<p>Hello, hello. I'm currently a high school senior deciding between Cornell and Berkeley for Chemical Engineering, and any advice on the matter would be really appreciated. Before anyone brings this up, I've already done a lot of lurking on CC and have already read a countless number of Cornell vs. Berkeley threads, but I'm still unsure. I don't exactly trust the cross-admit data I found either.</p>
<p>Okay, so here's what I found from my research thus far, and feel free to correct me if anything's incorrect! In fact, I encourage it. (:</p>
<p>If I seem to lean to a school, please let me know. I honestly have no idea which school I prefer at this point. I hope this is the right place to post this, but I guess I could post a link to this thread in the two schools' respective boards later if need be.</p>
<p>DISCLAIMER: LARGE WALLS OF TEXT AHEAD. Please try to resist the urge to tl;dr.</p>
<p>Berkeley's College of Chemistry is absolutely top-notch, and Berkeley Engineering is continuously ranked in the top 3, along with schools like MIT and Stanford. I also really enjoyed the campus vibe when I visited last summer, and I feel like it would be a good "fit." Since I'm Asian, the large Asian demographic may help me feel more at home more easily. Also, since I'm from California and want to stay here later on, there's most likely better networking in the California area, and I would only need to pay in-state tuition (finance is only a really small factor for me though). Not to mention, the weather is much nicer, and there are a lot more things to do in terms of surrounding location. (San Francisco!)</p>
<p>However, one of the courses all CoC freshmen need to take is Chem 4A, notorious for being an extremely difficult weeder class. I do enjoy chemistry, but I'm not sure whether or not I'd be able to handle the rigor of Chem 4A. I took AP Chemistry my sophomore year of high school and got a 5, but I don't think that's a good indicator of success in this class. I'm not afraid of rigor, don't get me wrong. I'll be graduating with 12 AP's under my belt. However, I still need to consider the possibility of having to transfer out because of this course.</p>
<p>Also, I realize that most undergraduates change their mind a lot about their major, and Berkeley has less flexibility in that regard. I'm fairly decent in math (Took AP Calc BC with two 5's junior year) and I really like the sciences, so engineering seemed like a good choice. I'm just not sure about the specific discipline since I don't have a lot of experience in engineering, which is mainly why I wouldn't be surprised if I ended up changing my mind about ChemE. If I end up no longer wanting to do ChemE, my main option would be to switch to Letters and Sciences as the College of Engineering is really difficult to transfer into. (If I did do this, I'd probably try to go for Econ, Math, or CS.)</p>
<p>Lastly, the California budget crisis really worries me, and I don't want to go to a school that's slowly going bankrupt. However, I find it hard to believe that Berkeley would cut too many resources from its chemistry or engineering departments, but if I end up in Letters and Sciences, this could be very, very bad.</p>
<p>However, I feel like I wouldn't have to worry about these issues at Cornell. Since it is a private school, government budget cuts aren't exactly a factor. Also, since you declare your major at the end of sophomore year, I would get to explore my options a bit more and see if ChemE really is for me. Because I'd be in the College of Engineering, I'd be able to study other engineering disciplines if I wanted. However, its location is alright. (I just came back from visiting Ithaca actually.) It's a cute little town, but kind of isolated. I guess I'd be too busy studying to really need outside entertainment, but it'd still be nice. It does seem to have a lot of on-campus entertainment options though. The weather isn't as good as Berkeley's, but I can adapt if need be. I enjoyed the intellectual atmosphere, but I felt like it was an okay "fit." The supposedly "fratty" atmosphere doesn't appeal very much to me since I don't exactly party, but I wouldn't mind joining a sorority or something to expand social circles. The "Ivy League" label doesn't exactly hurt either. </p>
<p>The campus is gorgeous as well. Being so far away from home can help me expand my horizons, and going to a college with a smaller Asian population would be a better representation of the "real world." (On the other hand, pushing myself out of my comfort zone could just be upsetting with no benefits.) However, there might be more discrimination against Asians as a result. However, I feel like Cornell has a more qualified population overall, compared to Berkeley, and it is higher ranked overall if I end up going into a non-engineering related field. Moreover, it does have the best engineering program out of all the Ivies, so it wouldn't be like I would be entering an awful program by not going to Berkeley. (Also, I could stay one more year and pick up my Masters in engineering or go to Berkeley for grad school instead.) Not to mention, it seems like the female/male ratio is a lot more even in Cornell's engineering courses compared to Berkeley. I'm used to being the minority in terms of gender in my high school math classes, so it's not a problem for me. Just an observation. </p>
<p>...I think that's pretty much it. Wow, I wrote a lot. Thanks to anyone that actually bothered to read all of it. I appreciate it. Really.</p>