<p>I've been accepted at both and I'm trying to decide between Cornell Eng and Stanford Eng.</p>
<p>I like the atmosphere at Cornell a lot better... I don't like the richness/fakeness of Stanford and when I went for admit weekend I didn't feel like I really fit in well there. </p>
<p>But I'm sure I could adjust to Stanford and I'm willing to go there if it would give me a lot more opportunities than Cornell Eng.</p>
<p>What is your own experience and what do you think? Even if I like the atmosphere at Stanford less, is it worth going because it's "better than cornell?"</p>
<p>One other thing is that Stanford has like a 10% acceptance rate and 70% yield while Cornell Eng has a 35% acceptance rate and 40% yield. </p>
<p>Does that make a really big difference in terms of how well the engineering school is respected?</p>
<p>Stanford is truely phenomenal, but Cornell is also amazing and top 10 in engineering and is incredibly well respected... for undergrad, there is virtually little difference in the quality of engineering education nor in their reputations, nor in the opportunities that will be available to you... try to visit both, and then go with your gut. You really cannot go wrong... I have had friends turn down MIT for Cornell Engineering because they felt that Cornell was a better fit.</p>
<p>Whatever you do, ignore the prestige whores on CC who tell you that you must choose A over B because it's slightly higher ranked in US News World report...</p>
<p>Go with what is the best personal fit for you... maybe it's Stanford, maybe it's Cornell... maybe it's something else...</p>
<p>In any case, comparing the two, both are excellent for engineering. I would have to say that Stanford engineering is slightly better than Cornell engineering. Also, as an undergraduate, you will be doing work in several other areas, in which Stanford is definitely superior to Cornell.</p>
<p>Ahhhh, no. On what ridiculous basis is Stanford "definitely superior" to Cornell? Because some silly rankings say so??</p>
<p>Reality check: The top 20 schools are pretty much of equal quality... I really wish people would stop with the idiotic obsession with rankings and focus on what school is the "best fit" for the individual.</p>
<p>I'm not knocking Stanford... it is in every way a truly phenomenal school on the same level as Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Yale... but maybe I'm heretical because I think Cornell, Columbia, Chicago, Northwestern, Penn, etc. are also on exactly the SAME level... </p>
<p>People on here act as if there are major gaps in quality among these schools, but there are not. If you had any perspective, you would see that the quality is virtually the same among the top 20 or so... the rest is all silly PERCEIVED prestige differences which are based on very little substantive differences.</p>
<p>I agree with jab93. But why do so many people apply to HYPSM? They should rather go with the school that is the best fit for them, which might not be HYPSM. Each of the top 20 or so schools are in different environments, most in different states all around the country. The surrounding environment (for EC's, people, contacts, etc.) should be of utmost importance, I believe, when choosing a college in the top 20.</p>
<p>....also, another plus point is that Cornell has an Ivy league education. I hear Stanford students sometimes claim that same thing, but obviously that's not true, since Stanford is not an Ivy. In ten years time, the tables can be topsy turvey :)</p>
<p>Admissions to Stanford's engineering school is not separate from the other schools in the university at undergraduate level, therefore, what you have claimed is completely incorrect. </p>
<p>The quotation you have cited is correct, however, because, at the undergraduate level, Stanford's acceptance rate is about 12% and its yield approximately 68%, whilst Cornell has a significantly higher acceptance rate and lower yield. The acceptance rates that you are refering to are those of the Graduate schools at both Cornell and Stanford. In any case, US News ranks Stanford's Graduate engineering school 2nd and Cornell's 12th.</p>
<p>"The acceptance rates that you are refering to are those of the Graduate schools at both Cornell and Stanford"</p>
<p>Yes, but Cornell is harder than Stanford to get into for Master's and PhD programs. Even Berkeley is tougher to get into than Stanford Engineering.</p>
<p>Why would anybody spend 120k to get a BS degree at Stanford when they can spend 30k to get a Masters....which is easy to get compared to undergrad.</p>
<p>Some of the departments at Stanford Engineering school asked for GRE SUBJECT test. That is why fewer people dare to apply for Stanford. This drives Stanford's acceptance rate higher than other top schools.</p>
<p>If you randomly pick any one of the engineering fields, Stanford is better than Cornell. No competition. Stanford enginnering faculty are most distinguished in the world, only MIT and Berkeley can match up.</p>
<p>You are one of the most dishonest persons on this board. Why are you playing dumb and mix up graduate admission and undergrad admission rate? What are you trying to accomplish? I am sorry, everyone knows Cornell can't compare with Stanford in terms of admission difficulty. We could care less what tricks you are using. Also, when you seem to run out of strings to pull, your final trick is always "Cornell is Ivy", MIT, Stanford...etc aren't. LOL! Who are you trying to fool? Most of us know Ivy as a whole is not that great in engineering. That little sticker means nothing in this discussion.</p>
<p>It looks like I've offended some people on this board. My point was just that cornell and Berkeley are harder to get into than Stanford at the grad level.....that doesn't mean that Stanford isn't as good or better than them. Most people would kill to get into any of those three schools.</p>
<p>And about the Ivy thing....I threw that into the mix because I've heard several Stanford students proclaiming their Ivy Leage education!! I hope cardinals don't go around pretending to be Ivy on a regular basis....i've heard it enuf times to think that they really don't know the difference.</p>
<p>But my main point was.....
........why would anybody spenk 120k on just a ugrad BS degree at Stanford??? The masters/Phd are sooooo much easier to get and they cost only 30k, or are free in many cases. Much cheaper and much better degrees and much more easy to get!</p>
<p>You know very little about graduate schools. At the master level, the number is pretty much meaningless. Once you have decent grades and pretty good GRE score, it's not hard to get into any of the master programs, be it Berkeley, Cornell, or Stanford. The slightly higher acceptance rate at Stanford is likely because Stanford programs are generally big and able to accomodate many students. The real difficulty in admission is at the PhDs level. At that level, Berkeley and Stanford are definitely more difficult than Cornell simply because they are higher ranked and have more leading experts (more exciting research projects). The very best students fight for spots to work with most renowned professors in their fields and Stanford is much better than Cornell in terms of having most renowned leaders in engineering fields.</p>
<p>The OP is not asking you to map out his educational path in life. The question was whether Stanford or Cornell is better for an undergraduate engineering major not whether one should spend less on an undergraduate education and instead go to a top graduate school. There are forums to discuss the latter of which this is not.</p>