<p>All those statistics are based on the MEDIAN grade, not the mean grade.</p>
<p>The mean could be very, very different.</p>
<p>“It seems like USC and Cornell actually have a lot of cross admits, I was almost one of them, if I wasn’t ED to Cornell. I think, based on the reasoning, yes the valedictorian is being irrational.”</p>
<p>Precisely. I got into USC as well, and it’s not even a consideration at this point. </p>
<p>I think my hardest decision was choosing between Northwestern, UChicago, Cornell, and Rice, and after visting the Cornell campus, I had no doubts. Cornell is the school to go to. It’s famazing.</p>
<p>That is all.</p>
<p>You should tell your val that Pton has a grading policy by which only 30% of the people in a class can get an A. At Cornell, there is no such rule.</p>
<p>Another thing to consider is that Princeton has good engineering as well, and is the best choice if val intends to go into ibanking or whatever after graduating.</p>
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<p>false and false?</p>
<p>engineering is difficult almost anywhere, I doubt Princeton or USC has significantly higher average grades than Cornell</p>
<p>
Care to elaborate? Princeton is considered to have the best engineering out of HYP. And many engineers at top schools go straight to wall street (even from MIT). Undergrad prestige is the most important qualification for these jobs.</p>
<p>^ As far as I know, Cornell holds the status as best in Engineering out of the Ivies, Princeton obviously included.</p>
<p>That is correct, but doesn’t really matter when we are talking about this kind of employment (Princeton’s program is definitely respectable). Princeton engineering grads make more than those from Georgia Tech, I guarantee it.</p>
<p>" As far as I know, Cornell holds the status as best in Engineering out of the Ivies, Princeton obviously included. "</p>
<p>Cornell has the best engineering in the nation. Hands down. My father’s an engineer and all his coworkers, employers, and engineer friends from different states seriously respect Cornell. </p>
<p>Cornell is so under-rated, but I guess it is respected for what it really is by the people that count. And by people that count, I don’t mean random people on CC that try to knock it down because they couldn’t hack it or get in. >.>'</p>
<p>Lol lockn, if every single graduate from Georgia Tech went into Ibanking or wall street, I can assure you that they would have a higher salary than Pton grads.</p>
<p>The fact is, wall street jobs for engineers pay higher than regular engineering jobs. Thus you are getting a confounding sample because of the disparity between Pton grads that go into every other engineering discipline.</p>
<p>Cornell grads go straight to wall street too, but here we stress getting actual engineering jobs after graduation. And the approach to engineering at Pton is all theoretical. Engineering isn’t about theory, it’s about example, and practice, and intuition.</p>
<p>
My point is that the GA Tech grads aren’t able to get the same jobs as the people from Pton, even if they wanted to.</p>
<p>that, also, is absolutely FALSE!</p>
<p>[Princeton</a> leads in grade deflation - USATODAY.com](<a href=“http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2007-03-27-princeton-grades_N.htm]Princeton”>http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2007-03-27-princeton-grades_N.htm)</p>
<p>my understanding is that princeton practices grade deflation as well</p>
<p>USC Viterbi, from my understanding and the rankings seems to be a good school. It’s not a ridiculous choice, and I think it is easily comparable to Cornell or Princeton. Good weather is a plus, and I’m sure the lifestyle is a different there. All three are good schools so it really comes down to personal preference.</p>
<p>Lightbright, respect for a school doesn’t make it the best school. In my opinion, prestige has nothing to do with teaching quality. And in terms of prestige, MIT and Caltech would be above Cornell. But I think all these universities do not do as good a job of teaching as they could. If I had to choose the best engineering college right now, in terms of undergrad teaching (in my eyes, this is the most important), it would be Franklin W. Olin College Of Engineering. Small schools like Rose Hulman and Harvey Mudd would follow.</p>
<p>The decision is not as obvious as the OP believes. For various reasons, at least five students from my graduating class turned down Cornell for schools far less known than USC. You shouldn’t get so upset when people give you crap about Cornell, it makes us look bad. </p>
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<p>Cornell engineering is definitely among the best, probably in the top ten, but I think most people would agree that it is still a notch below powerhouses like MIT, Caltech, and Stanford. (Not that I think one should always choose the “better” school, considering other important things like fit.)</p>
<p>Yup, Cornell is very good for undergraduate engineering, top 10 for engineering, but certainly not the best.
[Best</a> Undergraduate Engineering Programs - Best Colleges - Education - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/college/spec-doct-engineering]Best”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/college/spec-doct-engineering)</p>
<p>US News also has rankings for engineering specifics: [Best</a> Colleges - Education - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/college/engineering]Best”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/college/engineering)</p>
<p>oh man that sucks he has to chose between Princeton and Cornell (<strong><em>sarcasm</em></strong>, cause at least one person thought I was serious)</p>
<p>Yes, PKWsurf21, because a for-profit magazine that uses “Number of times a school is mentioned by faculty members from peer institutions” as a methodology for ranking programs that the faculty members have absolutely no knowledge of is a valid ranking system.</p>
<p>Honestly, they send out a list of engineering majors to a bunch of high brow faculty members at a bunch of schools, and ask them which schools come to mind when you think of that major. The more times a school is mentioned in aggregate, the higher its ranking.</p>
<p>Case in point, Cornell is ranked #2 in Agricultural engineering by USNWR. Guess what? We don’t have an agricultural engineering program.</p>
<p>[Methodology:</a> Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/best-colleges/2008/08/21/methodology-best-undergraduate-engineering-programs.html]Methodology:”>http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/best-colleges/2008/08/21/methodology-best-undergraduate-engineering-programs.html)</p>