I’m very glad to be choosing between these two strong computer science programs but also very torn.
UIUC is about $32,000/year cheaper than Cornell but my family can reasonably afford both.
At UIUC, I would be a Chancellor’s Scholar, which provides me with priority in picking classes and the choice of living in a residence hall for honors students (which I am interested in).
At Cornell, I conjecture that my peers will be slightly more intellectual, inspiring, and diverse.
I have visited both campuses and have found the difference in location and campus to be small.
I am interested in helping out in robotics/AI labs, if possible. It is likely that I apply to graduate school. Internships in Silicon Valley are also interesting to me.
I would really appreciate advice and opinions regarding my choice. Thank you!
Hey, I’m deciding between Cornell and UIUC, too. I’d love to see some other responses.
To answer your question, I think you should go to UIUC. $32,000 x 4 years is a significant amount of money. Have you recieved ab award letter from Cornell, yet?
UIUC is consistently ranked higher than Cornell for CS and across most engineering disciplines. Cornell focuses more on the theoretical while UIUC focuses on a mix of practical and theoretical. If for whatever reason you decide to not go into CS, Cornell is better overall. At both schools you will have opportunities to do internships in Silicon Valley. You should check the research pages of both schools for CS and see what their focuses are. Both are well respected in CS with a slight edge to UIUC I think. But honestly, if the difference is $32,000/year, you’d be crazy not to go UIUC.