<p>I’m not sure what you’re looking for people to tell you. You seem to think there’s a vast difference between the school ranked 11th in the world (Stanford) and the school ranked 15th in the world (Cornell). There really isn’t, especially at the graduate level, despite what seems to be an overall dim view of Cornell on this forum by high school kids. Take it out of the context of these schools - all else being equal, would you choose Dartmouth over Princeton? Princeton has the stronger reputation but is it really going to hurt you to go to Dartmouth? Probably not.</p>
<p>Stanford’s slightly more selective (depending on the program and if they offer it) and has a bigger endowment. Stanford was modeled after Cornell when it was built, so they have similar pedigree. It’s probably a wash on the actual educational quality and geography probably determines the value of connections (Cornell has over 50,000 alumni in New York City alone, not to mention DC, Philly, and Boston; Stanford’s connections are very much rooted on the west coast. Go there if you think you’ll end up out west).</p>
<p>Cornell’s isolation has long been its most limiting factor, given that Stanford was more or less perfectly positioned near San Francisco, massive defense spending that spurred some brilliant minds and their offspring, and a snowball effect of people and funding drawn to the area that allowed Stanford to effectively capitalize on the tech industry many decades ago to build its current reputation. That will never happen again, but time will tell whether Cornell’s new tech campus will be able to at least bolster its reputation for innovation around New York City industries like fashion, media, finance, and sustainable design.</p>
<p>Given your field of study, I wouldn’t discount this new tech campus as superfluous. It could provide a huge advantage to you if you’re planning on working in sustainable energy and design on the east coast.</p>