Hello! I am going to be a senior this year and am applying to colleges. I am conflicted on which school I should apply ED to. I went to a summer college program at Cornell and absolutely loved it there. I know it’s not the same as during the year, but I felt right at home and felt like I was leaving a part of me behind when I left (ik that sounds cheesy). But Brown is better suited for my interests as I am leaning more towards majors in the Social Sciences or humanities. I am also a very social person and love being around others and doing things. Even though Cornell is super isolated, I had a lot of fun everyday with people but a good balanced environment is what I am looking for! The size of the school really doesn’t affect me. If anything, I would say medium to large school. If you guys want I can say my stats and extracurriculars. I posted them a while ago but a lot has changed since then. I know these schools are different from each other. There are different aspects to each school that attract me. That is why I am having a hard time choosing one for ED. I visited both schools but also spent 3 weeks for a summer program at Cornell, so that my affect my opinion. Thank you for any and all advice!
Go where your studies are, seems like Brown to me.
How did you come away from Cornell believing it’s not strong in the humanities and social sciences?
@blossom I just meant that Brown is more centered towards those areas compared to Cornell. They’re both really strong school obviously. I just meant in comparison.
What is the evidence for your statement that Brown is more centered towards those areas than Cornell? Brown has a top Comp Sci department, known for Applied Math, a very strong combination undergrad/Med school program. Cornell has fantastic departments in psychology, political science, English… I don’t think either school has a bias one way or another. It’s not like you are comparing RPI to Swarthmore… both colleges have engineering schools (Cornell’s ranked higher than Brown’s) and both college have depth in humanities and social sciences. You are going about this the wrong way.
Major differences are Brown’s open curriculum vs Cornell’s more traditional requirements. Cornell has a university feel with 23,000 plus students and over 15,000 undergraduates versus Brown’s undergraduate/liberal arts feel with 6,000+ undergraduates. Cornell is a community in and of itself set alone in a rural somewhat isolated area while Brown is integrated into the City of Providence. Cornell has a fairly strong Greek life and sports vibe while Brown is a bit less definable.
These are in most cases generalities and of varied importance depending on the student, but repr sent some of the differences. What both schools however have in common is their academic excellence. Different rankings will place one marginally above the other in different areas but they both consistently rank at or near the top across humanities and social science concentrations. I suspect you will be happy and challenged academically at either school.
Another big thing to think about is social fit… from what I’ve read on Induck and heard through the grapevine is that Cornell’s social scene can be more bro-y and fratty whereas Brown has Greek life but it’s much more laid back and there are much more alternative options for fun in Providence than in Ithaca.