<p>Ah, yes, I was enjoying my time spent in this discussion as a spectator rather than a participant. As CayugaRed mentioned, I have vast Cornell family and friend connections-- so I can name-drop things like Goldwin-Smith Hall and the Lynah Faithful with ease.</p>
<p>I should point out that before I say anything further, I respect Cornell as a school immensely, but it was not attractive enough to me for me to apply to it. Part of it could have been that I already knew a lot about the school-- but mostly I wanted something that I felt Chicago offered me more readily than Cornell. I would love to pull one of those “it’s not you, it’s me” lines on Cornell, because it is a great school with a lot going for it.</p>
<p>The only thing I’ll bring up about Cayuga’s post (which I thought was very good) was the “twinkle in the eye” bit. I highly doubt Chicago has the party power or the stay-up-all-night-for-hockey tickets power that Cornell does, but the Chicago experience is a powerful and rewarding one, even if it doesn’t always mirror the “traditional college experience.” I would point to a flood of recent extremely large donations to the undergraduate college and University and the dramatic rise in participation in the senior class gift to emphasize that this place does give people that “twinkle.” If I can use myself as an example, I certainly think I’m getting more out of my experience here (socially, academically, extracurricularly, etc.) than I ever imagined.</p>
<p>OP’s son applied to both schools and is asking about both schools; clearly both have their own appeal to OP’s son. Ideally, pending both acceptances, OP would be able to spend some time in Ithaca and Hyde Park and figure things out for himself, but if that’s not possible, it would be time for OP to have a big think about what he wants most out of his college experience and consider which institution will offer that more readily.</p>
<p>And, if that doesn’t help, I think that a lot of Cornell folks could be happy at Chicago and vice versa. So maybe the decision isn’t so dramatic after all.</p>