<p>I'm kinda stuck in a rut right now, and I figured I could get some good advice on here. </p>
<p>I attended NYU freshman year, and I really didn't like it. The whole atmosphere of the school wasn't for me, and I really want to transfer to a school with a nice campus and a big sense of community. I'm from Long island, NY, and I am considering going to med school, if I am able to keep my grades high enough. I'm a chemistry/ biochemistry major. </p>
<p>So my main question is this- any reasons why I should or should not go to either Cornell or Boston College? I was originally waitlisted at BC, so I sent my deposit to Cornell. I really like BC for the social atmosphere of it- there seems to be tons of school spirit and the majority of the kids seem really happy and love the school. I like the close-knit feel the school seems to have. But Cornell on the other hand, I feel as if might give me a little more of a push when it comes to getting a job or going to medical school or whatnot. I just found out I got a great dorm there, and CALS is very science oriented, which is what I plan to do. But I didn't get the same "community" feel when I went to visit. Money isn't playing too much of an issue here, being I got about the same from both schools (BC actually gave me 2 thousand more, but thats not enough to sway my decision one way or the other). </p>
<p>any advice or comments would be greatly appreciated. thanks for your time.</p>
<p>bc has an amazing campus and great overall campus feel. i think the size is perfect and very intimate.. but i think cornell will give you better opportunities in the long run. </p>
<p>your gpa might suffer a bit at cornell though in comparison to bc :P</p>
<p>i went to BC freshman year (transferrin out for academics, still love the school) and my girlfriend goes to cornell. here's my assesment:</p>
<p>BC<br>
Pros:
- Small, very connected campus--u'll walk around and always run into friends
-Incredible professors who will go out of their way to become your friends
-Athletics that bring everyone out for game day
-Boston aka, the largest collegetown in america</p>
<p>Cons:
-Little diversity and people tend to dress very prep
-School in transition--BC will be considered elite along schools like Duke; right now its in the awkward transition between getting the brightest and still absorbing those that missed the cut in the ivies and other high ranked schools</p>
<p>CORNELL:
Pros:
-Smart and social student body
-Strong tradition
-Beautiful campus location</p>
<p>Cons:
-Campus connectivity is eh. People know the people that live near them
-Little athletic spirit
- In the middle of nowhere</p>
<p>My recommendation-- go to BC if you dont mind a college that can feel like a country club at times (in the negative sense). Other than that, its a dynamic place that is on the way up. (recently rated 3rd most underrated american university)</p>
<p>if you are looking to go to med school, reputation between those 2 schools does not mean anything. Med school wants high stats. Go where you can get the best possible grades. a 3.5 at cornell is weaker than a 3.7 at BC. dont let anyone tell you differently</p>
<p>that statement is completely untrue. assuming he or she majors in pre-med whether in CALS or Arts and Sciences, that 3.5 would be EXTREMELY more valued than a 3.7 at BC. are you crazy? cornell is arguably the best school for pre-med. i know people who would cut of their own leg to get a 3.5 at cornell pre-med.</p>
<p>I would have to say ^ is completely untrue. First of all, you don't major in pre-med. Pre-med is just a set of courses required by medical schools. Second, Cornell is not "arguably the best school for pre-med." Even if you compare med school acceptance rates, other schools like Johns Hopkins have far high admit rates than Cornell.</p>
<p>Dancergal92, you would probably be best off going to the school you feel is more "right" for you. In order to maximize your chances of going to med school, you need to go to a school that you can thrive at academically and grow socially. You won't be at such a significant loss of opportunities at BC than at Cornell. I would venture to say that becoming a successful med student is almost entirely how much work you put in and with what attitude.</p>
<p>okay, mojo, last time i checked, you never went to BC right??</p>
<p>yes, every school has tradition, but Boston College has only just become known for academics in the last fews years. Cornell, on the other hand, has had that reputation for decades</p>
<p>
[quote]
BC will be considered elite along schools like Duke
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I wouldn't bank on that too much. There's a joke that NYU students have been saying "in another ten years, we'll be a top school" since the 70s. NYU is great today, but has never taken a place as one of the top schools (among Duke, as you mention). In the same sense, BC is a very good school but in order for a school to become one of the top it has to usurp another. I don't see any of the top schools being pushed around much, just as they haven't in the past 30 years. Only Penn and WashU have pushed their way up and that's primarily due to an assload of money. </p>
<p>Point: if the OP is wanting to go to the school that already has prestige as a top school and will stay that way, she should choose Cornell.</p>
<p>But when one considers all the factors, I think you've already made it clear in your first post that you don't like NYU and that you should be at Boston College. Go there.</p>
<p>"Even if you compare med school acceptance rates, other schools like Johns Hopkins have far high admit rates than Cornell"</p>
<p>no, JHU doesn't. </p>
<p>Even so, JHU inflates its med school placement rates by allowing only the best and strongest students apply while Cornell does not. You would naturally expect JHU's med school placement to be "far higher", though in reality they are not. Props to Cornell.</p>
<p>^ Yes you're right. The difference is only by a small margin in favor of JHU. However, I still hold that Cornell is not "arguably the best school for pre-med."</p>
<p>From your initial post Dancergal92, it seems that you value the social atmosphere very much and that is your deciding factor. If so, the answer seems somewhat clear IMO.
BC definitely has one of the greatest atmospheres for a university. The school spirit is unsurpassed by any other and BC as a whole feels like one giant family.</p>
<p>On the other hand, if academics is more important than the atmosphere, Cornell seems to be the answer. It is true that BC's academics has been gaining some recognition in recently years, but it certainly is many steps below Cornell's. I was at BC for a short period and was somewhat disappointed by its academics and decided to leave. I think, if you give same effort academically at each school, you'll benefit more at Cornell (especially for chem majors).</p>
<p>gomestar, you are fairly uneducated if you consider premed a major and if you consider my statement completely untrue.</p>
<p>To the OP, I'd still choose Cornell because I believe you would probably get more research oppurtunities at cornell... don't flame me if i'm wrong here it is just a guess! As for med-school.. if you are transfering and still have not decided you wanted to go to med-school give it up now lol thats something you dont just pick out of the dark.</p>
<p>"gomestar, you are fairly uneducated if you consider premed a major and if you consider my statement completely untrue."</p>
<p>go back and read my post. Where am I talking about a pre-med major? If you can please point it out for me, because I sure as hell dont see it and I usually dumb things way down here to avoid confusion. </p>
<p>I do belive what you say is somewhat untrue, it's not only about the GPA, there are several extremely important factors that are taken into account for med school. A 3.5 Cornell studnet may get into a school over a 3.9 kid from Harvard - you can bet your butt it's happened before. Why? GPA isn't everything here buddy, to say a 3.7 at BC is stronger than a 3.5 at Cornell is ignoring the dozen or so other factors that go into med school admission.</p>
<p>grr obviously.. this is going to be an endless battle of finding things one of the other left out now.. lets end it now. obviously it isnt all gpa but my statement was reguarding gpa.</p>
<p>What I meant was by going to cornell med school isnt gonna give you some sort of weighted grade over a BC student. The 3.7 at BC will still be thought of as a student with better stats than the 3.5 from cornell. Just to clarify</p>
<p>EDIT: uhhh gomestar... lol sorry i didnt even look at the name of the post... I was talking to ajp87... I gotta stop coming on these forums drunk sorry man.</p>