<p>Hello everyone! I am having a difficult time choosing a college to attend. I was accepted to Cornell University and received great financial aid; the University of Southern California as a Trustee Scholar and into their Thematic Option program; and Wellesley College (but received not-so-great financial aid). I wish to go into politics (intending to major in Political Science). I visited all three schools, but all of them have their pros and cons, making it difficult to decide which to go to. Coming from a large high school, I want to know what it's like to be in smaller classrooms and be in a smaller population of students. Also, coming from a large city, I'm afraid that if I go to a place that is rural (Cornell), that it would be difficult to adjust to college life. I also want a school that has great diversity (I am Asian, if that means anything). I want a school that has a strong alumni network, and provides many research opportunities to undergraduate students. Any input (good, bad, etc.) to provide perspective will be helpful! Thank you in advance everyone!</p>
<p>LIke you say they are all different and have their various pros and cons.How one weights each of those pros and cons is sort of an individual matter.</p>
<p>One thing I can offer is that a ton of people at Cornell are from large cities, or their metropolitan areas.
There are a range of opinions but most people find they get along just fine at Cornell. I grew up right outside NYC and personally I loved Ithaca.
Because the school is large it offers are a lot of activities right there. But also bear in mind you are going to be very busy there. The one thing Ithaca doesn’t have that much of is shopping, but most of the other bases are covered.
The environment will certainly be very different at Wellesley, and I think reasonable people might prefer either one.
It may have come up at some point in your investigation though that Cornell has a 50-50 M-F ratio. FWIW.
There may be something to be said for that “female empowerment” stuff though, D2 tried it for a while. Before she transferred to Cornell.</p>
<p>Personally I don’t care for LA, but you probably know more about it.</p>
<p>Regarding your diversity evaluation, perhaps these links will help:
<a href=“http://www.wellesley.edu/admission/knowus/demographics”>http://www.wellesley.edu/admission/knowus/demographics</a>
<a href=“http://dpb.cornell.edu/documents/1000001.pdf”>http://dpb.cornell.edu/documents/1000001.pdf</a>
<a href=“http://dpb.cornell.edu/documents/1000194.pdf”>http://dpb.cornell.edu/documents/1000194.pdf</a>
<a href=“Facts and Figures - About USC”>http://about.usc.edu/facts/</a>
<a href=“http://about.usc.edu/files/2011/07/USCFreshmanProfile2012.pdf”>http://about.usc.edu/files/2011/07/USCFreshmanProfile2012.pdf</a></p>
<p>Congratulations on getting into some excellent schools! If I were you, I would carefully read the course catalog at the schools, both for what political science (and history, etc.) courses they offer. Also, pay attention to distribution requirements and other requirements the school has. (Some are rigid, like Columbia; some, like Brown, are quite flexible; Cornell is sort of in the middle.) Try to find out what you can about some of the professors you may be working with, books they have written (to give you an idea of their views, etc.). A good idea is to visit the campus bookstore to see what books are being used by professors in different courses. And try to learn about the school’s different strengths in political science, history, economics, whatever.</p>
<p>For example, at Cornell, if you decide to specialize in comparative government re Asia and/or Latin America, you may choose very well. Cornell has the leading Southeast Asia program in the country and the world, with far and away the largest Southeast Asia library collection (half again as big as the collection of the Library of Congress, which is in second place). Its East Asia and Latin America programs are also very strong. </p>
<p>And if you specialize in one of those areas from your freshman or sophomore year, you will avoid as much as possible large classes where you are just a number.</p>
<p>This cannot be overemphasized. In any large university with large introductory lecture-hall courses, the bureaucratic disregard and outright contempt for undergraduates can sometimes defy belief. This is the case with Cornell, Harvard and the University of Michigan to my certain knowledge – in large lecture hall classes, but not in smaller classes with 20 to 60 students (such as the ones on Southeast Asia or Latin America).</p>
<p>So you are right to be concerned about class size. Wellesley should be fine in that regard, but picking and choosing carefully at Cornell can produce close to the same result.</p>
<p>As for Ithaca’s size: Ithaca may be small, but people find it delightful and many decide to stay, or return later, opening restaurants or whatever. (Ithaca has a lot of very good restaurants.) Cornell, in contrast to Ithaca, is huge (for a university), and there is plenty going on. The school has no trouble pulling in top-drawer concerts and the like, major speakers, etc.</p>
<p>As for diversity, it’s not clear whether you are an American of Asian ancestry, or from Asia, but Cornell has a huge population of both, as well as from everywhere else in the world (it has one of the largest international student populations of any US university, if not the largest). </p>
<p>Cornell is famous internationally, especially in East Asia and Southeast Asia because of its programs. (I know a New York City high school student who recently visited Xi’an with her class. The Chinese students she met all wanted to go to university in the US, but only knew of two universities, Cornell and Yale, don’t know why.) Cornell is also famous in south Asia, not so much for its programs as for its alumni: Ratan Tata, the (just-retired) head of the Tata industrial giant in India, went to Cornell where he studied architecture; he is or was on the Cornell Board of Trustees and recently gave Cornell a large chunk of money, $50 million, I think.</p>
<p>Of course, at any top school, you may look around in your freshman year and say, hey, wow! This school has this magnificent Dante collection (which Cornell does)! I think I’ll study Renaissance Europe! Or intellectual history (because of a particular professor)! Or whatever: any school has wonderful strengths that high school seniors are most unlikely to know about and only discover once they reach the campus.</p>
<p>You seem to be leaning towards Wellesley, based on your concerns, and I am sure you will be very happy if you choose that option. One consideration: Wellesley may have an exchange arrangement with MIT and/or Harvard, permitting you to take courses at those schools. That can be a huge advantage, but be careful: it may turn out that the commute is too long and unless you have a morning or afternoon completely free of classes, it may not be possible. But if it is, it can be great, especially if you have a required course at your school with a professor you can’t stand or you are afraid won’t be able to stand you. Believe me, these things happen.</p>
<p>Anyway, good luck with whatever you choose – you have some excellent options! (I’m sorry that I don’t know enough about USC, but the Thematic Option program sounds very good.)</p>
<p>FWIW, I sat through some of those large intro courses, as a student, myself. While I didn’t love that particular format, I didn’t feel nearly as negatively about them as the above sentiments suggest. Those intro courses are going to be lecture-style courses almost everyplace. Once the Professor is standing up there lecturing anyway, it doesn’t really make too much difference to me how many other people are sitting in the room taking notes along with me, whether it’s 60 or 300. And usually the Prof doing the lecturing in those big courses was one who was pretty good at it. (with one exception I recall). Regardless of the delivery venue, the material was well covered and I learned a great deal. I was able to place out of my B-school economics classes by reviewing the material I learned in my intro economics courses at Cornell, in those big lectures. I developed a real interest in physics and in economics through those very courses. </p>
<p>Wellesley was actually the runner-up in D1s college selection. The politics dept must have seemed good, and the requirements not excessive, or else D1 wouldn’t have liked it that much. But of course OP should check.
They had an arrangement with MIT, but I don’t recall that they had one with Harvard. And IIRC there were some issues with different class and semester schedules that may have made this option less attractive than it used to be, aside from the travel time involved, so that’s another thing to check on.</p>
<p>And FWIW, Wellesley seems to be well known in asia as well. Chiang Kai-shek’s wife went there.</p>
<p>Everything OP said fits USC to a T. People need to stop trying to sell Ivies so hard. I have the same choices as you, but with GT instead of Wellesley and I want to go into business. I picked USC but my parents are ignoring me. If you’re parents are listening to your input, and OP really is concerned with all of those things he/she posted about, he’ll take the USC money and run</p>
<p>Maybe these threads help:
<a href=“Cornell vs. Wellesley - #9 by Evenstarz - Cornell University - College Confidential Forums”>Cornell vs. Wellesley - #9 by Evenstarz - Cornell University - College Confidential Forums;
<a href=“Berkeley, Cornell, UCLA, or USC? - #12 by apple56 - College Search & Selection - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/17112294</a> ( post #12)</p>