It would be easy to switch majors within CAS at Cornell. You likely can take any CAS major at UMich as well. Both are recruited.
Most important goal from OP “I hope to maybe become a quantitative analyst one day.”
Hands down, math and comp science over ANY b-school.
Finance degree from Ross would help you for other careers on wall street but NOT to be a true quant.
Quant teams hire math degrees, (and CS is pretty much like a math major), physics, engineers, operations research. Finance is a plus but not a substitute unless it’s a quant focused degree as some b-schools have (not sure about Ross).
Also note, I have worked for 3 decades on the street. My current employer’s President and many execs are Cornell grads. A past employer was founded by a Cornell grad (who was also a board member at Cornell). There was a comment at the top of the thread about “if it was any other ivy”… Ridiculous comment.
Cornell is VERY HEAVILY REPRESENTED on wall street in many many roles with many different types of degrees. That is totally incorrect the ivy comment. In fact I have yet to meet a Brown graduate in my 3 decades on Wall Street. Lots of Harvard and Penn, but honestly in a quant role people are most impressed by MIT and NONE of the ivies 
Also note while there are MIch grads on wall street, there are far more Cornell grads in NYC and better
networking opportunities as a result.
A typical b-school degree will lead to very different career options than a math/cs focus regardless of the schools selected, so that should be the major deciding factor. Ithaca is a wonderful college town, I doubt Ann Arbor has anything better to offer in day to day lifestyle than Ithaca, it is often voted one of the BEST college towns.
Full disclosure, I do have a son at Cornell and less familiar with Michigan, but I know the difference
between b-school and math/comp sci ( I studied comp sci/math/engineering myself and took some b-school classes as electives). I worked in the quant and IT area of some of the largest best known banks and fund managers. I am a hiring manager and I would take the math/cs/ops research etc grad over any b-school grad in a quant role. If you wanted a different career path you can always later go get an MBA at a top b-school.
“Hands down, math and comp science over ANY b-school. Finance degree from Ross would help you for other careers on wall street but NOT to be a true quant.”
blevine, Ross requires 55 credits for the completion of the major. Students can take their remaining 65 credits in LSA, and double majoring in Pure Mathematics and Business is definitely possible. If the OP wishes to pursue a career in Quantitative Analysis, a double degree from LSA (Mathematics) and Ross (Business) would serve him/her well.
“Also note while there are MIch grads on wall street, there are far more Cornell grads in NYC and better
networking opportunities as a result.”
I don’t know about “far more”. Obviously, Cornell is a NY institution, and 35% of its alumni are NY residents, so naturally, more of them will be working in NY. But Michigan is very well represented on Wall Street. I would definitely say that when it comes to IBanking placement, Ross matches Cornell.
“Ithaca is a wonderful college town, I doubt Ann Arbor has anything better to offer in day to day lifestyle than Ithaca, it is often voted one of the BEST college towns.”
Did you actually visit Ann Arbor? I am an alum of both Cornell and Michigan. I lived in Ithaca for 2 years and Ann Arbor for 4 years. Ann Arbor has more to offer than Ithaca. Not just the city itself, but the surrounding areas as well.
@blevine, if you look closely you’ll find that those rankings you’ve seen are for college towns less than a certain population. Ann Arbor is larger so not part of that particular comparison.
I’ve visited Ann Arbor a few times recently. And will be going there a few more times yet.
Ann Arbor’s downtown is bigger than Ithaca’s. and it is easier to walk to, because there is no huge hill separating it from the campus. To me it feels more suburban, whereas Ithaca is more hippy-ish. Ann Arbor is very convenient to the Detroit suburbs, if you live there. And to Detroit. I imagine students do get some value from Detroit, but to me large swathes of it look to be in shambles. Literally.
Ithaca is surrounded by fantastic state parks, and has a very “chill” vibe to it that is hard to match, IMO. The campus is also beautiful. I personally love it there. I take vacations there. Nearly every year. It is clearly more isolated, but most students find there is enough to do right there, most of the time. To get the most out of your time there, it is best to have a car during the upperclassman years. Or have a friend who has a car. That is not required, but it enables one to more fully experience Ithaca and the surrounding areas far from the campus. If you want to get away for a weekend,there are daily buses from campus to NYC, and boatloads of students who are from the area traveling in the vicinity all the time. But NYC is 4+ hours away.
The person I am visiting in Ann Arbor wanted met o go to a football game. Because it is such a big deal there. The irony is that this person hates sports and wouldn’t apply to Cornell because it had too much sports.
There are certainly people at Cornell who go to all the football games. And, at least when I was there, were rabid about hockey. However a lot of people who attend Cornell would feel that this amount of obsession about sports is frankly retarded.So perhaps that’s a point of campus culture distinction.
It’s true that Cornell has a large alumni presence in and around NYC. The alumni club there is particularly active. Much moreso than those of our other alma maters. I’ve attended a number of interesting lectures they’ve sponsored.
I’m far removed from Wall Street by now, but at least based on my framework in antiquity I would agree with @blevine’s description. Except that, from what I saw, those quant jobs did not often go to people out of undergrad. Heck, the trading firm I worked for hired physics PhDs for those jobs. There’s a lot of money involved they weren’t messing around. Most of the undergrad hires I saw were liberal arts majors from top schools.( Including Brown, BTW. Cornell too.) And grads of business programs such as Wharton, NYU and Ross. And also Cornell, even though at that time AEM was “Ag Ec” and didn’t have the reputation it has now.
Either way, to get a Wall Street job, in my day at least one would need to be exceptional. And “fit”. I suggest do not make your whole decision based on that. Besides after a year you might get turned on by psychology, or whatever, and completely change your objectives.
The new tech center in NYC is for grad programs. It is still in its infancy but I would not bank on it doing much for you, if I were you.
There was some assertion that somehow Cornell is a lesser ivy on Wall street.
Nothing to do with Michigan. Cornell is very heavily represented at all levels,
buy side, sell side and many types of roles.
As far as only having PhDs, yes a dept head and other highly paid researchers would be PhDs. But they do hire undergrads to do their rather high end gruntwork. From there with experience, yes one might want to go back to grad school for mba or PhD depending on longer term aspirations. Those PhDs will hire stem majors over b-school. Yes if you dbl major in a stem field, even better, and either college would allow study of bus and stem. I have also seen people with undergrad only, move to portfolio management, prop trading out from reseach. Point is stem is the better foot in the door for an undergrad. If you excel, maybe PhD is the next step. If less so, maybe work experience then MBA. STEM undergrad degrees are more rigorous than undergrad business, and that would open many more doors. I have heard from Penn Engineers that they take Wharton undergrad classes, as easy electives, compared to their engineering courses.
There was an assertion that Ithaca is not a good college town. Yes it’s small and isolated I agree, but a “college town” is small by definition. Is Boston a “college town” ? But there are many college students. Not detracting from Michigan, but don’t knock Ithaca, many LOVE it. Personal preference. If you want big, you can’t beat Boston as a college town, would take that over either. But if you want an intimate college town, and love nature, hard to beat Ithaca. Ann Arbor may be wonderful, but neither extreme. Maybe a happy medium that would satisfy most.
I agree 100% blevine. Cornell is extremely under appreciated on CC. There is no such thing as a “lesser Ivy”. It is a contradiction in terms. All Ivies are excellent. But I object to the insinuation that Cornell is better than Michigan. Cornell was co-founded by a Michigan professor, and 7 of its 14 presidents were either Michigan alumni or Michigan faculty, including the incoming president, Martha Pollack, who is awesome by the way! The two universities are virtually identical when it comes to academic prowess, reputation, student quality, resources, etc…
With regards to college towns, I do not deny Ithaca’s charm. It is quaint, charming, safe, intellectual etc…At no time did I mock…or knock it. Ann Arbor is just a more complete college town. Small enough to be intimate, quaint and charming, but large enough to accommodate most types. The Detroit suburbs have much to offer as well, and having a large international airport 20 miles away makes life easier, especially for international students. I agree that for outdoorsy types, Ithaca is hard to beat though, but it is tiny, not easily accessible on foot, isolated, and very easily outgrown.
I didn’t see Alexandre ( who, BTW is the most Super of Super Moderators; I believe he wears a cape, and a utility belt) assert that “Ithaca is not a good college town”. And I certainly did not intend that either.
It’s just that he clearly prefers Ann Arbor. Which he only pointed out in reaction to your post on the topic. Having visited, I can understand why.
However I will continue to vacation in Ithaca, Not Ann Arbor. Someone forget to send me the “easily outgrown” memo, because I still love Ithaca.
We all tend to identify mostly with our undergrad alma maters, anyway.
Not everybody loves Ithaca as much as I do, but most people find it at least “good enough”, as a backdrop for their college years. There may be differences, but f I were OP I would not let one of these college towns vs. the other drive his decision.
Cornell Traditions, surrounding the arrival of Spring
Slope Day
http://slopeday.cornell.edu/about/
Dragon Day in March:
https://aap.cornell.edu/academics/architecture/about/dragon-day
Sailing is phenomenal:
http://sailing.athletics.cornell.edu/
Natural beauty and hiking:
http://www.visitithaca.com/attractions/waterfalls
…And if someone wants to see more they can see my old “Some Pictures” thread on the Cornell subforum. Although all the links may be dead by now.
But I imagine they have their traditions & stuff at Michigan too, so…
As a steak lover, I have to say that Ann Arbor has no answer to Ithaca’s John Thomas’ porterhouse!
Yes but in order to justify going back there we would have to adopt someone to take to another graduation dinner there.
And I don’t see it happening.
Yes, adoption rules are so stringent in the US! 
@Alexandre You are confusing comparisons in general with comparison for someone who wants to work in the industry (and sub specialty) where I have worked for 30 years. On that basis, in my own anecdotal experience, Cornell is a very highly represented school, above most colleges in general, Michigan and many other top schools. Part of that is simply location and perpetuation through alumni networking. Many of the quantitative reseach jobs are in NYC, and Harvard, Yale, Cornell, Columbia, Penn and others have an advantage in that respect. Nobody would turn away a Michigan applicant who really wants to be in this industry, but we see less applicants.
Same could be said for Caltech. We see more MIT applicants, does not mean Caltech is a lesser school than MIT.
CalTech has far less graduates that MIT though.
Agree with posters advising you strongly consider whether BBA or math is where you’d be happier majoring (even with opportunities to 2nd major/minor). Both schools will serve you similarly well job searching. Personal town/experience preference, AA.
Thanks for the advice everyone! Sorry I haven’t been replying to your comments, I actually forgot I created this thread. Anyways, after I visited both schools, I have decided to attend Cornell this Fall! If anyone is in a similar situation as I was in and has yet to make their college decision, feel free to ask me any questions.
Congratulations! Go Big Red!
@soymilk23 My D visited this week too. What convinced you to choose Cornell?
I think one very noticeable difference is that as you walk around both campuses and talk with people, Michigan is one of the least diverse elite campuses I have ever been on.
Most students are from the State of Michigan, there are not many International students, there are not many African Americans, there are not many Latinos. Compared to Cornell it is noticeable even to the casual observer.
^^^^I’m sorry, but you are clueless.