Which would you choose?
Both are very prestigious, but I think Cornell would be my pick, because I think it is stronger overall and is excellent in almost every area.
Cornell and Wash U are peer institutions and the differences in quality/reputation are marginal.
Points to consider:
(1) Cost of attendance… if one was significantly cheaper than the other, go with the cheaper… neither is worth paying significantly more than the other
(2) Do you prefer small town with avery thriving college scene which dominates everything? Or would you prefer a more urban campus in which the university is just part?
(3) For most majors, they are probably equivalent… but for certain fields, Cornell would have a significant edge (engineering/CS or hotel management).
They are both awesome though, and you cannot really go wrong.
Hard choice. But good choices
Both great schools. Travel to Ithaca is a bit more cumbersome than to Wash U in terms of airport distance. Ithica is beautiful with a sprawling campus. Wash. U is in a lovely suburban-urbanish area. Winter in Ithica is the real deal compared to winter in St. Louis.
Traveling from Cal , so St.Louis definitely easier.
Provided both offered the majors I was interested in (and there’d be no reason to apply if they didn’t) I’d reflect on what I hoped college to be like on a number of dimensions (advising system, location, where students live, size of town, class size, number of undergrads, availability of research & volunteer opportunities of interest to me, etc). and pick the one that was a better fit.
Getting down to the wire. 1 week to decide. Anybody have a strong case for their school or alma mater?
WashU
Pros:
Collaborative environment
beautiful campus
outstanding pre-med opportunities (The medical school is only a couple blocks away and many pre-meds are able to do research there)
great food and dorms
happy students
more faculty student connections
Cons for WashU
Name recognition
not great socioeconomic diversity. Majority of students fairly affluent
Cornell
Pros:
Name recognition
slightly more socioeconomic diversity than at WashU
STEM programs
Cons:
cutthroat competition (to the point where it has been dubbed the “suicide school”)
not actually all that diverse. 64% of students are from in-state (for contrast 93% of WashU students out of state).
grade deflation
if going for pre-med, not nearly as many opportunities. The medical school is nowhere near campus
less individual attention
What major are you applying for?
I will say with WashU it feels pretty diverse (although it could improve still), and the school is trying to increase socioeconomic diversity.
For travel, STL is closer to California and the airport has a metro line directly to campus (plus WashU students do get to use the metro for free). I know this isn’t necessarily a big reason to choose a college, but I didn’t realize how much I saved by going to college closer to home- flights can add up fast!
The two locations are very different. WashU is in a well-connected suburb in an urban area (although there is a LARGE park across the street). Cornell is scenic but more rural in a college town. I personally wanted an urban area whereas others would prefer a town dominated by the college.
I feel like the cutthroat nature of Cornell is overblown, but I really have no personal experience. I know WashU touts its collaborative culture a lot and emphasizes the friendliness of students.
Ithaca winters.
I would choose Ithaca winters over St Louis summers. I lived a few hours away for ten years, couldn’t hardly go outside in summer after 9am.
Whereas, I actually go up to ithaca in the summer, for fun. Was just talking about maybe renting a house for a week, this time.
Anyway, I’d choose, whichever I thought I’d like better. D2 went to Cornell, liked it, is doing well. A friend of hers went to Wash U, liked it, is doing well…
Con for Cornell for me: there isn’t as much room on campus, and more students live off campus for more years. I’m a fan of residence life.
If Wash U is an “on-campus, all the time all four years” kind of place, that is indeed a distinguishing feature,which people may variously evaluate. , I call it clear advantage Cornell. Much of the"off-campus" there is right in Collegetown which is de-facto extension of campus anyway, so the campus remains the center. But this is the heart of social life for many if not most upperclassmen, in a very different, and better, way than any dorm would provide, and is useful in transition towards “growing up”. More complete thoughts, and possibly other useful tidbits, are here:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/18327305#Comment_18327305
On the other hand…
- the process of finding a house/apartment can be annoying and stressful
- leases are generally for a full year, and summer sublet opportunities are not ubiquitous.
The good side is that provides additional incentive for people to stay in Ithaca for the summer, which is something everyone should do at least once anyway, IMO. It’s really nice there in the summer. There is a “laid back” vibe that, while always present in Ithaca, extends to the university too and permeates the whole place. People you rarely get to talk to during the school year, you’ll be hanging out with, sipping coffee at a cafe or something, in the summer.
But there is no way I would trade my experiences living off campus with my experiences in the dorms. The autonomy; the extra physical space; living in close quarters with the people you care about; the house parties; just hanging out on the front porch of your house; having people over for a barbeque, or a dinner party…
I remember D2 wouldn’t come home for one of our big holiday dinners because SHE was making a big holiday dinner party with her firends in Ithaca! Kind if pissed my wife off… She did stuff like that all the time, and it would not have happened if she lived in a dorm.
My S is in college elsewhere now. He can choose to live in the dorms there, but has lived off campus the last two years, in houses with groups of friends. He too will not return to the dorms. His choice.
YMMV
I would say WashU kind of offers the best of both, in that only freshman students are required to live on campus, but housing is guaranteed for all four years. I liked that all freshman live on the south 40, but there is the separate north side (both dorms and apartments) for upperclassman. The university also owns a lot of apartments off campus. In the loop (sort of the WashU college town), there is a brand new apartment building owned by the school called the Lofts. There are really nice apartments, an international grocery store, and 24 diner within the building (plus a parklet on the roof). If students just want an apartment from a landlord, there are a lot within walking distance of the school. My friend paid $400 a month for an apartment with original hardwood, and a renovated kitchen with granite and nice appliances.
That’s easy WashU. WashU is only 7k in size vs Cornell 12k, WashU beautiful weather compared to harsh winters at Cornell. WashU is Located near a major international airport (@15 min away) and Cornell is very hard to get to. WashU is also centrally located whereas Cornell is more rural. Washu location is outstanding. It is near many stores (10 min away) galleria, container store, nordstroms, trader joes, St. Louis Cardinals, etc. WashU has the best dorms (the sophomores usually get singles!), best food, happiest students, highly collaborative environment which Cornell doesn’t have. A Rice professor said you must study with a peer or you won’t succeed. He’s right. My D has excelled from studying with her friends. They’ve helped her get ahead. Harsh grading at Cornell. The list goes on but this is your child’s decision not mine. She should pick what fits her.
“Harsh grading at Cornell”
oh really…
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
“WashU beautiful weather compared to harsh winters at Cornell.”
Where I lived, a few hours away from St Louis, it was ridiculously hot an humid in the summer. And it was also cold in the winter.
“Washu location is outstanding.”
It feels to me like it is located in a suburb. A suburb where there is no associated city. Whether a suburb is outstanding is a matter of taste. I lived a few hours from St. Louis for about ten years. The whole of St Louis metro, with some slight few exceptions feels like one huge suburb to me.You drive virtually everywhere. If your college student is likely to spend a lot of time shopping at Nordstroms then perhaps it is better though. There are malls in Ithaca but they are more pedestrian/utilitarian. No Nordstroms.
@mojojohnson You’re leaving out a lot of info. How do YOU feel about this school? Have you visited? What’s the cost for both, if cost matters at all? What major do you want to enter?