Cornell or Duke?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cornell University
1

I’ve gotten accepted into both of these schools (Pratt for Duke and CAS Cornell). Part of the indecision about making a final decision on where to go stems from my indecision about what exactly to study as an undergrad to reach a certain career path.

Initially, I would like to study physics or engineering as an undergrad, mostly because I think I would have the most fun in those areas. Physics and engineering are “ideologically attractive” to me; I like how pure physics is as a science and how applicable certain types of engineering are to entrepreneurship and startup culture, which I am interested in as well (think Elon Musk, Salman Khan, Zuck, etc.) However, I still would like to end up working in the financial services industry; management consulting, i-banking, etc. Economics and finance are my secondary interest. Workers in those fields benefit much from an undergraduate science degree and the associated quantitative skills, and besides, I’ll at the very least generate enough profit for me to retire as a physics teacher or something. To summarize my career interests, I’m looking for some vague combination of physics/engineering and econ/finance that is flexible enough to allow me to pursue some kind of graduate degree in physics or MBA while also allowing me to jump into some sort of financial services career right away if I so choose.

I’ve visited both of these schools, so here are my feelings so far.

I really liked Duke when I visited, although as someone who was never really into basketball I’m not sure well I’d adapt to the sports culture over there. Still, I noticed that the Pratt subculture way more in line with my interests. The students were well rounded: socially active and intelligent. Obviously the campus was beautiful too. I heard that because of the smaller size of the physics department, it was easier to find research opportunities. The actual facilities and campus were top notch too; it’s clear that the school’s really using that $7 billion endowment. Also, another plus was that the physics and engineering majors I talked to enthusiastically extolled the opportunities for finance internships.

Still, I can’t ignore the Ivy League physics/engineering powerhouse that is Cornell. Rankings wise, it beats Duke in all of my interests besides econ, and it seems way more science oriented; I would be hard pressed to find an actual particle accelerator under Duke’s football field. Also, the Cornell name holds greater weight than Duke, especially internationally (China, India) where I may potentially find work after I graduate. However, when I visited, I felt like the student body wasn’t as happy as Duke’s; people seemed stressed out and tired. I think the gloomy weather might play a not insignificant role in that sort of mindset, as well as the competitive student body and the rampant grade deflation. Moreover, Cornell is a good deal less selective than Duke and seems to have lower testing scores, etc. So Cornell seems to be both less intelligent and less fun. Am I getting the worst of both worlds or was my visit not representative of the Cornell experience? Ultimately I want to enjoy the next for years of college, not just get a degree.

Thoughts?

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“rampant grade deflation”
http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/grade_inflation_at_cornell/
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/cornell-university/487570-grade-inflation-or-deflation-p1.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20100214201042/http://registrar.sas.cornell.edu/Grades/MedianGradeSP08.pdf

Duke only has Arts & sciences (Trinity) & engineering (Pratt), right?
The Cornell CAS acceptance rate was 13-1/2% last year, engineering was 13.3%. Duke’s was 12.4%.
The most recent SAT breakouts by college for Cornell I found was for 2011.
Weighted midpoints of Cornell CAS + COE combined for Fall 2011 was 688CR 738M, Vs 705CR, 735M for Duke for same year.

I think most people objectively looking at those numbers who didnt attend Duke would categorize it as marginally or “a bit” more selective, not “a good deal more” selective, per your words. Which leads me to conclude that in your mind you are already going to Duke.

Some other colleges at Cornell have lower scores, but Duke does not have those colleges nor is OP attending them.

Who can say if you would be happy at Cornell? Maybe you wouldn’t be.
If you think you’d like Duke better go there.
Lots of people like it at Cornell.
Not everyone does.

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“Lots of people like it at Cornell.”
To elaborate on my own post :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWXK4npGxKE
Every alum will likely recognize some version of this Cornell.
Many will also remember sometimes being stressed out and tired.*

It is not devoid of sports-related “fun” either.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_UrhA-ilWQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Kuki_rop9w&index=35&list=PL2pdT9mh07CDOgX5OkzJ4vCNGkYKIPTgf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQjATMbzivQ

So y’all can chaw on that along with the tobacky on your way down South.
Really your post reads like you were given a bunch of talking points from the people in Durham (Our 7 billion dollar endowment…). (BTW, Cornell is divided into “endowed division” and “statutory division”. The statutory colleges get money from New York State. A 2008 article I saw estimated the endowment-equivalent of these state funds at $3.5 Billion)

*Thing is, at least at the underclass level, science and engineering classes are curved at virtually every university. If you take similarly smart people, with similar post-graduate objectives, and put them each in curved classes, why would there be much difference in resulting stress levels? Nobody has ever explained that to me to my satisfaction. I don’t see why there would be any material difference, actually. It doesn’t make sense.

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CAS at Cornell is great for exploring a variety of interests. Both physics and economics are housed in that college, so you could double major in them or major in one and minor in the other.

How stressed people are at Cornell depends on the week. I have weeks where I’m super stressed and probably do not come across as happy to visiting prefrosh. But other weeks are a lot more laid back and less stressful. Any time you visit, it’s going to be somebody’s busy week.

I also wouldn’t say Cornell is less intelligent or less fun. Cornell is home to the most intellectual and intelligent people I have ever met. A lot of people also have a “work hard, play hard” mentality, so there are always fun events or shows or parties on any given day.

5

I got a good chuckle out of this.

My kid picked Cornell over Duke, but it was because she didn’t want to go down South.
Not sure when you visited Cornell to see gloomy students. I know my kid is quite stressed now with final papers and upcoming finals.

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My son is freshman at Cornell majoring in pre-med and I have friends who have children at Duke currently. I am biased to Cornell and admit that Duke is an excellent school. A couple of points, I would check out the World University Rankings and compare Cornell to Duke, in several it is many places below Cornell which is due to the incredible reputation Cornell has internationally as a research institution, it has been around longer and has a better pedigree in the hard sciences. I also question somewhat the selectivity point you make, Cornell is plenty selective but also very different due to its stand alone “Schools” structure, Hotel, Architecture, ILR, ect. which are targeting a very specific applicant and can affect the acceptance rate. I also think Duke has made lowering the acceptance rate a specific goal so wouldn’t get too hung up on that-I know many kids from the South who apply there because its got great sports and is in a relatively warm climate-not great reasons to pick a school. That said my friend’s son is from Houston and very happy at Duke majoring in Poly Sci, but its hard to overlook Cornell’s reputation in the hard sciences.

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This past year I’ve had the fortune to really get close with my general physics professor, who happened to have his phd in string theory. I’ve asked him for a lot of advice on school, and he’s given me a lot of advice from a physics perspective. If there’s even a chance you want to become a physicist, pick the better ranked school. The field is unbelievably competitive, and you need everything that’ll help you stand out that you can get. Math is also crucial. You need to take some ridiculously hard math courses, but just as electives.

Now, if you don’t want physics, or you just want enough to teach, I don’t think it’s any big deal. From how I understand it, you can get a psychology degree and work in a bank. A background in physics will open up a lot of doors. But I would take the time to look into the programs at each school, professor rankings, etc. Not to bring you down, but it should be stressful. If you want to reach high, you’re going to have to do more than just get your degree. But that’s just the opinion of a guy who got his opinion from a theoretical physicist.

8

My D graduated on Sunday. Totally impressed with the whole weekend (and 4 years she spent there). Even the grad students (2,000 reveived Masters or PHDs) were obviously proud to be “Cornellians”. 6,000 grads arms locked, swaying back & forth singing the alma mater was a touching sight. They appeared to have “school pride”, rather than “school spirit”. It was hard as heck, but as my D put it; “thank you Cornell for tearing me down & building me back up to be stronger than before”.

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@csdad - congratulations. I was there last weekend for my nephew’s graduation. I was very touched when I saw all of those students swaying and singing Far Above Cayuga’s Waters.

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I was there for my son’s graduation from CAS last week. I found the commencement address a overly elitist about the greatness of a college degree, in all honesty.

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You really cannot go wrong with your decision. Both are great schools.

D1 graduated from Cornell several years ago, loved it and goes back every year to recruit for her employer. Her bf,a PhD Cornell grad, also loves the school.

I have relatives and friends who graduated from Cornell that now have children attending and applying to Cornell. One of these friends lives in the south and told me a few years ago her S had no interest in Cornell and wanted to stay in the south. He is a rising sophomore at Cornell. Haha

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I believe the message was for the new graduates to appreciate the education they received and to give back.

13

Huh?

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To clarify for you @morrismm …
@oldfort was responding to @UVADAD81, not you.

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“I was there for my son’s graduation from CAS last week. I found the commencement address a overly elitist about the greatness of a college degree, in all honesty”

…I didn’t get that at all.

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My post was responding to UVADAD81.

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“I was there for my son’s graduation from CAS last week. I found the commencement address a overly elitist about the greatness of a college degree, in all honesty”

@uvadad81 …I watched commencement on live stream and I also didn’t get that vibe at all either.