#USC (half-tuition) vs Cornell (full tuition)

41 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

quick oar
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Schools: USC vs Cornell
Intended major: neuroscience at USC and cognitive science at Cornell

USC
Pros:
national merit finalist so i get half-tuition from the presidential scholarship
lot of access to research
in LA so more opportunities
warm weather
not as cutthroat competition compared to cornell

Cons:
kinda in a dangerous part of LA
rich spoiled kids (idk if thats just a stereotype)
an exclusive social structure

Cornell
Pros:
Really beautiful campus
safe area
yummy food
brand name due to being an ivy

Cons:
competitive culture especially due to the large number of pre-med students; maybe hard to maintain a high gpa for med school
in the middle of nowhere
more expensive than USC
really cold weather for most of the year

sleek dawn
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Cornell also has rich spoiled kids lol

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I wouldnt say competitive culture

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Just grade deflation

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Middle of nowhere mainly matters bc u cant rlly do clinical work during the academic year

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Id say as premed its best to go for cheaper

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Since ur paying for med school too

quick oar
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yea premed

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the thing is my parents are leaning to cornell just bc it’s an ivy 😭

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i’m trying to explain to them how that’s not super critical for someone going to med school tho

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at least i think

quick oar
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i should tell them that too thank u 🙏

slender swan
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As someone who lives near Cornell (50 min away), the weather part might be a bigger factor than you think. I'm not sure where you are coming from but upstate new york can trigger seasonal depression (yearly there's like 150 or smthg sunny days which is pretty far below national average). I'd also agree with cheaper school just because you can use those resources elsewhere

quick oar
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i’m just not sure how to convince my parents now to let me go to usc over cornell

slender swan
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i dont think you can go wrong with cornell but i dont think the brand name of cornell is worth it in the long run especially for paying full tuition. I agree that the environment of cornell is super nice and from my impressions of going there several times a year, the students aren't in that super competitive mindset (obviously it depends on who you hang around with). I cannot speak to the opportunities at USC (i imagine LA has tons of them) but Cornell students are pretty restricted to campus because besides the opportunities in Ithaca, everything else is a good driving distance away. Best of luck to you though and congratulations on your acceptances!

sleek dawn
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but it can be a burden

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since u need those hours

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in my experience as a premed, the competitive atmosphere is more students vs world/teacher than student vs student

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yes ppl r like "throw for the curve pls" but its never like "im sabotaging u"

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but its probably like this most places other than jhu 😅

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like ppl get lots of their premed friends and yall collaborate on the hws its chill

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volunteering in general is easy to get, like red cross or patch or many other clubs

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research also decently easy to get

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clinical is the main issue; there are ems nearby + cuems but its competitive or far from campus and not feasible everyday

quick oar
quick oar
quick oar
quick oar
sleek dawn
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@silk sleet do yk anything abt usc premed

south pelican
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USC

silk sleet
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sorry just saw i got tagged here

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a little insight on the USC premed structure

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it tends to be standard as most schools are similar; there definitely are a lot of pathways here for people on the premed track in terms of what u plan on focusing on

silk sleet
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volunteering tends to be nice and easy to do with a lot of opps around campus and there are plenty of clinical opps nearby too given usc’s city location

silk sleet
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hope that helps. ping me if you have any other Qs i’m happy to help