<p>Hey everyone! I had another post in the engineering forums that was comparing UIUC/Cornell/UM and eventually knocked off UIUC. Tuition will be relatively similar (OOS for UMich). Alright, so some background on me...I'm very interested in energy/sustainability, I'm just not entirely sure which aspect of it I'm going to pursue. The two majors I currently have in mind are nuclear engineering (more of the energy production side) and MechE (making stuff/making stuff more efficient/etc). I've been a lifelong Michigan fan, but I also just visited Cornell a second time and was completely blown away. Input from everyone would be incredibly appreciated! I answered a lot of questions about my interests in the last thread, but I'm happy to do it again now that I've narrowed things down a tad. If you have any questions, just ask! Thanks again.</p>
<p>Michigan is #1 in Nuclear Engineering (Cornell has no Nuke program) and is among the top 5 in MechE (Cornell is among the top 10). Both are excellent overall and in Engineering. You cannot go wrong, and since cost of attendance is the same, I say go for fit. I personally like the look of Cornell’s campus more than Michigan’s, but I prefer the feel of Michigan’s campus better than Cornell’s. As far as cities go, Ann Arbor >> Ithaca.</p>
<p>“Cornell has no Nuke program”</p>
<p>That’s not true (unless something’s changed). They have it, but the major is a graduate Master’s program.</p>
<p>People interested in nuclear often start(ed) at the undergraduate level majoring In Applied and Engineering Physics there. IIRC a guy I knew who was interested in it also was in ROTC there, apparently a navy background is big in the nuclear business because of all the nuclear subs, the navy supposedly gives great training.</p>
<p>The AEP degree is not specialized to a particular industry, this obviously creates more flexibility at the undergraduate level. You would have to check with the people at Cornell about implications if a higher degree of specialization is desired early, or the implications of the various degrees for a career in the field. I would not be surprised if AEP majors could take the courses in the master’s program, if they have the prerequisites. But this would have to be verified.</p>
<p>AEP at Cornell has traditionally been about the best program of its type that there is, and it is about the “top” engineering program at Cornell,
arguably. It is a pretty tough major there though, with top students.</p>
<p>I imagine people approach nuclear from Mech E too. There would likely be less direct overlap with nuclear at the undergrad level by that path, but you may be able to steer it more that way via electives.
How adequate that would be, you would have to check with people that actually know, not those who are speculating like me.</p>
<p>monydad, Cornell has no Nuclear Engineering department and does not offer a BS in Nuclear Engineering. It may have a program that is part of another department,</p>
<p>CORNELL:
[Cornell</a> Engineering: Majors](<a href=“http://www.engineering.cornell.edu/academics/undergraduate/curriculum/Majors/index.cfm]Cornell”>http://www.engineering.cornell.edu/academics/undergraduate/curriculum/Majors/index.cfm)</p>
<p>[Cornell</a> Engineering: Departments and Programs](<a href=“http://www.engineering.cornell.edu/academics/departments.cfm]Cornell”>Programs & Departments | Cornell Engineering)</p>
<p>MICHIGAN:
[Michigan</a> Engineering | Undergraduate Degree Options](<a href=“http://www.engin.umich.edu/students/academics/undergrad/degreeoptions.html]Michigan”>http://www.engin.umich.edu/students/academics/undergrad/degreeoptions.html)</p>
<p>Furthermore, Michigan is ranked #1 in Nuclear Engineering…by a margin. If the OP is looking to major in Nuclear Engineering, Michigan is a better option than Cornell. </p>
<p>For Mechanical Engineering, both Cornell and Michigan are excellent.</p>
<p>"That’s not true (unless something’s changed). "</p>
<p>Very prescient of me to start my comments thusly, because evidently something has in fact changed.</p>
<p>From a very entertaining blog, under the title “Buildings No One Really Cares About”:</p>
<p>"Since someone asked about it, I decided to make a trip out to Ward Labs on the southern edge of the campus and the engineering quad. Ward Labs, or more properly the Ward Center for Nuclear Sciences, was completed in 1963. At this time, nuclear engineering was experiencing great interest. But after Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, the nation experienced a serious decline in interest in nuclear studies, and the engineering school disbanded it’s Nuclear Science and Engineering program in 1995 [1]. On May 4, 2001, Cornell announced that it would decomission the TRIGA Mark II nuclear reactor inside the facility, due to underutilization and unwanted liability concerning the handling, use and transport of nuclear materials. The reactor was a 500 kilowatt facility used strictly for research and teaching. A dry irradiation facility that uses the radioactive Cobalt-60 was recommended to be maintained at the facility. The building still contained radioactive waste, so when 9/11 happened, road blocks were installed around the facility [2].</p>
<p>Then we fast forward to October 2008. There was a very interesting article written by Munier Salem for the Daily Sun highlighting the increased interest in building new facilties and a revived interest in the field as the energy crisis affected the nation, and how some view the decomissioning as a huge mistake.</p>
<p>Today, with the exception of some offices and little-used labs, the Ward Center is largely abandoned. The building is slated to be torn down under the master plan (assuming our endowment holds out)."</p>
<p>Someone interested in nuclear at Cornell today might try to talk about it with Prof. K Bingham Cady, to see what can or cannot still be done there. But to me it doesn’t look very promising. This is a significant change.</p>
<p>Yeah, when I visited Cornell I found out about the termination of the nuclear department and another professor directed me to email Prof. Bing Cady if I had any questions.</p>
<p>I’m planning on visiting Michigan this week, so I should have a better comparison of the two campuses and how they feel by the weekend (since I just visited Cornell last weekend). I’m basically grappling with the issue that I really enjoy the feels of both campuses (I feel like I’d ‘fit’ at either place). Cornell’s campus is beautiful and has kind of a secluded feel to it, but Michigan’s north campus (where I’ll be spending a majority of my time in classes) has the same sort of natural/secluded atmosphere. I’ve been a lifelong Michigan fan and I’ll definitely miss having the opportunity to spend time cheering on Michigan sports if I go to Cornell. Along with the Big Ten sports though comes the immense size of the student body, something I’m not sure I’d prefer over cornell’s mid-size student population. Ann Arbor wins out over Ithaca in my opinion, but Cornell blew me away with its student facilities (dorms, dining halls, noyes rec center). For any comparison that doesn’t seem to end in a wash there is a pair of counterbalancing pros for each school.</p>
<p>flip a coin</p>
<p>If it remains a toss-up you can plan to do them both, go to Cornell for undergrad and Michigan for a masters. (or the other way around, but not in nuclear, evidently. Plus if Cornell’s undergrad student life is the draw, you won’t get it going that way).</p>
<p>"I’m planning on visiting Michigan this week, so I should have a better comparison of the two campuses and how they feel by the weekend (since I just visited Cornell last weekend). "</p>
<p>Michigan is in finals this week, so keep that in mind when you visit.</p>
<p>Yeah, luckily I know some students on campus so they should be able to show me around and give me an idea of what a normal day might be like. I’m assuming it’s going to be preeeetty quiet.</p>
<p>The Engineering students at Cornell jump off bridges into the gorge so I would stick with Mich.</p>
<p>or this dude
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/cornell-university/1091994-sometimes-i-wonder-if-effing-degree-worth.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/cornell-university/1091994-sometimes-i-wonder-if-effing-degree-worth.html</a></p>
<p>Cornell’s suicide “problem” is a myth. Its suicide rate is in fact below the average nationally, both of college aged students and overall.</p>
<p>Michigan is awesome! Such a huge amazing campus with a wide variety of people</p>
<p>
Nuclear Engineering is a small department, with only 40-50 students in each year. You will end up knowing most of the faculties and students in the department.</p>