#Cornell vs CMU vs Berkeley

322 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

jolly zinc
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Schools: Cornell vs CMU MCS vs Berkeley
Intended major: CS/Bio
Similarities: good cs, good bio (cmu kinda meh), known for being grindy
Costs: CMU 91k, Cornell 95k, Berkeley 83k, but price is not a restricting factor

What I want/preferences:
To find my true interests in college

  • I know I like bio and cs, but I’m not sure if I’d want to do a career in them. I’m not really sure what I want to do.
  • Good bio & good cs programs
  • Not necessarily comp bio, but that is good too. Logically it is the best career option for me.
    Flexibility
  • Flexibility to choose other programs/majors outside of my schools
    Good arts/music
  • I play the saxophone, so I’d want a good music scene (in a city) or good music programs in the uni’s city. For example, good music opportunities
    Not a fan of grindy culture
  • While I am familiar with grinding, I’d just… rather not. Of course I will still grind if I have to, but I’d rather lay back a little and have fun.
    Institutional support
  • I’d like somewhere where I generally don’t have to fight other people to get resources. I don’t like pestering people, but maybe I should learn.
    An ability to “get away”
  • Sometimes I just need some time to myself, and I’d want a place where it’s easy to totally remove myself from the college atmosphere.
    Collaborative culture
  • I want a place whose school culture is generally collaborative and where people help each other out instead of cutthroat competing with them.
    Humanities/Liberal Arts
  • I want to be able to have decent liberal arts, as I’m not so much of a stem person. It also helps with flexibility.

CMU MCS (Bio)
Pros
Academic

  • I know Phillip Compeau (Comp Bio prof)
  • CS/AI/ML #1
  • Very highly ranked comp bio
  • Small class sizes -> individualized attention
    • Better/more available research opportunities
  • Extremely good comp bio program
    • Access to UPitt
  • 4+1 BS + MS
    • Bio + cbio additional + ms in cs/ai/ml?
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  • Easy to additional major in CS/Comp Bio/AI
  • Can take classes in any school
  • Can transfer to IS
  • Good for math/eng/stats/anything cs
  • Very good arts
  • Practice rooms in music school available off-hours from 6pm to 10am
    Trivial
  • Is red
  • Pittsburgh’s name sounds so tuff
  • Pittsburgh is a great city
    • Very cheap (doesn’t matter bc im paying 91k/yr)
  • Scotty is a great mascot
  • ABG heaven
  • Great study spots
  • Good dining options
  • Good and cheap boba
  • Good access to nature
  • Able to “get away” from CMU by going far into pittsburgh

Cons

  • would need to additional major to do any SCS majors
  • Bio is not as good
  • Can get a little depressing at times
  • Grindy, high workload
  • Food can get mid
  • Nothing happens at night
  • Social life seems very achievement and career-based

Cornell

Pros
Academic

  • Top CS and Bio programs
    • Bio has concentrations so I can pick which area of bio if I’m undecided (if not comp)
  • Best for undecided
    • Most freedom in choosing a path
  • Project teams sound interesting, I can learn a lot about interdisciplinary collaboration
  • Generally achievable lab positions
  • An ivy - stronger alum network?
  • Possibly the highest average student ability/intelligence (of my choices)
  • Largest jazz program of all ivies
  • Middle-of-nowhere campus forces people together—stronger sense of community
  • Collaborative culture
  • Cornell has instructors for jazz and classical sax
  • Barbara & Richard T. Silver Wind Symphony | Cornell University

Trivial

  • Is red
  • Decent boba
  • Lots of access to nature
  • Great sprawling campus, lots of attractive architecture from all different areas
    • Lots of green space, diversity of architectural style
  • Great dining hall food
  • More things to do off-campus than you’d think
  • Existent nightlife
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Cons

  • Ithaca’s name sounds kinda lame
  • Nothing really to do in Ithaca
  • Erratic and usually cold weather
  • Lots of walking - not great terrain
  • Grindy, high workload
  • More rich people (entitled?)
  • No music scene in Ithaca
  • Middle of nowhere
  • Cannot “escape” Cornell easily through public transport
  • Comp bio is mid (not a “real” major, just a concentration of bio)

UC Berkeley

Pros
Academic

  • Lots of credits from APs
  • If you want research you can get it
  • Accomplished faculty
  • San Francisco access
    • Good for startups, etc
    • Very “happening” culture
  • Adequate access to professors
  • High ranked CS & Bio programs
  • Good place to be for AI boom - lots of labs & etc
  • Proximate to Stanford
  • Many Jazz performance groups
  • Wind ensemble - Cal Band
  • Best for working

Trivial

  • Large party scene
  • Berkeley’s name sounds nice
  • Subway system & trolley
  • Lots of people—can find my people
  • Free public transport
  • Rideshare scooters
  • Safe campus
  • Good campus—lots of green, but lots of city aspects
  • ABG heaven
  • Can escape campus easily using public transport
  • Good weather
  • Seems more laid back than the others, but still grindy
  • Better socially
  • Large campus, large downtown area, integrated green + modern buildings
  • Able to get easy access to nature

Middle

  • Has “bimodal” distribution in terms of average student intelligence (according to my friend)
  • Some smart & driven people, some people who got in with much lower stats

Cons

  • Is blue
  • Have to get everything yourself
  • No hand holding
    • Need to cold email people
    • More competition
    • Have to fight for everything
      • Many people don’t
    • Could teach me the “real world”?
      • Of needing to work a lot for resources
  • Out of state + full pay
  • Not much cheap housing
  • Less individualized attention
  • Public school
  • Would have to double major (but cs is ~95% acceptance rate)
  • Not too flexible?
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    • No actual “comp bio” major–I would have to do cs + bio/cs + data science
jolly zinc
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sorry for the lengthy explanation; I've thought about this way too much

worthy sandal
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Personally I think CMU is goated for cs, so that seems like the best choice. Idk fs for bio, but I think it should be either Cornell or CMU if price difference isn’t a make or break factor

earnest relic
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No bad options but CMU sounds good if prices are similar. Going to read your post now

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What major are you admitted to

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Berkeley pros
Proximate to Stanford
Bruh

earnest relic
tardy vale
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yeah i got into the college of science but i wanted to do engineering so thats why im not going to cmu its very hard to internally transfer to engineering or cs

earnest relic
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For what you want NGL I think Berkeley has it. I went there and I think I would recommend private for what I wanted, but what you're describing sounds like a good fit for Berkeley.

woeful vector
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connecting ur wants to cornell,

  • the bio major has a comp bio concentration and it also is not anywhere near impossible to double major in CS + bio or info sci + bio and such
  • flexibility, arts itself is flexible and you can honestly do most programs across colleges, you just can't double major across colleges, which isn't really a major issue if your interest is bio
  • we do have music courses and groups, minus the city
  • doing CS+bio might lead u into grind culture, but doing info sci + bio is much more doable and still permits you to go down a comp bio path thru the info sci data sci concentration
  • i dont think its common to fight for resources here
  • theres lots of places you can go to remove yourself, but might be easier with ubers/car lol
  • imo cornell is very collaborative

also, idk wym by "would need to additional major to do scs major"; is this just that comp bio isnt in itself a major program? minors do exist

the bus system is pretty decent

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also the coursework u take as a comp bio concentration and can continue to take in ur time at cornell can fulfill that idea of a comp bio major.

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people often refer to themselves by their concentrtion name

jolly zinc
jolly zinc
jolly zinc
jolly zinc
woeful vector
jolly zinc
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So CMU SCS transfer is only if I didn’t want to do bio at all, but I do

earnest relic
jolly zinc
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Rn I’m leaning Berkeley but the public school part of it and the amount of people are making me reconsider

woeful vector
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CS and Bio are the biggest majors and cornell is a large school

u can find anyone of any archetype

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wdym the public school part ?

jolly zinc
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Just that I feel like that for other people I know who go there, Berkeley was their most logical and best choice out of everything else, but for me I have options—for example I know people at Berkeley who would kill to go to an ivy and I feel like choosing Berkeley therefore is somehow worse

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Like for California people specifically

woeful vector
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everyone has their own situation

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no one rlly talks about admissions after the fact

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unless theyre insecure abt their decision

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and tryna make everyone else feel weird and bad asf

jolly zinc
jolly zinc
woeful vector
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Cal is ur cheapest option, despite not being an important factor for u

jolly zinc
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I’m scared it’s gonna be me

woeful vector
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for others it may have been a larger priority

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so if theyre at Cal whining abt not picking cornell they havent made peace with the fact of their situation

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some people just dont have the risk or opportunity to go to such high cost schools

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same for those at cornll whining about not going somewhere cheaper or warmer like Cal

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yeah college to college can have major differences, but at the end of the day you picked one. and they all can get u to the same place. its what u make of it

jolly zinc
woeful vector
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not to be brash but its not like ur picking between CUNY and cornell

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Berk and Cornell are both strong

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both have their merits

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and even those that pick cuny over cornell have their own reasons

jolly zinc
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I feel like the schools are too similar for my intended major so it’s much harder to pic

jolly zinc
woeful vector
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berk is much larger

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i can agree

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and ive heard bc of that, and just cali in general, theres more issues with housing (?)

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unless i heard that for a diff uc

jolly zinc
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Yeah I’m just worried like it’s hard to get attention

woeful vector
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yeah , but icl thatll be true here too

jolly zinc
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And I’m not one to put my neck out

woeful vector
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but things like labs and such would probably be easier to get here

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ive heard it being messy at UCs, particularly UCLA

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but here ive never heard anyone complain abt the difficulty to land one

jolly zinc
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Honestly that’s why I was thinking about CMU

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But like idk anything about Berkeley bio

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If it’s better than the other two i might pick it

woeful vector
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cornell bio kinda mid if im being so honest

jolly zinc
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But idk if Cornell is the place I want to spend 4 years at

woeful vector
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its too watered down by premeds or plant nerds

jolly zinc
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It’s soooo pretty

woeful vector
jolly zinc
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I’m a new englander so I’m used to cold af weather

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Not upstate ny weather but

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Its not like im from Miami

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The town name thing is a joke

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It’s fine

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I’m just like

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It’s such a great campus and so beautiful

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But I don’t really know how much that plays into my choir

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Choice

sturdy cedar
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cornell sounds like a really good fit ngl

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maybe the best fit if you're ok with being in Ithaca

jolly zinc
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if cornell had berkeley's location and people then i'd go there

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but then that's like

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stanford

jolly zinc
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😭

woeful vector
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what mattered to me was the classes id be taking, local opportunities (as a premed, but ur equivalency would prolly be resources to prep for internship apps/project teams), and the general vibe (collab vs comp)

jolly zinc
woeful vector
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idt thats quite a true statement (?) i think other ppl have said smth similar in this server and got a different reply

jolly zinc
woeful vector
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that cornell has more support cuz its private

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public has a lot of support as well

jolly zinc
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dyk anything about berkeley

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or should i prob ask someone who goes there

worthy sandal
# jolly zinc Why not Cal?

It’s goated but like CMU has some advantages like having a lesser number of ppl, and academically both are equal sooo

jolly zinc
worthy sandal
jolly zinc
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all the schools are equivalent academically...?

worthy sandal
jolly zinc
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:/

woeful vector
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Have u deeply researched each curriculum and the project teams/clubs available

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Thats where most difference usually lies in terms of “academics”

jolly zinc
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so basically what's going to be different is

  1. type of people
  2. location
  3. size
woeful vector
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Like genuinely picture urself taking the classes named and if youd enjoy it

jolly zinc
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so basically look at the classes?

woeful vector
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U could even map out each 8 sem sequencr and see which is best for u if it comes down to it

woeful vector
jolly zinc
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yeah.......

woeful vector
jolly zinc
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I could see myself at berkeley (because the boba was good and close to campus) but I could also see myself at the other two

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I did cmu precollege so i've lived there for 3 weeks

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cornell is just similar to my hometown

woeful vector
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Lmao it pmo today when all the boba closed at 10:30

jolly zinc
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it pmo when they only open at 12pm...

woeful vector
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There’s good cafes open earlier

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But yeah not boba in particular

jolly zinc
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because what's a girl gonna do at a 9am lecture 😭

woeful vector
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But also as a freshman

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Ud gotta have some time and bank to go get boba everyday

jolly zinc
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cornell has ok boba but berkeley and pittsburgh are much better

woeful vector
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Cuz its on the opposite side of campus

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Its like 25 min to get there even

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If u plan to get smth form ctown everyday

jolly zinc
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everyday!? 😱

jolly zinc
woeful vector
jolly zinc
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it's so far

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oh on north ?

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yeah

woeful vector
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By bus its like fine

jolly zinc
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that's even farther

woeful vector
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From eng quad its so chill

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I do that walk a lot im a bigback

jolly zinc
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if i have boba everyday i'm gonna get so fat

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so maybe berk isn't it

woeful vector
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But from north u cant pay me to travel that far just to gain 1k calories

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lmao

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If u do end up in ctown in mornings, theres great cafe options open early

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And theres hella cafes oncampu

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All these rats too picky, the matchas fine

jolly zinc
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qahwah

woeful vector
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Yeah thats inctown

jolly zinc
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i was there

woeful vector
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Love qahwah

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Just expensivee

jolly zinc
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yeah

woeful vector
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I got it today 😭

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Cuz the boba was all closed

jolly zinc
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😢

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i think there'll be a stronger sense of community at cornell though

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because for the other two it's easier to disperse into their respective cities

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like columbia

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you can spend a lot of time not on campus

woeful vector
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I do love collegetowns

jolly zinc
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but for cornell the majority of time is spent on campus and around fellow students

woeful vector
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Its something i honestly rlly wanted in a uni, despite not selecting for it

jolly zinc
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pittsburgh college town 💀

woeful vector
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Its really cool to me to be able to explore into the town and know that im surrounded by peers

jolly zinc
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10 universities in pgh btw

woeful vector
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And not freaks

jolly zinc
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berkeley ig is also a college town

woeful vector
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Like it feels more safe for me

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Also maybe i have ego but i like that everyone there can guess where i came from

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Like if u go to walmart n u give college student

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And u dont have IC merch

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Theyre probably guessing cornell

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😭

jolly zinc
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but i kept getting shouted at (catcalled?) by a member of the suprisingly populated homless population of berkeley

woeful vector
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Ive seen a few homeless but theyre like deep down like 10 min drive

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One cqme into the cafe once

jolly zinc
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i mean it's not really a probelm for me I've seen worse in nyc

woeful vector
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Near closing

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To get leftovers

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It was sweet but lowk put me off

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that sounds so bad

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But like ykwim

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😭

jolly zinc
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just berkeley seems like perhaps less safe than the others? shouldn't matter too much

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definitely the most gay though

woeful vector
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Lmao

jolly zinc
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not a bad thing

woeful vector
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i have a frw friends whove spoken to me abt the lgbt community at cornell

jolly zinc
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but sf being gay capital of the us helps in that regard

woeful vector
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Its like the typical everyone would know everyone

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Cuz its so “small” a community

jolly zinc
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pgh being in steel country makes me think conservative and my parents warned me about acting too flamboyant there

jolly zinc
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i would expect it to be bigger bc college kids

woeful vector
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im abt to be rlly brash

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But my guy friend was like

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😭😭

jolly zinc
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yo what.

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also

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wait

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you know my friend !????

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we have a mutual :o that's pretty cool

woeful vector
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R they at cornell

jolly zinc
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yeah

woeful vector
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Lol

jolly zinc
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u can see on my profile

woeful vector
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im rlly active i. The cornell server but idr them too much i think theyre not super active there

jolly zinc
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no they aren't

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just a hs friend

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small world

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I might visit cornell or cmu again this weekend

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to get one last look before i commit

worthy sandal
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Compared to the other two

jolly zinc
boreal kernel
jolly zinc
boreal kernel
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honestly you could prob reach out for advice

jolly zinc
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I already emailed him for a meeting 2 weeks ago

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It should be ok to email him again right

boreal kernel
jolly zinc
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Apr 6

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Tartan days

boreal kernel
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ohh

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did you ask about college choice because he prob has insights into how the programs compare

jolly zinc
boreal kernel
sturdy cedar
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Cornell is def the play

tardy vale
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agreed

jolly zinc
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All the Berkeley ppl tell me Berkeley

sturdy cedar
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There’s no wrong choice bc their all so good

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But imo Cornell is the best

jolly zinc
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Or does it j get a bad rep

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Everyone here says it’s depressing

woeful vector
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it gets a bad rep

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every school can be depressing

earnest relic
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Skill issue tbh

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Sleep and nutrition and social life are all you need

boreal kernel
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LMAO

earnest relic
boreal kernel
jolly zinc
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I was leaning Berkeley because of the weather and the Boba

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But I realized that I could just get the same boba in New York City if I go to Cornell

boreal kernel
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Pgh also has good boba

jolly zinc
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Yeah agree

jolly zinc
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4 hour

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Sorry

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But 30 min from skiing hill!!

earnest relic
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Berkeley ski club goes hard tho

woeful vector
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and then the 2 cafes on campus that serve drinks with bubbles (imo theyre gross)

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cornell is very asian theres plenty of asian things

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also very good thai tea in ctown

earnest relic
jolly zinc
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But it’s like 3 hours away

jolly zinc
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QQ noodles

jolly zinc
earnest relic
woeful vector
sturdy cedar
woeful vector
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and its like 10 min

sturdy cedar
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Weather def isn’t my fav here

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But I survive

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I’d even say I do well

woeful vector
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for me, its just the wind that pmo

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the temp and stuff i can cope

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but the wind makes stuff worse

sturdy cedar
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I hate the cold and I hate how cold everything is dead in winter

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But like I’ve lived in the northeast my whole life so I made do

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It’s the same as where I lived before

woeful vector
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this winter was just especially bad

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last yr was so fine

sturdy cedar
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Eh

woeful vector
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last yr i could wear shorts out almost every day in winter

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and not think id die of frostbite

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this yr i feared for my life

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wearing layers

sturdy cedar
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Ig I did walk back to my dorm in a hoodie at like 4am a few times

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But I almost froze to death

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It’s whatever

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Academic fit is way more important than weather

jolly zinc
jolly zinc
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Rn I’m wandering around campus trying to talk to people

woeful vector
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it looks like actual noodles. to me

image.png
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wym boba noodles 😭

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that sounds gross

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as a boba lover it sounds gross

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the gong cha soup scares me

jolly zinc
woeful vector
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oh , no we dont have that topping in any store

jolly zinc
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Yeah I mean it’s really a tp tea thing

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Do you guys know anything about Cornell bio vs Berkeley bio

sturdy cedar
earnest relic
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Name some resources. Berkeley career fairs are crowded but idk what else to expect

jolly zinc
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Though I’ve heard Berkeley’s proximity to industry is the best

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What if I wanna make a lot of money but don’t know what I wanna make a lot of money with right now

woeful vector
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i have a friend who went from premed to biz to premed again

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in CAS

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and i went from Eng to premed to premed + triple

woeful vector
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ik multiple people who have taken co op semesters

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or land strong return offers

jolly zinc
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and therefore biotech industry is right next door

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and anything in comp bio or cs related

boreal kernel
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I feel like CMU meets what you want

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Comp Bio and CS are both really really good here

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Also I feel like going from bio to swe is just selling out 💀 like that's an insane change

restive lintel
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CMU

jolly zinc
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Guys I might j pick Cornell

sturdy cedar
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best choice