Torn between these two schools. Am planning on majoring in computer science, and a possible minor in econ. Just visited Cornell this weekend and I have to say I loved it a lot. I understand that both programs for comp sci and business are comparable, so I’m really just wondering about how everyone liked each school. The campus is beautiful and huge, but at the same time, I don’t know if I like the rural aspect of Ithaca and the especially poor weather for most of the year. I loved Philly when I visited Penn and also it is closer to home (I’m able to take a 3hr train vs. almost 5 hours driving to Ithaca.) I think I would personally like the city atmosphere more but at the same time cornell’s campus feels like a city of its own. Can anyone help me choose on which school to ED too? Oh, and I also have legacy at Cornell… I know that will help me get in, but I obviously want to go to the school that ill is most happy at.
Things that I want to consider:
-Overall personality of people at the schools (easy to make friends?)
-Party scene
-student life (dorms, student unions, amenities)
-Competition within the school
-Girls (dont call me shallow - this is very low on the list but im curious about this)
-Food
-anything else that may be a subtlety that I should know
Thanks
Edit: I would likely be appling to school of arts/sciences for both schools for reference
These schools are both relatively large, not LACs.
-“Overall personality of people” is relatively not relevant, when there are 10,000+ people, studying in different colleges, with different academic and career objectives, who obviously each have their own personalities.
Basically you sort yourselves out during freshman year and find your group of people to hang out with. Which will likely be smaller than 10,000.
Cornell is particularly diverse, in terms of types of people and their interests, due to its wide range of specialized schools, and the in-state subsidized tuition of the contract colleges. It is virtually guaranteed there will be people who share your interests and perspectives. It is also guaranteed that there will be people who you have almost nothing in common with, and people who you dislike. Fortunately after freshman year you can choose to live with the former, and avoid the latter.
"Easy to make friends" largely depends on you. But in any large environment, like these sized schools, or a city, the trick is to carve out , or join, smaller groups of people who actually have to interact with each other. The same skills and attributes that will help you make friends in this sized university setting will help you later when you go off to work in a city. When you start out, everyone in the freshman dorms are motivated to make connections an find their "people".
So a lot of connections are made in the dorms. Then there are clubs, jobs, fraternities,...
"Party Scene" is similarly diverse. You will find everything from people who party several times a week to people who never leave the library. The fraternities help those so inclined with a sort of built-in social life. But others have a good time too. At Cornell, Collegetown house parties are a staple of social activity for upperclassmen. Most upperclassman there live of-campus, where they have more personal space, and do not have university rules or RAs enforcing them.
-Competition: look at the stats of entering students. And bear in mind that most of these people will be seeking the best future destinations for themselves. At both schools. So what do you expect? For what it’s worth a friend of mine from Cornell went on to grad school at Penn, where he served as a TA for undergraduate courses. He said the level and expectations were essentially identical. This was a long while ago though, and the relative academic level of Penn students has increased since that time.
To the best of my knowledge neither of these schools admits based on physical appearance or personality in social settings. They both admit students who are highly qualified academically. So just as statements about most of these other things are not really useful when considering 10,000+ students, ditto for "girls". Or "boys".
People say the on-campus food at Cornell is good. There a lot of restaurants in Ithaca. And since it is a college town, most are relatively affordable for students. Obviously there are more restaurants in Philadelphia ( though not necessarily per capita, or equally as affordable for students). But I haven't heard many complaints about available food options at Cornell/ Ithaca.
Since you are a Cornell legacy, you can presumably dig deeper into all these issues, as they pertain to Cornell, with your parent.
Yeah, ive talked to my parent about a few of these things, but obviously some things have changed in the last 30 years or so since they’ve attended. I know less of these things about Penn than cornell, so thats what I was really looking for. However, ive heard things about cornell’s cut-throat nature that I haven’t heard about Penn. So little things like that Im really trying to figure out. Thanks!
I doubt your parent would agree that Cornell was “cut-throat”.
It was academically demanding, because smart people are all trying, but it’s not like people wouldn’t work together, or somebody would steal your lab report. My D2 graduated relatively recently, she had a great experience and handled her work, with excellent results, while still pursuing a good social and extracurricular agenda.
I would just make sure that we’re not confusing a minor in economics with the business program at either school. Otherwise, I believe Cornell’s CS problem is stronger than Penn’s, at least based on reputation.
Some comments:
-Overall personality of people at the schools (easy to make friends?)
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Similar at both schools, and since they're both large programs you'll find friends.
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-Party scene
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Both have greek life and have active party scenes
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-student life (dorms, student unions, amenities)
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I'm a bigger fan of Penn's student resources and student life, which might be a factor of the school's larger endowment. There's simply more dollars to be spent on student life.
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-Competition within the school
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Penn is going to be more competitive. Adam Grant said it was the most hypercompetitive instutition he's worked at if that's any indicator.
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-Girls (dont call me shallow - this is very low on the list but im curious about this)
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Since you're considering a non-arts field, it will be similar at both schools. Same goes for the guys.
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-Food
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Don't know
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-anything else that may be a subtlety that I should know
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While it's nice to be in Philly, Penn also has the city-of-its-own feel that Cornell has. You won't have too much time to go venturing into the city.
If it is to be believed I guess Cornell worked out socially for those people, at least.
I myself recall four such marriages, from people that I personally knew from my freshman dorm.
But I’ve no idea whether the percentage is any different there vs. anyplace else.
Penn is social Ivy, and is in a big city. Cornell may be stronger in Comp Sci; Penn has Wharton, Much strong than Cornell in Business program. Penn ranks higher in most rankings.
I terms of the strengths in your areas of interest, Penn is better for business, Cornell is stronger for CS. However just due to the nature of business recruiting, the difference between Penn and Cornell for business has a greater impact than the difference in CS does. For tech/CS recruiting the difference in CS won’t make a big difference. Penn however is more targeted for business recruiting by top firms and that is a benefit even if you are not going to be studying business at Penn. Also Penn tends to rank higher in most fields in general.
I actually dont agree with @aoeuidhtns on the competitiveness part. Penn is definitely very competitive but Cornell is said to be at least as or even more so due to the higher number of students relative to resources available and the bigger grade deflation. When Adam Grant made this comment he was comparing Penn to his alma matter, Harvard, which is definitely less competitive once you are in, due to grade inflation and the fact that it is, well, Harvard.
Penn is known as the social ivy and its social life is said to be the best amongst the ivies. But I would say Cornell and Dartmouth are close seconds for the social ivy title.
In terms of resources Penn is the richer school both in a total and a per student basis.
Most people choose Penn between the two. Not saying that since most people do it, you should do too, but this is the trend.
Torn between these two schools. Am planning on majoring in computer science, and a possible minor in econ. Just visited Cornell this weekend and I have to say I loved it a lot. I understand that both programs for comp sci and business are comparable, so I’m really just wondering about how everyone liked each school. The campus is beautiful and huge, but at the same time, I don’t know if I like the rural aspect of Ithaca and the especially poor weather for most of the year. I loved Philly when I visited Penn and also it is closer to home (I’m able to take a 3hr train vs. almost 5 hours driving to Ithaca.) I think I would personally like the city atmosphere more but at the same time cornell’s campus feels like a city of its own. Can anyone help me choose on which school to ED too? Oh, and I also have legacy at Cornell… I know that will help me get in, but I obviously want to go to the school that ill is most happy at.
Things that I want to consider:
-Overall personality of people at the schools (easy to make friends?)
-Party scene
-student life (dorms, student unions, amenities)
-Competition within the school
-Girls (dont call me shallow - this is very low on the list but im curious about this)
-Food
-anything else that may be a subtlety that I should know
Thanks
Edit: I would likely be appling to school of arts/sciences for both schools for reference