<p>I know Cornell is considered tops for its engineering and science, but was wondering how it does in math and econ. I like that cornell has lots of course options, but have been admitted to UChicago which is obviously at the top for econ and math. How would cornell rank in these areas?</p>
<p>For math it's going to be about the same, especially if you take the honors sequence at Cornell.</p>
<p>For econ, Chicago is going to be a notch above, especially for theory. Cornell's best offerings in economics are for labor, consumer, and development economics.</p>
<p>Honestly, if you are interested in going into business, the distinctions between Chicago and Cornell's academics are not going to matter. So pick the school you are most comfortable at. If you are interested in going into academia, Chicago <em>might</em> have an edge over Cornell, but even then, it's more a function of how much effort you put into your classes than anything intrinsic to Cornell or Chicago.</p>
<p>A good friend of mine did Math and Econ at Cornell, and is now getting his PhD at Harvard, but just spent the last year at UChicago as a Becker Fellow. He was a pretty social kid, playing in a band and doing a fair amount of partying, and well, let's just say that he's happy he was at Cornell for undergrad.</p>
<p>The social and academic culture at Cornell and Chicago are quite distinct; I would recommend you do some research into both schools, and (the much more difficult part) do some introspection as to which environment is best for you.
My guess is that Chicago would be more competitive, with a greater proportion of students vying for graduate school. At Cornell, if you hit the ground running, you could be taking the graduate (600-level) econ courses by the time you're a junior, and you would really stand out. You should be able to complete real analysis by sophomore year, and have plenty of advanced math and econ on your transcript by the time you apply for grad school.</p>