Son (International) is accepted at Cornell ( College of Arts & Sciences) and at Georgia Tech. He wants to do a double major in CS and Math. At Cornell he needs to have a 2.5 GPA is Math & CS related courses in freshman year to be able to declare CS major in Sophomore year (Cornell does not admit by major). I GT, I believe they ask for confirmation of major after you accept the offer and at that time you can specify the major you want ( again, GT does not admit by major, I believe). He was accepted at some other colleges such as Purdue (CS), UMass Amherst (CS), UMD, UW-Madison but has shortened the final list between Cornell & GT. Both rank #5 in US News Computer Science Undergrad ranking.
Cornell Pros:
Ivy league bragging right
Beautiful Campus
Proximity of NYC
Cornell Cons
Weather ( seven months of cold, dark depressing weather and five months of gorgeous picturesque beauty)
Far from nearest international airport
Academic pressure and workload coupled with depressing weather affects mental health
Internship opportunities at Ithaca are not as plentiful as those at Atlanta/ South-East.
GT
Pros:
Atlanta is a city with international airport
Weather is mild and warm
Internship & jobs are aplenty ( even international students get something). Amazon and Google campuses…
Cons
Bad food (although GT apparently is trying to do something about it)
No ivy league bragging right
Double major in Math requires taking 36 additional credits that is a lot of work on top of your CS major requirement ( while at Cornell it takes 3-4 additional classes only).
As an international parent, I shall pay significantly more for Cornell. But I did not want to include that parameter in this discussion.
First off, Cornell is not close to NYC. At all. But, most students do their internships in the summer, not during the school year.
Secondly, these are peer schools for your son’s intended major. But, they approach their programs very differently. I’d strongly encourage your student to map out the four year plan of study for his majors at both schools. I think he will find that he will have more required out of major courses at Cornell. Some students love that, others don’t.
If coops at are all important to your student, then GT gets the clear bump. IMO they do a better job with career readiness through coops, internships and corporate relationships.
As an international student, your son needs to assume that they will be returning to their home country after graduation. If one school’s reputation is significantly more known than the other for job opportunities, that could be a factor to consider.
And yes, the weather leaves much to be desired at Cornell in winter but the campus is stunning and safe.
Good luck with the decision and congrats on wonderful acceptances!
Thanks a ton momofboiler1. We are possibly tilting slightly in favor of Georgia Tech. The CS curriculum with two threads, AP/IB credit policy (he can carry around 20-22 credits at GTech while in Cornell it is more difficult), possibility to opt for an additional year to complete MS etc. are solid plusses.
Cornell also used to have vectors ( similar to threads), but I hear that they have discontinued with that structure because of scheduling nightmares. However, Cornell probably offers better undergrad research opportunities though. Can anyone throw more light on undergrad research at Cornell ?