<p>I'm an ardent Cal defender, but comparing Berkeley and Cornell's off-campus offerings is basically building the ultimate straw man. There's no way to compare the offerings of a rural town of 15,000 to a major metropolitan area of a couple of million people. </p>
<p>From an academic standpoint, I think the schools are very comparable--large, diverse research universities with offerings only a big time research school can bring, but that's where the comparison ends...</p>
<p>The social offerings of Berkeley should compared with the likes of Columbia, Harvard and Chicago, but not Cornell.</p>
<p>I think it should be said that some people really like the feel of Cornell. They like the small-town feel of Ithaca and the natural geography and tourism opportunities available in the Finger Lakes region.</p>
<p>Now, obviously, Northern California has plenty of outdoors activiites and tourism activities of its own. So it really comes down to a matter of the kind of feel and community that fits your personality.</p>
<p>Turned down Cal for MIT... It was really between MIT, Olin, and Berkeley. In the end I just felt more comfortable at MIT and they gave me a financial aid offer I couldn't refuse.</p>
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I'm an ardent Cal defender, but comparing Berkeley and Cornell's off-campus offerings is basically building the ultimate straw man.
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<p>Yeah, but so is comparing Berkeley's on-campus food with Cornell's on-campus food. Cornell's is better by heads and shoulders. And consider the fact that a majority of the students eat a majority of their meals ON-campus...</p>