thejoker0909

Is there anyone out there who picked NU over Cornell?


Why did you/would you?

Help for a prospective econ/history/ philosophy/ possibly industrial eng. major.

thejoker0909

why did only 36% of students accepted to both choose NU over Cornell, according to NYtimes survey?

Is there something I'm missing?

arbiter213

My girlfriend did. She just liked NU better, and they're basically comparable. And yes, what you're missing is that most people who apply to BOTH are coming from the Northeast, and thus have a Bias towards Cornell. Fewer top-calibur students from the midwest (read, those who more generally favor NU) apply to Cornell.

WCASParent

I believe that arbiter213 has hit the nail on the head.
The highest concentration of high-caliber college applicants is in the northeast, which has a baseless eastern bias where colleges are concerned.
We are from the east, but my daughter didn't buy in to this bias. She applied to NU early and got in, even though she was a stronger applicant to Cornell than every kid from our town who had gone to Cornell the last few years (and we send 10-14/year).
She just liked NU's atmosphere better.
It is a totally subjective thing. They are both first tier institutions. NU happens to be in a better town (if you like the draw of a major city), is on the "beach," and, many feel, is not quite as over-the-top intense as some people find Cornell to be. Cornell has the appeal of being an "Ivy" (which means everything to some people) and has the gorgeous gorges, even though no major city.
How can you lose whichever you pick?

sanjenferrer

NU loses the cross admit battle with Cornell because of the aforementioned geographic bias and also Cornell's Ivy League affiliation.

Sam Lee

^our econ and industrial engineering programs are cooler! why did you ask? you seriously believe other people's preference should affect *your* decision when both schools are in the same league?

thejoker0909

I asked out of curiosity. Its an interesting compilation of data, and I was simply curious about a trend I saw. Rest assured Sam Lee, I'm going to both Cornell days and Wildcat days, and probably picking the school where I feel most at home.

thejoker0909

or at least where my gut tells me. Any other reasons for this data trend? Comparisons in terms of prestige?

BK22889

i wouldn't call bias towards northeast schools "baseless", its a matter of fact that we have a higher concentration of good schools, though obviously there re good schools everywhere.

as a nu freshman from nyc, i had many friends who chose northeast schools, cornell, many lac's, hopkins, tufts, cause they just didn't want to have to get on a plane to get home.

cornell and nu are surprisingly similar considering their vast environmental differences. we have some programs that are better, they have some programs that are better. it depends what is important to you.

gcnorth

for many NY students the choice is financial - three of Cornell's colleges are SUNY and the ivy league education atthe cost of in state tuition is very attractive.