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<p>…Maybe that is because most people don’t think that Penn in an Ivy</p>
<p>^^^^ post of the year</p>
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<p>OUCH! That’s gotta hurt</p>
<p>oh snap … def the most ballin’ reply i’ve seen</p>
<p>"^^^^ post of the year " someone’s feeling a bit insecure of himself and his school…</p>
<p>As for the OP, most people these days do not recognize Cornell as a reputable school. Any leftover reputation is just remnants back from the days that Cornell was worth it. The school has been following a downward trajectory for quite some years.</p>
<p>That’s a hoot, however april fool’s is over.</p>
<p>don’t be a hater.</p>
<p>^^ agreed. I think the Cornell glory days have passed. I think we took a wrong turn when we started teaching agriculture here, I mean geeze, it starts with Corn, then before you know it, you have a FARM in your IVY LEAGUE CAMPUS. What’ll they think of next, educating women and the colored folk, not in my lifetime… [sarcasm off]</p>
<p>Speaking of downward trajectories, IHATECEREAL, was it Cornell’s acceptance rate or Penn’s that <em>GASP</em> went UP this year??
I’m pretty sure it wasn’t Cornell.</p>
<p>oh man, and you know? Now their acceptance rates are only 2% apart.</p>
<p>I wonder sometimes about the mass seppuku that would take place on the Penn campus if we ever had a lower admit rate than them.</p>
<p>Guess what, when I was applying to colleges, Cornell was, as a matter of fact, more selective than Penn, and had a lower admit rate.</p>
<p>and then penn started admitting obscene portions of their class ED</p>
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<p>Bingo. We have a winner.</p>
<p>But for what it is worth, admissions rates tell you nothing about the quality of the student body or the caliber of the undergraduate experience.</p>
<p>Haha I love the whole EATYOURCEREAL and IHATECEREAL name thing… xD</p>
<p>Anyways I remember you from the chat, Viviolay! I’m almost in the same situation as you (except that my third school is Vassar instead of Brown), and I still have no idea what to do. However, I am spending almost all of next week staying over at all three schools so I get a feel for each one. I really hope that staying over helps, because if not… <em>sigh</em></p>
<p>Does anyone know if there’s a significant difference in the way employers view “University of Pennsylvania” vs how they see “Cornell”? As in, does one name hold more weight than the other, or are they basically viewed as the same in terms of prestige?</p>
<p>It depends what college you’re enrolled in at each university. Cornell’s engineering program is far more reputed among employers than Penn’s, but Penn’s Wharton School of Business can’t be beat. If you’re not considering either of these two colleges at the aforementioned universities, then the prestige difference is negligible. The arts and sciences schools at both colleges, and the remaining colleges at Cornell hold about the same prestige in employers’ eyes.</p>
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<p>Brown was known as the worst Ivy until the 70’s, and Columbia’s admit rate was the same as Cornell’s in 1995.</p>
<p>So what? The only thing that matters is contemporary perception, which is generally based on overall selectivity, US News and World Report, and - if you’re from Europe - the THES (Times higher education ranking).</p>
<p>In all of those, Penn defeats Cornell (and, in fact, Brown and Dartmouth) by a significant margin. The only school with any actual chance at matching us is Columbia.</p>
<p>Students statistically prefer Penn or Brown to Cornell - between Brown and Penn, the breakdown is 50/50. Yes, that could swing in Brown’s favor after this admissions season, but that’s unlikely due to their dismal USNWR rank (16th compared to 6th - not really a competition).</p>
<p>True, Cornell’s engineering school is outrageously good, and attracts students even over schools like Yale and Princeton, not to mention Brown and Penn - but the rest of Cornell’s colleges are merely on par or far worse than their Ivy League counterparts. It’s true that A&S at Cornell compares totally with the equivalent programs at Brown, Penn, Columbia and Dartmouth - but few people would deign to choose it, simply because of the unwanted association with the other, far less prestigious schools at Cornell.</p>
<p>For proof of this, one need not look further than Ann Coulter’s recent invective against Keith Olbermann.</p>
<p>So, EATYOURCEREAL - you’re in A&S, and I consider ourselves peers to the extent of our education and quality of institutions. But you must admit that your fellow Hotelies, ILRies, Hum Ec, and CALS students are generally of lower intellectual wherewithal. I don’t see why one would settle for this negative association when they could go to a school that has comparatively little - namely, Penn or Brown.</p>
<p>The last thing I would look at is Freshman Retention rate. Penn students are generally very happy with their location, and only 180 leave on average after freshman year, while Cornell loses around 550. These numbers are very telling I think; although Cornell students are generally happy, there are a number of complaints they use to describe the school: rigid, unforgiving, etc., whereas Penn students love the flexibility and interdisciplinary nature of their education.</p>
<p>Thanks again to everyone for the replies. </p>
<p>I’m probably not going to be employed right after college, since I’m going to med school. Are all three schools about equal in the eyes of the top med school admissions? I figure what matters most is that I can go wherever I want to go from any of those three schools.</p>
<p>I think the fact Cornell is out in Ithaca is part of the allure for me. I do want that classic campus bubble experience without city distraction. But then, I really just loved Penn’s campus as well. I happened to visit during fall, and I got to experience the leaves falling during a stroll down Locust Walk. I guess it’s a matter of which student body and campus I’ll end up liking a bit more.</p>
<p>I’m not too worried about selectivity. I know Brown’s more selective of the three, but I haven’t actually been on campus to get a feel for it. I hope to be visiting though, but I have to break out the research on Brown till then.</p>
<p>@NJBKitty Haha, you were in the chat too =] Lemme know how you decisions go. I might PM you to see what your views are so far.</p>
<p>Right now, I’m just kinda stressed out. I checked My Penn Plan financial aid, and according to the site, I get a 5k fed loan only…I’m hoping that’s a mistake, but if not, I think my decision’s been made for me =[…</p>
<p>Definitely Penn. Or Brown.</p>
<p>3 great choices … congrats … you really can’t go wrong.</p>
<p>It sounds like you’re truely undecided … Penn and Cornell are pretty similar as schools however for most I would think the differences in location and feel of students would yield a clear favorite after visits but it seems you’re still undecided … to me this means the choices are very-very close and either probably would be fine.</p>
<p>Which takes us to an old CC suggestion for situations where someone is truely undecided. Flip a coin to choose … heads is Penn and tails is Cornell … flip a coin and the be aware of your reaction to the results. If you’re excited by the result the flip probably pointed at your true preference … if you hesitate at the result then the the flip probably missed your true preference.</p>
<p>incidentally, brown also does the best among the three in percentage of students accepted to medical school</p>