<p>I already posted this thread in both the Cornell and Penn forums, but I want an unbiased view. I got into both for engineering. Even though Cornell's engineering program is supposedly much better than Penn's, Penn is offering me 5 grand more than Cornell. What would you pick and why???</p>
<p>Cornell because of high standards and expectations, broad curriculum, smart students and faculty, excellent undergrad teaching, great resources, and prestigious engineering. Cornell's program is larger than U Penn. But, U Penn is very good, too. </p>
<p>Which field of engineering?</p>
<p>I'd go for Cornell. Unless you feel it's important that you're in a big city like Philly, Cornell will offer you a better engineering program and experience.</p>
<p>I'd pick Penn- it's got great name recognition and you're saving 20 grand over 4 years. It's not like you're picking between Harvard and community college. Afterall, 20 grand is a car... something to think about if you're going to grad school etc.</p>
<p>The problem is, I'm not sure for which type of engineering, or whether or not I want to do engineering at all. I'm also considering economics, and Penn econ>Cornell econ. But then again, what if I decide that I really do want to be an engineer...Sigh... I really wish I knew what I wanted to do in life.</p>
<p>Penn gives you more flexibility if you don't know what you want to do.</p>
<p>Penn also gives you Philadelphia, which has better weather (not because Philly is great but because Ithaca is so terrible) and of course Philadelphia is way more fun than Ithaca.</p>
<p>In high school, my S was undecided about whether to study engineering. His high school sends a fair number of students to Penn, and he loved the campus, but for someone who is unsure about engineering, Penn can be risky - it isn't easy to transfer from Engineering into Arts & Sciences, for example (and transferring into Wharton is very tough). So he decided that Penn wasn't for him. At Cornell, transferring out of Engineering is not very hard; and approximately 20% or so of students do transfer from one college to another. The transfer requirements for Cornell can be found on their website, and I am sure that the same is true for Penn. S is now at Cornell, still an engineer, is getting a great education, and loves it.</p>