<p>Between Dartmouth and Cornell, which do you believe is the stronger school for each category (a reason why would also be helpful)?</p>
<p>Mathematic Academics:
Science Academics:
Research:
Outdoors:
Weather:
Parties:
Social Lives:
Beautiful campus:
Natural Setting:</p>
<p>Mathematic Academics:?
Science Academics:?
Research:?
Outdoors: Dartmouth
Weather: Dartmouth
Parties:?
Social Lives:?
Beautiful campus: Dartmouth
Natural Setting: Dartmouth</p>
<p>I think Ithaca has got it on beautiful campus and natural setting. It’s gorges after all.</p>
<p>The weather probably depends on what you like. They’re both going to have cold winters, but I’m pretty sure there’s a lot more snow up in New Hampshire.</p>
<p>Also I know Cornell is the best engineering school out of the ivies, with Dartmouth ranking in the bottom half, so that probably says something about their math/science ranks.</p>
<p>Cornell and Dartmouth have the lowest grade inflation rates of all the ivies. If you want cut throat and great sciences, go to Cornell. If you want one of the best liberal arts educations in the world, go to Dartmouth. Cornell has bigger introductory classes than Dartmouth. Frankly, an undergraduate education is fairly comparable among the ivies. Do well, and worry about the specialities of graduate school.</p>
<p>Mathematic Academics: Cornell
Science Academics: Cornell
Research: Cornell
Outdoors: Cornell
Weather: wash
Parties: ?
Social Lives: depends on what you like
Beautiful campus: Cornell
Natural Setting: Cornell</p>
<p>I feel like these posts are a little biased. Could you give me some reasoning to back yourselves up? I don’t know where I want to apply early yet. I’m more of a math/ science guy, and i really want to be on a naturally beautiful campus, but from time to time, I will also want to hit a frat party and have some fun.</p>
<p>With regard to your non-academic questions only (and much of this can be best ascertained by visits if at all possible):</p>
<p>Outdoors: tie - just different. Cornell sits in the fingerlakes region of NY which was formed by glaciation so the geographic land formations are quite different than then granite mountains of NH. It is quite steeply hilly, but not mountainous. There are lovely lakes and incredible, deep gorges and waterfalls, and winelands and all the activities they afford. Dartmouth’s outing club is the oldest and largest in the nation. See: [Dartmouth</a> Outing Club](<a href=“Dartmouth Outdoors”>Dartmouth Outdoors) Even the least outdoorsy at Dartmouth enjoy something of the great outdoors Trade finger lakes for rivers, hills for mountains and all the activities they afford. The Appalachian Trail runs through the area, Hanover even, and the outing club maintains a portion of it. Dartmouth owns its own ski slope, a good part of a mountain and large tracks of land near and further away from campus. It is only 5 miles from the Vermont border so both the White and Green Mountains are at its doorstep. It is also 20 minutes away from a beautiful gorge.</p>
<p>Weather: don’t underestimate winters in that part of NY- Hanover may have colder winter averages and a reputation for more snow, but the total precipitation is pretty comparable and Hanover has more bright clear days and less wind than Ithaca (or any of that region of New York). Its a different quality of cold. The sun goes down a little earlier in NH than Ithaca though and Spring takes a little longer to come but then it bursts forth. Spring, summer (and virtually all students are on campus in Hanover at least one summer) and fall are wonderful. The average highs in summer months for Hanover are similar, to actually slightly higher, than in upstate NY, and the evenings cool off pleasantly. [Average</a> Weather for Hanover, NH - Temperature and Precipitation](<a href=“National and Local Weather Radar, Daily Forecast, Hurricane and information from The Weather Channel and weather.com”>National and Local Weather Radar, Daily Forecast, Hurricane and information from The Weather Channel and weather.com)
[Average</a> Weather for Ithaca, NY - Temperature and Precipitation](<a href=“National and Local Weather Radar, Daily Forecast, Hurricane and information from The Weather Channel and weather.com”>National and Local Weather Radar, Daily Forecast, Hurricane and information from The Weather Channel and weather.com)</p>
<p>Beautiful campus: Both are beautiful in different ways. Dartmouth’s campus is essentially part of Hanover which is a small, pristine New England town. The campus sits on the edge of the beautiful Connecticut River, but despite being nestled in much larger mountains than the fingerlake area, is flat to gently rolling. It is a much smaller campus with more architectural continuity than Cornell, quintessential New England. Cornell sits high atop a hill which overlooks Ithaca which is not as lovely as Hanover, but is a small city. It also overlooks the lovely Cayuga Lake. At Dartmouth, you have to travel down the road 10 miles to a comparable-size city. The Cornell campus is much hillier, much larger, more grey stone, less red brick. At its edge is an absolutely beautiful gorge.<br>
Both impressive in different ways. </p>
<p>Natural Setting: Again, both schools are in beautiful natural settings. To get to Cornell, you actually are on smaller roads longer than you are when traveling to Dartmouth - which is just 5 miles up a hill off an exit of a major interstate. The roads around the finger lakes are beautiful to explore. As mentioned, the campus sits atop a hill, overlooking a small city, is larger with more buildings but has an incredible gorge off to the edge of campus, the area all around it is very hilly, the lake just at the base of the hill, other gorges and natural beauty within short driving distance. The Dartmouth campus proper is less hilly, the buildings set around a lovelyl campus green, but it sits in a valley surrounded by granite mountain ranges, twisting rivers and endless green. Again, the roads in any direction are beautiful to explore. Think lovely sideboard houses on back country roads surrounded by wildflower gardens, apple picking, moose, green green (except for the brilliant colors of autumn) and imposing purple mountain ranges. The area is less industrialized and the air seems more often crisp and clear than most places I have known. </p>
<p>You really need to visit if, as your questions imply, your surrounds are going to be an important part of your choice. You picked two great campuses for that - but they are different.</p>
<p>The other questions are clearly important but I can’t make informed comparisons and current students can respond on behalf of their respective schools better.</p>
<p>[Mathematics</a> at Dartmouth – Welcome](<a href=“http://math.dartmouth.edu/]Mathematics”>http://math.dartmouth.edu/)
[Mathematics[/url</a>]
[url=<a href=“This page has moved”>This page has moved]Mathematics[/url</a>]
[url=<a href=“http://www.math.cornell.edu/Undergraduate/undergraduate.html]Cornell”>http://www.math.cornell.edu/Undergraduate/undergraduate.html]Cornell</a> Math - Undergraduate Study](<a href=“This page has moved”>This page has moved)</p>
<p>[Undergraduate</a> Research at Cornell](<a href=“Research & Innovation – Office of the Vice President for Research & Innovation (OVPRI)”>Research & Innovation – Office of the Vice President for Research & Innovation (OVPRI))
[Dartmouth</a> - Academics & Research - Research Centers](<a href=“Dartmouth”>Dartmouth)</p>
<p>difficult to compare “science” generally but you can search the respective websites yourself to get some sense of the sciences you are interested in.</p>
<p>My son is a class 10 at Dartmouth. When he was choosing between Dartmouth and Cornell, Financial Aid helped him make the decision. Dartmouth offered 10,000 more than Cornell did. Although he is not able compare the real experience between the two, he is an extremely happy junior at Dartmouth.</p>
<p>If you take a look at the course offerings, I am not so sure that, at the undergraduate level, the “cornell wins on breadth and depth” argument is accurate. There are only so many graduate level courses which will be available to undergrads at either school. You can carefully review and analyze course offerings for yourself in the math departments and draw your own conclusions about this though. Or pick a specific science and do the same.</p>
<p>I would generally agree with ohmadre’s assessment of the physical aspects of the schools, which was all I commented on. I’ve camped in the Ithaca region in the summer, and visited Cornell’s campus at that time. </p>
<p>The Finger Lakes area is nice, no doubt, and the Quad area of Cornell is impressive. But Dartmouth is more uniformly beautiful and Hanover is much prettier and more upscale, albeit smaller, than Ithaca. Ithaca is grittier and has a lot of strip mallls and big box stores with endless parking lots. The area surrounding Hanover is more beatuiful, IMHO, than the area around Ithaca. Although as I said I do like the Finger Lakes area in general, the lakes and gorges are nice and in some cases quite spectacular, the rest is generally just rolling farmland.</p>
<p>On the questions you asked, Cornell probably wins, but that’s not to say Cornell is the better school, because Dartmouth clearly destroys Cornell on most of the things that you didn’t list.</p>
<p>chronicfuture: im know both schools are beastly and they both have their pros and cons. The criteria I listed are the most important things for me specifically. I’m trying to really figure out where I may apply early.</p>
<p>Judging from your username, I think you would prefer Dartmouth over Cornell. Both are going to have comparable science programs at the undergraduate level and get you where you want to go. I believe Cornell’s bias toward NY’ers is relevant, since it is a state school and the population is reflective of that. Because of Cornell’s proximity to the lakes, it tends to have many more gray sky days than Hanover. Here is a list of what people like about Dartmouth: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/dartmouth-college/716963-why-dartmouth.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/dartmouth-college/716963-why-dartmouth.html</a></p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Cornell is as much a state school as Dartmouth is; Neither is a state school.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>The weather at both schools is equally poor, and you won’t convince a prospective student to choose Dartmouth over Cornell due to weather related issues. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Ithaca has a huuuuuuuugeeeee hippie scene. Any “tree-huggers” will feel completely at home at Cornell. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Cornell, as a world-class research institution, will generally offer better research opportunities in the sciences than Dartmouth, but the education offered at both schools is definitely comparable.</p>
<p>Actually, as with MIT in MA:</p>
<p>“An elite Ivy League institution, Cornell is both a private institution, comprised of a number of schools and colleges, and New York State’s land-grant university and thus a public institution. As a consequence of the latter, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, College of Human Ecology, the School of Industrial and Labor Relations, and the College of Veterinary Medicine - its four statutory colleges - are all part of the State University of New York.”</p>
<p>There is about a $15,000 tuition discount for NY residents for the 4 land-grant colleges and a definite committment in these four colleges to NY residents. Students are no less qualified and they are entitled to take the same courses as any applicant to the private colleges within the university. Its just a great deal for in-state students.</p>
<p>There really are fewer cloudy days in Hanover, and a definitely crunchy component - no disputing that.</p>
<p>Mathematic Academics – Cornell
Science Academics – Cornell
Research – Cornell
Outdoors – Dartmouth
Weather – Tie
Parties – Dartmouth
Social Lives – Dartmouth
Beautiful campus – Dartmouth
Natural Setting – Dartmouth</p>
<p>All in all, it sounds like Cornell is the better place for the sort of focus I may have academically in college, but I might have a better and more fun college experience at Dartmouth.</p>
<p>I just wanted to correct a common misconception in ohmadre’s post. Although it is a land-grant university, Cornell doesn’t really have “public” colleges per se within the university. Here’s a more accurate description of the relationship between Cornell and New York State:</p>
<p>"Q: Is Cornell affiliated with SUNY?
A: Cornell is a private institution, receiving most of its funding through tuition, research grants, and alumni contributions. Three of its seven undergraduate colleges and the graduate-level College of Veterinary Medicine are called contract or statutory colleges. These divisions receive partial funding from the state of New York to support their research and service mission in niche fields. Residents of New York enrolled in the contract colleges pay reduced tuition. Furthermore, the governor of the state serves as an ex-officio member of the board of trustees. Despite some similarities, Cornell’s contract colleges are not public or state schools – they are private institutions that Cornell operates by contract with the state government.</p>
<p>Every college defines its own academic programs, manages its own admissions, and confers its own degrees. The degrees are all from Cornell University. New York State and SUNY have no say in any of the workings of the Cornell contract colleges. The only difference between a contract and an endowed college at Cornell is where some money comes from. A state college, on the other hand, receives nearly all its money from the government and is operated by the government."</p>
<p>From: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/cornell-university/211716-chances-cornell-myth-busting-new-york-connection-faqs.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/cornell-university/211716-chances-cornell-myth-busting-new-york-connection-faqs.html</a></p>