<p>I'm transferring, and my top 3 choices are cornell, columbia and penn (for bio/psych). the problem is that i will have to pay ~60K at penn and columbia peer year, but only about ~25K at cornell. i will be at one of these schools for 3 years, so is shelling out another 100K worth it for penn cas/columbia college? i'm not optimistic about my chances for getting my greencard in the next two years, so i will most likely have to pay out of pocket. my number one is columbia, but i plan on going to both grad school (20-25K) and med school (100-150K). any thoughts?</p>
<p>They’re all Ivies. If you do your best wherever you go I doubt that your chances of getting into a good grad/medical school will be affected by which Ivy you choose. With that much disparity in how much you’d be paying, definitely take the cheapest route. Unless being in the city is worth an extra $35,000 to you.</p>
<p>1) What year are you right now?</p>
<p>2) Grad schools in the US generally pay their students, right? </p>
<p>3) What programs are you in?</p>
<p>Unless Cornell’s Bio program is very bad, you probably should go to Cornell. Have you visited any of these colleges?</p>
<p>1)freshman, but cornell accepted 60 credits, so i could finish there in 2 years if i take summer classes</p>
<p>2) generally yes, but i think this applies more to PhDs at top schools</p>
<p>3) i applied for psych/neurobio at these schools, if thats what you mean. i’m a psych/behavioral neuroscimajor in my current school.</p>
<p>i feel this is like asking whether you’ll be worse off if you get a Porsche instead of a Lamborghini</p>
<p>This is like debating whether the best NBA player today is Kobe Bryant or Lebron James (KOBE!)</p>
<p>There is never any reason to take out 100k in student loans.</p>
<p>I don’t know about psych, but Cornell is fantastic for biology.</p>
<p>yeah, i figured all three schools have excellent bio departments. i’ve crossed penn off my list, because i wouldn’t get the ny TAP award for nys residents. i’m now choosing between cornell and columbia, with a list of pros and cons:</p>
<p>Cornell:
Pros-
1)Cheap tuition–only 23K a year for me
Accepted 60 credits, giving me junior standing
Good food
Cheap transportation around ithaca
lots of stuff to do on campus</p>
<p>cons-
I have to stop the research i’m doing here, and that means i might lose my authorship, which i need for grad school resume
I need to come into the city about once/twice a month on the weekend for a program, which is an 8 hour roundtrip-blech
less internship opportunities
lots of undergrads, kind of like my current largeish public school
gloomy weather
not feeling cornell like i feel columbia</p>
<p>Columbia:
Pros-
know a lot of students/faculty there
do research there
lots of internship opportunities
can commute to school from home
lots to do on campus and off
one of my dream schools</p>
<p>Cons-
very expensive–up to 35K more than cornell
competing with barnard students for some core classes
morningside heights is kind of dangerous?</p>
<p>can anyone weigh in on more pros/cons for either of these schools?</p>
<p>Have you been to Cornell? </p>
<p>I guess there’s a “cup half full, cup half empty” kind of thing going on, the weather may be dreary there at times, but the predominant feeling I was left with in the end is the natural beauty one is surrounded by there. I frequently felt inspired just by breathing the fresh air and walking to class on a brisk Fall day. Someone who has been there, and can only write “dreary weather” as their one pro-con point for the environment there, should definitely consider going elsewhere, as they are on the “cup half empty” part of the spectrum there.</p>
<p>I think it would be really disruptive, and expensive, to spend that many weekends in NYC, and would inhibit your ability to establish roots and relationships at Cornell.</p>
<p>The predominant mode of transportation is very cheap there indeed, because it’s your feet.</p>
<p>D2 transferred from across Broadway to Cornell, much prefers the campus-centered experience there to the reality of living in “the concrete jungle” as a student, and finds extracurriculars and expenses in Ithaca to be much more affordable. Coming in as a transfer she has made a great group of friends and likes it there a lot. On the other hand there is a cc poster who transferred to Cornell from columbia as an engineer and preferred Columbia.; did not like walking long distances outside, etc. Nothing about physical beauty, “cup half empty”. choose what you want. Also noted large class sizes, however D2 has not had this complaint.</p>
<p>Comments of someone who transferred to columbia are here
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1062547335-post340.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1062547335-post340.html</a>
Another former columbia transfer student posted comments on student snobbishness there and expense of the city, but also had problems with weather and intensity for which Cornell would not likely be her solution.</p>
<p>Cornell has huge # offerings across seven undergraduate colleges, perhaps some of these may appeal to you. Relating to Biology there are offerings in CAS, CALS and Hum Ec.</p>
<p>At Columbia a significant porportion of your remaining classes will be filled up by The Core, hopefully this will not be a burden to you and you avidly want that program of studies, if you are entertaining going there. In which case, Cornell does not have The Core.</p>
<p>Anyway, since you clearly prefer Columbia, I think you should try your best to get them to give you more money. Failing that, if the money is a make or break issue for you then you should see if there is a way you can continue your research at Cornell. If it is not, in the end, a make or break issue then you should go to Columbia, there are people who are “feeling Cornell” who might better occupy your spot there. You should be taking this next step excited about the opportunities that await you, and you are likely to do better, and be more of an asset to the community, with this mindset than without it.</p>
<p>Go where you want to go if you believe in yourself and are willing to work really hard.
100k in loan is not that bad
im taking 100k to go to Pratt Institute too
im Korean by the way it sounds like you are too</p>
<p>Cornell. The perceived differences in “quality” between all these three schools is negligible at best, so just go to the cheapest one, then. </p>
<p>It’s a good school, and I know a ton of people who would kill to go there. No one from my high school was accepted there last year (not even the girl who got into Harvard). Consider yourself lucky. </p>
<p>Also, note that you will forfeit housing at Columbia permanently if you transfer in as a commuter student.</p>
<p>@monydad: i get no financial aid b/c i can’t file a fafsa. also since i want to dorm, the cost of attendance at columbia will proabably be over 30K more than the 25-30K I would be paying at cornell. but getting any aid from the schools thesmelves is impossible, period. when i get my greencard in a year or two, then i can get substantial fin. aid, i think (parents make around 30K together)</p>
<p>i guess my major preference for columbia is that the being in the city is more convenient at this point of my undergrad life.</p>
<p>@collegenewb: its 100K EXTRA for columbia…i’m already taking out a pretty big loan. and i’m not korean but i am asian lols</p>
<p>@XX5XX: commuting 15 mins is ruining my life as it is so i don’t know how i will handle a one and a half hr commute each way. if only i had a greencard already…</p>
<p>What college do you currently attend? How much does it cost to go there? These are important questions you need to answer, before anyone can help you.</p>
<p>My goodness, what a catch-22 situation you’re in! :(</p>
<p>*Sarcasm alert</p>
<p>If you are going to med school, you should generally always try to have the least amount of undergrad debt since medical school is so expensive.</p>
<p>Go to Cornell.</p>
<p>@DMOC: the book wasn’t that good. </p>
<p>@Kulakai: i though med schools offered some form of fin. aid? the only reason i’m not getting anything now is due to not having a greencard. otherwise, i’d get a full-ride(or something close to it) at both schools since my parents make very little</p>
<p>Medical schools do offer financial aid. The problem is, the financial aid consists of loans, and those loans total about 200k. If you’re taking out huge debt to pay for undergrad, you won’t be able to afford that.</p>