What is going on? have people lost their minds?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cornell University
161

<p>

</p>

<p>That would absolutely not turn a rejection into an acceptance. It would almost certainly not even get a waitlist into an acceptance, or a rejection into a waitlist.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>I’m not so sure about that. Also, I’m not sure that Yale is a tier above Duke, Cornell, Northwestern, Hopkins, Penn CAS, Dartmouth, Brown for the sciences; they are probably peer schools in science. Similarly, MIT is probably a few tiers below all of those schools in the humanities. You did make note of that in Penn’s case by separating Wharton from the rest of it, but it is also true for Yale and MIT.</p>

162

<p>^
It’s not; I’m speaking overall. Yale is amazing for the humanities. Possibly above even Princeton, but I would still take Princeton. Berkeley is strong for engineering and the sciences at the undergrad level, but I would steer clear of it for anything else at this point in time.</p>

<p>I saw that you got into Princeton… Why did you choose to go elsewhere? It is mind-boggling.</p>

163

<p>“Colene is right, basically. It’s futile to argue between Duke, Cornell, Northwestern, Hopkins, Penn CAS, Dartmouth, Brown, etc. They are more or less equal. We are a tier above Berkeley, UMich, UCLA, UNC Chapel Hill, and UVA, but below Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, MIT and Wharton. We are all in in the second highest tier of schools, and there are a TON of opportunities and connections.”</p>

<p>We aren’t a tier above Berkeley or UCLA. I said specifically that we’re peer schools w/ berkeley</p>

<p>“Quote:
2400 instead of 2340
That would absolutely not turn a rejection into an acceptance. It would almost certainly not even get a waitlist into an acceptance, or a rejection into a waitlist.”</p>

<p>Totally agree. Would barely, barely make any difference at all. <.1%</p>

<p>I’d say Yale is a tier above overall - not so sure for science but then again that’s a rather hazy point.
Lol at the idea of MIT at humanities… just no…
Berkeley is strong overall.</p>

<p>Also, I agree with this sentiment (taken from another thread bob has been in) - people really need to care less about “ivy” on CC.</p>

<p>"Originally Posted by T26E4 View Post
If I can offer a counter argument to tortoise’s assertions about Ivy students and alumni:</p>

<p>I find that most students and alumni of Ivy schools quickly realize that the hype or stereotypes or “prestige” quickly loses its glamour and shine. I’ve found that non-Ivy people invariably tend to make a bigger deal about Ivy alums than ourselves.</p>

<p>Sure, a few pompous fools strut around but mostly, people tend to be humbled by the institutions they attended and the quality of their peers and peers’ accomplishments. It levels us out – in a good way.
T26, nobody cares. Really. “Non-Ivy people” don’t give rip either, much to the dismay of some “Ivy people,” who’ve made the mistake of basing their college decision an institution’s “ivy” status.</p>

<p>Yes, the issue looms very large in high school and, again, to those who work so hard to land a spot in an ivy league school. But what you soon find is that the “ivy badge” means something only to those who don’t have anything more meaningful in life over which to obsess.</p>

<p>In other words, the only people “out there” who care are those people who aren’t really doing much with their lives.</p>

<p>I say this, btw, as the product of three “elite” institutions (UChicago, Stanford, Harvard) married to a diehard Yalie (college and law).</p>

<p>Once again: Ivy league “status” means absolutely nothing to anyone of consequence. Those who argue otherwise are traveling in the marginalia of this world. </p>

<p>Addendum:</p>

<p>I speak of “ivy league” status, per se. College networks, on the other hand, can be hugely important. But the most “robust” networks are not limited to the Ivy institutions; in fact, several non-Ivies–from Williams and Amherst, to UChicago, MIT, Stanford, CalTech, and others–offer opportunities for the sort of life-long, life-enhancing, career-building relationships that match and, arguably, exceed those offered by all but HYP. "</p>

164

<p>Bigfire,</p>

<p>Since you posted about Cornell and Berkeley’s reputation in California but left out the ranking in the paper you linked, I am posting this just in case you forgot. :-)</p>

<p>Region 9:
CA, HI, OR,
WA
1 Harvard
2 Cal Tech
3 Yale
4 Stanford
5 MIT
6 Princeton
7 Brown
8 Columbia
9 Dartmouth
10 Amherst
11 U Penn
12 Wellesley
13 Notre Dame
14 Cornell
15 Swarthmore
16 Georgetown
17 Duke
18 Rice
19 Cooper Union
20 Williams
21 Virginia
22 Harvey Mudd
23 Wesleyan
24 Pomona
25 Berkeley
26 Northwestern
27 Johns Hopkins
28 USC
29 U Chicago
30 Middlebury</p>

165

<p>… Wow are you done? I literally just said that this paper isn’t really indicative of anything because it’s just the opinion of prefrosh that don’t know much about the schools other than their names and maybe USNews rankings back in 2005. You guys don’t need to copy and paste parts of the paper over and over again - people can read. These are peer schools so stop posting… prefrosh</p>

166

<p>Cornell the worst Ivy, lol. That is not my perception. I view it as one of the science Ivy’s along with Princeton and Harvard. The NYC project will increase its prestige even more in that area.</p>

167

<p>harvard isn’t a science ivy</p>

168

<p>

</p>

<p>I didn’t choose to go elsewhere. I picked Princeton over Harvard, Stanford, Caltech, and Berkeley with the Regents’ Scholarship. Even if I had gotten into every university in the world, I would have made the same decision.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Harvard has some of the best science programs in the Ivies, probably better than Princeton for the most part, although Princeton’s math and engineering is better.</p>

169

<p>^
Oh. I thought you’d picked Stanford-- probably someone else. Have you visited the Princeton campus yet?</p>

<p>And dang, HPS. What were your stats and high school type?</p>

170

<p>This thread is pretty pointless. Just because some ranking system decided to put one school over another doesn’t mean you’ll get a better education if you go to #3 in comparison to #13. Sure, there are factors such as prestige and connections, but what it’ll all come down to is the work and knowledge you own after those college years. If you end up at Harvard and don’t work at all, you’re still not going to get a job just by waving around your diploma. These Ivy Leagues have just been around for very long and have garnered a very large financial and alumni base. As such, their prestige and name are very well known.
Also, admissions nowadays is so random. Many college admissions officers say that they could probably fill their class 3 times over with completely different students and still have the same quality of achievement. Just because you got admitted somewhere and someone didn’t doesn’t mean you’re “better”, you just had something the committee wanted. (God knows what that is)
The reason why Cornell is perceived as the “worst” Ivy is perhaps due to its higher admission rate compared to its peer Ivies. Because of its slightly higher admission rate, people may view it as less competitive and therefore “worse”. What people don’t realize, however, is that there are many schools that fall under the banner of Cornell University. Some schools simply just don’t have as many applications to choose from. As such, the admission percentage is obviously inflated. The admission rate to CAS is around 10%, if not less, which is exactly on par with the rest of the Ivies.
There are many many schools that will give you an amazing education in the nation. In the end, if you’re willing to work, you can make it big anywhere. As to the people ragging on the University of Michigan and stating that its a “second-tier” school, please consider the in-state requirement for the university. They receive state funding and must accept a majority of in-state people who can bring down admissions statistics. Still don’t believe me? Why not talk to Sanjay Gupta and tell him he’s not successful because he went to Michigan, a supposed “second-tier” school? Thanks :slight_smile:
Don’t judge a school based on its “rankings”. There is honestly no unbiased way to say which school is better. (Because none of them are overall “better” than another!)</p>

<p>Excuse the length :)</p>

171

<p>@Saugus, you serious right now? You’re calling out people based on their username? </p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Well let’s see if you say the same thing after a semester. Of course neither you nor me have experienced the counterfactual but just wait and see…I’ve only been here an year so far, and I’ll be done with enough courses by the end of next year to obtain a degree, and I am deeply disappointed with Cornell academics, so disappointed that I am very very close to putting in transfer apps next year.</p>

<p>You might be surprised with what you find here.</p>

172

<p>… What program are you in?
Oh wait, you’ve been looking to transfer out from day 1. Why do I bother.</p>

<p>But i really do agree w this point: “You might be surprised with what you find here” in both good and bad ways.</p>

173

<p>^^
Oh, Jesus Christ. It’s that bad? What are you majoring in?</p>

<p>God, people told me we were the same academically as HYP and Chicago. Ugh… I place more weight on negative opinions than positive ones because I’m a realist.</p>

174

<p>Get off CC and stop worrying about things so much. Wait until you’re at Cornell and then decide for yourself.</p>

175

<p>

</p>

<p>Presidential Scholar in Engineering, and not really. I started out wanting to transfer, but I figured I should given Cornell a chance before hastily making any decisions, so I actually stopped myself from putting in any transfer apps this year, but as the first year is coming to an end, looks I made the wrong choice.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Yeah you should probably wait and see since you might have a completely different opinion than I do, but to me I am not at all impressed by the rigor of Cornell’s classes (as far as engineering goes anyway, idk about other colleges).</p>

<p>EDIT: and before people say that’s because you’re taking freshman classes- i’m not. I took soph/junior level classes and 1 grad level class this semester. Next semester it will be all junior/senior level classes and the semester after it’ll be mostly senior/masters classes, so it’s not like I’m complaining after taking intro chem/calc or something.</p>

176

<p>Meh. I’m a Gov/Econ major though. Isn’t engineering basically the same everywhere?</p>

177

<p>I think it’s the opposite. You want a good Engineering program because of more research opportunities and a chance to work on the cutting edge. Political science may differ from place to place, but what really matters is whether or not the program offers a variety of interesting courses with good lecturers (in my opinion). And thus poli sci is not easily ranked. I couldn’t care much whether or not my poli sci prof wrote some amazing paper that was widely cited. However, if that’s my Engineering prof, then I get a chance to work with them.</p>

<p>As for Econ, it’s all basically the same at most schools. The only school that I think sets itself up as actually superior is UChicago because looking at their curriculum, it’s much more rigorous with significantly more math.</p>

178

<p>Apparently UChicago requires you to use MULTIVARIABLE Calc in your first Econ class… It’s not like they have any advantages, the requirements are just so insane. I’ve heard Cornell uses more of a social-science based Econ, which I prefer.</p>

<p>Cornell’s Government classes look really diverse and interesting, and a lot are cross-listed with sociology as well. The faculty looks pretty heavyweight as well. Surprisingly, it doesn’t look like Princeton professors are much more qualified at all aside from a few superstars.</p>

<p>I thought it was going to be a major with a lot of discussion between students, though… Like, a lot of debating and stuff.</p>

179

<p>You know what Saugus, just don’t come to Cornell or get off this site. I am so fed up with your complex. Everything you say comes across as a case of misinformed denial. I really wonder what kind of school you went to that would let shallow people like you become salutatorian/valedictorian.</p>

<p>and @wong, intro classes are a pain in the behind to deal with. It’s also why a lot of people say it gets better as you get to the upper level courses.</p>

180

<p>What complex? I have no complex. I think you might have a complex since you are always so defensive. And it’s a non-competitive suburban public with most kids going to Cal states, community colleges, or nothing at all, so it’s not like it really even a big deal to begin with.</p>

<p>And Val/Sal is pretty meaningless to begin with.</p>

<p>It’s like you said yourself. If you offered to trade me HYPS, I would do it. I wouldn’t do it for any other school. I don’t know why you seem to think I have a complex.</p>