Georgetown vs Cornell

<p>At this point, I have applied to both Georgetown and Cornell, and I really can't decide which is my favorite.</p>

<p>Although Cornell may me a better college overall (although Georgetown's nothing to slouch about), I think that Georgetown has so many more resources available because it's in DC.</p>

<p>I visited DC once and it was absolutely BEAUTIFUL.
An urban setting like DC has so much to offer, and Washington has so much history, so much culture, so much to do, whereas I feel Cornell revolves solely around frats because it's so secluded... One thing I wanna do is volunteer to help inner-city kids, and I don't know if I'd really get a chance to do that in Ithaca.</p>

<p>Also, I think Georgetown may fit my interests more, as I'm mostly interested in sciences like biology, and in languages/culture.</p>

<p>Can anyone help shed some light on this? Possibly someone who chose Georgetown over Cornell, or just has some strong points to bring up... I'd appreciate it.</p>

<p>As a bio major, you will benefit from Georgetown having a med school on campus (or not too far from campus) compared to Cornell, whose med school is in NYC. Gtown is also much better for IR to help your interests in language and culture, but Cornell may have a more diverse student body(just based on size). Unless you are going to do CALS at Cornell and are instate, both colleges should be considered equals and based on the info you have given, go to Georgetown if cost permits.</p>

<p>When you say Cornell is more diverse, you mean Georgetown has a lot of rich/preppy kids?</p>

<p>And I'm not too concerned about med school, I don't think I'll be a doctor... I just want somewhere with good liberal arts.</p>

<p>In my heart, I think I'd mesh better with Georgetown, but it'd be tough to turn down an Ivy.</p>

<p>I havnt visted Georgetown (decided not to after it fell off my list) but Cornell is a larger school, so more people could mean more diversity. </p>

<p>You may not be interested in becoming a doctor, but the med school will provide you with good research oppertunities (I think Cornell has some pretty good oppertunities too).</p>

<p>Don't think of Cornell as just an Ivy. If you go there just because of the name, you will probably regret your decision. Cornell may have more name recognition in New York and abroad, but Georgetown and Cornell are peer institions (except in ILR, hotel, architecture, and engineering) and you really can't go wrong at either college.</p>

<p>Yeah, I basically agree, and I feel that if I chose Cornell just because it's an Ivy, I'd second-guess myself often.</p>

<p>I'm not gonna be going for ILR, hotel, or architecture/engineering, so yeah... I think they're pretty equal, although I never really understand why Georgetown is only ranked #23 by US News.
It'd be tough to choose, but I think whether someone hears Georgetown or Cornell, they'll recognize the name as one of excellence.</p>

<p>Georgetown is more selective than Cornell, so I'm not sure why you think it is more prestigious. The US News rank is due to their low endowment and hence, financial resources rank. Gtown has better social life, a more laid back/less cutthroat atmosphere, and wins hands down on location. Not to mention, the incoming class size is way less at Gtown. Bottom line, both degrees can open many doors for you. So choose the school where YOU think you'll be happiest.</p>

<p>Haha, very good answer... Seems like you lean towards Gtown, which is true for me too... Gtown is more selective, def, which I think people tend to disregard. Gtown and Cornell are my top two choices, but for the reasons you said (SOCIAL LIFE that doesn't solely revolve around frats, so much to do, history/culture, BEAUTIFUL city), I might just choose Gtown (if I were to get into both of course). I think both would def open a lotta doors, and when you're going somewhere as prestigious as either of these schools I don't think there's much of a difference. =)</p>

<p>I'd personally rather go to Cornell (in fact, I am going), just because I enjoy the small-town, nature-filled environment a lot more and I despise large cities. It doesn't seem like that's your niche, though. Also, the language/humanities and biology departments in Cornell are pretty amazing, and probably not inferior to GTown's (in fact, I haven't heard much about GTown in those fields). Biology-wise, having a med-school on campus would help if you were concentrating on human anatomic/physiological fields; however, Cornell has a 4000 acre plantation and a vet school, perfect if you like ecological/plant/animal biology. I've never really got the vibe that Ithaca is centered around frats either; having an entire town catering college students is pretty awesome, IMO. </p>

<p>Cornell also has a special program in Washington DC if you care for it.</p>

<p>Furthermore, since you're in New York, you really should think about an ivy league education for about half the cost. </p>

<p>And for the record, Cornell is more prestigious than Gtown because of its status as a major research powerhouse.</p>

<p>Cornell is definitely not more prestigious than Georgetown. If Cornell weren't in the same Athletic League as Harvard, Yale, and Princeton (the Ivy League), nobody outside of NY or a couple of science labs would even know Cornell.</p>

<p>Not that Cornell is not a great school (it certainly is a fantastic place to study), but it is definitely not HYP and certainly not more prestigious than Georgetown. If someone chooses Cornell it should be because they love it as an institution, not because it is in the Ivy League. Because "for the record" Cornell is most probably the least prestigious/selective/known of the Ivy League schools.</p>

<p>It's tougher to get into Georgetown than it is to get into Cornell, so that alone has gotta say something.</p>

<p>keep in mind it also depends on what major ur studying... Cornell's engineering and AEM is very selective... maybe more so than gtown</p>

<p>Dear kid,
Georgetown is VERY selective, sadly somewhat underfunded, competitive... it has an unbelievable faculty, student body, opportunities, access to the best of the professional, cultural, and service worlds. Great undergraduate assistance for students. You cannot got wrong at Georgetown. Just beware that the science facilities are not the best, yet another side effect of a poor endowment, but the faculty members in the science departments are excellent and probably over-qualified for their jobs. The SFS, the College, the MSB, and the NHS... all some of the best in their fields. This is where you want to be. O, the people you will meet... the lectures you will attend... the professors you will worship... the causes you will fight for...</p>

<p>Yeah. Gtown anyday of the week. I had a similar choice as you one_voice-- i.e Georgetown or the ivies. I just matriculated at gtown for the class of 2011 and I have never felt better. Truth be told, both cornell and gtown are extraordinary schools-- you can't go wrong with either. One can quibble about admissions statistics, ivy league status, endowment, location, or what not, but all that matters is that you chose a school where you will be happy. Visit both campuses, get a good feel for each and go with whichever one feels "right" or "better".</p>

<p>and Ray, get out of here with "in fact, I haven't heard much about GTown in those fields"(humanities/language) Gtown is widely regarded as one of the most if not THE MOST reputable university in the US with regard to polysci/language/humanities.--its called SFS and the faculty of language and linguistics learn it and love it.</p>

<p>Departing from my usual praise of Gtown, for the sciences, I personally would choose Cornell over Georgetown. Cornell has AMAZING facilities for the study of the sciences and engineering.
<a href="http://thehoya.com/news/021307/news4.cfm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://thehoya.com/news/021307/news4.cfm&lt;/a>
That's an article from today's Hoya which talks about how little money Georgetown gets for funding for the sciences. Cornell is specifically mentioned as being in the top 20 for its total research portfolio. As far as admissions, I'd say they are equal. Georgetown has a lower acceptance rate, but Cornell gets 20,000+ applications and has the space for a large number of students. And as I've said in regards to NHS admissions, some schools are self selective, so they can accept more students instead of weeding out a large number. Cornell, as is Johns Hopkins(which also has a higher acceptance rate than Gtown) are known for their large numbers of pre-med/science/engineering students.</p>

<p>For languages, of course Gtown is one of the best. I personally wish we had African languages(besides the two semesters of Swahili offered), and Cornell might be better in this regard, though I haven't researched that. </p>

<p>Also, I wish that Georgetown had more of a focus on the sciences. I'm not saying that it should be the main focus, but that it should have better facilities, larger departments, more majors, and more students in the programs. We have Biology, Chemistry, Biochemistry, Physics, and Human Science. Cornell has many more science related majors and courses(btw, Cornell's course guide is literally the size of a phone book). So, if you want a wider selection of courses in the sciences, Cornell is awesome. Georgetown sciences are still VERY rigorous(just had an orgo test yesterday...fun...haha), and there are more than enough courses to keep you interested, however Cornell does have better facilities and more courses. As much as I love Gtown, I know that the sciences are not one of its strengths.</p>

<p>Regarding science at Georgetown, the University has a great science faculty, the issue is it's relatively small (about 80 professors) and has been impaired by the physical plant on campus, mainly that the Reiss Science Building is ancient and literally falling apart. Still, 1.25million per faculty member isn't exactly a low number for science research, and is actually impressive given the constraints science faculty at Georgetown are working with. </p>

<p>However, the University is planning to build a new unified science center and "reinvent" Reiss as soon as they can secure the funding to do so in the next few years. There's an interesting article I spotted from Blue & Gray about Georgetown College trying to put more of an emphasis on science/get the word out on the existing science being done at Georgetown. </p>

<hr>

<p>Georgetown College Spreads the Word on Research</p>

<p>"There was a strange misperception that we don't do first-rate science at Georgetown – but we do," College Dean Jane McAuliffe said. "We have a first-rate faculty who are extremely productive in terms of research and teaching, and we want to get the word out on that."</p>

<p><a href="http://explore.georgetown.edu/news/?ID=22422%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://explore.georgetown.edu/news/?ID=22422&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Unless it's SFS, I don't see a reason why you would choose Gtown over Cornell. MSB is just stellar, NHS-ehhh... and the general college gives less opportunity than Cornell's.</p>

<p>Well Cornell's undergrad business program is ranked higher than Gtown's, if that's what you're looking at. As far as NHS, Cornell doesn't have a nursing program, or international health, human science, or healthcare management and policy programs either. It does have a Biology and Human Development major, but that isn't as science intensive as human science at Gtown. So, it all depends on what you're interested in. If you're more interested in the hard sciences, I'd say Cornell has more choices. I like that Gtown has Human Science, which is basically a bio major focused on humans, which many pre-health students are interested in.</p>

<p>In the midwest/west, Cornell is definitely considered more prestigious than Georgetown-- most people don't connect Gtown with elite academics. When I was in high school (in the midwest and then west coast) I didn't even consider Georgetown because my counselor told me it was for the hearing impaired (she was obviously wrong). I guess this is an example of the poor name recognition Georgetown has compared to the Ivys.</p>

<p>ehhh, speaking from the west coast, the general perception of cornell is a science-oriented university with really smart but really ugly people (sorry, that's just what it is), and georgetown is the political/international hub for smart but partying WASPs.</p>

<p>at least where i live, they both have strong reputations, and it really does depend on the field. and i applied to both so it's not like i have a bias, but for what i want to study (government, art history/antiquities, and Arabic), i kind of feel like georgetown might be a better fit.</p>

<p>Gtown for WASPs? Georgetown is Catholic! Do you understand that WASP stands for White Anglo-Saxon Protestant? Wow..</p>