<p>I have been wavering between these two schools ever since I got into Cornell (CAS). These are the main pros and cons i've been juggling</p>
<p>Chicago</p>
<p>-"different" (as some like to call it) social life and girls arent as good as those at Cornell.
+ I am a very deep thinker and Chicago's core is perfect for me I think
+ Near a large vibrant city</p>
<p>Cornell</p>
<ul>
<li>in the middle of nowhere but people say thats not a fun deterrent</li>
<li>great social life/greek scene. i want to party a lot in college</li>
</ul>
<p>The intellectualism at chicago is something I value at the school. Will I be able to find it at Cornell? People have said the students there are not as academically focused compared to other Ivies but this could just be false generalization. How does Cornell's econ/poli sci/philosophy/lit compare to chicago's respective fields. Finally, you might be annoyed by this question already, but is it fair to say that both recruit equally as well at wallstreet?</p>
<p>simply put: a strong academic atmosphere is valuable to me, which is why I want to go to chicago, but if i can get that at cornell as well as a good party scene then i dont see why i dont choose cornell...besides being close to a city</p>
<p>i think that you will like chicago. since you are into 'intellectualism', why not go to chicago like you want to. don't choose to come to cornell if you like chicago better. gl.</p>
<p>The intellectualism is at Cornell just as much as it is at Chicago, it's just that there are another 7,000 additional students at Cornell, so you may have to seek it out a bit more. Hang out in the Libe Cafe, Green Dragon, or Stellas. Or live in Risley or Telluride or one of the Co-ops and you will have plenty of intellectualism. </p>
<p>I can guarantee you that there are just are more academically focused undergraduates at Cornell as there are at Princeton or Dartmouth, or maybe even combined. It's a question of percentages vs. numbers. Something like over 10 percent of Cornell alums go on to earn a PhD, which is in line with the rest of the Ivies</p>
<p>Between Engineering, AEM, and fraternity connections, Cornell recruits better on Wall Street.</p>
<p>At UChicago, you will likely have to go to Northwestern to find a party as good as the ones at Cornell.</p>
<p>Cornell's philosophy and literature programs are on par with Chicago's, if not a bit better for some things like analytical philosophy or creative writing. Obviously, the Core turns everybody into a quasi-philosophy major at Chicago, but at Cornell most of the food science majors won't be too interested in Hegel or decronstructionism. </p>
<p>The political science and economics programs at Chicago tend to be a little bit better. But undergrad economics at Chicago is overrated. </p>
<p>Quick anecdote -- I have a good friend from undergrad at Cornell who is now getting his PhD in economics at Harvard. We partied pretty hard in undergrad. Well he just spent the fall at UChicago doing a graduate exchange program, and let's just say he was pretty happy he had his undergraduate experience at Cornell.</p>
<p>yeah...I personally have been to u of c, having attended a h.s. in chicago area. I try to warn people to ONLY consider Uchicago IF they have visited it and then liked it. But, if you have visited the school/have talked to students there, and you still like that kind of atmosphere/social life, then I guess you are the type of the person who will be a better match for uchicago than cornell. these two schools are so different, so that you are bound to like one place over the other much more.</p>
<p>i REALLY need to visit cornell before making any final decisions this is way too hard. I appreciate the advice. My host at Chicago said he was choosing between Chicago and Columbia and regrets choosing Chicago. I am not sure how seriously to take that either.</p>
<p>sometimes, visiting a school will solve your problem, as it did for me. When i visited cornell, I felt like I 'clicked' w/ the campus here and i felt comfortable. If you get this sort of feeling when visiting cornell, it may be the school for you. but, again, if you really liked u of c's campus/ student body/ and their social scene, i think you should consider u of c very seriously. you should just visit and see, it is well worth the cost.</p>
<p>I wouldn't decide until you visit Cornell, but it sounds like you'd fit better in Chicago, especially if you're seeking intellectualism. Students at Cornell work VERY hard, but Cornell overall feels more science-y and practical, at least to me. (Maybe I feel this way because I'm an engineer.)</p>
<p>i agree with myarmin. the majors you listed feel pretty underrepresented here (with the exception of econ). I'm a history major and i feel overwhelmed by the number of hard science majors. Just as a sidenote, hard science majors tend to look down on humanities majors. It's a little irritating at times, especially when so many humanities majors want to go to law school, business school, etc. So in some senses that may detract from a feeling of intellectualism as far as your interests go.</p>
<p>anyway, you definitely need to visit. i'd say you should pay close attention to whether you need to have a city nearby to be happy or whether you're fine without it. I'm a cornell student looking to transfer because I'm just not happy being confined to campus anymore...no matter how good the parties are. But for some people thats not an issue at all. Just pay close attention to it on your visits.</p>