<p>Hello! I'm an international student from China. I am admitted by Northwestern and Cornell, which are both my dream schools. Now I have to make tough decision btw these two schools. My intended major is applied math or economics. MMSS program and Kellogg Certificate in NU attracts me a lot. But Cornell is an ivy school so it seems to have much more reputation in Wall Street.</p>
<p>Personally I feel like to be a Northwestern wildcat for its fantastic academic programs and school spirit. However my parents care more about my future career. My family is going to immigrate to US next year and probably reside in New York City(my uncle lives there). I've heard that compared to Cornell, Northwestern is less known in NYC. Does reputation really matter? How can I persuade my parents to choose NU over Cornell? I'm looking forward to hearing your opinion. Thank you guys!</p>
<p>I think the two schools are identical in terms of academic excellence and undergraduate experience. I would go with personal preference. Cornell is rural while Northwestern is suburban. Cornell follows a semester system while Northwestern follows a quarter system. Although Northwestern has a solid athletics tradition, so does Cornell with Hockey. You cannot go wrong, so choose whichever school appeals to you the most.</p>
<p>Both schools are well thought of; people not from this country tend to exaggerate how much the Ivy League means. You can’t go wrong with either, so it comes down to personal preference. Though MMSS is pretty huge. (MMSS grad, 1986 here)</p>
<p>Is cost a factor? Which is cheaper after aid (if any)?</p>
<p>There is no significant difference in reputation.
And even if there were a small difference in whatever field you enter, do you think it would outweigh the effects of the school environment on your own motivation and performance? </p>
<p>If cost is not a significant factor, go to the school where you think you would be happier and more successful.</p>
<p>Northwestern is better than Cornell with business.</p>
<ol>
<li>Reputation among laymen is often largely based on proximity. But reputation among top firms is often another story.<br></li>
<li>Kellogg cert students have a separate career-service with a full-time career advisor through Kellogg. You’ll have a login for the internship database at Kellogg. <a href=“http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/Certificate/career-development/for-employers.aspx[/url]”>http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/Certificate/career-development/for-employers.aspx</a><br></li>
<li>When you have MMSS and Kellogg cert, it would open more doors than a econ degree from Cornell, not only because of the recruiting resources I just mentioned but more importantly, because of the advanced quant/modeling skills that you’d acquire from MMSS and Kellogg cert.</li>
</ol>
<p>The Kellogg cert program has sent a team every year to Rotman International Trading Competition and the team has done very well against mostly graduate students from financial engineering (MFE) or financial mathematics programs. They placed 4th last year and 7th this year. </p>
<p>Here’s the partial list of employers (there are probably about 150 alums out):
[Jobs</a> & Internships -Certificate Program for Undergraduates - Kellogg School of Management - Northwestern University](<a href=“http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/Certificate/career-development/jobs-internships.aspx]Jobs”>Certificate Program for Undergraduates | Kellogg School of Management)</p>
<p>Are your parents arriving with green cards, or H1B visas? If they will have their green cards, and you will have one as well, when they have been in NY for 12 months you should be able to qualify for in-state status in the public divisions of Cornell. After that, if you change your interest to one of the branches of math or economics that are housed in the College of Human Ecology or the College of Ag and Life Sciences, your costs of attendance would drop significantly. I realize that there are a lot of "if"s here, but these are things to consider.</p>
<p>Northwestern is a great school, my Cornell grad school roommate graduated from there! But I do have to admit a bias toward Cornell. No other university in the country offers the same breadth of academic programming with anything like the same overall strength of individual programs.</p>
<p>I’m so glad to hear many diverse opinions from you guys. I choose to follow my heart and talk to my parents about my idea. Let us meet in Evanston this fall. Go cats!!!</p>