<p>Title explains it all. I know this is the Penn forum with many Penn students, but try to be unbiased.</p>
<p>They're similar. Cornell is probably better for pure biology, while Penn is probably better for "applied biology"...can't go wrong with either one though. At the undergraduate level, the prestige of the undergraduate program is not all that important, and the potential to conduct research with world class professors is present at both schools.</p>
<p>it depends on what aspect of biology you're looking into. For pure science, while both schools may have excellent research going on, the bio curriculum at the undergrad level is overrun by students of the premedical variety, in tracks that are notoriously competitive at both schools (i've heard cornell's is a bit more outright cutthroat, but i've seen it first & heard it second hand at penn too), so in that sense they are very similar. In biomedical areas of research, Penn has a big edge given the presence of one of the premier medical schools and assosciated complexes in the country, plus several hospital, and the renowned Wistar Institute for cancer research (it's not actually part of penn, but it's on campus and penn students work there all the time and most of the staff there is also listed as penn staff: also an interesting tidbit, wistar is where the line of lab rats that is used in virtually every animal-dependent lab in the country was developed, along with the rabies vaccine). Overall, I'd give the nod to Penn, but that's probably in large part because I know a lot more about the programs and research that goes on.</p>
<p>A lot of people incorrectly associate Cornell with science, but in actuality Cornell's strong point is engineering. If you're at all interested in bioengineering or anything of the sort, choose Cornell. For pure biology, though, I'd say Penn has the better reputation and the most undergraduate research opportunities.</p>
<p>I must respectfully disagree on that one; while Cornell is great for biomolecular engineering, its bioengineering program was only very recently formed and is not even an official major, as far as I know.</p>
<p>Other way around: Cornells more for Bio, Penn's better for Bioengineering</p>