Unbiased opinions, CMU vs Cornell

Colleges & Universities Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1

<p>MIT was my dream school, got rejected though. And now I’m left with two awesome choices for ECE, CMU and Cornell :D</p>

<p>Note: If I have the time, I might double in CS. But thats highly unlikely :)</p>

<p>Since I’m intl, I havent visited either school and have no clue about the general atmosphere at both the schools. So far I’ve heard that academics at both schools are comparable, and I would have no problem getting into some good engineering grad schools from either one.</p>

<p>So which one would you guys pick? and Why?</p>

<p>Everyone please feel free to weigh in!!! I have less than a week to decide :eek:</p>

2

<p>Cornell is the one with the 3 week terms, right? One class to a term, intensive study, and all that? I don’t know anything about CMU (except through my exposure to their C++ graphics lib, which we used in APCS).</p>

3

<p>I don’t know too much about CMU, but Cornell is a great school. And, if you aren’t really interested in living in a city, it’s perfect. The campus, I hear, is absolutely gorgeous. Personally, I’d pick Cornell over CMU.</p>

4

<p>I’d probably pick cornell over cmu. I think there’s a lot more diversity at cornell, in terms of the people who are there. CMU is primarily techie/drama kids, but at cornell you get a bit of everything.</p>

5

<p>What kind of environment do you want to live in? Large/medium school? Size of surrounding city? Weather? </p>

<p>Cornell: 13,655 undergrads (5% int’l); Ithaca NY (2000 census popn: 29,287)
CMU: 5,389 undergrads (12% int’l); Pittsburgh PA (2000 census popn: 334,563)</p>

<p>CMU has a much smaller undergrad population and a larger proportion of international students (which works out to about the same number either way, around 640 total). Ithaca is not a “city” in the sense that Pittsburgh is a city, or certainly not a medium-large city: Ithaca is more a “large town”. The weather will be similar in both places: you’ll get winter. But the winters in Ithaca will be slightly more severe most years. Cornell is very hilly; CMU is not particularly. Both campuses have beautiful areas. Cornell will have much more to offer in terms of sporting events.</p>

<p>Both schools have excellent programs. In CMU’s factbook ( <a href=“http://www.cmu.edu/planning/facts2005/2005%20Fact%20Book.pdf[/url]”>http://www.cmu.edu/planning/facts2005/2005%20Fact%20Book.pdf&lt;/a&gt; ), they rank Cornell as their #1 competitor school (followed closely behind by MIT) based on cross-applicants, so I think you are making a great choice either way.</p>

<p>(PS: Wouldn’t this be better asked somewhere other than on the MIT forum? :wink: )</p>

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<p><a href=“PS:%20Wouldn’t%20this%20be%20better%20asked%20somewhere%20other%20than%20on%20the%20MIT%20forum?%20;”>quote=mootmom</a> )

[/quote]

nah, I dont think so :D</p>

<p>Some more questions: Is there any other difference between the two other than the surroundings/weather? </p>

<p>Should I consider Cornell’s size as a minus? Will I get more personal attention/research opportunities at CMU (considering its smaller size) or is it the same at both the colleges?</p>

<p>I’m also in at Duke’s Pratt school of Engineering, should I even consider it? Its turning to be around 50K cheaper though, is Cornell/CMU worth the extra cost?</p>

<p>Thanks a million :)</p>

7

<p>i’d actually go with duke (no idea why but had i not gotten in EA, i would have applied to duke)</p>

8

<p>I’m in a similar situation (WL at MIT, accepted to Caltech, Cornell, and CMU), and I’m choosing CMU (school of computer science, probably with a double major in ECE).</p>

<p>If you’re really interested in CS and/or ECE, CMU is preferable to Cornell in my opinion. CMU rivals (or exceeds, according to some) MIT and Stanford in CS, CMU’s CompE is ranked higher, and Cornell’s EE is only ranked slightly higher than CMU’s (not that I put that much stock in USNWR). I know several people with nearly identical interests who are actually turning down MIT for CMU, albeit for the SCS, not the ECE per se.</p>

<p>Companies like Intel, Google, Microsoft, AMD, and GE recruit directly from CMU’s CS and ECE department for internships and jobs (check out <a href=“http://swetietoc.pc.cc.cmu.edu/toc/2005/[/url]”>http://swetietoc.pc.cc.cmu.edu/toc/2005/&lt;/a&gt;). Although many companies like these recruit from Cornell as well, the “Carnegie Mellon” name is more associated with CS and ECE in this industry. In these disciplines, CMU is often viewed along the same lines as Stanford and MIT. Research opportunities are plentiful and encouraged at CMU, especially in ECE and CS, but Cornell also offers research positions to undergrads.</p>

<p>An anecdote that I heard at CMU this weekend: A girl in the SCS talked to a professor at Cornell when she was deciding between the two and he said something like “You were accepted to CMU? You are among the elite!” and they talked about CMU’s work in CS for a while.</p>

<p>To be fair, I received a half-tuition merit scholarship from CMU which also factored into my decision, but I would have taken CMU over Cornell anyway. Ithaca also seemed like a cold and dreary place when I visited Cornell in the fall. The weather is equally crappy in both places, but CMU is at least in a (pseudo-)city.</p>

<p>Sorry, I guess my opinion isn’t completely unbiased ^^; In complete unbiased objectivity, at least for undergraduate work, the decision really comes down to location and cost. (Cornell fans, please don’t flame me)</p>

9

<p>As far a choosing between Cornell and CMU, I would personally go with Cornell, although I agree that these are 2 highly regarded schools and there are many good reasons for choosing either one over the other. I think at this point, it all boils down to personal feel. Both are intimidatingly tough, yet highly respected engineering schools. As mentioned above, Cornell has a larger undergraduate student body, but in a smaller town. Cornell also tends to be less international. Whether these things are important depend on your personality - whether you want to be with lots of other students in a smaller town (some people really like that), or whether you would prefer to be with less students in a more urban environment (some people would rather have that). I would also point out that the majority of people who intend to do ECE will not complete the major. So you have to factor in just how sure you really are about ECE and if you do find out you’d rather do something else, what other things the school has to offer. </p>

<p>Now, if it were really up to me, I’d take Duke and the 50k. But again, that really depends on your ‘price-sensitivity’. If you come from a very rich family, then 50k probably doesn’t matter much. However, to me, 50k is a good chunk of change.</p>

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<p>Whoa! Congrats! I would also take Duke and the 50k!</p>

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<p>What happened to Duke, hello? :stuck_out_tongue: Hell bent on spending the $$?</p>

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<p>CMU.
Unless you live within a reasonable driving distance, Air connections and the cost for that connection is valuable. Pittsburgh is served by the major airlines where as Ithaca is served by only one and one that is in bankrupcy. Cost to fly to Ithaca is more than to Pittsburgh. </p>

<p>Pittsburgh weather is better too. </p>

<p>CMU is perhaps Andrew’s legacy to future generations, among other things that bears Carnegie’s name. I wonder what Gate’s lasting legacy will be?</p>

<p>Portlander: if from Oregon, then you will find Pittsburgh nearly identical to Portland but a bit larger in everything.</p>

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<p>Cornell is huge. You’re bound to find people you can identify with, there. You’re also bound to find freezing cold winters and pretty tough classes. CMU seems more practically oriented to me (e.g., mech. e’s design and cast their own wrenches etc., rather than doing just problems on paper). CMU is also in a city, whereas Cornell is… not. Granted, Cornell has a “university town” surrounding it, so it’s not in the middle of nowhere… but CMU is more likely to have activities that are not so specifically tied into the university. I’d go with Cornell. Keep in mind also that Cornell is very much older (founded in the 17th century?), and that might have some effect on the kind of education you get.</p>

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<p>I wouldn’t say that Cornell is very much older than CMU. Cornell was founded in 1865 (it is by far the youngest of the Ivies), whereas the Carnegie Institute was founded in 1900, the Mellon Institute in 1917, and they merged to form CMU in 1967.</p>

<p><a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnegie_mellon[/url]”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnegie_mellon&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornell_University[/url]”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornell_University&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>sorry, I was mistaking cornell for bowdoin; however, only with regards to its founding date.</p>

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<p>I got in touch with a prof at UMichigan, and he said CMU all the way for ECE and CS.</p>

<p>SO its down to Duke + $$$ or CMU!!</p>

17

<p>Hmm that is going to be tough, I didn’t notice that you were considering CS too.</p>

<p>Umm, I think I should point out to any of the readers of this thread that CMU does not offer Financial Aid for international students, and hello was one of the few exceptional international students to be admitted to Duke with aid (the admission process is need-aware for internationals).</p>

<p>That said, if you are able to afford CMU for four years, then you should go to Carnegie. Duke, while not as good as CMU, should be your choice if you have any concerns about covering your undergrad tuition at CMU.</p>

<p>Just my $.02.</p>

18

<p>Go to Duke and save the $$$ for grad school. Honestly hello, you’ll flourish anywhere - and we’re talking such amazing places.</p>

19

<p>Add my vote for CMU…</p>

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<p>Bowdoin was founded in 1794.</p>

<p><a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowdoin_College[/url]”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowdoin_College&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Again, I would repeat, to kick out Cornell, you better be damn sure that you’re going to be doing ECE/CS. Plenty of people go into college “knowing” they will major in ECE/CS, and then end up switching to something else. If you choose CMU and find you want to switch, you are going to be kicking yourself for not taking either Cornell, or Duke plus the money.</p>