<p>I was accepted by both Cornell and UCLA into their respective engineering colleges. Alumni scholar offer at UCLA and dean scholar offer at Cornell. I'm not sure which field of engineering I'll end up committing too but it will most likely be bioengineering/biomed or environmental engineering. I could also see myself abandoning that completely and going into pre-law. Which would you decide on and why? What seems like a better fit academically for me? Any opinions or experience in regards to programs at either would be appreciated! Thanks guys.</p>
<p>First, I’m biased 
So, take this with a grain of salt.</p>
<p>Cornell is well-known in most if not all of the engineering fields (I’m sure you have heard of this probably a lot of time already). I hope I’m not offending anyone here, but between Cornell and UCLA, I would definitely choose Cornell for that very reason. I’m not sure about BEE program in UCLA, so I can’t do the comparison. As for BEE in Cornell, I can’t say a lot either since I’m not a BEE, but BEE in Cornell definitely covers a wide range of topics from what I have heard.</p>
<p>Which one would fit you academically is also not for us to decide, especially we don’t know who you are. I hope you would come and visit Cornell @ Cornell Days to experience it yourself!</p>
<p>Thanks, yeah I’ll be visiting from the 14th-18th and attending SWE days. How is Ithaca in general?</p>
<p>Ithaca’s a nice little small town surrounded by several natural areas. There’s stuff around, contrary to popular belief, but it’s certainly no metropolis. As for the weather, it’s rather fickle. The cold isn’t horrible, but the climate shifts very frequently sometimes.</p>
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<p>Check out following two threads, plus a USA Today ranking that describes Ithaca as #1 for Best College Town, plus the last link-- a New York Times article calling Ithaca a Haven:</p>
<p>[thread=648868]Life At Cornell: Traditions and General Social and Academic Life[/thread]</p>
<p>[thread=617141]What Ithaca Means[/thread]</p>
<p>[Ithaca</a> #1- USA Today Best College Town](<a href=“http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2010-09-08-collegedestinationsONLINE_ST_N.htm?csp=hf&POE=click-refer][b]Ithaca”>http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2010-09-08-collegedestinationsONLINE_ST_N.htm?csp=hf&POE=click-refer)</p>
<p>[Homecomings</a> Amid the Gorges … Ithaca … NYTimes Article](<a href=“Havens - Ithaca, N.Y. - The New York Times”>Havens - Ithaca, N.Y. - The New York Times)</p>
<p>Thanks everyone! Did any of you bring bikes with you? How bike friendly is the campus?</p>
<p>I have a friend who has a bike. He loves it, but it can be quite challenging going to certain places, but your mileage may vary also, keep in mind that you wouldn’t be able to use your bike about half a year because of the snow (might have exaggerated a little bit :P)</p>