Cornell Vs USC (URGENT)

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cornell University
1

<p>Hi everyone!</p>

<p>I am an international student and have been selected to some fine colleges. I scored 2270 ( SAT Reasoning), 32 ACT, 110 TOEFL, 4 AP's and have great extracurricular activities as a bronze medal at the International Chemistry Olympiad, volunteering in a pediatric cancer center, two websites ( one of them became a profitable company), etc.. As English is not my country's native language, 2270 was the best grade someone has ever scored. </p>

<p>When I applied for the class of 2017, I just had the bronze medal at the International Chemistry Olympiad and a bad 1790 SAT score. I took another SAT test in January 2013 and got 2040. However, understandably, I was denied by all the colleges I applied to. Then, I took a gap year, in which I traveled and got involved with many extracurricular activities and took more tests, both described earlier.
I applied again (class of 2018) to all the schools I had applied, and added some others as USC, Cornell, Duke, Amherst, and Dartmouth. I got denied by all the school I had already applied last year (class of 2017) and got accepted by all schools I applied for the first time this year ( class of 2018), except Duke ( waitlisted).
I am an entrepreneurial student and my dream is to study at Stanford. As you may guess, I was denied admission there :( I am considering applying as a transfer next year. But for now, I need to decide which school I will call my home.
So, my question is: CORNELL OR USC?</p>

<p>I am probably going to be a computer science major. After graduating from college, I want to work at Google, Microsoft, or Facebook, and after, I want to create my own company. I like to surf, snowboard and go to parties and I know LA is a perfect place for that (I visited the east and west coast in 2010 and I know that LA and San Francisco have the most beautiful women in the US), So, in terms of life town, USC is way better than Cornell right (I've never been at Ithaca)?
Although I want to have fun, you can see by my academic accomplishments that I am a very determined and committed student. So, I believe I can get good grades in any university.
I talked to some friends and they said I will be happier at USC than at Cornell, but I don't care so much about weather/life town when it comes to my future. I mean, if studying at Cornell will make me more successful and richer in the future than studying at USC, I would choose Cornell, regardless of the other circumstances. Another good point of Cornell is that it is highly ranked in CS, it is an Ivy League school (more job offers), and has a greater alumni networking compared to USC. But the point is that I will probably go to the Silicon Valley after college and I believe that the fact that USC is in California will give me more networking/opportunities of working at Google, Twitter, etc. There is also the fact that living in LA is better for people who wants networking with extremely wealthy (Beverly Hills is very close) people and is looking for investors. I believe there are so many events in LA related to startups/CS/business that this is for sure a great advantage USC has over Cornell. So, which one do you think will be a better college to study at: Cornell or USC? I need your advices because I will not visit them and this is a life-changing decision. Please reply as soon as possible! I have only 10 days to take this decision :/</p>

2

<p>This is really too long and not everyone has that time luxury. Give me the cliffs and I’ll give you an opinion. This is the Cornell group though, so it may be biased as well.</p>

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<p>Hmm, I wouldn’t say it’s any longer than the other “HELP ME” threads started. Besides, if this is the Cornell forum, I think that reading that in 2-3 minutes or less shouldn’t be a problem. :wink: In any case, I’ve been accepted to Cornell, but am also choosing between a few different schools. However, based upon your situation (and assuming $ isn’t an issue) I would choose USC. Why?</p>

<p>1.) You seem to have VERY specific companies in mind, and I sort of feel like the closer you are to them, the better. Ie: internships, networking, etc. That isn’t to say that these companies won’t recruit on the east coast (after all, they’re looking for the best), but I feel that you may have a better shot if you are in the thick of things.</p>

<p>2.) You mentioned that you’re a budding entrepreneur and you ultimately want to set yourself up to transfer into Stanford. While I feel that Cornell would probably offer you the best chance to do that, since it is an Ivy, it is still a notoriously difficult endeavor to undertake. Should you be denied transfer admission (possible from Cornell OR USC) you’re better off being in California than Ithaca for the reasons I mentioned above.</p>

<p>3.) I had to LOL at your 'Hob-nobbing with the fabulously wealthy" comment. If this is really something that you are looking to do, I think you’re better off in LA. Don’t get me wrong, you will most definitely encounter the fabulously wealthy at Cornell, they’ll just be 18-22 year old kids with mommy and daddy’s credit card. Any alumni networking you’ll do will probably be limited to recruitment events and such, and that really isn’t the place where investors are looking to throw millions into a kid who could be the “next big thing.” I’m not saying the people in Beverly Hills are any different, but it is rather safe to say that California in general is a bit more forward-thinking. You’re better off trying to get in with “new money,” as the old boys clubs don’t take on new members very easily.</p>

<p>4.) LA will probably offer you a better social life. You seem to want to party( a little bit, anyway) and a lot of your intended activities seem to be focused off campus. I think LA will be an easier place to do all of this than upstate New York (Besides the snowboarding, of course. Although, even THAT can be accomplished in some areas of CA). Also, since your focus is Stanford, I think that you should think about going to a place where you could feel happy for 4 years even if you aren’t offered the opportunity to transfer. </p>

<p>From the accomplishments you listed, it sounds like you’ll do well no matter which school you select. I’d say take as many aspects of the situation you can into consideration, and ultimately go with your gut. Hope this helped and GOOD LUCK!</p>

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<p>Stanford takes VERY FEW transfer students, fyi. Maybe you were thinking of trying for grad school there? </p>

5

<p>Thanks for the replies ^^
PaintTheSilence, your explanations were very helpful!
Renomamma, I know Stanford takes only 20-50 transfer students each year, but even then I will try to be one of these few students.</p>

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<p>I wouldn’t discount Cornell’s excellent recruiting assets just because of USC’s location. In fact, Cornell’s new Technion institute in NYC is evidence of its strong affiliations with big tech organizations, such as Google, who is currently supplying resources to the project. I have friends in the engineering school who have said the research and internship opportunities are incredibly helpful. I just wanted to clear that up in the event you choose USC under the impression it would be easier to get employed.</p>

<p>As for Stanford…well its already been said that transferring in undergrad is quite the daunting task. If you were thinking of going there for grad school, however, Cornell would be the better choice here.</p>

7

<p>I think USC would be a better fit for you. </p>

8

<p>As Cornell’s Engineering ACT 25th percentile is 31, your 32 ACT and 4 AP indicated that you will certainly have a tougher time at Cornell than in USC. I agree that USC is a better fit for you.</p>

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<p>Thank you all for your replies :smiley:
Boester22, I’ve been searching on Google similar questions (USC Vs Cornell) and it really makes sense that Cornell 's status would make it easier to get a job/internship/transfering to better schools. I took a look at this project ( Cornell NYC Tech) and noticed it is still a primitive project, that will take a long time until it really becomes a renowned center of innovation. However, it appears to be great to have classes at Google’s office.
Oldfort, thanks for the advice ^^
2Daswell, I really don’t think ACT would be a measurable skill to forecast wheter or not I would do well at Cornell. Indeed, I got 36 at Math and 35 at Science, but due to my low Reading score, the composite score became 32.
About transfering to Stanford, I don’t really think it is so difficult as you may think. I mean, every year I see only 4 students of my country getting acceptance from Stanford. I know that for Americans, that are familiar with more than 2,000 Americans getting acceptance each year, only 40 places as transfer is like an almost impossible task. But for me, 40 places make me feel it is even easier to transfer, as it is considerably more than 4 ^^</p>

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<p>O.K.</p>

<p>Actually for 2013 Engineering profile, Cornell’s 25%-75% Math ACT is 34-36, Stanford is 31-35. (change university name and year to get the information. My previous post was from 2011 data)
<a href=“http://profiles.asee.org/profiles/5586/screen/19?school_name=Cornell+University”>http://profiles.asee.org/profiles/5586/screen/19?school_name=Cornell+University&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>You seem like a USC kind of person, haha. But honestly, I think you’re considering either school for the wrong reasons. If you go to any college for the purposes of networking with wealthy students and putting together a transfer application for Stanford, you’re not going to enjoy your time there. </p>

<p>It’s not likely you’ll come up with the next Facebook or Weibo or whatever sitting in a dorm with your roommates. But then again, most people aren’t! Hopefully you’ll ultimately make a decision based on where you see yourself the most. Whether it’s sunny Southern California or “gorges” Ithaca, that’s your call.</p>

<p>Best of luck! </p>

12

<p>Thanks for the reply @coriander23 ^^</p>

13

<p>Hi everyone!
I am still undecided. In terms of financial, I did not apply for financial aid at USC because I applied Jan 15 and Cornell didn’t give me financial aid because they don’t have so much money for internationals :confused:
So, If Cornell gave me a generous financial aid award, I would commit to it, as expenses would be greatly reduced. However, as I will have to pay whatever one I choose, USC came back to the stage as a strong candidate.
I just realized that USC is highly ranked ( top 5 and many times considered the 1st) when it comes to colleges with the hottest girls, which would undoubtedly made me believe that studying at USC would make me much happier than at Cornell. But the other point in this quest for taking the right decision is that Cornell has more brilliant students, has more opportunities for getting a job and transfering would be easier, and the rigor there is probably greater than at USC.
I welcome more advices from you guys! Need to take this decision in few days and I am still undecided ‘-’</p>