<p>Hello, These two schools are my top choices. I can see myself at either one. I visited both of them and find them both pretty nice. Although, I havent seen cornell since the summer after sophomore year I still remember the campus and stuf. Stanford's campus is so beautiful and the kids are very laid-back. The facilities are top-notch and so is the faculty. Cornell is nestled in beautiful upstate New York and the campus is nice and so is the technology there. I am interested in pursuing a career in electrical and computer engineering. Which one do you think is better for that field? Which one do u think is easier to get into for the early round? My stats make me competitive for both schools. By the way, I am in Beijing right now( I live in the U.S.) because my father is here on business. When I return I plan on visiting Cornell again.</p>
<p>As you probably know, both schools are very strong in engineering and admission is very competitive. The major differences are the location and the weather. I would put Stanford just a tad bit harder to get in than Cornell.</p>
<p>Both are great schools. If you are trying to decide which to apply to for ED or EA, you should make a list of what is important to you and see which school fits best. </p>
<p>The weather is hugely different.</p>
<p>And Palo Alto is very different from Ithaca. And San Francisco is more of a destination than... I think Stanford students try harder to be laid back as well.</p>
<p>Both schools are great universities; both are difficult to get into even if your stats are competitive. Stanford isn't "a tad" harder to get into than Cornell, though, it's significantly harder to get into than Cornell. One important difference is that at Stanford, engineering students apply to the university along with all other students. At Cornell, engineering students apply to the College of Engineering. That is more selective, perhaps, than some other Cornell colleges, but it is just engineers competing with engineers.</p>
<p>Another important difference is that Stanford is in the middle of "Silicon Valley", about a 30-minute bus ride from either the San Francisco or San Jose airports. That pretty much makes it the center of the world for computer engineering, and it's one of the most pleasant areas on Earth. (That's part of why Stanford is so difficult to get into -- who wouldn't want to go there?) Cornell is in a beautiful small town in a rural area about 3-4 hours' drive from New York City. It is a stunningly lovely campus, but it is relatively remote, and a little hard to get to. The giants of the American computer industry don't have breakfast every morning a few steps from its campus; you can't go to New York City for a few hours after class and be back that evening.</p>
<p>Stanford also has grade inflation......</p>
<p>As noted above, location and weather are enormous differences in the two. Also, the tremendous effort that goes into Stanford appearing to be laid back makes it less than so in my opinion. Other than them constantly telling you that it is, I find little that is laid back about the Stanford atmosphere.</p>
<p>both are obviously great schools. If it is one of your interests, Stanford has Division 1 sports and while Cornell is a Division 1 school, the Ivies really play by D-3 rules and level of competition for the most part.</p>
<p>Couldn't go wrong with either place. Guess it comes down to an east coast vs. west coast decision.</p>
<p>Ithaca does have an airport!</p>
<p>"Ithaca does have an airport!"</p>
<p>It does indeed, but when my nephew was trying to decide between Rice and Cornell he discovered that airfare to Houston from DC was about $200 and to Ithaca it was $700+. It's not the only reason he ended up at Rice, but it was a consideration.</p>
<p>People who want to travel to or from Ithaca by air often find it advantageous to fly to Syracuse and take a cab to Ithaca (it's about an hour's drive). The taxi can cost $75 or more, but you still save money because flying to Syracuse is much cheaper than flying to Ithaca in most instances.</p>
<p>It is cheaper to fly to Syracuse and take ground transportation to Cornell (than to fly into Ithaca airport).</p>