<p>Besides the weather/location, what is the difference? What (in your opinion) is more appealing about one than the other?</p>
<p>(sorry if anyone already posted any answers to this thread, i didn't get to read them before it was erased)</p>
<p>Duke's Bio Engg...and Cornell's great overall Engg.</p>
<p>so i really know nothing about cornell....but um..EW.</p>
<p>yeah, I guess you really do know nothing about Cornell. It's a great school.</p>
<p>The schools really aren't as similar you might think. Here's a few factors to think about.</p>
<p>Size- Cornell is BIG. The undergrad population is 13,625. Duke's undergrad population is slightly over 6,000. Most Duke classes are under 50, and many are under 30. At Cornell, lectures can have upwards of a hundred people. Only intro Bio, Chem, and Econ lectures get that big here. Biology and chem can be avoided with AP credit. If you thrive in a big environment, Cornell might be awesome. However, Duke is probably better if you want more personal attention. Freshmen are on a separate campus.</p>
<p>Field of study- Since Cornell requires you to apply to a particular college, I assume you have a rough idea of what you want to study. While fields like English or history can be studied at either, each school has certain strengths. Hotel management, engineering, and psychology are examples at Cornell; public policy, economics, and BME are examples at Duke.</p>
<p>Location- Let's face it, there's a big difference between New York and North Carolina. Duke is probably a little more diverse, with 85% OOS students (Cornell has ~60% OOS). The weather is fairly cold and rainy in Ithaca, as opposed to the rather mild weather of Durham. On the other hand, Durham isn't exactly the nicest college town in the US...something to consider. </p>
<p>General atmosphere- Duke students tend to be very pre-professional. Around 45% of the entering class said they were pre-med! Cornell is a bit more pre-professional than HYP, but it still has slightly more of an academic feel. Of course, for fields like engineering, this hardly matters.</p>
<p>Sports- Duke basketball or Cornell hockey. Your choice.</p>
<p>Stress level- As a general rule, Duke students tend to be laidback. Pratt can be intense (esp. BME), but not quite as stressful as Cornell. Of course, there are exceptions. My organic chem class was the most competitive bunch of freshmen you've ever seen. Grade inflation is higher here than Cornell, although high grades are much harder to come by in the sciences.</p>
<p>Placement- Duke has better law and medical school placement rates than Cornell, an indisputable fact if you look at the #'s. Either can get you into a good grad school.</p>
<p>Food- Cornell was recently ranked near the top of colleges with the best food. Duke has a pretty good dining program, but it's not quite the same.</p>
<p>Other factors you may want to consider- financial aid, study abroad, FOCUS (at Duke), student life, undergraduate research, student life, etc.</p>
<p>Academically both are top notch. The Duke student body is high caliber than Cornell's judging from stats, but for traditional engineering fields I think Cornell has an edge whereas Duke has a really good BME program. Duke is great law/med/business placement, and Cornell shouldn't be far behind. Both are great for academics pretty much, though Duke is usually considered better for overall academics.</p>
<p>Socially, Duke is a party school, and I'm sure Cornell has an active social scene as well. Curves are harder at Cornell and competition is stiffer, but Duke is also competetive, especially among pre-meds. Weatherwise, Cornell is colder and Duke is warmer. Ithaca is better than Durham probably. Food is also great at Cornell compared to Duke. Cornell is in the Ivy League whereas Duke is in the ACC, if that matters at all. Duke has more kids from the South and Midwest than Cornell, though not many more. Less OOS kids at Cornell than Duke, even though NY is bigger then NC so that should be expected.</p>
<p>thanks warblersrule and thethoughtprocess, those were great posts. i appreciate it!</p>