<p>I was rejected from every Ivy except Cornell, Duke, and Northwestern. I was wait-listed at Chicago. In all honesty, I'm extremely bitter. I have only three real options:</p>
<p>Cornell, UC Berkeley, or UCLA</p>
<p>I've ruled out UCLA, which leaves Cornell and Cal. I feel like Cornell is stigmatized as being the worst Ivy and I don't know if there's even anything to do in the Ithaca area. On the other hand, I don't know how hard it's going to be to register for classes at Cal and I've heard the classes are overcrowded.</p>
<p>I'm grateful to the adcoms of both schools, but it really almost feels like I wasn't good enough for HYPWC... Just trying to make the best of this... </p>
<p>I want to major in either political science or economics, and eventually want to become an investment banker. </p>
<p>Duke is actually the best on your list for investment banking. I hear they have awesome OCR. For Berkeley you should go to Haas but you are not guaranteed acceptance so that is a problem.</p>
<p>GO to Cal, it has on of the best undergrad business program and a pretty awesome econ program. I feel it will be more suitable for you because it’s know for being on of the best universities in the country, obviously so is Cornell but for your major Cal’s a better choice. I know people dying to be in your position, Just try hard and you will get into Haas! Nice job on Cal i would have jumped on the opportunity to have gone there… had i got in :(</p>
<p>BE HAPPY Cal is great for both Business and Econ. Cornell is in the middle of nowhere… just to put that out there. Good luck! :)</p>
<p>Take a few days to unwind, to become un-bitter. Take a few weeks if you have to. (Yes, with your numbers, I too would’ve expected a top 10 to bite. But it didn’t happen. Perhaps it was your essay. Perhaps the recs. At this point, it doesn’t matter.) </p>
<p>Personally, I’m a big fan of Cornell and would prefer it over Columbia any day. (I like the campus community, the school spirit, etc. But that is me.) Visit Ithaca with an open mind. There are plenty of Cornellians on the west coast – a very strong alumni network. </p>
<p>And while Cal-Haas is great, concluding that it is “better than anything Cornell can offer” is downright ignorant. (Both Haas (#3) and Cornell biz (#9) are in the top 10 of USNews’ undergrad ranking; Cornell AEM is #3 on Biz Week and Haas is #11.) Not only are you paying for the academics – which will the same at either place, since what you learn is up to you – undergrad is also about the college community, college experience, alumni network (however defined), etc. If you have the money, I’m a big fan of going away to college. That in itself, is a learning experience.</p>
<p>And yes, if you want I-banking, Poli Sci won’t get you there. It’s Econ and/or Biz.</p>
<p>Whatever you decide, you need to go forth with an open attitude. </p>
<p>^^sure, and so is going to San Diego State or Cal Poly SLO or UC Merced. But going OOS via a plane ride is a LOT different, and (I would hope) anyone can easily perceive the difference without this detailed explanation.</p>
<p>Of course, that particular OOS college potentially costs 2x as much (depending on finaid).</p>
<p>I definitely agree with BlueBayou. Just try to let off some steam by taking a break from College Admission worries, for now. You have a huge decision to make and being bitter won’t help you make the correct one.</p>
<p>Cornell biz is excellent; you shouldn’t judge the quality of the program by rankings. Remember too that Cornell was the only Ivy League school to accept you. That school saw the wonderful qualities in you that the other Ivy Leagues failed to notice. Cornell knew that you would be an excellent addition to its campus. I see no reason why you would want to undermine Cornell like that. Hundreds of thousands of people who kill to have a choice to go to Cornell.</p>
<p>Base your decision off of how well you’re going to like the campus and the people there. Sure, Berkeley has a lot of opportunities to offer and is a wonderful school but Cornell, being an Ivy League school, offers A LOT of wonderful opportunities as well. Visit both places and weigh the schools on how much you’re going to get out of it (enjoyment, fun, learning styles, location) rather than mere rankings or rumors.</p>
<p>There’s an old joke that says “I would never join a club that would have me as a member.”</p>
<p>That’s how I feel about Cornell. Duke is no Harvard and Northwestern is no Yale, yet I was rejected by both. Surely then, when Cornell is such an anomaly, it must be significantly inferior. I’d feel better if I had a Dartmouth or Brown to pair Cornell with.</p>
<p>I didn’t get into Cornell AEM, either, since I applied to CAS.</p>
<p>For i-banking, Econ/Business is what you want, not poli sci (although Cal has a fantastic poli sci department - better than Cornell imo, and also in terms of rankings, if that matters to you). The difficulty is that Haas acceptance is not guaranteed here at Cal, so if you choose to come here for Business know that there’s a chance you may not get into the department.</p>
<p>Don’t be so bitter about it - I was once, too. When I got rejected from Cornell (ILR, it was hard and I got outclassed, I guess). But I’m enjoying life here now, so it all works out and I’m sure it will for you, too. Take a breather (:</p>
<p>Significantly inferior? NO ONE is guaranteed admission to a top school, especially an Ivy. Even the most well qualified people must consider these top schools somewhat of a reach. The very fact that Cornell accepted you does not mean it’s significantly inferior, but because the admissions liked what they saw. You’re going to tell me that you’d rather beg to be let into a country club that didn’t see anything special about you when another just as good place is welcoming you with open arms? </p>
<p>Cornell has a lot to offer, especially as an Ivy that Berkeley can’t. Vise versa, Berkeley has things to offer that Cornell can’t. Your decision should be which of these opportunity costs is lower. Not “I heard HAAS beats Cornell in every single way because some ranking told me so I’m going with Cal”. Which of these schools can offer more to you while still giving you a chance to enjoy your life? Consider things, like they did with your application, holistically. ;)</p>
<p>If you’re still set on not going to Cornell, I hope you’ve considered everything first.</p>
<p>why don’t you go visit Cornell and decide? I also feel berkeley has the edge over Cornell…but if class size and the huge campus is an issue, maybe cornell is better. Though I am not a big fan of upstate NY.</p>
<p>“That’s how I feel about Cornell. Duke is no Harvard and Northwestern is no Yale, yet I was rejected by both. Surely then, when Cornell is such an anomaly, it must be significantly inferior. I’d feel better if I had a Dartmouth or Brown to pair Cornell with.”</p>
<p>Really, Saugus - shame on you. “Significantly inferior”? Are you listening to how ridiculous you sound? These are the top schools in the country. Looking from 10,000 feet, the differences between any of them are SLIM. You must honestly think that if you walk into a Harvard classroom, everyone spouts brilliance 100% of the time and if you walk into a Cornell classroom, half the class can barely add 2+2. These student bodies are all largely interchangeable. The opportunities at all of these schools are more than any one human being can take advantage of. Stop it. No one other than high school seniors sees appreciable differences in these schools once you’re at this caliber. But adults DO see appreciable differences in attitudes, and we much prefer the attitude of “yay for me, I’m going to one of the top colleges in the land!” rather than the whining, self-pitying, I-didn’t-get-into-HYPSM-my-life-is-over.</p>
<p>OP, the truth of the matter is, in this big big world, it doesn’t matter if the school is inferior; what really matters is if you’re inferior and you have already put that limitation upon yourself.</p>
<p>One thing to consider is that if you do choose Berkeley and end up deciding to apply to Haas down the road (which would be easy to do since you’re already in L & S if you went to Berkeley), even the process of preparing to apply for Haas (getting involved in on-campus clubs, looking for summer internships as an underclassman, etc.) will prepare you well for a career in i-banking even if you don’t get into Haas. It would perhaps be more of a do-it-yourself mentality, but I definitely wouldn’t consider your decision solely on the difficulty of getting into Haas for this reason.</p>
<p>I would go with Cal for Political Science/Econ. Cornell is honestly too far, too expensive, too cold. Had friends who went there but they were from the East coast and drive-able distance. The professors and teaching is a hit or miss like any other college.</p>
<p>About you not getting into Ivies, historically most of the valedectorians from the last few years of our HS (N. Cal) have ended up at Cal. Really you will be among a LOT of bright kids. Personally if you are driven and you have AP credits, you might be able to enroll as a sophomore even.</p>
<p>The economics major is housed in CAS at Cornell, and it is excellent, and it draws from business programs at Cornell’s other colleges – including AEM (Dyson):</p>
<p>I don’t present these links because I think that you should choose Cornell over Berkeley, because I kind of hope that you choose Cal. The link is just to set the record straight about what is available at CAS.</p>