<p>hmm...I guess I should probably spend a little time in Ithaca when I go visit, based on the praise it's getting.</p>
<p>Justification? The people I talked to at WUSTL complain about the competitiveness of it. Also if you think about it, A adisproportionately large number of students there matriculated mistakenly thinking that their good med school correlates to a good pre-med program. It's a similar situation at Hopkins. Combine that with the sleaze in the university's actions towards ranking. They play a huge game with the waitlist and in getting large number of underqualified applicants to apply. They also include their med school's faculty when tabulating the student/faculty ratio. That's just downright shady. </p>
<p>If you're going into Engineering, then the choice is clear. Cornell engineering >>>>>>> WUSTL engineering
If you're interested in the sciences, the same holds true.</p>
<p>Well, I'm going to Cornell first...if I like it enough, I probably won't even end up going to WUSTL. Another point I forgot to mention is that Cornell has the major I want (engineering physics) and wustl doesn't. So far, Cornell is definitely winning this battle...especially considering nobody has responded to the one on the Wash U board.</p>
<p>I'm actually a senior in engineering physics. THere's an old thread in this forum about it but if you have any other questionsa bout it, feel free to ask.</p>
<p>Wel... unlike everyone else on this board, I think that accusing WashU of "underhanded tactics" is simply ridiculous. First of all, I know that many <em>very</em> underqualified students regularly receive mail from Cornell and every other ivy leauge. Even if Washington does this more than Cornell, it wouldn't be a very good strategy for boosting the rankings: Only 1% of the US News ranking criteria is based on SELECTIVITY, which includes several subcategories. 40% of the selectivity is based the number of students in the top 10% of their class, and 50% is based on SAT scores. That means that only 10% of the 15%, or an overall 1.5% of college rankings, is based on actual ACCEPTANCE RATE. Simillarly, the student faculty ration accounts for 1% overall of US News rankings.Even if Washington maniuplated numbers to get a 5% acceptance rate, it wouldn't move up very far in the rankings. PS, see <a href="http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/about/weight_brief.php%5B/url%5D">http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/about/weight_brief.php</a>
for more info.</p>
<p>So basically, the argument about Washington's prestige being unfounded has been systematically fabricated by people who were waitlisted and people who are very misinformed.</p>
<p>As far as atmosphere, I visited both colleges and have been accepted to both. Washington has a much smaller student body (1/3 as many freshman as Cornell), the people are friendly, and the academics are definitely strong. Cornell is a much larger university with a wider range of students and a very cold campus. If you want a smaller, warmer, less nationally recognized college, then don't let other people's opinions convince you it's unworthy of your time. People on messageboards are very opinionated and often don't know anything about you - you need to visit both colleges to know where you will feel comfortable and fit in.</p>
<p>I'm debating between the same colleges as you, but my decision is going to be largely based on financial assistance. Good luck with yours!</p>
<p>
k1n6d4v1d:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>This is absolutely, undeniably true for pre-meds. I mentioned this in my post. The WUSTL pre-meds are highly competitive, and this is not true of other majors. This will not make a difference in your engineering and liberal arts classes.</p></li>
<li><p>As hrtofglassx pointed out, WashU's admission game says nothing about the school itself, and does not manipulate their rankings significantly. WashU certainly does use demonstrated interest in their admission process. It is likely that Cornell does too, but their admissions office is not open about this and does not make a statement either way.</p></li>
<li><p>I recommend that you read some student reviews of both colleges before making your decision. In the end, current students know best.
Student</a> Reviews of Cornell
[url=<a href="http://www.studentsreview.com/MO/WAU_c.html%5DStudent">http://www.studentsreview.com/MO/WAU_c.html]Student</a> Reviews of WUSTL<a href="Incidentally,%20ignore%20the%20%22scores,%22%20as%20they%20are%20biased%20and%20irrelevant.%20%20Just%20read%20every%20review,%20starting%20from%20the%20bottom.%20%20Take%20notes,%20and%20star%20anything%20mentioned%20by%20multiple%20students.">/url</a></p></li>
</ol>
<p>My personal opinion:
If you value academics and social life equally, WashU and Cornell are in a straight tie. WashU has a marginally better social life, and Cornell has marginally better academics. The decision will have to come down to what you will value most in your 4 years.</p>
<p>"Cornell: I don't have too much praise for the social life at Cornell. There is stuff to do in Ithaca if you really put your mind to it. Most students spend Sunday to Thursday studying, and Friday and Saturday drinking. If you like to hang out during the week, this isn't a good place to do it. If you're into the whole "cram 24/5, party 24/2" then Cornell could be the place for you."</p>
<p>I really don't agree with this statement AT ALL... you can find what ever you are looking for at Cornell.</p>
<p>Here are my comments on the social life at Cornell from another thread:</p>
<p>Ample Supply of FUN! </p>
<hr>
<p>Cornell is a big, diverse school. You will be able to find whatever you are looking for socially and in ample supply. Variety is the rule. You will change through college. The great thing about Cornell is that your interests morph, there will be a group of people available to help you pursue your interests (music, partying, studying, etc ) no matter what they are. </p>
<p>Its also a big enough place for you to have separate and distinct types of friends. Hence youll be able to try on different personas during this important developmental time. I found this one of the most valuable aspects of my experience there.</p>
<p>Maybe thats not the type of answer you were looking for.</p>
<p>Bottom line Cornell is a blast socially plenty of fun to go around!</p>
<p>As I said in another thread, if youre bored at Cornell, you dont have a pulse.</p>
<p>I like to keep a neutral opinion of things most of the time (and hence my name), but WUSTL is one of the schools that I actively dislike...</p>
<p>so I have to say Cornell.</p>
<p>cornell man...theres enough room for 2 of us of the like, lol. and ye i HAVE NO IDEA abotu wash i never heard of it before (im canadian nobody yell at me, lol) but cornell is awesome, visit and u ll love it, so i guess u didnt do an official visit to cornell wen u were recruited for tennis?? well the ppl are awesome, and the courrts, squash and tennis are awesome, and the tennis ppl are very friendly(girls a hott, hotter than the squashers, lol if tha helps) </p>
<p>and ye ur like me so ull have all the same opinions lol....i been to the campus like 4-5 times now...its great. And if ur doing engineering physics, u sed wash doesnt have it..so i mean thats kiinda a give a way. although i understand u , cuz again, crazily/coincidently the one canadian university i wanted to go to(if i got denied form cornell) was this one, Western University..and ye basically everything was so good about it..but they also didnt have engineering physics,l ol, man this is all too weird.. so go to cornell. Belkin Centre (squash and tennis only and reserved for the athletes) so we wont have problems with amatuers hogging the courts, lol. Also, i dunno how much u nkow, but cornell athletes are treated wickedly awesome...and im sure tennis is not too far from squash . i used ot play tennis by the way i switched to squash 5 yrs ago..so more coincidences...lol...but ye man the perks of cornell athlete are awesome form wut i know..and i know little! def. visit u wont have a clue abotu cornell till u go...and i sgugest go on an OFFICIAL visit like i did if u can..althoguh i did it before acceptance and as a recruit so i stayed 2 nights with 2 players on teh team..met more team members throughoput the day, ate lunch with #1 player/captain and other great stuff. if u can do it idunno....the coach did it for me when i was being recruited so they may only do it when the y recruit u iduno...u may know im canadian so i know SO little about all these visits. but tio tell u truth..i didnt know cornell was ivy league and never even heard of cornell till i was contacted by coach in the summer, and didnt like thej sounds of it..then, after my visit...the last day..i KNEW and decided right there taht i wanted to go to the uniersity, and none other would do. So i applied ed and voila! And slowly but surely im getting used to the american ways, lol, although GPA and marks and stuf are still all foreign to me, lol i know the closer to 4 the better, and higher than that better i think idunno if u can do that but ye</p>
<p>Yea, I really don't like Wash U either</p>
<p>Whoa...misunderstanding...I play varsity tennis in high school. I wasn't recruited for Cornell...I'm not that good. But I must say, that is really cool that you were recruited and already know you're on the team. Congrats on that.</p>
<p>oh..well u can always walk on...thnks man</p>
<p>
[quote]
WashU's admission game says nothing about the school itself, and does not manipulate their rankings significantly.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Uhh, even if the rank boost is insignificant, lower admit rates generally corresponds to increase prestige in the eyes of people. What they are doing is downright gaudy at best.</p>
<p>Maybe WUSTL's biology and some random liberal arts programs are equal to that of Cornell's, but in general Cornell academics >>> WUSTL academics. Also, St. Louis is a dump.</p>
<p>Whatever, I'm pretty strongly biased against WUSTL so take it with a grain of salt. Good luck with your decision.</p>
<p>I agree with shizz</p>
<p>st. louis, espescially east st. louis is somewhat economically depressed to say the least.</p>
<p>go for cornell!</p>