Cornell vs UCSB vs UCSD for psych/soc major

mikemac
Fri, 18 Mar 2005 22:32:11 +0000

well, if you can visit both, that’s what you should do. Cornell is somewhat isolated, and as you’ve noted it’s cold there. But they sell coats, and maybe you’ll love sledding down Lib slope.

Seriously, much as I like UCSB, Cornell is an elite school. Don’t go there if you’ll spend 4 years waking up every morning regretting it. And I’m guessing you’re a CA resident, so seeing a different part of the country can be a worthwhile experience even if you settle back here.

What you really need to do is make a list of criteria for picking a college. This is work, but its actually something worth doing BEFORE applying so that you find a basket of colleges you like. At this stage of the game its still worth doing to make the decision you have. List everything that matters, no matter how trivial. Then sort the list by importance, and give each school a grade. Examining your chart may help you realize which the right choice is. There’s a book by some Harvard biz-school profs called “Smart Choices” that goes into the steps for making difficult choices.