I got into the School of Agri and Life Sciences (CALS) at Cornell where I will be studying Development Sociology. At the beginning of my senior year of high school, I thought I was very sure about pursuing this major but now I am not so sure as I have come to appreciate economics and may venture into other disciplines in the social sciences. It is very likely that I will have to transfer to the School Arts and Sciences if I do decide to attend Cornell since CALS markets itself as a school for undergrads who are dead-set on pursuing their intended majors. On the other hand, I got into the College at Georgetown as an undeclared major. If I attend this school, I will have the opportunity to pursue a liberal arts curriculum. I’ve also heard that GTown is very strong in the social sciences. However, GTown has no Greek life and I’ve heard that its student life heavily revolves around clubs, some of which are very competitive to get into. I’ve also heard that the majority of the student population is very wealthy and preppy. I also recently read an article about how some of the most popular clubs at GTown are disproportionately white/not very friendly toward students of color, which concerned me as I am a student of color. Last but not least, I got into the School of Letters and Sciences at UCLA where similar to Georgetown, I will be able to pursue a liberal arts curriculum with much flexibility and have access to a wide breadth of courses. Personally, I like UCLA the best in terms of its campus culture; I love its location, campus, dining options, and level of economic and cultural diversity, as well as the SoCal weather. I feel that I would thrive at UCLA’s social scene. I am also a very self-sufficient and proactive learner who is unafraid to fight for research opportunities/the access to professors. I am incredibly torn because I was raised in an incredibly cutthroat and competitive culture where an Ivy League degree is revered to an unhealthy degree (I grew up outside of the U.S.). Furthermore, my parents want me to go to Cornell. However, I feel that I would be most happy at UCLA (I would enjoy GTown but I feel that Cornell’s harsh weather and remote location would not suit well for me). Any advice is welcome!
can you afford all 3? If so, then I’d pick UCLA for all the reasons you stated.
Yes, if all three of them are affordable, then go to UCLA. UCLA is an excellent university; it’s on par with (and some might say better than) Georgetown and Cornell for sure, and it sounds like you really like it.
Ivy League is just an athletic conference.
I do believe Georgetown and Cornell would offer opportunities UCLA would not.
Georgetown and Cornell are peers and yes, the Ivy League is a sports conference. As many Ivy-equivalents (by any way you measure) outside the Ivy League as in it.
I do not know why @juillet persists in saying that the “Ivy League is just an athletic conference” which is technically true, but completely irrelevant when someone is trying to figure out the value of attending an Ivy school. The Pac-12 is just a conference, and that has nothing to do with comparing UCLA to Cornell.
That said, UCLA sounds like your best option if it’s affordable. I would not recommend paying a premium for UCLA at OOS prices, but Cornell and Georgetown may well be in the same price range.
I have Cornell a hair ahead of Georgetown both due to the number of available majors and for their reputation of rigor. But Georgetown is outstanding too.
Both will offer smaller classes and probably better career services than UCLA. You could insert any other state school – i’m not just picking on UCLA.
If you must have the California monoseason climate and D1 athletics in every sport, UCLA is the choice. If you want a more intimate academic environment featuring more contact with profs, Georgetown or Cornell is the choice.
If you chose between Cornell and Georgetown, you’d want to look at available majors and environment as two main decision drivers.
UCLA is a very popular state school, but it is not better than Cornell or Georgetown, nor probably as good, for undergraduate education.
I’m pretty sure you can do Econ through the Ag school at Cornell. https://admissions.cals.cornell.edu/academics/majors/aem
Also, Cornell has a process for not only changing majors but switching colleges if you figure out you have a different interest.
I’m an alumna of Cornell. H went to UCLA. Both my students were admitted to Gtown. I would pick UCLA or Gtown all the way. Can’t go wrong with either. I think you just go with what you like most. Cornell might be higher in the rankings, but Ag school is not Arts and Sciences and Ithaca can be very gloomy. Congratulations though on such good choices.
Purple Titan, UCLA’s endowment per student is $100,000, and that does not include state funding, which is the equivalent of an additional $150,000/student. So UCLA’s financial resources are equal to a large private university with an endowment of $250,0000/student. I say large private university because a small private university will not benefit from the economies of scale that UCLA enjoys. Georgetown’s endowment per student is $100,000. When you consider economies of scale, UCLA has more resources available to it than Georgetown. I agree with juillet, the Ivy League is just an athletic conference. Yes, all 8 members are exceptional, but that does not mean that non-Ivies cannot be equally as exceptional. UCLA is certainly on par with Georgetown and Cornell. Between those schools, I would go with the most affordable option, and if cost is not a concern, I would go for the best academic and social fit.
@preppedparent, isn’t changing schools at Cornell not all that difficult if you come is as a freshman?
@Alexandre, I’m looking at alumni accomplishments, which endowment certainly correlates with, but for instance, both Georgetown and Cornell are Street feeders in a way that UCLA isn’t (for someone interested in econ).
For me, I can’t get past the weather. I hate the snow. I also hate hot, humid summers even more than I hate the snow. UCLA, without any second thoughts.
Endowment per student correlates with alumni accomplishment? I’ve never heard that before, unless you are limiting things to remunerative accomplishments.
@jgargery, there are outliers (Georgetown has a relatively small per-capita endowment but it’s alumni accomplishments are up there with other Ivies/equivalents and Emory has an endowment that matches many Ivies/equivalents but it isn’t up there in alumni achievements), but in general, the schools that have the largest endowments are also the schools that are highest ranked are also the schools who have the most prominent alums (per capita).
True enough PurpleTitan, but there are other factors to consider when looking at alumni accomplishments, such as socioeconomic background (Georgetown students generally come from affluent and influential families while UCLA students typically come from lower to middle income families) and intellectual horsepower (Georgetown students tend to be slightly stronger academically than UCLA students).
Not sure how hard it is now to change colleges within Cornell. True, in my day ions ago, there were students who transferred relatively easily from Hum Ec to Arts or Ag to Arts and Sciences. Don’t know if Engineering would be tougher to get into . ILR had its own group of fans who weren’t looking to switch, same with Hotel.
Academically, Cornell > UCLA >>> Georgetown (Unless Foreign Service).
Can’t think of one area other than IR where Georgetown is stronger than UCLA…
Cornell fares better in the undergrad-focused USNWR rankings, but UCLA and Cornell are neck-and-neck in virtually every worldwide ranking of universities.
THES ranking
15 UCLA
19 Cornell
123 Georgetown
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/2018/world-ranking
THES reputation ranking
13 UCLA
23 Cornell
N/A Georgetown (outside world top 100)
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/2017/reputation-ranking
AWRU ranking
12 UCLA
14 Cornell
201-300 Georgetown
http://www.shanghairanking.com/ARWU2017.html
CWUR ranking
12 Cornell
15 UCLA
131 Georgetown
To me, Cornell is a bit stronger academically, but the differences aren’t huge. Go where you believe you will be most successful and at home.
Those rankings in #16 are based primarily on grad and PhD output and rep and have little to do with undergraduate-level quality. For undergrad, US News is a much better resource.
Dartmouth and Brown aren’t ranked very highly in many of those grad-based rankings either, but few would say that UCLA is better at the undergrad level.
Where do you see yourself ending up geographically? If you want to settle on the west coast, then go to UCLA. If you’ll be an east coaster, Cornell might be a smarter decision in terms of networking and job placement. But they are all great schools. But all other things being equal, you should go where you want to go.