I have recently been accepted to Cornell and Brandeis and am trying to choose between the two as a potential biochemistry/ chemistry major. Obviously, Cornell has the upper hand academically, but I was accepted into a selective program at Brandeis that would basically hand me a research position starting 2nd semester freshman year. This program also comes with a 20k per year scholarship which would be very helpful to my family.
In making my decision, I am wondering how hard it would be to get similar research experience at Cornell? Is there significant grade deflation in either school in this major? Is the “name brand” at Cornell worth it considering I want to go either to med school or scientific research? Finally, what is the social life like at Cornell- I have heard from some that it is very focused on frats and sororities, which is not really what I’m looking for.
The questions above are the main factors I’m looking at when making this decision so if we could keep the thread focused on those questions that would be great 