We would appreciate opinions on the better choice, Vanderbilt or Cornell, for my D studying engineering. Cornell has a more highly ranked engineering program, but Vanderbilt has offered her the Cornelius Vanderbilt scholarship (full tuition and fees) and she will receive no aid at Cornell (full pay). Any considerations would be appreciated, but (1) she does generally like both campus environments, (2) she has no concern regarding the Cornell winter and (3) ultimately we could afford Cornell if worthy of the additional cost. Thanks much.
Hi! I was in the EXACT same position two years ago (CV for Vandy, 0 aid for Cornell). While my reasons for choosing Vandy were mostly financial, I have come to appreciate its other aspects. Of course, what I know about Cornell isn’t first hand knowledge, but here are some reasons:
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Location: Vandy is located right in the middle of Nashville, just a few minutes away from downtown, major music/sports arenas like the Ryman, Bridgestone. We’re in a very vibrant part of a very vibrant town. Nashville is a major upcoming city with world class music, art, and culture to offer, just a few miles from campus. The airport is also 20 minutes away. Ithaca seems more rural, and while it may have that college town charm which some people may like, it’s not exciting for 18-22 year olds (or rather for me personally).
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The nature of the student body/academics: I may not be 100% right here because I haven’t studied at Cornell. but the general idea is that Cornell is much more stressful than Vanderbilt, and the students aren’t as collaborative. Again, these are just stereotypes, but my high school friends who are in the computer engineering program at Cornell say it is stressful for them. At Vanderbilt, while courses can be challenging, we have a culture of helping each other out, and I have NEVER experienced unhealthy competition on campus. We’re also the happiest students according to Princeton Review for the second year in a row. That does not reflect every student’s happiness level of course, but the general trend is clear.
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Weather: I was one of those students who thought weather wouldn’t matter as much, but boy was I wrong. Nashville’s weather can get erratic sometimes, but for 90% of the year, our weather is very mild and beautiful. It does snow, but nothing too crazy, and at Vandy they just cancel class if it goes slightly above normal (which I wouldn’t expect at Cornell). As for Ithaca’s weather, the less said the better. Your daughter might think the weather isn’t an issue right now, but when you have to walk to class (and some buildings can be very far), get groceries, or run around for meetings/events in freezing temperatures, it’s a different story.
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Financial Aid: The CV scholarship is basically full tuition ($43,620 times 4 = $ 174,480) AND a $6000 stipend for research/study abroad = $180,480, from a school ranked the same as Cornell (15 on the US News). We may not have an Ivy League tag, but $180,480 more than makes up for it. I could have insisted on going to Cornell and made my parents shell out that much money, but in the end we decided Cornell wasn’t worth it. Had it been Harvard vs Vanderbilt, it would have been a different story though.
As for the engineering program, Cornell’s engineering program is highly ranked, but if your daughter is good enough to be a CV scholar/get into Cornell, she won’t have an issue standing out and making use of the opportunities at either school. Vandy grads get hired at top places too! My RA freshman year now works at Facebook. Others go work for Microsoft and Google. Here are the placement reports.
http://engineering.vanderbilt.edu/docs/VUSE-Class-of-2015-Placement-Summary.pdf
http://engineering.vanderbilt.edu/docs/VUSE-Class-of-2014-Placement-Summary.pdf
I may be very biased towards Vanderbilt (anchor down!), but I can appreciate the position you’re in. Even if your daughter picks Cornell, it’s a great choice. Congratulations!
PS: I would highly encourage her to visit both campuses and talk to current students (or request to talk to CV scholars for Vandy’s case). Sometimes, that helps you decide which college may be a better fit.
@Sophie1295 Thank you so very much for taking the time to provide a detailed response. The considerations that you raise are very helpful. I’ll be sure to update this thread with her ultimate decision!
This is a no-brainer. Two peer U’s , one is free the other costs $240,000. I’m a Vandy fan but if the shoe were on the other foot I would say go to Cornell.
I heard many choose Vandy CV Scholarship over even Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. So, Cornell? Well… I am a lower-middle-class parent and I wouldn’t even let my child think about choosing Cornell if I were in your situation. Congratulations.
Take the free one. Most students do that when they get a huge schoolship at peers or even aspirational peers. Cornell is excellent in Engineering and Applied Sciences (I don’t pay attention to USNews overall rank as these schools are very different and have a very different academic environment. A non-specialty rank is on lots of things that have nothing to do with academics once the student gets there. Cornell’s engineering program and many other STEM are known to be stronger and more intensive, but not 240k stronger. Also the weather + the traditional Ivy competition = “meh”. STEM is supposed to be hard but collaborative), but not so much that I would pay full price if a peer school offered me more money.
Thanks everyone for your helpful insights! Additional views/opinions/considerations welcome and appreciated.
You said that ultimately you could afford Cornell. How easy would it be to pay for Cornell? Unless you can do it without causing any hardship, I’d chose Vandy. I do agree that Cornell has a better engineering program.
I cannot imagine what Cornell could possibly offer to make up for $180,000 difference in cost… This decision seems crazy easy to me. I opened the thread just to comment on how Nashville is infinitely more enjoyable than Ithica, but that argument isn’t even necessary with this price difference.
Anyone saying you should choose Cornell for the name recognition or the alumni network is not thinking clearly. You’re basically saying “It’s worth $180,000 for my daughter to maybe get to know a couple additional alums in order to possibly have an slightly easier time getting one or two additional interviews for her first job, and for her interviewers to perhaps be very slightly more impressed with the name of the university on her resume.” If you do feel that way, by all means, spend the $180,000…
Alumni advantage in STEM? Please…if you connect with any well-off alum (assuming you even need that) at any elite school, you’ll be fine. I don’t think Cornell is going to stand out above any other top private in this category. “Ivy” is an almost irrelevant affiliation when you’re talking about the quality of Brown, Dartmouth, and Cornell vs. non-Ivies in similar ranking range (they should, like other non-Ivies be chosen on their “personalities” and curriculum structure and not because “well this is an Ivy, so will offer more opps than other schools that rank similarly” as that is hardly true. It does not make the alumni base infinitely stronger than strong non-Ivy privates or publics. The alumni bases are basically independent from one another within the Ivy League. Even the very top ones are not worth an extra 180 grand IMHO, at least not if you’re pursuing a STEM degree. You simply want a place that a) trains you well, b) you can put up a solid performance and c) has solid placement (what engineering program at a half-way decent school doesn’t…and now we’re talking about selective privates? Come on). I think both have you covered. Take the cheaper one.
Lord have mercy.
I was just thinking of the name of the student from California in about 2004 when this board was on a different primitive format and my eldest was applying to Vandy along with a grand total of 11,000 students that next year. Oh yeah. times have changed~!
His name on here was Evil Robot. His problem was whether or not to attend Yale (where he was getting some modest sum of need aid) or to take the full tuition of the Cornelius Vanderbilt. Back when Vandy was much less selective than Yale. Less prestigious than it is today nationally.
And not that many Californians wanted to come to Vanderbilt…unlike today. He came to Vandy. Then he was hired by Google. Immediately. Oh…he stayed at Vandy five years total and did a masters in engineering somehow and interned at Google before they made him a real job offer.
We all loved Evil Robot. Such a sweet guy. Did what was best for his family’s welfare. Didn’t hurt him a bit. He had a great time at Vandy. He appeared here on CC once or twice after his career was jumpstarted in Silicon Valley.
Evil Robot, where are you?
The Evil Robot threads
Similar story – Michael Greshko’s posts in “The Choice” series from New York Times. Michael took the CV scholarship at Vandy over acceptances to Yale, Harvard, Duke.
I’m not even a fan of Vandy and I would never dream of turning down that opportunity for Cornell. Wouldn’t even be a close call.
My D turned down Yale in favor of Vandy with the CV. It’s a really a no brainer.
@Belle315 : Pretty much. I feel as if a family has to be extremely well-off or unnecessarily prestige driven to turn down a full scholarship at one elite versus full pay at some others.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/next/author/michael-greshko/ Michael did a lot of theater at Vandy. He also wrote for the school newspaper. Now I see his byline on articles for NOVA and National Geographic and Scientific American. It really is all about what energy you bring to your education at Vandy or anywhere else.