<p>I am fortunate to have such great choices... I'm looking for some reassurance.</p>
<p>I'm interested in the social sciences, am thinking about law school, and am interested in computer science. I'm also very interested in entrepreneurship.</p>
<p>Cornell PROS
-Best option financially
-well regarded ILR program that can allow me to focus on a wide range of my interests in business, economics, history, pre-law... with a unique labor focus
-"ivy league"</p>
<p>Cornell CONS
-weather, though it's only slightly worse than where i live now (chicago area). Is it really always cloudy in ithaca?
-feeling of isolation... lack of nearby city
-i've found there to be an overwhelming amount of east coasters... from my one experience there</p>
<p>NU PROS
-Evanston/Chicago.. urban, hip, great resources and opportunities to pursue
-Excellent economics program... which is what I'd be doing there
-Big 10 sports... more school spirit than cornell?</p>
<p>NU CONS
-Evanston/Chicago... too close to home.
-worst option financially</p>
<p>USC PROS
-Many programs across schools... BA/Computer Science double major program seems awesome
-Socal weather
-much better social vibe than Cornell/NU
-awesome sports/school spirit
-far, far away from home
-decent finaid</p>
<p>USC CONS
-least prestigious of the three?</p>
<p>I am leaning toward Cornell because it is my best bet financially. I do have a few second thoughts about fit and ILR, but it seems like I could change schools later once enrolled if this becomes an issue.</p>
<p>Is the difference in perceived excellence between USC and Cornell that big? Would I be crazy to consider paying more to go to USC instead of less expensive Cornell? Thanks.</p>
<p>If you’re planning on going to law school, it’s very hard to say no to the school that’s giving you the most money - especially when it’s the most prestigious school of the three.
Law school is expensive. I chose my schools because I knew that I would have to take out loans for law school and wanted to borrow as little as possible for undergrad.</p>
<p>I don’t think that Northwestern necessarily has more school spirit than Cornell. </p>
<p>Cornellians tend to be a very proud and loyal bunch. I just got back from watching the Men’s Lacrosse team beat Princeton and there were 10,000 students and alums cheering the team on in the stands. But the alumni base extends far beyond athletics.</p>
<p>There are a significant number of East Coasters at Cornell, but large swaths of Cornell’s campus definitely doesn’t have an East Coast attitude. In many respects, Cornell is socially similar to Northwestern than it is to a school like Penn.</p>
<p>i’m from the chicago area too, and I found ithaca weather not much worse than Chicago. The reason you might think it is worse is that in college you are outside a lot more (walking between classes, walking to dining halls, probably don’t have a car to get places, etc). While in chicago, you are usually warm and dry within the confines of your high school, house or car all day, only going outside for a couple minutes at a time. </p>
<p>I definitely don’t feel isolated in ithaca, but it is true that there aren’t many midwesterners (I get really excited when I meet someone from Chicago! and if you come and I ever meet you, we can discuss how central time and lake michigan are much better than eastern time and oceans and how soda is really called pop ) Cornell has a lot of new yorkers, but remember, these new yorkers come from all walks of life, and are not just city dwellers. </p>
<p>You can definitely take CS courses too. Cornell is very open about letting you take courses across colleges. And for the pricetag of ILR makes Cornell the best choice.</p>
<p>It’s perplexing to me how much people let weather decide something as important as college - especially people from the Northeast or Chicago for whom weather changes will be negligible. I think Ithaca’s reputation for bad weather far outweighs its reality. Yes, it gets sunny. I’m not sure it’s any worse than Chicago.</p>
<p>As has been pointed out on many other threads of this nature, you have your entire life to live in big, “hip” cities. Cornell provides a unique location and place probably unlike anywhere you’ll live again to really use college for what it’s meant to be - a time of contemplation and inquiry. Ithaca is certainly vibrant and quirky enough to keep you interested. Its politics are known throughout the world.</p>
<p>I think the older you get, the less you’ll want to look back on your college days as “man, we had a blast on the beach” and more as a period that challenged you intellectually because the party won’t necessarily end when you graduate. You can still have a lot of fun at Cornell and get that feeling of accomplishment.</p>
<p>You live in Chicago… how is weather a con for Cornell? You should be used to it. The weather in Ithaca isn’t that bad actually, considering the mitigating effects of the Finger Lakes. I would not really even consider USC.</p>
<p>I’m actually convinced that the dividing line runs right through Ithaca. Syracuse calls it soda, Rochester calls it pop. Maybe if Cornell was built on West Hill?</p>
<p>But then we wouldn’t have all of those great sunsets to enjoy.</p>
<p>Geeez I spent 6 years in Ithaca, then 3 in chicago. And I never experienced worse weather than when I lived in Chicago. There were people killed over taking other people’s parking spaces on the street, because they’d spent hours shoveling them out. Chicago was also much hotter in the summer. I guess you can look up the stats and whatever the facts are, so be it. But let me assure you that this should NOT be a basis for your decision.</p>
<p>Thanks for all of the helpful input so far.</p>
<p>How does the “Trojan Network” compare to that of Cornell? Which would be more prevalent in Chicago, for instance, if I were to live there after graduation?</p>
<p>I’m sure the universities can put you in touch with the chicago alumni club chairpeople; then you can ask them about enrollment level & activities.
Cornell had a relatively active alumni club there when I lived in Chicago.
Got some dates out of it, actually !!
But that was a long time ago.</p>
) Cornell has a lot of new yorkers, but remember, these new yorkers come from all walks of life, and are not just city dwellers. </p>