<p>How affordable is this to the family? Is it going to be a tough go and require taking out some big time loans or hitting up the pension funds? Or is the scholarship from NEU totally a windfall and you were completely prepared to pay full freight?</p>
<p>All things equal, I would pick the ivy. Engineering majors have a high drop rate. LIke more than half. It’s more important that a student be at a school that suits him than whether the engineering program is few points higher on the scale than another. ALso it’s more valuable that other interests that the student might have are well served by the school. </p>
<p>Northeastern is not the usual type of college and it may not be the sort of school for some kids. I have one that would have maybe liked it; the others were set on having a more traditional college experience which Cornell is more likely to give. </p>
<p>So what type of kid do you have, is more the question.</p>