<p>My son is deciding between Cornell and U Michigan Engineering. Please comment in quality of life, "pressure cooker" description, ability to have a good social life as well as academic one. Would you or your sons/daughters choose Cornell again looking back? I am getting concerning reports from friends' sons that looking back would have chosen Michigan. Anyone like to comment. On first impression during a brief visit my son loved both. Please help. Not much time left.Thanks.</p>
<p>Maybe if they’d gone to Michigan, then looking back they would have wished they’d gone to Cornell. Engineering is a pretty tough academic program, there is no way to waltz through it at Cornell. But some people are better dancers than others. I would be amazed if there was any way to waltz through it at Michigan either. But I’ve never even been there, so…</p>
<p>One can have a perfectly good social life at Cornell though, in the “work hard, play hard” tradition.</p>
<p>agree w monydad. D is a freshman engineer. she is working really hard but has time for fun (joined a sorority and also has a job). She did not have work nearly as hard in high school so your kid should be prepared for a lot more work.</p>
<p>the trick is to not get behind. My d did get behind due to a month long illness which did have a negative impact on her grades, but they will improve after this semester.</p>
<p>She loves Cornell and would choose it again over many other great schools.</p>
<p>"…the trick is to not get behind. "
Exactly. I can’t emphasize that enough.</p>
<p>Engineering curriculums are tough everywhere - you make that choice to work hard no matter where you go. Engineers commonly have problem sets due weekly in most classes, 2 to 3 labs a week (with reports due), and lots and lots of tests. It’s just the nature of the field - you have to build on material as you work through each subject each semester. My son did engineering elsewhere and he often lamented that kids in Art and Sciences had a mid-term, paper or two, and a final. There was outside reading, of course, that was ofter optional. However, now that it’s done, he’s employed and employed well. </p>
<p>My guess is that the experiences at Michigan and Cornell are similar as far as engineering goes. Our college counselor told us that our second son should apply to Michigan if he liked Cornell.</p>
<p>My son is a freshman in engineering at cornell. He also had to Choose between UMich and Cornell. He also has several friends that are freshman at UMich in engineering. They all complain the calc and physics is difficult at both schools. My son loves cornell he is involved in three activities and is able to balance the academics with his social life. So far he is doing well in all his classes, he does have alot of work but its not overwelming for him. He knows that he’s not going to get straight A’s in every class like high school but he’s ok with that. His only complaint is the long walk from north campus to the engineering quad, he could take a bus if he wanted to.
His friends at UMich also love their school they are also involved with activities and are able to manage the workload. They are also not getting A’s in all their classes like high school either.
My son visited both schools and picked cornell because it was a little smaller and he wasn’t crazy about having to take a plane to get to UMich.
This semester in his calc class they are doing something different in the way they grade. Instead of curving the grades they get a chance to get back half of the points they lost if they do work on the corrections. The teacher is also not disclosing the mean grade for the test to the class. They want the kids to learn and not be so concerned with competition. My son was very happy about this change. They also made some changes in grading in his writing seminar, so the kids don’t have to worry so much about the grades.
Also over the spring break the teachers didn’t assign any new work so the kids could relax and enjoy their time off.
It seems they are trying to reduce the stress as well as some of the competitiveness in the classes.</p>
<p>“His only complaint is the long walk from north campus to the engineering quad,…”</p>
<p>This is an issue only for first year. And actually, first year there are not many engineering courses. Maybe their sections of math/ science courses are held near the engineering quad anyway, but that didn’t used to be the case necessarily.</p>
<p>They changed housing from when I attended, in my day freshmen lived on West campus as well as North campus. And probably relatively more engineers chose to live on West.
But currently, after freshman year the kids can live on West or in collegetown, all more convenient to the engineering quad, at the point where they actually have more courses there.</p>
<p>"The teacher is also not disclosing the mean grade for the test to the class. "</p>
<p>I have mixed emotions about this. On the one hand, reducing student stress is a noble goal. On the other hand, the experience of getting a 30 on a [calc/math/physics, whatever]prelim where the mean grade is a 35, out of 100, is a {cherished?} memory that binds all engineering students, everywhere. How are the engineers going to be able to continue to gloat about how tough they have it [and therefore must be], if they don’t ???</p>
<p>My S is a freshman engineering student at Cornell and also had to choose between Cornell and U Michigan. He absolutely LOVES Cornell and has a very good balance between work and play.</p>
<p>I think in the back of his mind he is still thinking he might go to U Michigan for grad school, but has no regrets about choosing Cornell.</p>
<p>What I found truly incredible @Cornell engineering was that the students worked together on problem sets & studied together for tests. There was tons of mutual respect among the students and it was anything but competitive & cut throat. </p>
<p>My engineer did participate in greek life & other activities, but certainly didn’t attend all the events. That’s just a function of engineering & wanting to do well…not because it’s Cornell. </p>
<p>I am not familiar with not disclosing the mean grade & think perhaps it’s unique to that class/prof. I think NOT knowing the mean would be more stressful & confusing. I can’t imagine going through a semester not knowing if a 56 is an A or an F.</p>