Northwestern vs. Cornell - Help, please?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Northwestern University
1

<p>Alrighty, so I'm trying to decide between Northwestern and Cornell. Here are key things to take into account:</p>

<ul>
<li>Accepted into Arts & Sciences for both with intended major of Psychology.</li>
<li>I want to start off in Psych and PreMed</li>
<li>Will minor in French, but I also plan on exploring my opportunities and hopefully double-majoring, too, or completely changing everything if I find a fancy in something else, meaning that I want to be able to have the class flexibility for that.</li>
<li>I want a place that will have GREAT internship abilities and such.</li>
<li>The main reason it's hard to decide is because I see NU as a better school, but the name of Cornell is more recognized. What do you think?</li>
<li>Finally, I'm a generally laid back person, and I want a school that is similar to me.</li>
<li>Cost isn't an issue.</li>
</ul>

<p>If you have ANY feedback/ideas, please reply. Thanks so much! :D</p>

2

<p>Copy/paste from another post of mine to start.</p>

<p>I chose Northwestern because (in no particular order):
It’s easier to get back home–direct flights are a Godsend.
I’ve lived in the country for my entire life, and I want to have access to a big city.
I’m interested in Economics, and Northwestern’s Econ department seems to be more highly regarded than Cornell’s. I’m also interested in the Kellogg cert programs.
Northwestern just seems fun. Good atmosphere, awesome location, when the coursework doesn’t bury me in the library or something, and so on.
They have an equestrian team, and I want to keep riding through college (all of the colleges do, but still).</p>

<p>I didn’t choose Cornell because:
It’s out in upstate New York; bit too far out in the country for my tastes. (add: it is -beautiful- on campus, and there are tons of students, so there’s something to do for pretty much everyone. So it isn’t like people are just going and staring at trees all day.)
It would be more difficult to get internships, since I’d be limited to summer internships only.
(I wanted to join the Polo team, and I thought it would be cool to go to the same college my parents went to, but in the end, it didn’t outweigh its own negatives/the draw of NU. Don’t judge <_< )</p>

<p>If you’re interested in a major, possibly a double-major, -and- a minor, I’d suggest NU simply because it gives you an extra 8 courses over your 4 years to fit everything in. The quarter system is faster-paced, but if you really want to study several disciplines, then that might be just what you need.</p>

<p>Either school will be able to place you for excellent internships, though it’s probable that only NU will be able to place you during the school year; I hear that they offer course credit for internships during the year, as well. No idea whether Cornell does the same.</p>

<p>NU’s getting to be pretty well known–Cornell still has a bit more pull, as I understand, but most people view them as about equal. One or the other gets an edge, depending on where you go. If you look for a job in Chicago, you’re going to get more looks from NU than from Cornell. Opposite is true in NYC.</p>

<p>I really don’t think either school is ‘laid back.’ They both know how to have fun; I have friends at both. But they’re also kept pretty busy!</p>

3

<p>Great post from Piece of Toast.</p>

<p>Honestly – both are fantastic schools and you won’t go wrong with either.</p>

4

<p>Cornell’s name is def not more recognized. For people who do know about it, they also know of its half state school/half private status, which is really not beneficial to its reputation. Among the students, there seems to be divisions among Arts & Sciences students and the other students in Cornell’s much less selective programs. I don’t think this is very healthy. Northwestern has a greater social and academic brand, and it’s more selective than Cornell.</p>

5

<p>Have you visited both? My son (and I) had a pretty bad reaction when visiting Cornell, mostly because it is so isolated. It’s an enormous school, but the town revolves around the school, and getting there is either an hour flight or a 5 or so hour drive from NYC. Son will be a theater major as well as some other major, and Northwestern is a better fit for him anyway. Proximity to Chicago (both the city itself and the airports) is another factor you should consider.
FWIW, I also get the impression (self-fulfilling since Im more focused on it lately) that the reputation of Northwestern is on the rise.
If you really want to “get away,” then a place like Cornell makes a lot more sense. Other than that, assuming you haven’t visited, you should visit both and see which calls out to you.</p>

6

<p>

I do know about Cornell, and it is not half state school and half private, all 7 schools are private, just the land grant schools offer lower tuition to NY residents. Other programs, such as Hotel and Architecture are not less selective. They are the most selective programs within their own area of study, it is just they look beyond SAT and GPA. D1 was a graduate of A&S, and I have never heard of her feeling superior or said anything disparaging about students at other schools. As a matter of fact, a good friend of hers transferred from A&S to Hotel because he thought he wanted to go into the hospitality business, but now he is working at a BB IB. D1’s best friend also transferred from A&S to Architecture school for urban development, and she is now at Stanford law. </p>

<p>Bot NU and Cornell are excellent schools. It is a matter of personal preference about location and feel of a school. Someone we knew had the option of going to NU, Cornell or Duke. She chose NU, majored in math/econ, and loved 4 years there. She is now working in NYC. My kid had the option of going to Cornell or Duke, and she picked Cornell. She also had 4 very good years at Cornell and is now working in NYC.</p>

7

<p>wildcatalum Cornell is not a half state school. It is completely private! It is also a Land Grant Institution which means that is given land and funding by the state and in return has to offer programs such as agriculture, industrial relations, etc. to benefit the people of the state- it comes from the industrial revolution. Because of the state funding, tuition at land grant colleges (ILR, Cals and Human Ecology) is lower for NY residents. This does not affect the Coll of Engineering, CAS, Architecture, or the Hotel School. But even the land grant colleges are private.</p>

8

<p>Cornell receives money from the state for education, yes, which (according to a brief search) makes them answerable to state authority, and requires them to offer lower tuition to in-state students. But I also read that they’re to be considered as private, not public colleges for administrative purposes. If you want to split hairs, I do recall that state officials make up a significant minority of the board of directors. But the belief that Cornell isn’t on the same level as the other Ivies seems pretty prevalent (it isn’t alone in that, of course). Of course, it’s still a top-level school, even if it’s a step below Harvard and company.</p>

<p>It is a pain to get out to Cornell, since Ithaca really doesn’t have the benefits of a hub airport like NU does with Midway and O’Hare.</p>

<p>I haven’t heard anything from my friend at Cornell, but I have read that there’s a bit of a divide between the ‘Hotelies,’ for example, and a significant part of the student body, because they’re viewed as lesser students because their program is perceived to be easier.</p>

<p>My dad has some memories of Cornell and being looked down on as a transfer from a two-year college in-state, and also some memories about brutal competition. From the alumni I interviewed with, along with my friend, that doesn’t seem to be nearly as prevalent as it might have been in the past.</p>

9

<p>Cornell was one of my top choices… until I visited. I think if you can visit both schools before May 1, do so. Ithaca is one of the worst places I have ever been, and I thought I would absolutely love it there. There’s also a distinct divide between Cornell students and the rest of the town, where both look down on the other. Just not the sort of thing I was looking for.</p>

<p>I obviously ended up choosing NU, and the fact that I wouldn’t have to drive 7 hours to come home for breaks was an obvious plus.</p>

10

<p>Consider what things are impt. to you (college town vs. being at the doorstep of Chicago, etc.), as well as the strength of each school in the areas you want to study.</p>

<p>A visit to both schools would be helpful.</p>

<p>As for name recognition, Cornell may be more recognized among the educated in the NE, but NU probably is the better known school among the typical lay person due to playing B1G FB and BB.</p>

11

<p>Cornell has a better reputation</p>

12

<p>@classclown: You seem to have a vendetta against Northwestern for some reason, so can you please stop posting biased, inaccurate information on every single NU thread in this forum? Unless you have some kind of credible source to link or point to because otherwise your posts pretty much lack any kind of credibility - no explanation, nothing - looking at your post history, you’re just out to get NU however you can, aren’t you?</p>

13

<p>If you check my posts in this NU forum, I often choose NU over the other schools listed. I have no vendetta. When I say Cornell has a better reputation, that is my opinion. I hope that you can respect that without getting your feathers ruffled. There is no scientific study that shows exactly that one school is better. USNWR is not exactly a scientific survey…Sorry, that you are having difficulty with my opinion.</p>

14

<p>Good choice either way, but would think the internship opportunities for a liberal arts major interested in medicine would be better in Chicago. Also, for all the good things that Cornell is known for being a laid back school is not one of them. You want to go to NW and so do it.</p>

15

<p>@classclown I’ve pointed this out to you before:</p>

<p>“The earth is flat.” = Statement of “fact.”
“I think the earth is flat.” = Statement of opinion</p>

<p>“Cornell has a better reputation.” = ???</p>

16

<p>^ Geeze, agreed 100% but you said it before I did. Someone doesn’t know the difference between a statement of fact and a statement of opinion. One starts with, " I think…" , “I believe…” or “IMO…” and the other doesn’t. Basic communication skills that don’t lead to miscommunication on blogs.</p>

17

<p>Which is what I was also referring to - I have no problem with people voicing their opinions; in fact, that’s what this site is meant for, because as you said, USNWR is not a scientific study and people don’t just pick colleges according to those rankings. But if you’re just going to say things without pointing to a credible source or giving some explanation for your “opinion” then there’s no point posting it and confusing people because of that miscommunication. Right now it just looks like you’re making up facts to suit your purpose because you simply don’t like Northwestern, based on your other posts, due to some personal grudge or some other reason.</p>

18

<p>Guys, get over it. That is my opinion…and I am pretty sure the opinion of many others. Thanks.</p>

19

<p>Both are excellent Universities. Both have slightly different strengths and weaknesses. The reputations of both are excellent. Would you rather live in Chicago or Ithaca? Is there a particular program at one school that is of interest to you? Does the personality of one school appeal to you more?</p>

<p>As a partner in a major law firm I would tell you that life is what you make of it and everyone on this board obsesses too much about USNWR rankings. We would all better off look at this as bands – with HYPSM in one band and the rest of the top 20 in a second band. We also need to remember that a lot of people are incredible and do well even if they attend state universities and lower ranked schools such as Tufts.</p>

20

<p>Classclown, Next time frame it as one and we’ll take it better.</p>