Cornell vs. VT vs. Notre Dame

Boondocks
Sun, 21 Apr 2013 21:14:39 +0000

Cries & Whispers: You really need to elaborate. What is your experience with these three schools? Have you attended all three of them? Hired anyone from any of them? Known numerous people (not just one or two) who have attended them?



mjcolt45: I evaluate executives for a living.

Your decision should come down to personal fit, and affordability, if there is much of a dollar difference for you. You should also consider, as you mentioned, how likely you are to change majors. I was told by an admissions officer at a large university that on the average nationally, 70% of college students change their majors. Cornell and Notre Dame both will have far more options beyond engineering and other STEM majors than VPI.

VPI is known nationally, although the reputation is not as strong as Cornell’s. Regardless of Notre Dame’s US News ranking for engineering (it’s little lower than that of the other two), if I get a resume from a Notre Dame engineering grad, I will assume that he or she is extremely bright and that the school provided plenty of resources and excellent teaching while he went there.

Be wary of using US News Rankings for engineering schools, because those are entirely based upon peer rankings, and peers generally rank a school based on their research and the sheer size of the engineering school (research is done by profs and grad students for the most part, and often can get in the way of teaching undergrads). Small engineering schools don’t necessarily mean poor quality, unless you felt when you visited that the department is ignored and a stepchild. Often, small means smaller classes and closer contact with professors.

All three have strong academic reputations, in other words, and employers will look well upon a degree from any of them. Being a state school, VPI will have less money to spend than the other two, so they will likely have larger classes, more grad students teaching or less access to resources than the other two (IPEDS Data indicates that VPI’s average spending on instruction per student is $9,117; Notre Dame’s is $27,444 and Cornell’s is $20,159). Don’t use these numbers as absolutes, either, because different institutions use different accounting methods, but the differences are great enough to indicate that VPI is spending less than either of the other two.

All three have strong alumni networks, with Cornell and Notre Dame having the strongest ones, and people working in other areas besides engineering (bear in mind that it can be handy for you when getting a job if a non-engineer alum from your school is in a senior position in private equity or any of a hundred other positions).

Regarding weather, the weather at both Notre Dame and Cornell are about the same, so if you hate the climate at Cornell, you’ll hate the Notre Dame climate, too. VPI will be a fair amount warmer, and is tucked in a nice mountainous area. Cornell has a stunning location on a lake with gorges at the base of campus and rolling hills all around. South Bend is pretty much surrounded by flat farmland. None offer easy access to a city (but most of your college life revolves around what happens on campus, anyway).

So it all comes down to fit - don’t make the decision based on which engineering school is supposed to be the best, unless you really feel that the engineering school is far worse than that of the other two). Which place has kids that you like? How important is the weather to you? Which one will you give you the most individual attention and the best access to cutting-edge facilities and prominent faculty? Which one can you afford? How important is it that you go to college with your sister? Is the religious atmosphere at Notre Dame a plus or a minus to you?

If you’re saying that you really feel most comfortable at Notre Dame (I’m not a graduate, nor do I have any association with the school, by the way), you should go there, as long as you can afford it. It is an excellent school, and you will get fantastic education there.