<p>So I've already visited both and am seeing them again in the next two weeks, but I'm really torn. On one hand, I love the size and location of UChicago. On the other, Cornell does have a beautiful campus and the CHE has exactly what I want to study... The Chicago environment scares me a little bit; I don't mind working hard, but I don't want to miss out on a fun college experience. Cornell, though, seems frighteningly huge, and it's kind of in the middle of nowhere..
Any thoughts/advice/comments would be very much appreciated, thanks.</p>
<p>My brother went to UChicago and I visited there many times. </p>
<p>If you don’t want to get shot/robbed/assaulted, go to Cornell.</p>
<p>misterpresident: Please. Hyde Park is one of the safest neighborhoods in Chicago. Obama lived there for 15 years.</p>
<p>^seconded. the more important question is whether you want to live in the country and have a more traditional college experience, or live in the city and have an urban less college-y experience for the next four years.</p>
<p>i hate when people say cornell is in the middle of nowhere! the very presence of 20,000+ people does indeed make it somewhere! lol but yea go to cornell. you get all four seasons, beautiful scenery, amazing food…cornell is just better :)</p>
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<p>This may be true, but Hyde Park is also one of the few college neighborhoods I have been in where I have seen a thug steal a bicycle, with a hacksaw, in broad daylight. You did not want to mess with this dude. (And by few, I mean only.)</p>
<p>It happened, coincidentally, at 55th and Cornell street.</p>
<p><a href=“Google Maps”>Google Maps;
<p>To the OP: Cornell isn’t frighteningly huge, especially when you consider that each of Cornell’s colleges are smaller than Chicago’s one college. At the end of the day, once you county grad students, Cornell only has a couple more thousand students on campus than Chicago. And at the end of the day, it’s about the same walk from North Campus to Collegetown as it is to walk the length of the Midway.</p>
<p>^ and I have a friend whose house in Ithaca was broken into over spring break and EVERYTHING was stolen, LITERALLY EVERYTHING. clothes, keys, electronics, (cooking utensils!!?!). Crime happens everywhere. I think there are more important factors for your selection.</p>
<p>I agree. I understand that safety is always something to keep in mind, but I’m more concerned right now with the general atmosphere of each school. As of right now, I’m planning on going to med school, and I don’t know how each school would factor into that.
I’m kind of afraid that if I go to Chicago, I’ll pull endless all-nighters but won’t get the grades to show for it. I’m all for enjoying learning, but I recognize that that learning is to get me somewhere in life (like grad school)…
And for Cornell, I guess I find it hard to believe that with such a large student body, there can be any unity. But I guess the traditions and athletic pride kind of disprove that, don’t they? It’s just that I live right outside of NYC, so it’d be weird for me not to have a major city to go to whenever I want. Also (sorry, last thing), I’ve heard mixed things on the competitiveness of students at Cornell; is it true they’re really cutthroat?</p>
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<p>There’s definitely campus spirit – Cornell hockey, the Chimes, Dragon Day, Slope Day, random flash mobs on Ho Plaza. Cornell’s also one of the few colleges in the country where most students know the alma mater. Alumni sing it at events without hesitation.</p>
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<p>What type of things would you want to do in NYC that you couldn’t in Ithaca? Sit in a coffee shop and talk? Browse through book stores or clothing stores? Go to farm markets? Attend art openings or concerts? Or get lost in crowds? Because you can do all but the last one in Ithaca.</p>
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<p>Not at all true.</p>
<p>two great choices, different environements, pick what feels best.</p>