<p>Another ex-Ithacan here who attended U of C for college. Chose not to attend Cornell so perhaps I am biased. Choice ought to be fairly straightforward as the two are so very very very different.</p>
<p>U of C vs Cornell</p>
<p>cold, snowy, grey and windy vs cold, snowy and grey
flat urban concrete vs hilly rural with gorgeous gorges and woods
poor inner city black vs upscale upstate new york whites
College in a city of millions vs a college that is the city</p>
<p>On a more serious note, I think you can get a degree from Cornell without becoming an educated person. Due to its very large size, it is not difficult to cruise through, take easy classes and graduate. That would not be possible at U of C. where they force you to become a learned person whether you want to or not. If you are a motivated student then you should do fine at Cornell, but for those more lackadaisical like myself, U of C education was invaluable in terms of requiring me to read the Greeks and the Federalist Papers (even though I ended up in the sciences). In fact, just today I had a nice discussion about history with a Carlton History major and held my own.</p>
<p>Also illustrative of the difference is the fact that the Engineering school is one of the largest schools at Cornell whereas U of C turned town a benefactor who wanted to give them money to start one up (or so the story goes). I believe their reason was that Engineering wasn’t cerebral enough, and too tradesman like. I have to say, I did not miss having them around…</p>