<p>I am really happy with the choices I have for college but I honestly can't decide where to go. I feel like each of them has a distinct factor that appeals to me.</p>
<p>I am a female going into Mechanical Engineer. However, I'm really unsure about how dedicated I am to strict engineering. I think I might mix and match a little bit in college. Engineering and some. </p>
<p>I haven't been to visit Brown and Cornell campuses yet. I would prefer a rural campus, but thats not really a priority, just a place with lawns and greenery. I love what I have heard about some of the outdoor activities that Cornell offers like sailing, horseback riding, hiking, and just great facilities. Wonder if any of you know how realistic this actually is or how it compairs to the other schools. </p>
<p>I would appreciate any feedback or personal experiences. Thanks for any opinions.</p>
<p>Given that you want to be away a bit from a city, it sounds like the two best schools for you would be the two schools you have yet to visit. Brown is still in a city, but it features a lot more pastoral setting than both Columbia and Penn – it actually has decent quads and such. And of course Cornell is basically situated in its own park.</p>
<p>Cornell is a fantastic place to enjoy the outdoors – during my time in Ithaca I spent my days kayaking, canoeing, hiking, snowshoeing, cycling, snoeshowing, and backpacking. It is very easy to take these courses for physical education through Cornell Outdoor Education, which is one of the largest outdoor education programs in the country.</p>
<p>Funnily enough, I never did any of the activities for course credit though – I took such courses as ballroom dancing, kick boxing, and Swedish massage instead. I did have friends take both sailing and equestrian for credit, and they had a ton of fun doing so.</p>
<p>Academically, Cornell will provide a little bit more regimented engineering curriculum that you will have to follow. You will be less free to mix and match courses as you would be at Brown, but the positive about Cornell is that you will definitely receive a solid engineering education that is respected by grad schools and employers. So that’s an obvious trade-off. You are still free to take lots of liberal arts courses as an engineer though.</p>
<p>One thing you may be interested in at Cornell which is a little bit more like Brown is the independent major option:</p>
<p>Everything you said about Cornell was really great to hear!
Your experiences at Cornell sound amazing! Deifnitely the kind of things I would be interested in doing. Also, since you are a Cornell alum, would you say that Cornell Engineering is very difficult? I have always enjoyed math and science but am afraid that Cornell would kind of knock me out, especially with the grade deflation that I have heard of.
Oh, and just as an aside. I checked out the links you sent and they seem incredible, I was just wondering when it says “Fee Charged” for an activity generally how much would that be. Not that it reaaally matters in my decision, I’m just curious. </p>
<p>I am definitely going to visit Cornell and Brown soon and see if that solidifies anything. </p>
<p>Cornell has great outdoor education stuff! We had a huge climbing wall, and our location offers a TON of opportunities. You can take sailing on Cayuga, hike up Buttermilk Falls… Ithaca is a beautiful location, and great if you love the outdoors.</p>
<p>Upenn surrounded by crime in Killadelphia. Columbia is expensive to live at being in NYC.
Cornell or Brown are your best options. I think Cornell’s engineering programs are much stronger. Brown is still an awesome school.</p>
<p>^^^^that’s really bull. I’m from nyc and while it is overall an expensive place to live, because of the fact that it’s sooo commercial, there is so much good cheap sh1t everywhere</p>
<p>I’ve also visited penn several times (I think I’m going there) and honestly I really like phily. only a certain part of west phily is shabby, but the immediate surrounding parts of penn are really cute and you can take the septa into the center of the city to explore phily.</p>
<p>I can’t say much about the other schools, but penn, despite the fact that it’s urban, has many greeny places and open spaces (and is less cramped together than something like columbia)</p>