<p>FWIW, a former work colleague of mine did BS Cornell MS Stanford, in EE.
He said Cornell was a lot tougher, the nice weather at Stanford was a distraction towards studying, or something like that.</p>
<p>On the other hand, I did M Eng at Cornell and that was also easier than undergrad there, so unclear how much difference is the undergrad school, vs. just grad vs. undergrad.</p>
<p>But I don’t hear anyone saying Stanford is tougher, yet it is one of the few places that can be considered yet more prestigious, and more people would probably prefer the climate there. It’s got to be particularly excellent for access to employment on the West Coast, I would imagine.</p>