<p>I'd appreciate it if anyone can help me with my current dilemma:
I'm planning to go into engineering, and then ultimately business. My current two choices are Cornell Engineering and University of Toronto Engineering. Cornell will cost approximately 20k a year after financial aid, while the University of Toronto will cost literally nothing with scholarships (plus since I'm a Canadian citizen tuition is only 8000/year)
Of course, going to U of T has it's cons, such as extremely large classes, and the rumours of your professors never knowing your name - which may lead to difficulties in getting into grad school.
If there are anyone experienced with the two universities, or the engineering field, or anything related to this situation, would you mind inputting your opinion?
Thanks for your time! I really appreciate it</p>
<p>Go to the University of Toronto for your bachelor's degree and then apply to a top 10 US university for graduate school.</p>
<p>UToronto looks like a fine school. Not sure what engineering you're going into, but one of the newest Mech E profs at Cornell got his Ph.D. from there.</p>
<p>If it's free, then why not?</p>
<p>Yea, Toronto is a huge school (I think it has over 70,000 total students). But I would still go there since you are a Canadian citizen (and it's also an excellent school). You can always apply to an American school for grad.</p>
<p>not to offend anyone but how can u even compare cornell with UT, cornell is like way above UT, in like every aspect, the extra 20k is worth it. u'll be able to get into grad school easier, and ur network of friends will way be better than that of UTs, it'll help u a lot in the future, and also ranking wise too cornell is in the top 15s, while UT is like 25th, and plus cornell is also ivy league, and engineering althought hte downtown campus is pretty good but it's in downtown the moment u step outside of the campus it's crap especially the fact that it's beside the china town, are u still in grade 11? well if i were u i'd go to cornell, i applied to cornell too for engineering (aerospace) and also UT for engineering science( aerospace), and if i get into cornell i'm definitely going there, no second thoughts, it'll be all worth it.</p>
<p>Before you go to Cornell, learn to write better sentences. Ivy's kinda care about that.</p>
<p>goto Toronto. 20k a year, Cornell will leave you in 60K+debt. </p>
<p>High school seniors tend to overvalue the Ivy name, in terms of size, Cornell is a large research University as well. You'll have the same opportunities at either place if you do well. If you do poorly at either place, you will have problem with grad school and jobs in the same way. But, Cornell will make you 60k+ poorer. </p>
<p>By college graduation, you'll realize that taking out a lot of loans to goto a seemingly and marginally better University is not worth it. Plus, this isn't a no-name versus brand name deal, UT is reputable as well.</p>
<p>Here's another downside for Cornell - you're in the middle of nowhere. If you really enjoy nature, then maybe that's a plus for you, but if you enjoy the sights of civilization - which I would think an engineer would prefer - Toronto will probably be a more fun place for undergrad.</p>
<p>thanks.... so... from the advices given
u of t seems to be the best choice
and i think from my own perspective u of t would really be an ideal choice too
but my only concern is of the fact that class sizes are HUGE at u of t, and that when it comes to admission to grad school, i won't be able to obtain as good of a reference letter as i'd like.
would cornell give me a more competitive edge if i were to want to apply to grad school?</p>
<p>thanks for the advices.</p>
<p>yes, U of T would be the best choice. Would Cornell be better for grad school? Sure, but not that much. Just focus on getting an excellent GPA and try and find some research experiences and you will be fine.</p>
<p>hmm.... i suppose......
thanks for the help</p>
<p>It depends on what type of learner you are. If you are a motivated student, and you know what you want to do and will not be easily influenced by those around you, then I think you should goto UT. </p>
<p>However, one large difference that I felt having been to the two schools is that there is a large discrepancy of student caliber at UT. A lot of people there that I've met are extremely smart, motivated and talented, however, there is an equal or greater number of apathetic students that really weren't there to learn. This is most likely due to the difference in selectivity of the schools, especially in engineering. </p>
<p>It really depend on your future goals, if you want to goto grad school or not. Sure it is a lot cheaper to goto UT for undergrad, but the experience that you gain, non-academically, from Cornell will be beneficial to you in the future.</p>
<p>big dilemma... I know a friend who had exactly the same dilemma between McGill and Cornell and chose McGill. Depends on your financial situation too..</p>
<p>I imagine first 2 years at cornell most of the engineering classes will be huge too. (20-200 people).</p>
<p>Get recommendations from people you do research with and have taken multiple classes with.</p>
<p>i would not be living up to my moniker if I did not say U of T all the way - then consider Cornell for grad or business school. As for Cornell being waaaayyyy better than U of T, never ever forget that Dr. Fred Banting and Dr. Charles Best discovered insulin at U of T.</p>
<p>20-200 people classes are not "huge". I think the OP's definition of "huge" classes are much larger than 200 people, and to my knowledge UT has alot of classes near 900-1000.</p>
<p>Where insulin was discovered has no relevance to the question, I'm sure a lot of universities have these types of recognition under their belt. </p>
<p>In the end, it really depends on fit, ask current students what they think the pros/cons of each respective universities are, and then make a choice personalized for you.</p>
<p>Largest class size at UT is 2500. I forget what class it was though...I think it was an intro to writing class. Other than that though, UT is a great school with outstanding resources and facilities.</p>
<p>btw, anyone know how competitive U of T's varsity athletic programs are compared to somewhere like Cornell?</p>
<p>i'm going to UIUC over UT, UWaterloo, UBC, Mcgill Engineering with all full-scholarships
Candian schools... well..
not worth going.
hard to graduate;;
no reputation anywhere else but canada,
too much work</p>