<p>Haha, I’m a SUNY faculty member, but there is no comparison.</p>
<p>Cornell would be a million times better on your transcript (sorry Geneseo–you are a great SUNY, but you are not an IVY.).</p>
<p>These are individual, personal decisions, I’d be hard-pressed to make it for myself, much less someone else.</p>
<p>If you are financially able to dismiss the merit aid qualification, then the LACs JHS listed would be the most comparable to Cornell for a humanities program, I think.</p>
<p>We are currently discussing this very issue with our D. She is applying ED to Cornell. If she doesn’t get in, her next two choices are Geneseo & University of Rochester. Obviously Cornell (even the contract colleges) is going to be a financial strain. However we decided long ago that if she could go to an Ivy it would be worth it. The real question is if denied at Corenll & accepted at Geneseo & U of R (pretty confident she’ll get into both), how much aid would have to be given by U of R to make it a better choice that Geneseo? Granted, U of R’s facilities , research, etc. is superior…but Geneseo is doing a great job of getting their grads into grad school, etc.The quaility of student attending the two schools isn’t that much diferent (average SAT is only about 20 pts higher at U of R, not that that is everything). We’ve had a number of students attend both schools & all have loved each. She already has the possibility of getting a $7,500 grant by receiving the Susan b. Anthony scholarship at U of R, however that gets the price down to around $42,000. Without any more aid it is still $25 - 27,000 more than Geneseo!</p>
<p>a friend’s d, double legacy at Cornell ended up at U of R class of '07 - her mom said with merit money it was much more affordable than Cornell. this was their only child too.</p>
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When we toured Geneseo and U of R (on the same day) there was something I found interesting. At the Geneseo presentation, the admin said “the primary purpose of our faculty is to teach the undergraduates.” At U of R, the admin said (twice) “the primary purpose of our faculty is research.” </p>
<p>It’s fine to have great researchers, but they don’t always equate to good teachers. Some students don’t need a lot of guidance, but at the same time most freshmen and sophomores are trying to cover the basics, not do research. The idea that teaching, per se, seemed to be a back-burner item kind of troubled me, personally. Also, the U of R no-core plan sounds great at first blush, but on reflection, maybe it allows the student to avoid anything they don’t think they like, and perhaps not to be as well-rounded or to miss out on something they would have found an interest in, had they had that additional exposure to it.</p>
<p>That said, I did think it was a fabulous place.</p>
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Probably working more hours, borrowing against retirement assets, eating beans, counting every penny…Most definitely NOT leaving the student with a large debt.</p>
<p>Having grown up only about 4 miles from the Geneseo campus I think it’s a great college town. Yes small, which may be a problem for students from metropolitan areas. However with Letchworth state park only 10 minutes away, a Wegmans, Wal Mart, movie theatre, frats, sororities, some good college bars, & a lot of on campus activities, I think most students are very happy there… of course everything is relative. Many more students attending Cornell are going to come from backgrounds where having fine resturants, shops, a lot of activity is important. The majority of students who attend a SUNY may not find the same things as improtant.</p>
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<p>That would tip it into the “cannot do” catagory for me. Those assets are for retirement or a true emergency. Tuition is not an emergency.</p>
<p>What is this student planning on studying? What is the earning potential in that field? Is Cornell a top school in that subject? Also, is this student looking at graduate school? It may be a far better investment to save for this students grad school than live like paupers to pay the huge bills for an Ivy undergrad degree. </p>
<p>I’m still puzzled as to why it’s down to these two schools. A student who could get into Cornell is a good canidate for a lot of other schools for merit aid. Or even without merit aid, they could easily find colleges that simply cost less.</p>
<p>QUOTE=pugmadkate]I’m still puzzled as to why it’s down to these two schools. A student who could get into Cornell is a good candidate for a lot of other schools for merit aid. Or even without merit aid, they could easily find colleges that simply cost less.
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It’s NOT down to these two schools, but apparently it’s difficult for people to make comparisons across a whole list of possible places. So you get the hypothetical A vs B rather than the A vs B, C, D, E, F, G, H. :)</p>