does it just for the Ivy League status. </p>
<p>I do know at least one person who chose to attend Cornell engineering because her dad did too -- kinda interesting reason.</p>
<p>mathboy:</p>
<p>The OP is instate for UC and thus, Cornell is twice the price (assuming ineligible for need-based aid). For a similar education, one has to think long and hard if the extra $100k is worth it over four years (assuming no finaid).</p>
<p>^lol...I would also go with Berkeley. The top notch EECS program (if you're into that), D1 Sports, and the more 'traditional' college experience are just too good to pass.</p>
<p>How does Berkley have a more "traditional" college experience?</p>
<p>Last time I checked, Cornell had sports, great academics, partying, etc. What does Berkely have that Cornell doesn't?</p>
<p>Oh I missed that the OP is in state. I would honestly say, if you're doing EECS, in state, and accepted to both...then I don't feel bad taking a side and favoring paying way less and remaining in state. At that point, if one is even posting on such a thread, it's kind of a giveaway to stay in state, given I'd say one needs a strong reason not to.</p>
<p>haha moneydad stop spamming! useful information is not wanted here.</p>
<p>The Ivy League experience is not the "traditional" college experience. Take it from a guy here who goes to Dartmouth.</p>
<p>berkeley is probably closer to IVY than UCLA is...</p>
<p>i would imagine cornell ENGR is more diverse than berkeley in terms of number of OOS not sure though</p>
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The Ivy League experience is not the "traditional" college experience. Take it from a guy here who goes to Dartmouth.
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<p>Sure, but Cornell is not Dartmouth. And I'm not certain what this 'Ivy League' experience is that you are referring to. Cornell and Dartmouth are two very different institutions, just like Harvard and Brown and Princeton and Columbia and Yale and Penn are all very dissimilar from each other.</p>
<p>one thing to keep in mind is that tons of engineering students switch out of their majors b4 junior year, because they find that engineering program is different from what they expected it to be in hs or it is just too damn demanding in nature. so, id choose a school that is more well rounded and offers an environment that suits u better, without considering small differences in engineering programs' ranks. plus, if you qualify for financial aid, your cost of tuition for cornell may not be significantly higher than berkeley's. if the cost of attending either institution is similar, i would choose cornell in a heartbeat.</p>
<p>I don't know where you get your data patlees88.</p>
<p>In Engineering, you don't declare a major till first or second semester sophomore year. Before that, everyone is undecided and is shopping around. Yes, a lot of people change their undecided minds from one major to the other, but it's not "changing their major" per se.</p>
<p>Also, I'm not sure how many students switch out of the engineering college, but I can't imagine it's too high.</p>
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id choose a school that is more well rounded
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<p>With the exception of a hotel school & ILR, there probably ain't much difference in the academic offerings.</p>
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offers an environment that suits u better
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<p>That's what we've all been saying, but whether the environmental fit is worth the extra ~$25/yr is up to the OP.</p>
<p>^ lol... if anyone is eligible for financial aid, the cost differential between the two schools would definitely not be 25k/yr. Think about it before writing same comments over and over again.</p>
<p>As for my assertion that Cornell may be more well rounded, I did not solely imply academic offerings, rather, the student body that consists of diverse, interesting, and more well-rounded individuals. It is my knowledge that around 90% of Berkeley's students are from the state of California. At Cornell, you have access to individuals from many different states, countries, and backgrounds from whom you have chance to learn from and interact with. College is not just about studying your textbooks and taking tests. It is where you personally grow as well. </p>
<p>Not to mention, Cornell does offer more flexible and diverse academic programs compared to any state school, given its size. Despite the fact that the student body is not as large as most public schools, it has incredible selection of courses, majors, and programs of study that the students can explore. ILR, Hotel, CALS, HumEC, Architecture and many of their majors such as PAM, AEM, and so on are unique. Not to mention, many students from engineering or college of arts and sciences are free to explore courses outside their college/majors.</p>
<p>@chendrix:</p>
<p>Although I can not provide precise numbers of engineers who transfer out of their college, I heard my advisor at CAS once said to an engineering student that over 90 students attempt to transfer into CAS each semester, and over half of them are usually from engineering college. This figure, obviously, is for engineering students who only transfer into college of arts and sciences, not counting others who may attempt to transfer into other colleges at cornell.</p>
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I heard my advisor at CAS once said to an engineering student that over 90 students attempt to transfer into CAS each semester, and over half of them are usually from engineering college.
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<p>I could believe 30-50 a semester, but not 90. All but 10 percent of entering Cornell engineering students who graduate do so from the engineering school.</p>
<p>Figure 8</p>
<p>S was faced with the same decision 3 years ago, and chose Cornell, not only because he had lived in CA all his life and wanted to experience something different, but also because the engineering program at Cornell is more flexible. At Berkeley, it can be difficult for an engineering student to change his/her major unless that person was originally accepted as an Undecided major. Certain majors are "impacted" (such as EECS and BioE), meaning that the number of openings for students desiring to transfer into those majors is very low. Since most entering freshmen are not familiar with what an engineering curriculum entails until their college career is well under way, Berkeley's policy about changing majors was a real problem. There is a reason for that though - Berkeley guarantees that every engineer will be able to graduate in 4 years, and there is no way to do that without discouraging students from changing their majors.</p>
<p>On the other hand, Cornell is about $25K per year, or $100K over 4 years, above in-state Berkeley without financial aid. The difference is significant, especially in these economic times, and if S had been 3 years younger, the decision for us would have been a tough one. Other considerations are: 1. The long-term financial implications for you and your family of undertaking such additional cost, 2. Whether you need to take on debt to finance that cost and how repayment of that debt will affect your future plans, 3. Whether your plans include grad school (if so, it's better to finish undergraduate debt-free). Cornell, being one of the top engineering schools, is on many recruiters' must-visit list, but nothing can beat Berkeley's proximity to Silicon Valley for engineering internships. As far as Ivy or Ivy-like prestige is concerned, for engineering, Berkeley and Cornell are generally considered equals (although USNWR may place Berkeley higher, the difference is not significant). And finally, unlike law firms, Wall Street, and consulting firms, in engineering, future employers are more interested in your major (coursework), your GPA, and whether the program you graduated from is ABET certified than where you graduated from. </p>
<p>Good luck - you can't go wrong with either choice.</p>
<p>As a note on major changing -- I am quite certain, having flirted with all these ideas before and asked my advisers, that Berkeley lets you change without way too much difficulty at all if your grades are pretty good. I know a guy who switched from Chem-E to EECS (those guys are different colleges even) and then switched around more, and then went back to EECS. Key is the good grades part -- not everyone has those, and those who don't may very well have issues. Unfortunately, those who switch because they are getting thrashed apart have the most issues, and those who switch just out of preference have the least.</p>