<p>I was accepted to Caltech and Cornell, and now that i need to submit my acceptance of my acceptance (haha) by May 1st, I need some serious help in choosing between the two places. </p>
<p>Curently, I want to be an entreprenur and start a r&d company, and I was looking at the two colleges with that goal in the back of my mind. As of now, these are my major issues with both colleges, and I hope that someone can adress my concerns about Cornell. Thanks in advance guys.</p>
<p>Against Caltech -
not enough entreprenurial spirit
weak support structure outside of caltech (as in lack of alumni)
little free time
some houses are wierd (i was at prefrosh weekend in rickketts)</p>
<p>Against Cornell -
Not enough attention to go arround
Research isnt as great as Caltech's
It seemed as if Cornell thinks you are stupid when you come in as a freshman (this is what i felt)</p>
<p>Well I don't think you'll need to worry about research at cornell. It may not be as great as caltech but it's still pretty great. When it comes down to it, they're both awesome schools and you'll be fine wherever you go so I'd say just go with whichever one you liked better. Do what your gut tells you, you really can't go wrong.</p>
<p>What part of jersey are you from? I'm from south jersey and I'm going to Caltech. I got into Cornell too, but it was never a serious debate for me. Good luck with your decision.</p>
<p>at cornell, you are more likely to find girls ;-) My bio TA said that she ONLY looked at physicists (PhD candidates though) and apparently they like to swing dance. so smart geniuses, come back to cornell for grad school to find your girl! hehehe, j/k </p>
<p>good luck wherever you go (btw, if you think Cornell thinks freshman are stupid, I can't imagine Caltech! Cornell has such a variety of students that even as freshmans, one can be much smarter in a subject than another student. i would think at caltech it would be a little more uniform, many more students taking the same classes, that the upperclassMEN would feel superior to the freshman)</p>
<p>I chose Cornell over Caltech four years ago. I didn't like the 9:1 m:f ratio and the one-dimensional personality of the campus and its students. I didn't personally see myself enjoying it there and the long distance from home didn't help. Keep in mind these are all personal factors and you will feel differently about these things.</p>
<p>The academics there are equal if not better than at cornell. I am actually doing Applied and Engineering Physics (basically the same thing as applied physics) here and it's the top department in the nation in that field. Applied physics here is top notch if that's what you plan on doing.</p>
<p>I also plan on doing applied physics, etc. </p>
<p>One major issue I had w.r.t. Cornell was the ability to take higher level math/science courses. Is it possible to do the like? For example, I would like to take analytical calculus, etc. </p>
<p>Also, did you guys find it difficult to do research at cornell? Are you allowed to start research your first semester at cornell (as in caltech)?</p>
<p>Wow shizz, number one for engineering physics? I am a CAS admit for physics, but was seriously considering the AEP program for its flexiblity with grad school. How do you get that rank? Just curious. I trust you. (And yes, I know different rankings mean different things and they are obviously meaningless...)</p>
<p>I think it would be a mistake to turn down Caltech for physics, unless you want to avoid the disadvantage of applying to Caltech grad school as a former undergrad.</p>