<p>My suggestion: visit both Harvard and Cornell, stay overnight, and see which one you like better. There’s one thing that I’ve observed, however. The academics at all the top schools should be pretty much the same; in fact, you could probably learn the same stuff at your local State U as at Cornell or Harvard (though maybe not as well). What sets these schools apart is the student body–you’ll be more motivated to do well with higher quality peers and learn more outside of the classroom–and the vast opportunities that lay, again, outside the classroom.</p>