Please help me on this tough decision..

Applying to College
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<p>I'm really stuck now (although I know some people will kill to be in my position - I fully appreciate that and know how lucky I am). With that cursory statement out of the way let me dive into the problem.</p>

<p>With a rejection at Stanford, I'm driven to choose between what I have now. I am accepted to (from Norcal, so in state to UC):</p>

<p>UC Irvine, UC Santa Cruz, UC Davis, UCLA, UC San Diego, Cornell U, and UC Berkeley. I applied to CS in the Engineering school at all of them. I still have NYU and Carnegie Mellon pending but I'm pretty sure that either I won't get in or won't go there. So currently I have narrowed my choices down to (in no order):</p>

<p>Cal (UC Berkeley), UCLA, and Cornell.</p>

<p>I've already visited Cal (I live like an hour or two away with good traffic - never happens of course), will go to UCLA on Apr 9th for the Engineering school thing, and never visited Cornell (have only been to New York once, and spend time only in NYC and Niagra Falls for a day each). I will go for Cal Day and still haven't decided if I will visit Cornell on my Spring Break or not. </p>

<p>Now with many people from my school shunning Cal to go to UCLA, and a lot of negativity on the Cal board, I'm really wondering what to choose. Here is my criteria for selection:</p>

<p>Food, Housing, Social Life (parties, people, etc.), undergraduate studies and of course the general college experience. As for area, I already know how the Bay Area is like, and I've been to LA a fair amount of times, but I'm not too sure as to how NY is. I've only been in thick snow for two days in my entire life to judge if I like it or not..</p>

<p>So after the long post, can people please help me decide? (See I'm not asking people to do the work for me - I just want an extra source of information).</p>

<p>Thanks! I know this a lot of work and this thread is not the first and definatly will not be the last.</p>

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<p>Well, I did summer college at Cornell last year, so here's my humble take on the criteria you listed:</p>

<p>Food-really, really good. It got a little monotonous but overall I was pleasantly surprised, especially when I compare it to the other college dining halls I've eaten at. One really nice thing is that they have a grill where you can get made to order hamburgers, grilled chicken, grilled cheese, omelets, etc any time of the day... They also have a really good salad and sandwich bar.
Housing-The housing I thought was overall pretty good. They have a few older dorms that are not air conditioned, which sucks, but they're completely redoing West Campus and they have a bunch of new dorms that are really nice. (Ceiling fans! LOL)
Social Life-Since it was a high school program, I don't really have any experience with the "real" parties. There is a pretty big Greek presence on campus though, I think.
General-I thought it seemed like a really good college-y atmosphere, but I was just there for the summer. I had good profs (in architecture), the campus is really pretty. I think it depends a lot on what you major in, too.
Weather-Um, the weather sucks. It was pretty hot but tolerable in the summer, but I know they get a ton of snow and rain in the fall and winter.
Also, I don't know how lazy you are, but they have huge hills everywhere on campus. That was honestly a somewhat big factor in my decision not to go there. But I am kind of lazy. </p>

<p>Hopefully you can get something useful out of this, congratulations and good luck!</p>

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<p>I too am very lazy, so your not alone :p</p>

<p>But thanks a lot for your opinions. Even if it was just for a high school program your experiences regarding the food, and et al helps me. Thanks!</p>

<p>Anyone else?</p>

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<p>bump. </p>

<p>April Fools!</p>

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<p>Bro.. Choose Cornell. You will love it there. I was in the college of engineering at cornell for a semester.. and it was just tons of fun. I decided to come back to cali due to personal reasons. But don't miss out on an opportunity to get out of here and enjoy urself in a new atmosphere different from here. Lots of opportunities.</p>

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<p>Go with Cornell, the new engineering quad is awesome, the weather's not that bad, and there's dragon day!</p>

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<p>well I think a huge factor is that you've lived in California all your life. If you go to UCB or UCLA, you won't really be experiencing anything new in terms of culture and what not. I think if you want that, maybe try Cornell.</p>

<p>When I visited UCB, I LOVED the atmosphere, but that was probably because it was totally new to me (missourian here) </p>

<p>Of course, I don't know too much about either school. Comparing core curriculums might be a good place to start. </p>

<p>haha sorry, this post was entirely unhelpful.</p>

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<p>The thing is that I'm in love with CA atmosphere too..</p>

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<p>bump........</p>

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<p>You should really visit Ithaca before making your final decision.</p>

<p>BTW, is cost of attendance not a factor at all?</p>

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<p>I hear UCLA has great social life, weather, and food :)</p>

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<p>COA is very much a factor. Which is why Cornell worries me..</p>