#Cornell vs UMD (For friend) FINAID OUT

69 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

spark fern
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(This is for my friend who doesn't have Discord, I gave him the template and he filled it out)
Schools: Cornell vs UMD
Intended major: Urban design
Similarities: Both really good w/ arch, have programs for design, in the Northeast/Midatlantic, have pretty campuses

Cornell
Pros:

  • 3rd highest ranked urban planning school in the country (behind USC and Rice)
  • relatively close to home compared to those 2
  • claims they offer "100% aid", since my EFC is 0 I might get a full ride there (r/cornell students say I might)
  • in the snowy upstate of NY (I love snow)
  • nice campus
  • "Prestigious" (honestly idk what this entails)

School 1 Cons:

  • horrible sports programs, football team sucks and most people don't care about the Ivy League for cfb
  • 5 hours away from home by driving, might get lonely
  • also really hard to get to
  • low school spirit, high depression/suicide rates
  • the butt of every ivy league joke
  • might still cost a lot, won't know until finaid comes out
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Uni of Maryland
School 2 Pros:

  • close to home, can take a bus to go back home any day
  • my ideal before getting into Cornell
  • huge student pop, wouldn't be hard to make new friends
  • many kids from my hs (I'm an incoming freshmen) are going here
  • close to DC, a city I can get internships/study in

School 2 Cons:

  • horrible dorms, which I plan to live in for both options
  • sports situation is medicore, Big 10 is still a plus over big red
  • might end up costing more than Cornell due to lackluster aid

Tiebreaking considerations:
How welcoming are the students? Despite being an ivy league does Cornell still feel like a "big school?" Which one gives me better job opps?

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Cornell vs UMD (For friend) (Use this one!!!)

tawny wedge
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Does your friend play football or intend to play football in college?

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I would personally note one thing, that Cornell has amazing STEM programs and whoever person claiming that Cornell is the "tail ivy" can go suck it ---- if they look down upon you because you go to Cornell instead of some other ivies, it's their problem, not your friend's

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Cornell has a modestly large student population to bond with, so I wouldn't worry much about making friends, they ain't signing up for HMC or the likes dogekek

spark fern
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from my own research UMD has abt 40k students, Cornell 15k

tawny wedge
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Since your friend has an EFC of 0, it is likely that Cornell will give the full ride which includes flights ---- iirc AAL is to start flying from Philadelphia to Ithaca soon, certainly by the start of the school year, so they can always jet there

tawny wedge
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Also I am pretty sure the suicide rate thing is a bit of a myth ---- and keep in mind, school reddits tend to focus on the worse part of the school

spark fern
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and they rley more on the css profile

tawny wedge
spark fern
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oh yea

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they send me the fafsa email it said they get a pell grant

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isnt that just $6000

tawny wedge
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Assuming the full ride is secured, Cornell is an apparent pick since it's financially and academically favorable

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The friend even likes the snow and the campus, eliminating a major concern for many

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The sports thing... unless your friend intends to play professionally, I won't place it so high up

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And as for the "tail ivy" thing, I'll quote my Cornell interviewer, that it's nonsense

spark fern
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lets ignore finances for now ig

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he says hes still working on the css profile thing

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i doubt he'll get enough aid since its pretty late

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but anyways

spark fern
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if u can tell

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i heard their hockeys pretty good so ill convince him to start liking it

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ig we just like the social aspect of it

tawny wedge
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I would say you can find social opportunities through non-athletic channels

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But then idk much about the athletic scenes in either places

spark fern
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id say he currently feels more connected to UMD for its locality

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and the fact it might cost less bc logically it should

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but we've heard stories of kids having their in-state college costing more

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i told him cornell is like a fresh start while umd might carry some old state weight w/ him

whole parrot
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Yeah that’s reasonable, Cornell is the obvious choice for the prestige whores but if he is worried he won’t be as happy there then UMD is the way to go

spark fern
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i feel like hed be better off at cornell

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it sucks bc we'd probably have to separate

spark fern
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he just found out that cornell's gym and laundry costs money now he's adamant abt umd

whole parrot
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why tf would cornell's gym cost money

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when it costs 84k a year

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thats insane

tawny wedge
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I can go off-campus for UT to keep the out-of-pocket cost lower but still shrug most state schools don't bother to pay your housing

tawny wedge
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I am strongly inclined to request that your friend write a letter to Cornell citing reasons he picked UMD over them, especially with this, should this decision be made, and that responses from Cornell, if any, be shared with us because this is going to be top-tier r/nottheonion content

spark fern
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who would he email

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its $300 per year

tawny wedge
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Lol

spark fern
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ok

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another big factor i forgot to mention was location

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cornell's pretty far from home like a 5 hr drive so it' wont be often that he gets to meet his mom

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which is important bc last year his dad died which fucked a ton of things up

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he wants to be with his mom but also wants a good education

whole parrot
whole parrot
spark fern
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he expects to hear finaid stuff next week

spark fern
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alright his finaid entrance fee got waived at cornell

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that should be a good sign right

spark fern
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ok

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he got off the phone w cornell finaid

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they said his mom expects him to give 12.5k so his total expected payment is supposed to be 15k per year

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umd redid their offer and theyre claiming to give 16k

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its rly close

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Cornell vs UMD (For friend) FINAID OUT

whole parrot
spark fern
whole parrot
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if its same price its really an easy choice for many people