<p>This is for a friend of mine who's heard of CC but can't make it here.</p>
<p>He wants to do an engineering undergraduate course and wants to apply to either Princeton or Cornell through ED / EA. He's got a very strong academic background and a 2230 on the SAT I, though he loses out a bit on the ECs side. </p>
<p>He wants to know where he's better off applying early and which one he should keep for regular review.</p>
<p>Cheers</p>
<p>To clear any ambiguity, he'd like to know: a. which school is better for the course and b. where he's got a greater chance</p>
<p>well, b's a little easier to answer, since I can just pull some selectivity stats off collegeboard for you:
Cornell: admitted 29%
Princeton: admitted 13%
By stats, Princeton is more selective, so his chance would be greater at Cornell.</p>
<p>Byerly's got lots of stats - perhaps he or someone can give the breakdowns for ED and RD admissions.</p>
<p>(Is your friend sure he can't decide? They're really quite different schools.)</p>
<p>Dear mea,</p>
<p>We're both from India, and hence sitting thousands of miles away we tend to lose out on the insider knowledge of the universities, and have to rely more on the outer surface websites and the like. That's the primary reason I visit CC - to get some first-hand information.</p>
<p>Coming to Cornell vs Princeton, I think he knows that Princeton is a much more prestigious and more "polished" school than Cornell. Apart from that, what can you fill me in on?</p>
<p>Cheers</p>
<p>I would tell your friend to apply to both. For Early Decision, I would tell your friend to apply to Princeton, since it is better in most facets of engineering except some that have joint programs with bio (for most things relating to bio, Cornell should get a closer eye). Princeton also is better in it's all-around quality, in case your friend wants to switch majors.</p>
<p>Also, about the selectivity:
He's aware of the stats, but since he's not the traditional ED candidate who's hellbent on one university, he's not sure. If you see what I mean, he doesn't want to apply to Cornell being attracted by the high acceptances, and then be bound to Cornell whereas perhaps he can make it to Princeton.</p>
<p>Dear Paco,</p>
<p>Thanks for that information. That may be useful to him, since he does maintain a keen interest in biology as a secondary subject.</p>
<p>Ah, I see Joe. I didn't understand correctly what information you were looking for, so I just pulled some numbers. I'm afraid I really don't know the specifics enough to help your friend out with a) but I hope others will be more helpful. I do know that if we're talking about Ivies (i.e. not, say, MIT) then both Princeton and Cornell are hard to beat for engineering. As to b), Princeton admits by ED at a rate something like 3 x greater than by RD. Thus if he decides he really likes Princeton, I would suggest applying Princeton ED because, again by stats, ED gives quite a boost. If however, he would be just as happy to go to Cornell as Princeton and he wants to be as sure as he can to get into one of them, then I'd suggest he try Cornell ED. :p I hope that came out more coherently than it sounds to me. Good luck to him.</p>
<p>Thanks a bunch for that, I think it pretty much sums up the entire case. Will pass it on to him, I'm sure he'd convey his gratitude as well.</p>
<p>Your friend sounds like he wants to apply ED just for the sake of applying early, since he's not a "traditional ED candidate hellbent on one school"
Ideally, I think favoring one school is supposed to come BEFORE deciding to apply early. It seems like he's convinced that he will get a great advantage by applying early, and now just has to choose a school. That's not the way to go about it, and unless he can really decide that he likes one school the most, and would not regret it if he HAD to go there, then I would suggest he apply to both in the RD round. </p>
<p>I think Cornell Engineering is harder than the 29% reported, so you might want to check into that.</p>
<p>zantedeschia, I think you've hit the nail on the head. He is in fact applying to ED since he's attracted by the higher admit rates, and not because he's clear on one university (till a few weeks back he had Caltech sprawled all over his bedroom) Perhaps he's not aware that the higher rates are due to the strength of the applications. </p>
<p>I'll pass on your words of wisdom to him.</p>
<p>Overall, P is more selective, and its location near NYC is more appealing to some students. However, I have never heard anyone claim that P engineering is stronger than Cornell's. I think it's fair to say that Cornell engineering is considered the best in the Ivies, and I know students who have turned down P engineering to go to Cornell. Cornell has a co-op program, which means you can alternate semesters of engineering internships and academic courses, and I know recruiters from big firms who go there and are extremely impressed by the students. If I were your friend, I would check the job placement records carefully.</p>
<p>I would go Cornell in my personal opinion. Their engineering program is quite strong and they have access to alot of resources. I don't know much about Ptons engineering program, but I've always assumed that they were more of an English/History/Pol Sci school.</p>
<p>Also, the campsuses are sooo different!<br>
Cornell does have a significantly greater number of undergrads and the campus is alot bigger.</p>