conflicted and confused

iX3demosthenes
Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:04:19 +0000

the 1 month after acceptances were sent out, I thought i would have more than enough time to make a decision…and i have something like four days left and i still lack the conviction to choose a college.

so i have narrowed down my choices to two schools: Chicago and Cornell
I will be a Biology major at both, but each school only seems to satisfy only a part my academic desires.

no, I’m not a prestige whore (for the lack of a better word), and yes I have always understood “Ivy” as being a sports league, so as I see it, the academic reputation of Cornell and Chicago seems to be comparable. I am also pretty set on going to grad school, so the prestige each school has in the mainstream is not really a top concern of mine. if i am wrong feel free to correct my ignorance. anyway, i also feel the same way about the strength of the biology programs of both; however, the family friends I talked to from each school aren’t bio majors, so it would be nice if someone could comment on the relative strengths of their programs. as for the performance of the respective student bodies in grad school admissions, I’d imagine that the difference isnt too significant to sway my decision one way to another. I also recognize that being a potential premed is going to be competitive and difficult no matter where I go; thus I don’t think i want to reopen the “fun comes to die” debate again.

with that said, Chicago’s edge in economics makes it pretty enticing (it’s an area of study that’s in the back of my mind, but i am considering it should bio not pan out as intended). Engineering is something I am also interested in, ergo the attachment to cornell. the 5 year masters they offer is admittedly very enticing.

I visited both schools and while I really liked the intellectual nature of the students at chicago, I was able to meet some pretty similar people at cornell as well; thus, I really have no preference in this regard.

so what worries me is that the core might be limiting to science majors. I recall a couple math, physics and chem majors I met during one of those overnight events telling me that they often feel inhibited by taking so many humanities courses; nonetheless all the things I have heard about the quality of a chicago education has made me sway back at forth.

as for cost, I think I’ll graduate from chicago with 24k more debt that i would at cornell. i still feel i can live with the difference in price. i guess what i really would like to know is if 1) the core is limiting? 2) how important is the “intellectualness” of the students in the context of the undergraduate experience 3) how do students would who like to explore engineering someday (bio, chem, possibly ee for me) deal with the lack of such an option at chicago?

and if anyone had to pick between cornell and chicago, how did you choose and why?