Cornell vs Georgia Tech for electrical engineering

College Search & Selection
1

<p>So I got into Cornell, which was completely unexpected, so now I have to actually make a decision about where I'm going next fall. For reference I want to go into electrical or computer engineering, and live near Boston. I probably want to go to grad school for an MS, doubtful I'd want a phd, although possibly. </p>

<p>Can afford both shcools, although Cornell is a bigger burden on my parents who agree to pay for 50% all 4 years at gatech and 50:50 sophomore-senior year at cornell, and a little less freshmen year since they have to pay for my sisters college said year as well. Grandparents invested money for me when I was born so I have a substantial college fund, assuming parents can pay what they said they could, I'll have money left either way, but a lot more left if I go to gatech. </p>

<p>Rankings wise, in engineering, Gatech is 5th Cornell is 7th, in ece gatech is 6th cornell is 8th, in general undergraduate education gatech is 35th and cornell is 12th IIRC too lazy to look up this one, I'm sure about the engineering ones though. Rankings aren't super important as in engineering they are close enough to be essentially equal, and I'm going for engineering not general undergraduateness so the general ranking isn't too important too me either, except that it would impress most people more if I said I went to Cornell which is kinda nice I guess.</p>

<p>Heres a list of pros and cons I through together</p>

<p>Cornell</p>

<p>Pro
• Much closer to home/no plane
• Ivy (may mean more resources)
• More prestigious in general and in everything that isn’t engineering
• Much more well known in northeast, around where I want to live
• More diverse
• 50:50 male to female ratio
• Amazing food
• Wanted to go here since I was little
• One or two friends may be going as well
• Bill Nye the Science Guy
• Can take gym classes such as bowling, skiing, lifeguarding
• Great alumni network, far superior network around Boston, where I may want to end up</p>

<p>Con
• Non major city, although Ithaca is alright
• Probably in lower half of admitted student pool(I realize highschool performance doesn’t necessarily dictate college performance)
• Have to take a couple more liberal arts type courses
• Very Cold</p>

<p>Gatech</p>

<p>Pro
• 15k a year cheaper
• Much warmer
• Ranked slightly(probably negligently) higher in engineering and in ece
• Southern people are very friendly
• In a major city
• Most people have some similar interests to me since it’s mainly an engineering school
• Probably in upper half of admitted student pool(I realize highschool performance doesn’t necessarily dictate college performance)
• Had an amazing time at the overnight
• Sporting events sound really fun there
• Indoor water slide/amazing gym facilities
• Longer/probably better co-op program
• Would do summer abroad/get to pay instate tuition during this time</p>

<p>Con
• May be to hot during some times of year
• Very far away
• Worse in all non engineering fields
• 70:30 male to female ratio
• Takes some people 9-10 semesters(AP credit may make this a non issue)</p>

<p>Also if I went to georgia tech I might join a frat, whereas at Cornell I very much doubt that I would. This isn't really a plus or a minus.</p>

<p>So what are CC's thoughts on this? Anyone go to either school with an opinion.</p>

2

<p>if you can comfortably pay for Cornell, I would recommend Cornell. GaTech engineering is good, but what if you end up wanting to switch out of engineering? Many many engineers switch out of engineering since tons of h.s. seniors had no idea what engineering was gonna be like. I would say that if the cost of attending Cornell isn't significantly higher, Cornell would be a better option.</p>

3

<p>the only things I would really consider switching into if engineering didn't go well would be hard science, cs, or business, definitively would never want to do anything related to english/history/humanitees/liberal arts since I hate taking those types of classes. That said I am fairly sure I want to do engineering, and the specific type I chose at the top.</p>

4

<p>Many of prospective engineering students need to take into consideration the possibility of having to drop the engineering major because of how difficult it is. My chemistry teacher is a failed aerospace engineering student (has a B.S. in economics) and an English teacher at my school is a failed electrical engineering student. The workload was just so much that they switched out. They both, by the way, had very high SAT scores (750+ on each section).</p>

5

<p>Anyone want to comment on something besides ability to switch to a different major? Such as engineering quality, social life, general atmosphere, opportunity for grad school, etc?</p>

6

<p>Cornell seems to be a relatively popular college among many students whereas GT life gets a lot of student complaints. A notoriously unscientific online college rating service says that 78% of its Cornellian respondents would go to Cornell if they had it to do all over again, but only 52% of Techies would go back to Tech.</p>

7

<p>Cornell is prestigious, Ivy, and a great university overall, probably the best in the world and a big “brand” name. You could have a great experience over there, learning and otherwise. On the other hand GT is only about engineering and nothing else. If i were you I would have no problem preferring Cornell over GT.</p>

8

<p>Hello Prism123,
By now you must have graduated already. Where did you finally go? How was the experience? What do you now know about Cornell vs Georgia Tech?
What would be your advice to a prospective Industrial Engineer -

  1. Keeping in mind the remote but real possibility of needing to switch majors.
  2. Wanting a strong education and preparation as an IE.
  3. Preparation towards becoming a confident and independent thinker.</p>
9

<p>Gold123 - Welcome to CC. It is rarely fruitful to bring back old threads like this one. It is better to start your own thread to ask your questions. Do not expect an answer from Prism123 as he has not posted anything in the past 4.5 years.</p>

10

<p>It’s not selfish of you to consider non-academic factors. What you think of the locations and the types of people at each school matters a lot, and it can affect how well you do academically.</p>

11

<p>Cornell is almost certainly the better choice. Your increase in salary should be more than enough to offset any costs you incur, since you will be well-positioned for a high paying job right out of school.</p>

12

<p>cltdad, emberjed, Bubbles for sale - Thanks for your replies</p>