WashU vs. Cornell CALS (waitlist at Cornell)

College Search & Selection
1

I am currently committed to WashU for the class of 2024, and as excited I am, I am intrigued by the Cornell WL offer I received. I am very confident that I could get my way off of the waitlist if I decide that I would like to attend Cornell. Here are some pros and cons for each. Some aspects are similar such as greek life and cost so I will leave those out. BTW, I am environmental engineering at both, however I don’t know what I want to do after college (med school, engineering, finance, MPH all options).

WashU Pros:

  • Dorms/Campus: I was stunned by the campus and dorms of WashU, and they are extremely nice.
  • Academic flexibility: From what I have heard, it is very easy to change majors and pick up another major/minor in any undergrad school. This is very important to me as I have a lot of interests that I would like to explore and possibly change my major to.
  • City Proximity: I am a city kid at heart, and I have found it extremely important to me to be near a city. I am very familiar with STL and love it, and my favorite sports teams are there.
  • Student Life: WashU is very caring towards its students, and everyone there seems to love it there. The environment is a little more relaxed, and kids seem to be dedicating more energy towards their interests outside of the classroom than at Cornell.
  • Faculty: First off, they accepted me. Second, everyone there has been amazing so far, and my admissions counselor mentioned the conversation we had months prior. I think the transition to college would be easier here than at Cornell.
  • Class size: I think that the WashU class size will be much smaller on average, and the learning is more collaborative than Cornell.

WashU Cons:

  • Bubble aspect: In relation to what I previously mentioned, I have heard many students have a hard time finding their way off of campus at WashU, however, I plan to spend a lot of time in the surrounding area of my college.
  • Location: WashU is very far (18 hour drive), and would most likely be a plane ride away.
  • Name recognition: This sounds extremely petty, but I think everyone wants to have their effort recognized, and I also plan to live in the Northeast after college, and a Cornell degree I feel is more attractive than a WashU one here.

Cornell Pros:

  • People: I have heard amazing things about the people at WashU, however, I feel like the Cornell crowd may be a little more up my alley. If anyone has some comments on what the students are like here, I’d greatly appreciate it, as it’s been somewhat hard to come by.
  • Academics: I feel that Cornell is one notch higher in terms of overall academics than WashU. It is an ivy after all, and they are becoming more and more committed to undergrad education. I have had well qualified people tell me passing up this opportunity would be a mistake.
  • Proximity: Cornell is only about a 3 hour drive from where I live, and I also love the northeast.
  • Name recognition: I feel that this may be important in recruiting and grad school applications in the northeast. Also, if I choose to go to med school, I would much rather have the boost at Weill than at WashU.

Cornell Cons:
There are two main things that are causing my hesitation, and any others are somewhat minor.

  • Location: I live in Upstate NY, and I would prefer to leave this area for college and experience something new. Cornell is not in a city, which is a big, if not the biggest con.
  • Academic flexibility: As I mentioned previously, I am unsure of what I want to do in my future, and I know that in order to change my major to another school outside of CALS, I would need to do an internal transfer, which I do not want to deal with in the slightest. I want to have academic freedom, and have an education spanning multiple disciplines, and I don't know if I could get that here.

Others:

  • Stress culture here is somewhat concerning, but I think I could handle it.
  • On waitlist, but as mentioned earlier, I think I have a good shot at getting off if I decide I want to go here.

All in all, I am definitely leaning towards WashU, but the Cornell offer is certainly of high interest and well worth considering. Please let me know your opinions, thanks for reading!

2

It is also possibly worth mentioning that I am on the waitlist at Tufts, but I am not really considering it as heavily as of right now.

3

Regardless of Ivy League status or not, Wash U is a great school. The residential college system is a big plus. Furthermore, the Beyond Boundaries program is unique and sounds like a perfect fit for you. Students are happy at Wash U while Cornell students have the reputation of being stressed - although stereotypes never apply to individuals and the experience varies from one individual to another. At the undergrad level, Cornell is big by Ivy standards, twice the size of Wash U, making the academic experience at Wash U more typical of what it’s like at most of the Ivies. Both schools have great resources and great students, so I don’t see much difference there. Wash U is committed to meeting the challenge of the climate crisis, so I would think it’s a very positive place for environmental engineering.

Overall, Wash U sounds like a better match for you. But this is 2020 and coronvirus has complicated our lives. There’s a lot to be said in favor of going to school just a few hours from home under these conditions and 2020-21 is sure to be disrupted. Only you and your parents can decide how you want to deal going to a university that is a plane ride away in today’s uncertain environment. If it were me, I would stay closer to home these days. But it’s not me; it’s you. It’s not like you’d be settling because Cornell is a great school and Ithaca is a great college town. But Wash U would be very tempting.

Very tough decision.

4

It’s not necessarily easy to come off the wait list at Cornell. Not sure what this year will bring with the virus but IMO, you should focus on going to the school that has accepted you, not the “maybe”.

5

From what you said, Wash U sounds like a much better option.
Additionally, while the college admissions process is crazy, colleges try to pick who they think will thrive at their college, so I think that the college that wanted you initially may be better.
While employers will look at your college for your first few jobs, I don’t think that there will be much of a difference in your luck if you were to go to Cornell.