<p>Which one would you choose, and why?</p>
<p>It would depend on my major and where I lived. I would choose Cornell unless there is a compelling argument for U Washington.</p>
<p>not U Washington. Wash U in St. Louis</p>
<p>Washington University - I was going to apply to both, got into WashU, and didn't even bother finishing the app to Cornell. WashU has a reputation of being a very friendly campus located in a beautiful area, great academics, reputation, and is more selective than Cornell. Don't let the rankings fool you: I think most people consider WashU undergrad to be better than Cornell.</p>
<p>I would choose Cornell over Washington U. What major?</p>
<p>Judaic/Near Eastern Studies</p>
<p>I like WashU however, Cornell has more prestige if that's what you're looking for..</p>
<p>
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Cornell has more prestige if that's what you're looking for
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</p>
<p>I really don't think that's the case anymore. Especially after the past few years, WashU has become far more selective than Cornell and receives nearly as many applicants. I would say they are equal in terms of prestige, but that will obviously vary from person to person. What matters is that you go to the school that you'll be happy at: for schools of this caliber, ranking and prestige are irrelevant.</p>
<p>This would be a personal choice, they are very close, fit/location/cost would make bigger difference than academic/career opportunities differences.</p>
<p>Cornell: slightly stronger prestige/name recognition, outdoors opportunities, many places to visit few hours away (NYC, etc.)</p>
<p>WashU: better weather, dorms, food, easier to double-major, easier to access professors (marginally)</p>
<p>Tie: social life, strong student body/academics</p>
<p>My S chose Wash U Engineering over Cornell engineering. He liked better Wash’s atmosphere, smaller classes, better dorms, better food, easy access to research since freshman year, friendlier staff.
Before making his decision he spent four nights in each school attending classes.
For us it is a little expensive because he has to flight to St. Louis and Cornell it was a three hours drive, but anyway, he is very happy and enthusiastic about his career, social life an extra activities (but we can’t see him as often as it would be if he has chosen Cornell :().</p>
<p>"I would say they are equal in terms of prestige"</p>
<p>From when I lived on the west coast to the east where I moved, Cornell was instantly known while WUSL was not. Cornell takes the prestige cup with people "in the know". The peer assessment is also much higher for Cornell. </p>
<p>" WashU: better weather, dorms, food, easier to double-major, easier to access professors (marginally"</p>
<p>better weather - warmer weather, yes</p>
<p>dorms - the dorms at Cornell are undergoing major renovations. They're now among the best in the US, but i couldn't compare them to WUSL. </p>
<p>food - ummm, Cornell. CU is ranked in the top-5 by princeton review (consistently) and was top-3 by some food magazine last year and the same magazine rated one dining hall in particular as the best in the US. </p>
<p>easier access to professors - too subjective to base a decision on. How would you judge this, by the size of the school? IMO, this isn't fair.</p>
<p>I chose Cornell over WashU because the business program is quite small. (only about 250 kids). I also love the city of Ithaca and Cornell's international recognition. I disagree with Cressmom's statement about the WashU's food is being better. Cornell's food has been ranked number one by Princeton Review for years....the Ag school even makes their own ice cream!</p>
<p>I don’t think we eat rankings, if you don’t try the food at both places, you will never know which one you like best, it doesn’t matter what others think, you will be the one eating there. The same goes to rankings and own opinions, rankings could say it’s the best place but maybe you don’t like it, would you choose rankings over your feelings and being in a place you don’t fit?
The problem with many kids is they are looking more for prestige and name recognition instead of looking for their own well being, their own future career and the way they would like to spend the next four years of their lives.
Did you all stay in both campuses for at least two nights? Did you attend both colleges’ classes? Did you try to reach well-known professors at both places? If your answer is yes, you don’t need to look at rankings, you already know what it is best for you.
By the way, I had the opportunity to check several dorms in both places and positively I like much more the ones at Wash U (the new ones with leather couches and plasma TVs are awesome! Like fancy boutique hotels).</p>
<p>I would go to WashU actually. Cornell is just too big and and I don't really care for Ithaca. It is also very isolated, not nearly as close to NYC as you might think. I'd rather check out metropolitan St. Louis after a 20 minute bus ride than having to travel for about 3 hours or more. Wash U also has a very pretty campus, and is quite strong in the sciences, especially biology. Ithaca's weather is also atrocious. </p>
<p>Cornell is a great school and all, but in terms of lifestyle and campus vibe, I definitely would opt for Wash U. They offered me a lot of money in scholarships too if I had not withdrawn my application to go to Princeton.</p>
<p>
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Judaic/Near Eastern Studies
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Cornell. WUStL's department is decent, but Cornell excels in that area. I absolutely loved the campus, dorms, and food at Cornell; the only reason I didn't apply is I felt Duke offered the same without the extra distance.</p>
<p>I think most people consider WashU undergrad to be better than Cornell.</p>
<p>Funny. I never met anybody who actually thought that. Heck, if that was true, one must wonder why Cornell has a much higher yield rate, despite WashU's merit awards.</p>
<p>Especially after the past few years, WashU has become far more selective</p>
<p>Far more selective? What are you smoking?</p>
<p>receives nearly as many applicants.</p>
<p>Last year WashU recieved about 21000 applications. Cornell recieved about 28000. Again, what are you smoking?</p>
<p>Anyways, I'd rather go to Cornell (and I am), mainly since I dislike St. Louis (and large cities in general).</p>
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Far more selective? What are you smoking?
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</p>
<p>Perhaps the use of the word "far" was uncalled for; it is more selective. WashU had an 18% acceptance rate this year - I believe Cornell is around 25%. WashU also has higher avg. test scores and a higher percentage in the top 10%...and so on.</p>
<p>
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Last year WashU recieved about 21000 applications. Cornell recieved about 28000. Again, what are you smoking?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I am using the USNews data, which shows WashU received 21500 apps and Cornell received 24,500 apps. Of course, Cornell is a part of the prestigious ivy league, so I am sure it gets a good deal of its applicants as a result. I am very impressed by the fact that WashU, a regional school not so many years ago, is receiving nearly as many apps as Harvard.</p>
<p>Perhaps the use of the word "far" was uncalled for; it is more selective. WashU had an 18% acceptance rate this year - I believe Cornell is around 25%. WashU also has higher avg. test scores and a higher percentage in the top 10%...and so on.</p>
<p>The comparison is quite false. Cornell has a much larger percentage of students going into non-traditional schools, like ILR, Hotel, architecture, etc, and these schools do not place high importance on SAT scores/class ranking/numbered factors. Until you pull out statistics on the individual colleges (Cornell A&S, for example, has an acceptance rate of 20%), this comparison of admissions is highly misleading.</p>
<p>I am using the USNews data, which shows WashU received 21500 apps and Cornell received 24,500 apps. Of course, Cornell is a part of the prestigious ivy league, so I am sure it gets a good deal of its applicants as a result. I am very impressed with the fact that WashU, a regional school not so many years ago, is receiving nearly as many apps as Harvard.</p>
<p>28098 applicants last year. The interesting thing is that Cornell's applications grew by 10,000 in the span of about 3 years, as they've recieved 30,000+ applications this year. Of course, I fail to see how the number of applications is relevant. Cornell gets much more applications than Harvard, but what conclusion can you derive from it?</p>
<p>Your proposition to compare school-to-school instead of the entire undegraduate college is not typically the approach taken. In that case, Columbia becomes the most difficult college to get into in the nation (CC, that is). When comparing universities, one should not be able to pick and choose however they want. I presume that WashU Olin is a bit easier to get into than CAS, so I could argue that we control only for WashU's CAS admission rate. Either way, the student has gained admission into the undergraduate college of that university.</p>
<p>The number of applicants was brought up to show how WashU has gained prestige and recognition over the past several decades, not to support the claim that one school is better than the other.</p>
<p>That is faulty reasoning. By that logic, since the class rank and SAT are all that matters in admission, Juliard and Rhode Island School of Design are clealry easy to gain admission. The difficulty of gaining admisison to non-CAS/engineering schools cannot be measured by numbers alone. Or would you you like to argue that any stat-heavy applicant would be successful in admission to, say, Hotel, ILR or Architecture? Such comparison clearly does disservice to a school like Cornell that seeks to admit the best possible candidates for a specific program, that has numerous different programs to consider, and doesn't pretend that one set of criteria fits the entire realm of academia. The only way to truly compare selectivity is to compare the most alike schools. You don't compare Juliard and Harvard, and you don't compare architecture with A&S.</p>