<p>I recently found out that Cornell offered me the Presidential Research Scholarship which means that I get $8000 for research purposes special summer research opportunities and $4000 deducted every year from my student loans. I did not receive any information about scholarships for caltech, and I dont think ill be getting one, but what do you suggest? I mean I am aware that I would be able to do research as part of the standard package at caltech, but its also true that if i wanted to go to grad school, being a cornell presidential research scholar would make me stand out, whereas at caltech, it would be much more difficult to stand out among the elite pool of research oriented students. Also since caltech is so much more selective, would gpa's be lower? if so would grad schools take into consideration that its caltech? (To be honest I would rather go to caltech all scholarships aside, but i dont know if i should pass this up)</p>
<p>Ive heard from some caltech alumni that yes, your GPA probably will be lower, but it will not hurt you for grad school admissions. Unless youre trying to go to medical school i think since its very GPA-based. Dont forget that the Caltech SURF programs will pay you too. And as for that loan deduction, Cornell's tuition is actually more expensive than Caltech's by a couple of thouands dollars I believe, so you wont end up saving that much.</p>
<p>Here is some data on where the Caltech 06 UGs are going for Grad.
<a href="http://www.admissions.caltech.edu/after/graduateschool%5B/url%5D">http://www.admissions.caltech.edu/after/graduateschool</a>
"Of the 249 students who received BS degrees in 2006, 186 responded to our survey about their post-graduation plans:</p>
<h1>103 (55%) enrolled in graduate school</h1>
<h1>40 (22%) accepted employment</h1>
<h1>16 (9%) are seeking employment</h1>
<h1>9 (5%) undecided</h1>
<h1>12 (6%) pursuing other plans "</h1>
<p>Top graduate schools chosen:</p>
<p>Stanford 20
MIT 12
UC Berkeley 8
Caltech 7
Princeton 6
Yale 3</p>
<p>Out of 186 people who responded 103 went to graduate school. Twelve of these kids went to Med schools which aren't at any of the above institutions. That leaves us with 91 kids going to grad school not intending to do medicine from our sample; if you tally up the # of people going to some of the best grad schools listed above you get 56 kids going to S,M,UCB,C,P, and Y. </p>
<p>My point is 56 of 91 kids (~62%) went to these amazing grad schools, and the rest probably went to some equally pwn sauce places. If you really love Caltech, I wouldn't hesitate turning down Cornell's research scholarship because you think you'll have a better chance at getting into a Grad School with it. Anyways good luck with your decision. Cornell or Caltech are both great schools, and wherever you go I'm sure you'll get a good education. (Come to Caltech =p)</p>
<p>SURFs are pretty easy to get, and pay $6,000 for each summer. If you do a SURF in a lab you like, it's usually not too hard to continue doing research all year long in the same lab. Grad schools understand that Caltech is one of the most difficult schools in the country (possibly the most difficult,) and take that into account when looking at your GPA. In grad school admissions, research and recommendations are far more important anyways, and you get a huge advantage in these at a small research-oriented school like Caltech.</p>
<p>Also, Caltech is extremely noncompetitive (I've only heard the opposite of Cornell...)</p>
<p>I had the make this decision last May, and I think that if cost is not the issue, there are far more important factors to affect your decision than "will I stand out more at Cornell w/Presidential"? </p>
<p>You should visit both places if you have not already. Cornell is a much, much larger school in terms of undergraduates (something like 14,000 compared to 900?). You could take into account what field you're going into and relative strengths, but just realize that life at Cornell will be very different from life at Caltech.</p>