<p>I have been admitted to Stanford's class of 2012 in December, and Cornell's Engineering Class of 2012 in March and I am wondering which school's offer to accept. One of my criteria for making this choice is the difficulty of the chemical engineering programs at both schools. Specifically, are the courses really difficult, like how hard do engineering students typically work? Also, and this is really important, how interesting are the classes? Are they challenging, but stimulating or are they just dry and require lots of memorization? How much time do engineering students typically have for free time? I came for from a very challenging public high school well known around NJ for math/science (won Siemen's award for science AP exam scores) and although I didn't struggle in my classes obviously, I found them time consuming and earned quite a few "B's". Will I be overwhelmed with either Stanford's or Cornell's engineering courses, where kids came in not only with the 800's in Math I and Math IIc I had, but also virtually all straight A's in math and science? Furthermore, although academics are paramount, I'm also considering the atmosphere of both colleges. What do Stanford and Cornell students do for fun? If you had to describe the student body in a few words which would you use? Also, how are the dorms/food? These are really important to me because I'll be living there for the next four years. I haven't gotten to visit, I'm visiting for admit weekend and I'll draw my own conclusions then but I also want other's opinions. Also, for kids from the east coast, do you guys feel in/ assimilated at Stanford? I don't think financial aid will be a consideration, Stanford gave me only loans and Cornell gave me a $600 John McMullen "scholarship" to entice me to attend. I am already signed up to visit Stanford's Admit Weekend and to attend Cornell's Diversity Housing weekend, giving me 3 days on each school's campus. I know this was a long post, but I appreciate all replies, not just engineering students! Thank you!</p>
<p>I know weather may be trivial, but because Cornell and Stanford's locations are so different I feel you really should consider whether you're a snow or sun type person.</p>
<p>Definitely a suntype person, however since I come from the northeast, cold winters are nothing foreign to me.</p>
<p>I am confused. What's the cost difference again? If the cost is roughly the same, this seems like a no brainer.</p>
<p>I just want to point out that Stanford is only 35% undergraduates while Cornell is 70% undergraduates. Go to Cornell engineering if you want a better undergraduate experience. And, its a lot closer to home.</p>
<p>Engineering is hard work but the ChemEs at Cornell seem to find time for a lot of parties. They are the most social engineering major at Cornell.</p>
<p>I don't know about that "better undergraduate experience" at Cornell. A highly dubious statement.</p>
<p>Food is better at Cornell, hands down. Academics wise, they're pretty much the same.</p>
<p>Fred, I would go to Stanford because of the nice weather and Stanford is defnitiely more prestigious. There are a lot of oil companies in Northern Cal that you can get internship or work afterwards. I think only premed(bio) and Computer Science are the 2 most intense majors. You should be able to get good grades, if that is what you worry about.</p>
<p>The engineering program at Cornell is better than the engineering program at Stanford.</p>
<p>It depends on the engineering. But I think even if it's indeed better, it's by a hair. Stanford offers outstanding network among alumni. It's also your chance to experience another coast, like Chelsea Clinton.</p>
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I just want to point out that Stanford is only 35% undergraduates while Cornell is 70% undergraduates. Go to Cornell engineering if you want a better undergraduate experience.
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<p>I don't think that's a very good measure of undergrad quality. UCLA is 66% undergrad; U Chicago is 33% undergrad. Does that mean that UCLA's is going to be twice as good as U Chicago's? Or even better at all? Don't think so.</p>
<p>If anything, Cornell's undergrad is weaker; only 60% of classes are under 20 (vs. 73% or so for Stanford), 16% are over 50 (vs. about 10% for Stanford), etc. Cornell is very public-like for a private.</p>
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The engineering program at Cornell is better than the engineering program at Stanford.
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<p>Er, what? Stanford is pretty consistently ranked #2 for engineering (with Berkeley), right after MIT. And it owns in pretty much every engineering discipline. Cornell is excellent--definitely top 10--but it isn't quite at Stanford's caliber.</p>
<p>As for chemE, I'd say Stanford has the edge. The workload is going to be pretty much the same, though.</p>
<p>Thanks again guys for the input! I have been leaning towards Stanford however people have said that Stanford students appear relaxed when in reality they are just working as hard, if not harder, than students at their peer schools. To what extent would you guys say this is true?</p>
<p>Don't worry about that. See this article:</p>
<p>Nat-ural</a> Philosophy: In defense of Stanford Duck Syndrome - The Stanford Daily Online</p>
<p>I would go to stanford, if the costs of attending are equal, unless u want to really go to cornell for some reason. my impression is that cornell social scene is more fratty and more party-oriented, which could provide a more 'social' experience for undergrads. However, Stanford's got gorgeous weather, amazing campus, and top notch engineering. Definitely visit both schools b4 deciding for sure.</p>
<p>chemE undergrad ranking (from USN)
Cornell:13th
Stanford:4th</p>
<p>I would worry about it actually. The work you're going to be doing at stanford is still going to be very difficult (what else do you expect from a rank 2 engineering school?). It doesn't matter what they show on the outside, you will still have to work very hard (especially considering that most admits are incredibly intelligent). You would in fact probably have an easier time going to Cornell.</p>
<p>Then again, who wants easy? You want that amazing engineering program's benefits, you're going to have to work for it.</p>
<p>If you're up to the challenge, go for Stanford!</p>
<p>Go to Stanford for engineering.</p>
<p>Stanford engineering school is the most innovative school in the world. Stanford people have played a leading role in nuturing modern technologies, including internet, laser, radar, microprocessor, gene micro chip, transistor, GPS, digital music synthesis, gene cloning, driverless car, digital robot arm, satellite TV, DSL, internet router, and etc. Stanford people have founded Yahoo, google, cisco, sun, HP, silicon graphics, and netscape. </p>
<p>If you want to change the world through technology, no other place in the world is better than Stanford.</p>
<p>An engineering professor I know received his PhD from Stanford and said Stanford is not necessarily a great place for undergraduates in engineering.
Last year, Cornell granted 79 bachelors in ChemE, Stanford only 16. Cornell has better course selection. 75% of the ChemE degrees granted at Cornell are bachelors. 30% of the ChemE degrees granted at Stanford are bachelors.
Who do you think is going to compete better for the attention of faculty, undergraduates or graduate students? Answer: graduate students.</p>
<p>Hmmm...Who knows if you'll even stick with engineering...Stanford is more well-rounded than Cornell. It's more prestigious and since you like the warmer weather I'd choose Stanford.</p>
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Last year, Cornell granted 79 bachelors in ChemE, Stanford only 16. Cornell has better course selection. 75% of the ChemE degrees granted at Cornell are bachelors. 30% of the ChemE degrees granted at Stanford are bachelors.
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<p>collegehelp,
like another poster already pointed out, Cornell has larger undergrad to grad ratio because of its much bigger undergrad population. by your logic, the state research univs focus more on undergrads than research privates. the number that should be looked at is the undergrad: faculty ratio since each faculty is gonna have similar number of grad students under him/her, whether it's in Cornell or Stanford. the prof isn't gonna give more focus to undergrad because there are more undergrads. he still has the same amount of research that he got to do. on the other hand, when a research spot is open and available to undergrad, you'll have less competition and hence a higher chance to get that spot if there are less undergrads around.</p>