<p>personal opinions based on facts for which is better</p>
<p>better grad school placement
especially for medical school?</p>
<p>better undergrad experience overall?</p>
<p>which is more prestigious, more recognized as a top school?</p>
<p>right now I would probably side with Cornell for most if not all of this yet US News ranks Dartmouth quite a bit higher....wondering why</p>
<p>"better grad school placement especially for medical school?" Neither school's grad school placement gives cause for concern.</p>
<p>"better undergrad experience overall?" The undergrad experience is really the main focus and draw of Dartmouth, much moreso than Cornell. Cornell certainly offers many great things, and in the end it's really a choice of fit. Dartmouth would fit for anyone who wants to attend a school that is concerned with the undergrad experience. </p>
<p>"which is more prestigious, more recognized as a top school?" Both schools are recognized as a top school to those who know. I would say their exposure to those who don't know are about the same as well.</p>
<p>My preference is obviously with Dartmouth, but I won't base it on facts. The only real stats collected from the top schools are splitting hairs-- it's where you want to go, it's where you get in (since acceptance to either school is anything but certain)-- it's a lot of things, but not a matter of one being better.</p>
<p>I say Dartmouth, as well. Not as big. Worse food, though.</p>
<p>Medical and Law school are all about raw numbers.</p>
<p>Cornell is infamously grade-deflationary.</p>
<p>...something to consider if you're 100% sure you want to go down one of those roads...</p>
<p>Every med/law/grad school knows Cornell is deflationary with grades, and puts this into account when accepting students. There is nothing to worry about when it comes to grades, and just think, you may actually have to work for your diploma.</p>
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Every med/law/grad school knows Cornell is deflationary with grades, and puts this into account when accepting students.
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<p>Correct on count 1-not nearly as true on count 2.</p>
<p>Law schools, for example, will accept a 3.5 from nonamedrunkoffmyass state U over a 3.0 from MIT nearly every single time. It's beyond debate. Grad schools look more wholistically, but law and med are EXTREMELY raw numbers driven.</p>
<p>"just think, you may actually have to work for your diploma."</p>
<p>I'm sure Dartmouth is no sweat :rolleyes:</p>
<p>Ivybound, the two schools are sufficiently different for you to pick one ovet the other without hesitation.</p>
<p>From a quality point of view, both are amazing. I personally recommend you visit both campuses and then decide. </p>
<p>Somebody mentioned the food at Cornell was better. I actually thought the food at Cornell was decent but not great...and I heard that Dartmouth has excellent food. </p>
<p>At any rate, do not worry about which school is more prestigious...both are very highly regarded. Go for the school you like better.</p>
<p>There are differences of scale, diversity, and environment. You can't go wrong either place. I happen to know more more about Cornell: small city environment, large scale, Arts and Sciences school similar to Dartmouth but Cornell has larger Engineering school and NYS statutory colleges. Because of size, Cornell may have more elaborate course selection and premedical advising system. Here is a link to Cornell pre health careers advising:
<a href="http://www.career.cornell.edu/HealthCareers/advisingNetwork.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.career.cornell.edu/HealthCareers/advisingNetwork.html</a></p>
<p>I have high regard for both schools...I think it is more a matter of taste. Cornell has resisted the same degree of grade-inflation that has crept into other Ivys but Dartmouth is not one of the most grade-inflationary Ivys.</p>
<p>Splitting hairs maybe, but I think the premedical advising system at Cornell might be better but I can't say for sure...just a hunch.</p>
<p>Actually pre-med advising at Dartmouth is amazing. You have dinners with the deans, etc, and they are always helping set you on the right track. Honestly though, I would go to the Ivy that will help you get the best GPA, unfortunately grad schools still dont discount the fact that Cornell is so cutthroat when accepting students. The WSJ ranks Dartmouth higher for grad school placement. My experience is that Dartmouth grads do shockingly well in terms of getting intp top grad programs, but its not as if Cornell does badly.</p>
<p>As for prestige, honestly the difference is moot. </p>
<p>As for experience, what do you want? I liked a 4000 person community where people really got to know each other over college. You really can create a wonderful world there, and there is always something to do. The reason I transferred to Dartmouth was the undergrad spirit, its a school with a big homecoming type weekend four times a year! Cornell is a bigger environment clearly. Its all what type on environment you want.</p>
<p>Dartmouth is more like a LAC with a really tight community experience and alot of individual attention. Cornell is more like a big university with more (and better) graduate research. </p>
<p>Dartmouth's undergrad focus shows in stats like these. </p>
<p>Dartmouth: 56% of classes under 20 students, 9% of classes over 50 students.</p>
<p>Cornell: 44% of classes under 20 students, 23% of classes over 50 students</p>
<p>Here is the link to the Dartmouth pre-med advising page:
<a href="http://www.dartmouth.edu/%7Enss/nav/pages/advice/'05%20Premed.html">http://www.dartmouth.edu/~nss/nav/pages/advice/'05%20Premed.html</a></p>
<p>This is a matter of individual fit for most students. Cornell is huge and has a great depth of field for courses and interesting people to meet, lectures to attend ect. It is huge compared to Dartmouth and has some large freshman introductory classes. A person who is able to assert themselves, likes having ecletic friendships, and you think you might want to get some graduate credit courses under your belt, may get a lot from this University. Cornell has a number of TA classroom situations (small discussion groups/labs) which can be great and terrible depending on the TA.
Biology majors are both in the Arts and Sciences and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences....both graduate people into Med schools. Check the schools for their stats.
Dartmouth, which is also academically excellent, is smaller and more focused on undergraduate education. I would expect it would be socially more like a small town, where if you don't know everybody, you at least have know someone who knows them.</p>
<p>My Dartmouth friends didn't complain about the food, and Cornell's hotel school keeps their food at the top of college meal experiences. </p>
<p>I don't have anything to compare grades with Dartmouth. I can tell you how I wanted to get noticed at Cornell and thought I had Aced my first test after studying all week only to see a C grade come back...I never knew how much studying or how much work I could do until Cornell's expectations lifted me up. There is a lot to say about the advantages an easy grade system gives you on applying to grad school, but there is more to say about upgrading your own work ethic.</p>
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I say Dartmouth, as well. Not as big. Worse food, though.
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<p>Lies! Dartmouth food is awesome.</p>
<p>Yeah, Dartmouth food is good. Homeplate rocks, although food court sucks.</p>
<p>One thing about Dartmouth though, its very much a campus scene. Hanover doesnt cater to students at all, unlike Ithaca, which is great.</p>