<p>Wow, so many great replies. </p>
<p>I’m currently wrapping up my first year at Cornell and I was in a similar position as you (USC vs Berkeley vs Cornell) except mine was much easier… Cornell gave me the most aid so it was actually cheaper to come here.</p>
<p>I think what everyone else said has a lot of validity. You really can’t go wrong with either one. If you were in engineering, then I think it would be hard to turn down Berkeley. But if you’re not then, here’s some things I think you should consider.</p>
<p>Where are you from? If you’re a native Californian (like myself) then I would highly encourage you to come to Cornell. You get to meet a whole different type of people. East coasters are incredibly different from west coasters and I think having that perspective is important. Also, Cornell is much more diverse than Berkeley (thanks, in part, to affirmative action) so you get to meet people from more diverse backgrounds and ethnicity. Berkeley has a reputation of being mostly Californians and Asian/White. If you never experienced that, then go for it! But growing up in the bay area, I wanted to experience something new, not just go to another version of my high school.</p>
<p>Berkeley’s campus is also much more condensed. It takes about 15-20 minutes to cover a campus while Cornell is surrounded by trees and has beautiful gorges/lakes to walk around. You experience seasons here… Fall is absolutely gorgeous here… Something you won’t get in California.</p>
<p>But I think at the end of the day where you’re originally from really matters. If I were an east coaster, I would choose Berkeley. College is about learning and growing and nothing catalyzes that more than moving to a completely new place and forcing yourself to grow. You’ll find a home at both places, but I can’t stress enough the lessons that going 3000 miles away from home has taught me.</p>
<p>(Note: in my intro Chem class (Chem 2080) we’re forced to do group homework assignments and labs… So professors do encourage it and it has its pros and con’s)</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>