Cornell vs. almost free Vanderbilt engineering

<p>My friend is trying to decide between two schools and I am posting for him.</p>

<p>He got accepted to Vanderbilt engineering with honor scholarship, and with his financial aid, it's almost free for him. But Cornell has better engineering program so he's debating between a great school that would cost his family quite amount of money and a school with a great program though not as great, where he can save lots of money.</p>

<p>If we are talking about difference of $20000 each year, what do you think will be better? (He's gonna major in chem engineering)</p>

<p>Very hard to say. If he has the money, I would go to Cornell. Is his family willing to spend 80,000 to go to Cornell over Vanderbuilt?</p>

<p>um....80,000 for this difference isn't worth it....the thing is, engineering is quite different than art/scineces, the rep of ur school is really important, the engineers here are very set after graduation, they can go into the financial sector, anything....very highly recruited</p>

<p>faerie:</p>

<p>What a difficult choice to make. I know little about Cornell, but my son is a sophmore Vanderbilt student. The campus is picturesque, has approachable professors, very well maintained dorms, Nashville is one mile away, and just okay on-campus food. He is not in engineering, although many of his friends are. They work very hard, some say that they study 40-50 hours a week. But they also have fun on the weekends. I will tell you that Vanderbilt has a nice balance of strong academics in a social, laid back atmosphere. </p>

<p>The ultimate question is what kind of job opportunites are there between the 2 universities. Is the $80,000 spent at Cornell going to be repaid with more well paid jobs, opportunities, etc.? And can he/she be as content at each campus? Most Vanderbilt students that I meet when I visit seem very happy with their choice. But I think we almost all agree that Cornell engineering is superb. A visit to each campus might help - good luck.</p>

<p>I would pick vanderbilt. It's a great school and the price difference really makes it a better choice. There is nothing wrong with Cornell, its just that the 80 grand isn't worth it in the long run.</p>

<p>If he's an engineering student and can find a way to pay off the extra cost from Cornell, I would definately go. The engineering program there and opportunities later from it are phenomenal.</p>

<p>Pick Vanderbilt. Cornell is a great school and all, but I don't know if the extra $80,000 is going to be worth it</p>

<p>Cornell engineering is in a different league than Vanderbilt's. Really, really tough, with near-genius students.</p>

<p>That said, I don't really know how different the opportunities would be for a Vanderbilt grad with a BS in engineering vs a Cornell grad with the same. One would probably notice some difference in grad school opportunities, however.</p>

<p>In life, a Cornell degree will take you farther. But all said...if this boy does awesomely well and Vanderbilt, he would be equally in demand.
hmmm...this is a very tough choice indeed...i think this boy should goto Vanderbilt and not burden his parents with College bills. But he can take an educational loan and go to Cornell...</p>

<p>I think Vandy. I hardly call Vandy settling, and that is a massive price difference. I mean, that's more money than my parents make in a year.</p>

<p>well according to my friend, who attends vanderbilt, the engineering there is pretty amazing (especially chemical). she convinced me to apply there, and i definitely would've, had i not been accepted to cornell early decision. one of the ways she convinced me was by saying that their financial aid is very generous. so i would advise your friend to take advantage of vanderbilt's offer. the margin of superiority cornell has over vanderbilt isn't worth the money.</p>

<p>Vandy is a good engineering school. I would go for the almost free ride. It really sucks to have thousands of debt.</p>

<p>he could try asking cornell for financial aid telling them how much vanderbilt is offering him, and if cornell's fin. aid package is decent enough for him he would go.. ive heard people suggest that and it worked sometimes</p>

<p>My daughter got $10,000 per year from Lehigh and I just asked for matching scholarships from both Bucknell and Cornell. They were met with dead silence on the other end. Laughter probably followed when I hung up.</p>