<p>I applied EA to Uchicago and ED to cornell. Ithaca is a great college town, I like the diversity provided by 7 colleges, and the student body seems just as dedicated as chicago’s but a little more laid back and willing to have fun. Chicago, on the other hand, appears to really be as intellectual as its reputation makes it out to be, and Chicago is a great city. I like cornell more but could see myself being very happy at chicago. they have different things going for them and it depends what you put more emphasis on. if you get into both you have a very good dilemma on your hands- you can’t lose either way.</p>
<p>I would choose uchicago because I’m a fan of the city and the atmosphere is a better fit.</p>
<p>I couldn’t see myself at either school, but if I had to pick one I’d probably pick UChicago. I’m a city slicker, western civ Core-loving kinda guy. But yeah, I’m happy I didn’t go to either…at least for undergrad</p>
<p>I would choose UChicago. I’m more of a Barnes & Noble intellectual than a science geek.</p>
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<p>While Chicago generally has stronger academics, this is not necessarily true. Cornell is a big name in Asia. Chicago may have a slight edge in Europe, however.</p>
<p>“While Chicago generally has stronger academics, …”</p>
<p>[United</a> States National Research Council rankings - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_National_Research_Council_rankings]United”>United States National Research Council rankings - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>-------------------category___ ________----------Cornell rank Chicago rank
Top 30 universities by number of rated programs ----------9-------- 26
-----Top 30 universities by average of all scores ----- ----4-------- 15
Top 30 universities by average of nonzero scores--------- 9 -------- 7</p>
<p>Monydad–</p>
<p>My impression of West Campus-- not all of it, but a significant chunk of it-- was that it was more toned down and less fratty. Perhaps that’s not an accurate statement, but I definitely remember walking first around North Campus and the Arts and Sciences quad, and then around the Engineering Quad and West Campus. To me, it was like I was visiting two entirely different schools.</p>
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<p>Chicago is something of a household name in Asia, at least in China and Japan (the latter for obvious reasons). If you’ll look at the Asian Nobel Prize winners, a surprising number of them have associations with Chicago, which is probably an indication of where top academics want to go when they exit their country. Not sure about Europe or the rest of the world, but I’d say that Chicago is easily top 5 in prestige in China and Japan, and especially the latter. Of course, Cornell’s international reputation is rather strong as well, and I won’t explicitly compare the two’s prestige in Asia, but I don’t think that Cornell’s reputation by any means overwhelms that of Chicago, at least to any significant extent.</p>
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<p>I am not sure how the NRC rankings disprove my point. It’s quite possible that Cornell offers more breadth than Chicago (e.g. it has engineering), but Chicago seems to have more depth. My general impression is that Chicago has a clear advantage over Cornell in the humanities and social sciences, whereas Cornell has a slight edge over Chicago in the sciences. In any event, I don’t really have a dog in this fight because I don’t go to either of these schools.</p>
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<p>Calm down. I said that Cornell is a big name in Asia. This statement does not rule out that Chicago could be an equally big name in Asia. I was merely questioning an earlier claim that: </p>
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<p>monydad’s post was reasonable. Cornell and Chicago both have their strengths, but on the whole they’re well-balanced academically. Unless a student is going for a highly specific subject (e.g. Hittitology at Chicago or Enology at Cornell), the classroom experiences at both would be very much the same.</p>
<p>College is what you make of it. I would choose Cornell because my D did. </p>
<p>She has had a life changing experience. The courses she has taken have been extremely challenging. She is involved in many EC’s in her interests. She has had two summer internships at companies because Cornell is a target recruit school. This past summer internship resulted in an offer for a job (with a 5 figure signing bonus in these economic times). She is currently abroad for the semester interning at an elite institution that rarely takes any undergrads, except from Cornell. </p>
<p>So to sum up. She has had an excellent education and will have a degree from an Ivy. She has a job offer at the beginning of her senior yr. that will most likely pay (or very near to)a 6 figure salary her first yr. out of school. She has had wonderful internship experiences not readily available to many other undergrads. And she has the grades and experience to make her a very competitive student for grad school should she decide.</p>
<p>As I said, Cornell has been life changing. Could you get this at Chicago? Absolutely!! They are both great schools. Again, college is what you make of it.</p>