<p>My daughter chose to go to Cornell for biology and didn't accept a spot on Columbia waitlist. I'll list her main reasons and you can see if they make sense for you.
1. Cornell is actually more bio/research oriented. Academically Cornell was slightly more preferable.
2. For us CALS was a lot cheaper (at least 15 K a year). I guess this was a very important reason. Without this the choice will be much harder
3. But we live in New York. So she will be here anyway. Columbia's location is pretty far from where the action is</p>
<p>Columbia was my daughter's ED choice, Duke and Cornell were her options. As a parent I was very relieved when Columbia was not an option for her.</p>
<p>To enjoy Columbia you would need a large amount of spending money. Many students take advantage of museum, concerts, and the village - you could that cheaply. But if you enjoy going out to dinner or clubbing it would cost you quite a bit. It is a lot more obvious at a place like Columbia the difference between haves and have nots. At Cornell, nothing costs that much - fraternity parties are free, and dinners out are fairly reasonable - it is much easier to be inclusive. Of course, I have seen girls with very expensive designer handbags on campus, but if you don't know better it is not that obvious. My daughter also has a lot more freedom at Cornell. I do not worry when she goes out and she is able to have her car at school.</p>
<p>I would also get on the Columbia board and get a flavor of what the kids are like. There seem to be a lot tension between Columbia and Barnard. There are alums and current students that are out right nasty to prospective students, and even to parents.</p>
<p>My daughter is very happy at Cornell and she loves NYC. She lived there for many years and will probably move there after college. She chose Cornell over Duke not for academic reason, but for the fit. Duke is more of a southern school with nicer weather, and there is nothing southern about her. She also looked at the type (quality) of students Duke accepted vs Cornell accepted from her HS. In her mind Cornell accepted more qualifed students, and Duke accepted students based on factors other than academic (it may be just at her school).</p>
<p>I have not compared academics between those 3 schools because I think you could get just as good of education at any of those schools. It's really fit at this point.</p>
<p>I hope you chose cornell. All those people above saying choose a collegetown because you have your whole life to live in NYC or any other city... such a valid argument. I am probably biased, as almost every school I will be applying to next year is rural, or very small town centered.</p>
<p>oldfort makes a very good point about money.</p>
<p>Enjoying what New York City and other major cities have to offer is expensive. If you don't have a lot of money, you might prefer to not be in a big-city environment while you are a student. Later, when you have a job and have more money at your disposal, you might be better able to enjoy city life.</p>
<p>My daughter, like oldfort's daughter, is at Cornell. I suspect that my daughter spends even less money than oldfort's daughter does because my daughter is not in the Greek system. It doesn't cost much to attend campus events, make occasional bus trips to the mall, or play board games and watch movies in people's dorm rooms (which is what her crowd of friends actually does with their free time). I think she and her friends go to restaurants occasionally, and they may spend $20 or so per month downloading more stuff off their computers than Cornell allows for, but that's about it. Many of my daughter's friends fall into the "have-not" category financially, but nobody seems to care, and their tight budgets don't prevent them from doing the things their friends are doing.</p>
<p>So if money is a factor, perhaps Cornell or Duke would be a better choice than Columbia. But really, you can't go wrong with any of the three.</p>
<p>with all due respect, ephemeral...you're talking about where youll be applying to and not where you actually are. when i was in your position, i was sure that i didnt want to be in a city and that i wanted a cozy campus without the craziness of the "real world". welll...now after my first year at cornell, i realize that isnt the case for me and that I'm not buying into this "college as summer camp" kind of argument. so what if i have my whole life to live in a city? doesnt mean i should spend four years in the middle of nowhere if it isnt my thing.</p>
<p>im just posing the argument that when the idealized view of college as some sort of summer camp retreat wears off...some people end up missing the real world and having a starbucks or a mcdonalds on every street corner. just how it goes sometimes. so its something people should consider when making their college choice.</p>
<p>i agree both with what ephemeral and elgguj said, cornell really is a different experience from big cities and you do have the rest of your life to life in NY but if you're the kind of person who would hate being in the cornell environment then that's not a good enough reason to go/stay. having said that i think for most people, even if they wouldn't live in a place like ithaca for the rest of their lives, were able to adapt and enjoy their four years there. i lived in a city all my life and was a little apprehensive about being "in the middle of nowhere" too but i got there, made the most of it and really enjoyed the school/town for what it was, and i'm really glad that i had that experience. i'm a recent grad and in fact a lot of my friends and i really miss our time there. personally i never really missed having a starbucks or a mcdonalds on every corner because there are a lot of other alternatives. also i'm not sure that the idealized view of college is a summer camp retreat, at least i never thought of it as such, schools like cornell aren't good only in so far as it is akin to being a summer camp retreat</p>
<p>yeah, NYC is expensive. Very. </p>
<p>I was with a friend in Greenwich village and we decided to get some drinks. Neither of us were loaded with cash so we decided to just go for some shots to save some money. Each of us had 3 shots of Grey Goose and the total bill was a solid $90 without a tip. Yeah, ridiculous, you can get a liter of that stuff for $35 in a store.</p>
<p>Elgguj: I definitely respect your opinion, as you actually have experience that I am lacking as a high school junior. And you were dead-on with my thinking of college as a summer camp retreat; I have gone to summer camp for 9 years, and it is a huge part of my life. I know it has been a big factor in choosing my prospective college locations. But, I can definitely see how being in a college bubble could get old.</p>
<p>I agree with most of the posters here. At this point, you'll probably make your choice based on the environment you want. The Cornell environment isn't for everyone. I grew up in a small town and so Ithaca is big for me. My best friend is from San Diego. She hated Cornell her first year and came to love Ithaca. She's at UPenn now and it seems like she's back up visiting me every other weekend...and she says she really misses Ithaca now.</p>
<p>Another friend of mine graduated last year and is now at NYU...she's also back up here quite often. </p>
<p>Just some food for thought...</p>
<p>yeah thanks guys.......what makes it tough is that i think i could adjust to either environment, and both appeal to me for different reasons.........i like NYC but I also like the campus unity of a college town.....</p>