<p>I was recently accepted to both Cornell engineering Physics program and U of I material science ( I kinda randomly chose my majors based on rankings). I'm wondering is it worth going to Cornell at roughly 50,000 a year vs. roughly 35,000 a year for U of I ( i'm in-state). I know both are in the top ten engineering according to US News and U of I is higher ranked than Cornell. Is the name worth the cost or is U of I the better choice?</p>
<p>I am from Illinois too and had basically the same choice as you.
The question is,
Can you stand spending the next 4 years in Urbana IL, and hanging out with people from your high school?</p>
<p>I’m from Chicago and almost went to UIUC as well (not for engineering though). I would advise anyone that’s in-state at Illinois to pass on Cornell engineering. UIUC engineering is obviously prestigious, not to mention ranked higher than Cornell in many sub-fields. And Cornell’s COA is $57000. The Cornell name is not worth the extra $30K per year. </p>
<p>As far as seeing people from your HS around–why should this at all influence where you go to school? UIUC has 30K undergrads, you’ll never see them if you don’t want to. Champaign-Urbana is really no different from Ithaca–they’re both sh***y rural towns.</p>
<p>what if for some reason you decide not to major in Engineering?</p>
<p>Most of Cornell’s other areas are much better than Illinois…</p>
<p>Will your parents be paying, or will you have to borrow the difference?</p>