<p>I'm a high school senior in upstate NY. I got into Cornell College of Engineering in March, and I sent my deposit there. However, I just got into Caltech off of the waitlist, and I'm trying to decide between the two. I plan on studying either engineering physics or mechanical engineering at either college, and I'm trying to gather more information regarding how Cornell's programs in these areas compare to those at Caltech. Will either lead to better opportunities after college as far as grad school or a job goes? Does either involve significantly more work? Also, what about Cornell's engineering physics program causes it to be ranked so high (#1)?</p>
<p>I have until Monday 5/14 to decide. Any information will be helpful. Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>depends on what you want to do after you graduate. If you want to head into the industry, then go to Cornell. If you want to go into research, go to Caltech. However, Caltech really isn't known for its engineering though</p>
<p>Well, I'm still on Caltech's waitlist, doing Cornell Engineering. But even if I do get into Caltech I'm choosing Cornell; my family has expressed deep distress about my even applying that far away from home, and it's much less expensive/more convenient to attend Cornell. Plus, for what I'm doing, it's on par/even better? than Caltech. -shrug-</p>
<p>I think that both schools will offer a comparable environment in regards to what you are looking for in terms of academics and research opportunities. </p>
<p>The difference will be in the surrounding campus environment. Cornell offers a very large, diverse student body from all walks of life studying everything under the sun and are participating in all sorts of extracurriculars. Caltech is a much smaller, intimate campus that really only features students who are extremely passionate about science and engineering. It really depends on what type of environment you want.</p>
<p>Think about this: You could replace CalTech's entire student body with 1000 current Cornell undergraduates and not notice a difference in terms of intelligence and interests. However, if you were to replace Cornell's student body with 14,000 CalTech alums, you would notice a very large difference. Gone would be all of the athletes, thespians, farmers, future politicians, etc. that comprise parts of the Cornell student body.</p>
<p>I have a friend who was a MechE at Cornell and is now in a PhD program at CalTech while working at JPL. I think he liked having a diverse undergraduate experience before going on to a more narrowly-focused graduate school. But that's just him. Choose what you think is best for you.</p>
<p>What makes the AEP program so highly regarded? In short, I think it is a combination of highly respected faculty, well-funded research programs, and very good undergraduate and graduate students.</p>
<p>If you were to choose Caltech make sure you want to be at a school that is tiny compared to Cornell. It has fewer than 900 undergraduate students. And be 100% certain that you wouldn't want to change your major to a non-science/engineering field. Many kids change their minds once at school, and if that were to happen to you at Caltech, you might find yourself wanting to transfer elsewhere.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input so far. CayugaRed, I like your point about the student body at Cornell. That's an interesting way of thinking about it. Also, the story about your friend at JPL sounds similar to what I would like to do, so that helps a lot.</p>