Please offer advice for our 2024 student who is choosing between Cornell AAP for urban planning/commercial real estate and USC Price School for same.
Social and a hard worker, hoping for internships at least in the summer.
Thank you!
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Such a contrast - just in environments. Obviously more activity related to the field will take place at / near SC.
But these two contrast in the where, so does your student have a preference - city vs. not; warm vs. cold.
You might ask each school for a career outcomes guide - and see where students have gotten internships and full time roles and see if one stands out vs. the other.
Best of luck to your student - wonderful acceptances.
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Have you visited? My d24’s view of the world changed after visiting these schools during winter/spring. All her top acceptances are new england and she found those schools (including cornell) to be very cold, gloomy and remote. You will be wearing a heavy coat for most of the school year. Ithaca is a great town but you are still limited in activities/restaurant/culture. USC just has everything. You can surf before classes or go to a concert almost any night of the week. The restaurants are diverse and amazing. The dorms are beautiful and newer. And its warm and sunny.
Of course the biggest factor should still be the program you want to study but its also not worth being miserable for 4 years.
They are both good schools with high starting salaries after graduation. I wouldnt let rankings play too much of a role.
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Both schools are highly regarded for urban planning/policy and real estate. So congratulations on the amazing choices. 
I would also strongly suggest to visit both, as the two schools are extremely different, in a lot of aspects.
Interesting that you mentioned your student’s interest in both commercial real estate and urban planning. USC just launched a joint degree program last year - BS in Real Estate Finance and Development, which combines the strengths from both Price and Marshall School of Business.
USC Marshall and USC Price Announce Joint Degree in Real Estate
That sounds like best of both worlds to me, personally.
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Urban/Regional planning as a discipline straddles architecture and policy. Cornell’s department of Urban and regional Planning is situated in the College of Architecture, Art & Planning; USC’s is in the Price School of Public Policy, and thus the emphasis of each is somewhat different.
Cornell’s undergraduate URP program is small relative to its school of architecture. It draws heavily on Cornell’s status as an architecture and policy powerhouse in New York, the northeast and globally. The resources both academic and financial are phenomenal. The name recognition is instantaneous.
I don’t know enough about USC’s planning program to make a direct comparison, but to help clarify the differences I would suggest a close read of curriculums, synergy among other university departments, field experiences and travel opportunities.
My son did his Master of Architecture at Cornell. The climate didn’t bother him and the intense natural beauty of the surroundings was a plus for outdoorsy activities (though blizzards in April were dispiriting).
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