I have my son’s case I’d like all of you to tear apart completely.
Richard has Berkeley, Cornell, UPenn and Northwestern to choose from. All Engineering Undecided. No $ from any of them. We live in California. I am willing to pay the extra $100K if he is committed to take a full advantage of what a private school can offer over Berkeley, whatever those are. Currently his thought on his career is get a BS or MS, work for a while in Engineering track, get a MBA, and move on to Marketing and eventually to management.
Here is where my thoughts are on each school:
Berkeley: highest ranked Engineering school among those four, great school reputation domestically and internationally, close to a great city (I don’t necessarily take this as one of the major criteria but it is very important for Richard), $100K less (but again I am willing to pay), but on the other hand, issues related to the school size is a concern: class size, accessibility and the level of relationship he can build with the professors. And he will miss out an opportunity to live on the other part of the country as a Californian.
Cornell: Engineering school comaparable to Berkeley and the best in Ivy, prestige as an Ivy domestically and internationally, great undergraduate program (very hard but still manageable enough not to lose too many student). But Richard hates the environment: middle of nowhere, study or drink, nothing much else to do other than those. My question is it is a private but a BIG private. Is he going to take the extra $100K worth advantage?
UPenn: An Ivy, great engineering/business program whether you do M&T or a double degree outside M&T. The best if you have Wall Street or business consulting in mind. But if you want to do just Engineering you are giving up too much Engineering ranking (compared to the other three). And he wants to be a pure engineering for a while before he makes a transition to Marketing or management. I personally think he will be more successful long term with a hard core Engineering degree and experience.
Northwestern: It was his top choice at the beginning: great Engineering school (although I would rank it after Berkeley or Cornell), private school setting and environment, a great city in the back yard. But he changed his mind after his visits to the other three. He and I were scheduled to fly to Chicago this morning. But last night he cancelled the trip knowing it would be difficult for him to put back on his list. So I guess at this point of time it is off the list unless you guys can give him a compelling arguments.
He is more leaning toward Berkeley for the time being. I say “for the time being” as he has had three different schools at the top of his list over last three weeks. Me personally it will be difficult for me to see him letting go of Cornell. Just a few more days to the final decision. Any advise will be highly appreciated.