<p>I’ll leave the engineering comparisons to posters more knowledgeable than I. </p>
<p>Culturally, these schools attract similar students, but Cornell’s location and physical environment is vastly different from your California choices. </p>
<p>Have you visited Cornell? If yes, how did you like it? If no, can you visit before you make a decision? The isolated rural small town location is either a plus or a minus. My son got his graduate degree from Cornell, and for him the spectacular scenery and access to nature was a huge positive, but for sure the winters are long, cold and snowy.</p>
<p>It also depends on how you feel about stepping out of your safety zone and trying another part of the country. Cornell as an ivy league school has a strong reputation all over America and internationally. Not that the others don’t, but there’s a slight east/west bias. Internships and summer jobs would skew somewhat more toward east coast for Cornell and west coast for the others, so you should also think about where you are most likely to end up after graduation.</p>
<p>And lastly, how’s the money? Equal or one more than the others?</p>