<p>I've finally narrowed my choices and am finally down to these 3 AMAZING schools: Cornell, Northwestern, and Duke. I've made my pro/con lists but they still go head to head. I plan to major in chemical engineering or materials science and go on to graduate school, whether for law, business, or a PhD, I don't know yet.</p>
<p>So far, Northwestern gives me the best finaid, about 30K. Cornell gives me nothing but work study and Duke is in between. I visited Cornell recently for Cornell Days and I just about FELL IN LOVE with it's scenic campus, engineering quad, and atmosphere. I'm from NYC, so the distance is pretty good too. Still a bit worried about the cutthroat competition thing I keep hearing about though...</p>
<p>Cornell Engineering is more well known but financial aid is a big factor, so it really worth it? There are lots of core ChemE courses, will I be able to pursue a pre-law track or pre-business (AEM) minor? How competitive is ChemE or materials sci engineering at Cornell? Is it a problem? If not Cornell, then which college (Northwestern or Duke) should I consider? Gah, I don't know what to do! Please help! Thanks. :]</p>
<p>The Chemical Engineering and Materials Science Engineering departments are on the cutting edge here. The research being done is top notch and innovative. The faculty members are friendly, approachable, kind, and also know how to teach very well.</p>
<p>There is nothing at all cut-throat about engineering. In Engineering especially that is a total myth. Every student is extremely friendly, and willing to help. Study groups are extremely common. Collaborative work for hard problem sets and labs is encouraged by professors. </p>
<p>While there are a lot of courses required, I have found that most students, even ChemE’s, are pursuing minors. It is fairly common and the AEM minor is only 6 courses, some of which you might have completed already (intro microeconomics allows for AP Credit).</p>
<p>Financial aid is a factor, and the extent that it affects you is your opinion and your decision. Are you willing to make the sacrifice for the campus and atmosphere you loved? Only you can decide. If it won’t be a huge struggle for your parents to pay, or you are willing to take on some debt, I would say Cornell.</p>
<p>As for the other schools, they have very different campus cultures although Duke is “supposed to be” better in engineering.</p>
<p>For sure… Northwestern. A top notch institution making you pay less than 20,000 per year is almost impossible to pass up. Definitely don’t do Duke because it was in the middle for fin aid and is probably the LEAST academically advanced imho.</p>
<p>I would see if Cornell can match that financial aid, because usually they will (unless it’s mostly merit or something).</p>
<p>It probably is mostly merit.</p>
<p>It doesn’t hurt to try, but I’ve heard Cornell only competes with offers from other Ivies, MIT and Stanford.</p>
<p>@mcvcm92
I wouldn’t make such a blanket statement. Yes, money is always an issue, but it isn’t the end all be all. If Northwestern’s engineering or science programs were on par with Cornell’s, and the OP liked the campus as much as Cornell’s, I would agree with you and say go to NW. But you cannot quantify the strength of the programs, or the love for a school.</p>
<p>Northwestern doesn’t give merit based aid, only need based, so what he/she is recieving cant be merit bassed.</p>
<p>Northwestern does give merit-based aid, I received a merit-based scholarship this year from Northwestern.</p>
<p>However, Cornell’s offer beat out Northwestern. Cornell, for my personal needs or “fit,” beat out Northwestern on so many levels.</p>
<p>That might not be the case for the OP (if the OP is still considering NW), but I would still try to see if Cornell will match the offers.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses! My Northwestern package is basically 24K in grants, 2K from NMS, and ~4K in loans (30K total). The only merit based aid stated was the NMS that I anticipated. </p>
<p>I feel much more comfortable at Cornell than at any other college, so I’m still trying… I’m asking Cornell to match offers from NU, Duke, and Dartmouth, but they haven’t gotten back to me yet and it’s cutting a bit close to May 1st. 
Any suggestions or other info about Cornell Engineering? 
Thanks.</p>
<p>I hope that Cornell will match Northwestern’s financial aid. And I think you will find that the Cornell chemical engineering curriculum, while challenging, is not cut-throat in the slightest.</p>
<p>This is definitely between Cornell and NU:
Graduate ranking (last year):
ChemE
NU/Cornell: 15th (tie)
Duke: no program</p>
<p>Mat sci
NU: 3rd
Cornell: 10th
Duke: unranked (>52th)</p>
<p>Seems like an easy choice when finances are considered: Northwestern.</p>
<p>without the financial constraint, Northwestern engineering is about the same as Cornell and both are a bit stronger than Duke ex BME.</p>
<p>cornell offers a competitive operations research degree in eng that many pursue if they are considering pre-business. there is no such thing as a prelaw track (except taking the lsat), and the aem minor is easy to get as well.</p>
<p>Honestly I would put all of these at the same level overall, but the aid from Northwestern makes it an easy choice in my opinion.</p>