<p>I am an above average student and I want to apply to one of my top college choices for early decision to increase my chances. I want to major in Computer Science, and I have narrowed my choices down to Cornell and CMU.
I like Cornell because it is a highly prestigious Ivy and I like sports (Cornell has division1 basketball)
I like CMU because it is probably ranked the #1 school for anything computer-related</p>
<p>Any opinions on where I should apply early decision?</p>
<p>Well on this forum, people are probably more inclined to tell you Cornell so keep the bias in mind. With that being said, I think you should apply to Cornell. I just think it’s better.</p>
<p>I specifically posted on this forum because I was hoping people supporting Cornell would have some persuasive arguments on why it is the better option</p>
<p>[Top</a> Ranked Computer Science Schools & Best Computer Science Colleges](<a href=“Web Page Under Construction”>Web Page Under Construction)</p>
<p>Well according to the link above, Carnegie Mellon would be a lovely school to go to for Computer Science, as would Cornell. Discrepancies in rankings at that scale may hardly (if at all) be noticeable. Plus, if rankings matter, overall Cornell is #15 while Carnegie Mellon is #23.</p>
<p>But then Cornell seems to be an altogether more well-rounded university with respect to a larger variety of opportunities and “prestige.” I like its environment, faculty, and breadth of quality options in case I discover that I don’t actually want to major in what I thought when I entered school.</p>
<p>A quote I found on the US News profile of Carnegie Mellon was “We choose not to study everything, but where we focus, we excel.” There is something to be admired in dedication, but I think that may be a sort of excuse covering up a potential lack of varied opportunities. I like Cornell’s universal mentality much better–that students can learn a wide variety of things from experts in infinitely varied fiends.</p>
<p>So for an overall college experience, Cornell wins with its sports, spirit, and Ivy affiliation. Within the realm of academia, in Computer Science I’d consider them tied (perhaps with a slight edge toward CM) but for a fuller breadth of quality I choose Cornell.</p>
<p>wow thanks! those are some very interesting points you mentioned. cornell altogether seems like an amazing university and any ivy is a dream school. opportunities after college is also a very important factor and i think cornell also gets the advantage there. i also agree that there is a very small difference in computer science rankings but cornell takes an advantage in the overall rankings. i am definitely leaning towards cornell now! thanks!!!</p>
<p>you’re on the right track thinking about the basketball (which I agree is very fun!)
keep thinking about what you want outside of CS, because based on my knowledge of the programs at both schools, you cannot go wrong with either in that field.
do you want to have a minor? do you want any kinds of clubs/programs? what if you don’t want to continue with CS and you want to switch to something else that is either similar or quite different?
you should also consider things like living arrangements, the towns, etc.
(I don’t know tons about CMU so I don’t want to make false comparisons to Cornell, but since you’re thinking of applying ED and should be on summer vacation soon, you can do that research. 
)</p>
<p>hahah no problem, it seemed like you were frustrated by my first response so I took some time to expand it into something that would be actually useful to you. I didn’t know a lot about Cornell prior to my regular decision application, but once I was accepted, I visited and researched and fell in love. Hopefully you’ll get the opportunity to do the same! :)</p>
<p>life at cornell seems much more upbeat than cmu… but cmu is golden in the CS world. a CS degree from cmu can get me one of the highest-paying computer jobs easily… does cornell really compare to cmu in this way?</p>
<p>also cmu has about 15% higher acceptance rate for early decision than cornell. but would applying to cmu for computer science actually be harder to get in than cornell?</p>
<p>Here’s some job stuff posted about Cornell CS placement:
[Alumni</a> Destinations](<a href=“http://www.cs.cornell.edu/ugrad/cscareers/AlumniDestinations/index.htm]Alumni”>Alumni Destinations | Department of Computer Science)
[Placement</a> Report<a href=“note%20the%20placement%20report%20includes%20links%20to%20past%20classes”>/url</a></p>
<p>Also see post #6 of this thread :
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/cornell-university/1010672-job-prospects-cs-ce.html?highlight=computer+jobs[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/cornell-university/1010672-job-prospects-cs-ce.html?highlight=computer+jobs](<a href=“http://www.cs.cornell.edu/ugrad/cscareers/PlacementReport/index.htm]Placement”>Placement Report | Department of Computer Science)</a></p>
<p>As for ED acceptance rates/ chances by program, you have to look for applicable data, if it exists, opinions without data are virtually worthless. But I can’t help you there.</p>
<p>does anyone happen to know the rough acceptance rate for computer science applicants for cmu and cornell (early decisions)? would i have a better chance being selected into cornell’s program (despite the lower overall acceptance rate) or cmu (probably more competitive cs, but higher overall acceptance rate)?</p>
<p>I’m not really sure you can say that a CS degree from CMU can get you “one of the highest-paying computer jobs easily.” While it would be a good thing to have, you could say the same thing about alumni connections and whatnot you would obtain by going to an Ivy League school.</p>
<p>My admissions strategy was to apply SCEA to the most difficult school (not that it worked out… hahah) in the hopes that my early interest would help me a bit in admissions. I have no idea if it gave me any higher chance of getting in, but I felt like it might have.</p>
<p>Thought I’d throw these in:
[All-Access</a> Broadband Channel](<a href=“CBS Sports - News, Live Scores, Schedules, Fantasy Games, Video and more. - CBSSports.com”>CBS Sports - News, Live Scores, Schedules, Fantasy Games, Video and more. - CBSSports.com)</p>
<p>[YouTube</a> - Cornell vs Boston University Hockey at Madison Square Garden](<a href=“Cornell vs Boston University Hockey at Madison Square Garden - YouTube”>Cornell vs Boston University Hockey at Madison Square Garden - YouTube)</p>
<p><a href=“https://insidelacrosse.com/news/2011/05/14/mens-lacrosse-cornell-drops-hartford-advances-ncaa-quarterfinals?quicktabs_5=0[/url]”>https://insidelacrosse.com/news/2011/05/14/mens-lacrosse-cornell-drops-hartford-advances-ncaa-quarterfinals?quicktabs_5=0</a></p>
<p>From other posts it appears that you are a HS sophomore. If so, you are overly focused on the ED question at this point. Posting the same question in ten different forums is not going to help, because there are many more elements to consider. Take a step back, look at the many DIFFERENT aspects of college life, and please be more considerate of people’s time.</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure no time-pressed person would have the time to make a decent response to this topic.</p>