Cornell CS vs JHU- competitive pressure and happiness

EurekaLightBulb4
Thu, 29 Apr 2021 05:10:55 +0000

Ok, some last minute stress trying to help my son choose the right college for a CS major, would appreciate any help. I’m hoping that in addition to getting a great education and having good career prospects, he will actually be happy for the 4 years.

He will major in CS. He is choosing between Hopkins (Engineering) and Cornell (admitted into A&S, not sure if he wants to stay there or transfer later into Engineering). Not sure about career choice yet - possible software engineering, possible law school, possible anything else at this point. His interests lean towards math and physics, but he also has other interests such as astronomy, philosophy, foreign language. He is smart, mature, and a hard-working, disciplined, self-motivated student. However, he can suffer from major anxiety and inability to sleep during exams. He has plenty of high school friends but is on the introverted side, needing time to himself. Not a big partier. Likes playing video games with friends.

Cornell is very appealing because of the excellence of its CS program, overall academic excellence and breadth, natural beauty, some alumni family ties, the Ivy moniker, and just an exciting feeling. We are from NYC and the rural community feels a bit limited, but Ithaca and Collegetown seem nice and he feels he can enjoy four years there. And great food on campus!

Our cons for Cornell are the idea of walking a mile to class in freezing, bitter, snowy weather and living with the depressing-ness of dreary grey skies and cold, and the perception we’ve developed that there might be an academic environment of intense competitive pressure, weedout course competition, grade deflation, expectation of all-nighters, causing extreme anxiety and inability to sleep on the nights before exams (especially if he transfers into Engineering). We’ve encountered numerous posts saying Cornell students are not happy because of these factors. In addition, I wonder if the huge number of students makes Cornell a more impersonal experience, and more difficult to make friends?

Hopkins seemed smaller, more intimate, more friendly, with a very pretty but smaller, navigable campus where dorms are close to classes. Students we met there said it’s nice to walk into a dining hall and always know someone. So maybe easier to make friends? The CS department is also smaller and more intimate, with maybe more chances to get to know profs. And the climate is warmer.

But the CS program is not nearly as well-rated, and we have heard that the Hopkins CS education is not as deep as Cornell’s. Baltimore is also not appealing. Although students seem to feel safe on or very near campus, and we really liked the campus and immediate surrounding areas, the area only a few blocks away seems sketchy and unsafe. And as pretty as campus is, there’s no good place for students to hang out while studying (Hopkins is building a really nice student center but this won’t be completed for 3 years.) And although both schools are incredibly great, it’s a bit hard to turn down the Ivy League.

Financially both programs are similar.

Would appreciate any suggestions or hearing people’s experiences. Especially interested in hearing what people think of Cornell’s CS culture in terms of competitiveness, unhappiness, degree of pressure and tension students feel.

Thank you very much!