<p>I would say that cornell has harder courses than stanford. Cornell is known for being easy to get into and hard to get out of (I read this is some secondany college review sources, i dont remember which). That is, its size makes is easier than other ivy leagues to get accepted but the large class size creates compitiotion and prevents much grade inflation. Thus, with lower grades it is harder to transfer out. Stanford I believe has less inflation then harvard or yale but more than most of the rest of the schools (but I dont really subscribe to the notion that this really means stanford is easier, I think all the students there work harder then ave elsewhere and the curve thus has to be nicer). </p>
<p>I think stanford is always a far reach school and I dont think you gpa will prohibit you in any way (assuming you have excellent hs grades). I didnt have a 4.0 and I got in, I think it is a decision based mostly on recs and eassys so one can never say chances.</p>
<p>Also, Stanford was not modelled after cornell any more than the other ivy leagues but that is where the greatest number of their intial facualty hailed from.</p>
<p>As to overrated or underrated cornell is probably underrated. This is due to its status as a state school. Its huge and recieves funding from the state of ny so its the odd one out of the ivy league. In america, state school are almost all underrated, I mean ucb should not be so low on the usnews. For stanford being overrated I dont really see that and perhaps that just depends on where you are. For me, duke is the overrated school, it is the highly rated school in my state that is refrenced way too much.</p>