<p>Hi guys, </p>
<p>I was wondering for University of Columbia, Cornell University and UPenn, do we have to apply to the school in general or do we apply to the specific program in school. i want to go into engineering but i am not sure which particular engineering ?</p>
<p>Columbia: apply to either the Fu Foundation or Columbia College. UPenn: apply to UPenn in general, (probably with a designated major, which could change before you even get there) or to Wharton as a special program. Cornell: not entirely sure, but I think their engineering school is seperate from the rest of the college, so you’d probably apply directly to engineering (personally, I don’t like this approach, because the chances of you wanting to drop out of engineering are pretty high. At least at Brown, it’s higher than 30%, and could be greater than 50%. And I know the Fu Foundation doesn’t allow you to easily transfer to Columbia College, so you’re stuck on either a tech-track, or a not-so-tech track).</p>
<p>Hi chsowlflax17. </p>
<p>Thanks a lot for the help! See I already have a mind set of finance , engineering or both. I dont want to go into arts or literature anyway. However, your response helped a lot.
Do you think getting into a university the easier way by applying to arts and stuff better or should I take the hard path and follow my dream careers in the financial and engineering industries ?</p>
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<p>Sorry, but this is wrong. At Upenn you must apply to the engineering school if you want to major in engineering. You don’t need to choose and apply to your particular major, but you do need to apply to the correct school. That is, CAS, Engineering, Nursing, or Wharton. You can obviously transfer later on; the difficulty in this varies depending on what school you’re going to/leaving from and how well you’ve done, etc. Cornell you also definitely need to apply to engineering. Essentially, if engineering is its own school, you almost always need to apply specifically to that school. If you’re simply interested in a major within a school, you typically don’t have to apply to the major and can change your mind (although there are certain exceptions, like BME at JHU). Columbia, though, in particular is a bit unique in that it’s almost an entirely different admission process and staff going through the Fu applicants. For most schools it’s the same admissions staff at least, but they have a target number for each particular school (and perhaps different requirements) so need to admit based on the school the applicant has applied to.</p>
<p>For Cornell, you MUST apply to the school you want. There are 7 different schools with 7 different requirements. Each including an essay. Take a look at the Cornell University Supplement to the Common Application link as well as the Freshman Admission Requirements link </p>
<p>[Cornell</a> University Undergraduate Admissions Office -HOW TO APPLY](<a href=“http://admissions.cornell.edu/apply/applications.cfm]Cornell”>http://admissions.cornell.edu/apply/applications.cfm)</p>
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<p>Don’t assume that admission to the university’s liberal arts college means you can transfer into engineering or business once you get there. You’ll still need to go through the admissions process for engineering/business as a transfer student even though it’s an internal transfer. Some engineering and business schools accept relatively few transfers. And starting out in liberal arts might mean that even if you do successfully transfer into engineering, you may be behind in your sequence of required courses which might necessitate an extra year to graduate. </p>
<p>Look, if it were easy to game the admissions system this way, don’t you think a lot of people would have already figured that out? Just be honest and apply for what you want. It’s generally easier to transfer out of engineering into liberal arts than to go in the other direction.</p>
<p>Thanks guys makes perfect sense1 now which one do you think would be the best engineering school out of all three ? I want to apply ED for one of the three but dont know which one now ! ?</p>
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<p>Choose based on fit. Cornell has the best engineering reputation of the three with the most departments, world-class research, and attracts top-notched faculty, but that doesn’t mean UPenn and Columbia are chopped liver. When we’re talking at this level, I’d definitely choose based on fit and leave the academic reputations somewhat aside (unless you’re interested in a engineering field that a particular school doesn’t even offer; in that case, it certainly makes sense to consider where it’s offered). </p>
<p>Where do you think you’ll be happiest? Do you want to be in a more rural area (Cornell), a bustling but expensive metropolitan city (Columbia), or a perhaps more accessible but still major city (UPenn)? Cornell is also quite a bit larger. Cornell and UPenn are known as more party-heavy/greek life-centric than Columbia, etc. Personally, I would like UPenn the best as it fits my wants the most closely, but that doesn’t mean that’s the best place for you. Somebody else could logically choose any of the three, and I wouldn’t fault them one bit. I’ll concede that Cornell has the longest-held reputation of being the engineering Ivy, but I still think you should based on fit since the differences in recruiting and opportunities available would be minimal. By the way, if you’re applying to Columbia, you should know that it’s Columbia University, NOT the University of Columbia.</p>
<p>I believe I would be happier in an urban setting since I have lived in a city my entire life. Toronto, Canada, the business of hub of canada :). So, I should leave Cornell, and concentrate on UPenn and Columbia ? Please do advice.</p>