I would prefer UPenn over Cornell, because the environment at Penn is more interdisciplinary than Cornell’s separate colleges system.
However, I want to apply ED to my advantage… applying to Penn early may help little (as it is already more selective than Cornell) and I would be considered a legacy at Cornell.
If you’re a legacy at Cornell, applying ED would be beneficial. But UPenn also takes in a lot of its class ED. That said, I’ve looked at your chance thread and your ECs are excellent. You could probably aim even higher ED or SCEA
Put the acceptance rates aside and ask yourself where you want to go. If it is Upenn, then do ED to Penn. If it is Cornell then do ED to Cornell. But don’t choose a school simply because you think you can get in. Always remember that it really boils down to fit. If you think you’ll be unhappy at one school, then don’t bother, despite what rankings will tell you. Always trust your gut.
And remember: grad school legacy doesn’t count for much.
ED should be for your clear first choice school which is financially realistic (use the net price calculator before applying).
@PurpleTitan My dad did both grad school+undergrad at Cornell
@ucbalumnus both schools are pretty equivalent in terms of cost
@JessicaWang A legacy advantage would be silly to pass on. My son ran at Penn Relays every year in high school so I spent a lot of time on that campus. It is nothing like Cornell in terms of community or natural beauty. There is always massive and disruptive construction plus its West Philly.
ED at a school you like the best.
While I don’t advocate applying to an ED school that is not your first choice, you might want to examine the academic offerings in both schools in greater detail. At Cornell, if you decided to major in business after a year of engineering, there would still be the option of transferring to AEM in your sophomore year. In addition, there is a business minor for Cornell engineering majors which looks interesting. Wharton is almost impossible to transfer into and there are not that many minors available in Wharton to non-Wharton students. Moreover, as an engineering student, your curriculum will be somewhat constrained and the ability to take outside courses is somewhat limited.
I am a big fan of both schools (my son attended Penn), but I think perhaps you’re overestimating the Penn “One University” advantage. The real advantage to me would be the Kelly Writers House - I don’t know anything about Cornell’s writing opportunities, but you should investigate the options there.
"I don’t know anything about Cornell’s writing opportunities, but you should investigate the options there. "
Don’t see what OP is interested in, in this regard, but FWIW, D2 took creative writing courses at Cornell. she said they were the best courses of her entire college career. She also did some writing-related extracurriculars there that played a major role in her experience there, and afterwards. Did not compare these opportunities vs. Penn because my kids happened not to like Penn, at all, for other reasons.
@monydad Could I take creative writing courses at Cornell even as an engineering major??
What was wrong with Penn?
“Could I take creative writing courses at Cornell even as an engineering major??”
Check with them to be sure, but offhand I don’t see why not.
There’s an alum who posts on the Cornell sub-forum who took courses in five different colleges there IIRC. I only did three, myself. But generally, if you have the prereqs for a course you can take it. Most people take courses at multiple colleges there.
D2 actually transferred to Cornell, and I know she had to submit writing samples to get into some of the writing courses at her first school. This may have been the case at Cornell too, I don’t really know. I only know about the submissions at her first school because she asked us to read her samples to help her decide which ones to submit.
So there could possibly be impediments to taking writing courses, or differential placement, based on evaluation of writing submissions- something I do not know for a fact and you should look into (and ditto at Penn)- but that does not mean it would be based on college. Most things there aren’t.
"What was wrong with Penn? "
There is nothing wrong with Penn. It happened to feel wrong to my kids, but others would love it for the same reasons, if they fit better. D2 wanted great dance programs initially, Penn didn’t have that, sufficiently, in her estimation. When she realized she didn’t want dance she also realized she actually hated going to college in the city, which she was doing. She felt the lure of the city detracted from the vitality of campus life, among other things. So at that point she wanted to transfer to a campus-centered situation not located in a big city. So, not Penn.
D1 didn’t like the type of people she knew who went there, very wealthy, fashionable and banker types, not her speed. But that’s her. And a small, potentially non-representative sample. But she didn’t apply to Cornell either.
Actually I think I’m remembering a female engineering major of my acquaintance (then) took creative writing courses. But that was a really long time ago.
Penn ED admit rate is about 25% and their RD admit rate is about 7%. I would consider that a pretty big advantage