Unbiased opinions, CMU vs Cornell

sabertoothtiger
Tue, 26 Apr 2005 20:48:23 +0000

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).

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.

Companies like Intel, Google, Microsoft, AMD, and GE recruit directly from CMU’s CS and ECE department for internships and jobs (check out http://swetietoc.pc.cc.cmu.edu/toc/2005/). 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.

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.

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.

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)