<p>Trying to decide between Cornell and University of Maryland. Majoring in engineering. Basically a full ride to UMD but no aid at Cornell. Any advice?? Love Cornell but having a hard time comparing free to $240,000. Would appreciate any insight from others who have made similar choices. Really interested in job outlook from both schools but hard to find great data.</p>
<p>How do people end up with full rides at some places and 0 aid at others. Do financial aid departments work that differently?</p>
<p>Unless you earned a merit scholarship to UMD, which would make a lot of sense.</p>
<p>If I was in your situation I’d have to pick UMD, as great as Cornell is for engineering. $240,000 is way too much. Now if your family is full of millionaires then I doubt cost matters to you, in that case go to Cornell.</p>
<p>Probably go to UMD. I’d suggest Payscale for Rankings Data, but double check. In some fields of engineering UMD is equivalent to Cornell, and in some Cornell is way better. Don’t go to Cornell for the name though… it’s not HYPSM or Wharton, and really these are the only two where the name does you any good. If you’re going to college for a degree, it should be Maryland. If you’re going to college for an education, think carefully about both. The degree lasts until your first job, the education lasts far beyond that. I haven’t made the choice though before (didn’t get into Cornell 
, although I DID do a choice between UMD and U Chicago that I was stuck on for a while until I convinced myself the education at Chicago was worth it). I will say though that the free ride could potentially leave you with a LOT of money for graduate school or in general, and if you think you can get the education you want out of Maryland, definitely go for it. By contrast, Cornell might get you a better education. Just think about your options carefully.</p>
<p>Can’t say anything about engineering jobs, but if you’re interested in doing finance, take Cornell in terms of job outlook.</p>
<p>Have to agree with other posts that say why spend $240k. UMD is an excellent school for engineering. Even if you were in state, UMD would be like $20k/yr with no merit aid. $80k vs $240k, still a no-brainer to me.</p>
<p>My son was waitlisted for Cornell engineering. He visited twice, did an overnight and attended classes. He loved Cornell and would have easily made their golf team. He’s moved on with his back up plan, and probably just as well for us from a financial perspective, as some of the posts I’ve read about Cornell’s FA make me think we’d have been in a similar situation, weighing the idea of paying a lot more to go to Cornell than where he’s going - VaTech.</p>
<p>I currently attend UMD as an engineering major. My biggest problem with UMD’s engineering program is the students. There are a good number of students who just screw around and don’t care enough about their classes. </p>
<p>In your freshman year, you have to take a class called ENES100 in which you are randomly placed into groups of 10 to build a hovercraft. I can honestly say that the work assigned to ten people ended up being done by only two people for one of two reasons: (1)they don’t know what they are doing (2) they are lazy and would rather have other people do their work. </p>
<p>I don’t know if Cornell has the same problem, but I would think the lower acceptance rate would rat out the students who flat out don’t care. </p>
<p>However, given the fact that you have a full ride, I would definitely choose Maryland. It’s a great school in many aspects, and whether you love it or hate it, you’ll be walking out in 4 years with money in your pocket. Take the money.</p>
<p>OMGItsJustin,</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply. I have visited UMD several times and the students always say they love it. Even kids who turned down other good schools to go to UMD for engineering say they are really happy. But I really want to be with academically challenging classmates. Can I find that in UMD engineering if I look? How many of the students care about their coursework? If everyone just gets by then I am not sure I would be happy. My parents keep telling me I will find my crowd, I would be in honors.</p>
<p>Think about 2 years at UMD and then Transfer to Cornell. Will cut the total cost of undergrad and still give you the Cornell diploma.</p>
<p>You can definitely find academically involved classmates. There are students who are very intelligent and genuinely interested in their studies, and a lot of these students can be found within the honors program. A majority of BK students fall into this category. </p>
<p>Also, I have heard that higher level classes only have students who are good at and love engineering, because those who have found out that engineering isn’t their thing have already changed majors.</p>