<p>For me, and looking back, it was the friendships that I made at Cornell that mean the most to me today. Because of Cornell’s (relatively) large size, it took me a little longer than I originally hoped to create strong relationships. But I think for this same reason, when I did find my niche, the friendships I forged were strong and genuine, and made of all the right stuff. And all of my fond memories involve these friends: road trips (spring breaks in Florida, white-water rafting in the Adirondacks, weekend trips to NYC where the drive was half the fun, at least on the way there), getting jobs in the same dining hall so we could spend time together, and dinners that stretched out to past closing time (we had really important things to say, I guess).</p>
<p>I will admit there were several times that I berated myself for not having chosen a school in a bigger city (my other acceptances were Columbia and Penn). But every year since I graduated, as I moved from one big city to another, my appreciation for the time that I spent in little Ithaca grew. In every new city I moved to, there was some form of Cornell connection, either through direct friends, or friends of. It was awesome when I was working overseas and I was able to host friends I hadn’t seen since our days at Cornell. One day we’re walking across the magnificent arts quad breathing that clean Ithaca air; next thing you know we’re in a dive bar in Asia poisoning ourselves with dirty air and fun-drinks and reminiscing about our college days.</p>
<p>At the end of the day, in terms of quality of education, I don’t think it’s going to make a difference which school you choose, especially as I feel that you have exactly the open, analytical, and pragmatic mind that will take you far in life. And I feel that Brown, Penn, and Johns Hopkins are all wonderful schools, and all schools that you would be immensely happy with. I just speak from my own experience, and given a chance to do it all over again, my choice would not change.</p>
<p>But again, have some fun making your decision. It is not often in life that you will be able to choose from such a wonderful array of opportunities. =) Good luck Viviolay!</p>
<p>Doby, your post was really helpful. Like I said earlier, I’m also on the fence about Penn v Cornell, and the main thing that’s getting to me is that I can’t decide what type of environment I want: urban or rural. Being that I live in NYC, I wonder if I’ll regret moving to a place that seems so far removed from the hustle and bustle of the type city life I grew up with, but it’s comforting to know that you shared the same doubts and came out feeling good about your decision to attend Cornell.</p>
<p>And I was wondering: is Penn really a party school? What about Cornell? Because I’ve never been a “party” kind of person; I’ve always enjoyed hanging out with a small group of friends more. Does this mean Cornell would be a better fit?</p>
<p>Anyway I’m looking forward to visiting the schools next week. Are you staying over at both, Viviolay? You might have said something but I don’t remember… haha</p>
<p>They’re both schools where people like to party, although the fraternity life is certainly more widespread at Cornell. Not as much as Dartmouth, but still quite strong.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, there are plenty of people at both schools who hate partying. You can always find your group or niche; don’t let the general perceptions of a school dictate how you act.</p>
<p>You will be fine wherever you go. Cornell’s undergraduate population is large enough that you will find your niche. I have never visited Penn, but given its undergraduate size and diverse academic offerings, I’m inclined to say that you will find your comfort zone at Penn as well. There is a place for every person at these schools, it’s just a matter of finding that place. </p>
<p>Regarding your potentially missing the NYC speed; I really enjoy city life myself, and for now, I would not want to live in any other setting. Regardless of which school you choose, statistically you will probably end up back in the city following graduation anyway. While I probably will not choose to live in a small city like Ithaca again, I am grateful that I can say that at one point in my life, for what now feels like a very short period, I was given the opportunity to live in a beautiful small-city setting without the stress of big-city life.</p>
<p>Yea NJBKitty. I’m going to Cornell for their diversity weekend and then penn for 3 days as well.</p>
<p>I’m sad to say I don’t think Penn might be an option for me anymore…Their financial aid wasn’t a mistake. Apparently, I don’t qualify for need-based financial aid at Penn…My family’s assets put me out of the running…I was actually crying about it earlier. I guess I don’t understand, since other schools were able to give me like 30k in grant money, since my family’s income isn’t that great even with the assets. (i guess after you take away paying back the utilities and payments and stuff for those assets…I don’t know financial aid business is over my head.) So, unless something changes, I don’t think I’m going to Penn…I’m actually pretty upset about it. I don’t know if it’s because I did want to go to it more or because I feel like I got my choice taken away from me…But I shouldn’t be sad. I know I should be grateful no matter what because I’m still in a great position…So I’ll only be sad for a minute…=]</p>
<p>Anyways, applejack and Doby, thank you for sharing your posts with me =]. They really helped when I read them last night. I was going to post a thank you last night, but I was dozing off. So thank you =]. I am kinda worried about forging strong friendships at such a big school, but my high school is huge for its size as well…so I definitely know it’s possible. And you’re right. It won’t be often in my life where I won’t be in a city. (I’m used to it. I can’t imagine living forever not in a city.) But I appreciate time away from concrete and city noise. I’m looking forward to visiting Ithaca.</p>
<p>oh god, another Cornell vs Penn thread? Perhaps it would be better to talk about something less controversial, like abortion or religion or politics…</p>
<p>Sorry to hear Penn screwed you on FinAid. But Cornell is an amazing school and you will have a wonderful and enriching time there, and be well on your way to a promising career in, well, as Ezra said, “any study”</p>
<p>I’m appealing tomorrow. I’m going to send Penn my fin.aid letters from Hopkins, Cornell, and Carnegie Mellon (got in there too…). CMU was the most generous.
I figure if Penn sees three other schools with a drastically different aid package (all gave me around 30k),they’ll see there maybe was a miscalculation in my aid package. My mom told me they mistook the total value of all our assets as the value of just one asset…(Everybody makes mistakes?)
I’m also going to see if I can ask Cornell to consider matching CMU’s offer. Worse they can say is no =].</p>
<p>Should I not bother to ask then?
I know it’s kinda normal for students to try to negotiate their fin.aid packages, but the idea of calling the fin.aid tomorrow scares me. I’m not much of a negotiator and don’t want to bug them…
But then if I don’t, I’ll wonder if maybe they would’ve considered it…@_@ CMU’s 37k excluding fed.work study(They said it was a grant, but maybe it was based on merit?). Hopkins is about 33k with fed work study. Cornells was about 31k with the work study. Penn was just that 5k loan…
I figure it’s not that much more over the other offers, but if asking could relieve a bit of financial strain, it might be worth it.</p>
<p>You might as well ask. That’s too huge a difference in aid packages. And I thought Penn didn’t calculate loans into their packages anyway?</p>
<p>Besides, if Cornell gave you that much, then Penn must’ve miscalculated something (since neither school can give merit-based aid). It’s worth a shot! Good luck.</p>
<p>Especially if you want to study Applied Math at Brown or Physics (or Asian Studies or Engineering or Food Science or Architecture) at Cornell. Not at the same level. At all.</p>
<p>Give me another break. Not only are you putting words into AstonMartin’s mouth when none were there, but Cornell, Penn, and Columbia are all major comprehensive research universities. Any distinction between those three in aggregate research caliber is slight.</p>
<p>At Cornell, I took classes in Physics and Chemistry from future Nobel Prize winners, it would seem that their research output was not judged too negatively.
There were numerous other departments considered quite strong, in the liberal arts as well as the physical sciences.
My recollection is that it was among the “top ten” in more areas of graduate research than all but a scant few other universities.</p>
Good luck.</p>