I just got accepted off of the waitlist to Cornell as a part of the Spring 2016 class. This means that I would have to take a semester off before starting this coming January. I just visited Cornell today and could use others input in making my final decision. I have till June 2 to decide on the Cornell offer.
Cornell: Gorgeous campus, just blows Maryland away with the architecture and views. Academics are obviously outstanding, has everything else that comes along with an Ivy blah blah blah I don’t think I need to talk too much about prestige and that stuff, but it is a factor in deciding. It’s clearly a fantastic school. A concern that I have is starting Cornell a semester later than everyone else and integrating socially. I am not a shy person but I am also not super outgoing either. I would be hesitant to start a semester late with only 125 other FYSA students. Cornell also does not seem to have everything planed out in terms of housing and roommates for the Spring students, which would’ve been helpful to know at this point to be able to hang out with other FYSA students in a similar boat as me. I am looking to study Actuarial Science which Cornell has a good program in (not to the level of Penn, but quite good nonetheless), especially in Stats and as a Math major, including a class in intro to Actuarial Science. I would likely join a frat at Cornell as well. Ithaca is a superb college town and destroys Maryland in that aspect. Food is awesome here. Weather is a bit of a factor and Maryland clearly has the advantage there.
Maryland Honors College: Honors College is a great program that gives the experience of an LAC or even an Ivy and also a large D1 school at the same time. Lots of freedom in the academic curriculum structure and super interesting seminars to take. I like how the HC automatically creates a small community to connect with others in the living and learning communities (I’m in U Honors, the largest LLC). I am also a big sports fan and would get super into the D1 sports culture as a fan (esp. the bball team! How about that top 3 preseason ranking?) and plan to volunteer as a manager on the football team in my first year as well. Not as good for Actuarial Science as Cornell but they have a minor in Actuarial Math which is nice. Pretty crappy meal plans and dining in general and there aren’t a ton of options in College Park either, both of which are clear Pros that Cornell has.
Financial Aid: My family has a unique financial aid situation in that we own a business so it looks like we make about 60K more than we actually do or have available to use to pay for college. So, obviously we did not qualify for need-based financial aid at either school. Cornell gave me nothing and I would likely have to pay full-price unless a grandparent comes through or we can bargain down with financial aid office. Maryland gave me $12,000/year (48K total) of merit-based which brings the cost down to 32K a year. I will graduate debt-free from Maryland.
Thanks for the input and please let me know if you have anymore Q’s!