#cornell vs. uchicago

11 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

unreal barn
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Schools: Cornell and UChicago
Intended major: CS in the College of Engineering at Cornell, Computational and Applied Mathematics at UChicago
Similarities: Both T20s, highly regarded schools, known for being decently rigorous, nice campuses

Cornell
Pros:

  • closer to home
  • t10 for cs and engineering
  • more flexibility in terms of engineering majors, and opportunities to pursue project teams
  • ivy league (way better name recognition, super strong alumni network)
  • huge campus, beautiful nature
  • ithaca is a cute little college town and it might be nice to live in a rural setting for 4 years
  • amazing job placement and tech recruitment
  • i’ve bonded with more incoming students, see myself fitting in more with them
  • really great school spirit

Cons:

  • tuition is $16k/year more expensive than uchicago
  • engineering school is notorious for being insanely rigorous and cutthroat
  • literally in the middle of of nowhere
  • not 100% sure i’d wanna stay on the engineering path, and there’s less opportunities to pursue other fields (without completely switching schools)
  • huge student body
  • seems kinda depressing
  • heavier emphasis on greek life
  • more competition to join clubs and project teams
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UChicago
Pros:

  • core curriculum would allow me to explore different fields
  • “quirky” culture and an intellectual student body that’s passionate about learning
  • emphasis on learning for the sake of learning, being surrounded by nerds
  • dorms and food are better imo
  • in chicago!!
  • $16k/year cheaper than cornell
  • smaller student body, less competition surrounding clubs
  • less “pre-professional” than cornell
  • i loved the vibes when i visited (during a free summer program so that might not be the best representation)
  • house culture!!

Cons:

  • no engineering, so that path would be completely closed off
  • less layman prestige
  • further from home (would have to fly back and forth)
  • brutal winters
  • worse name recognition than cornell
  • worse tech recruiting and career placement (from what i’ve heard)
  • cs major is relatively new
  • don’t LOVE the vibe i’m getting from other incoming students
  • less school spirit and bad team sports
  • ugly merch
ripe summit
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For cornell greek life is definitely avoidanle

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Depressing environemnt is subjective

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All other points accurate

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Our merch also lowkey ugly tho

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If u r considering grad school, cost could be a larger factor for you

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Bc idk if u truly save 16k per year by not having to fly for breaks

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I think the biggest question here is do u want to be a cs major or a math major (unless i misinterpreted the category of ur major at uchi)

unreal barn
autumn shore
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if you want to do software engineering just major in CS at uchi