[RYCeT]

Quote:

Originally Posted by spaceconvoy We are talking specifically about prestige. I'm not trying to offend anyone - I never said Penn was any worse or better than Harvard or Yale. I'm just pointing out that if all you care about is prestige and what name looks best on your diploma, not all Ivies are created equal.

Yeah, it will be different if you change upenn w/ Wharton

 

[gtp]

IMO it really depends on if you are going to grad school or not. The advice given to me was to make your last school the most "prestigious". Following this advice, I went from public elementary, middle, and high schools to public community college, then to a public university. From there, after working my butt off, I had no problem getting into a "prestigious" graduate program in physics. This was all paid for by grants and scholarships, so basically my entire education was free.

The real point is don't sweat it too much. If you are good, it will show and you will do well in life no matter what decision you make. All of the schools you list are very good, so I would pick the school that fits in most closely with your personality and interests. This should be obvious from your visits.

 

[yellafella321]

cornell is generally considered the "easiest" ivy to get into. It has a little less prestige than the other ivies, but still is an ivy nevertheless.

That being said, if UVA is willing to fork out over 20k a year to year, I would take that hands down. UVA is a very reputable school. If UVA does not give you over 20k, I would bite the bullet and go to cornell.

BU is not worth the money at all. That would be the last school to consider without considerable scholarships.

 

[viator122]

Quote:

Originally Posted by spaceconvoy The really great Ivies are worth the money (Harvard, Yale, Princeton, even Brown. They have a similar saying - "Sorry about your parent's wallet"). But Cornell, much like Penn, is a half-hearted Ivy. They're no more or less prestigious than great-but-not-techically-Ivies like UVA and Georgetown. Especially if you get a good package from UVA, I'd suggest you go there.

That's a pretty ignorant statement seeing as how Penn and Cornell are both currently ranked above Brown. Penn is ranked #4 just below Harvard, Princeton and Yale. Note that is above Duke, Stanford, CalTech, MIT, Columbia, Northwestern, Chicago, and Dartmouth. Georgetown and UVA are tied for #23. Both Penn and Cornell are large Ivies and have correspondingly large networks of alumni in high places. And yes, the names really are quite prestigious and will help you in life.

Unless you are in state it might be difficult to get a scholarship from UVa, but you never know. You won't go wrong with UVa or Cornell, IMO.

 

[loveheadphones]

I don't know - I think it's just as ignorant to believe those idiotic ratings. Visit the school. Talk to people who went there. Make your choice.

 

[mrarroyo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by viator122 That's a pretty ignorant statement seeing as how Penn and Cornell are both currently ranked above Brown. Penn is ranked #4 just below Harvard, Princeton and Yale. Note that is above Duke, Stanford, CalTech, MIT, Columbia, Northwestern, Chicago, and Dartmouth. Georgetown and UVA are tied for #23. Both Penn and Cornell are large Ivies and have correspondingly large networks of alumni in high places. And yes, the names really are quite prestigious and will help you in life. Unless you are in state it might be difficult to get a scholarship from UVa, but you never know. You won't go wrong with UVa or Cornell, IMO.

Are you going by the US News and World Report rankings? http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/col...udoc_brief.php

 

[Edwood]

Depends if you are planning on graduate school. Your last degree is more important.

-Ed

 

[viator122]

Yes. And I'm not trying to say those rankings have some absolute, conversation-stopping authority. However, caling schools that are among the 8 Ivies but NOT Harvard, Princeton, Yale and Brown(?) "half-hearted Ivies" is insulting to those of us who attended one of those schools. Keep in mind those rankings do consider prestige (as each school is ranked by the other schools according to various factors) and they influence the schools' prestige value with respect to the public.

 

[mulveling]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Whitebread I have a decision to make. I got into Rensselaer Poly Tech, Worcester Poly Tech, University of Virginia, Penn state, Rutgers, Lehigh, Bonston University and Cornell. Rensselar offered me 34K a year with no minimum GPA, Worcester offered me 25K a year with no minimum GPA and I expect similar amounts from UVa within the next week. Cornell, on the other hand, offered me only 600 dollars for books, but it does that an Ivy name. What woudl you guys do in such a situation, IVY name and full price? Or tech/state school paying half or less tuition?

There is no way I'd pay anywhere near $100K+ for an undergrad education, especially in my field (computer science). I'd probably run with the UVa offer.

I went to Georgia Tech for the in-state Hope scholarship (covers full tuition with a 3.0 GPA); it had a decent program to boot. I'm not in debt and neither are my parents, though my sister's 2 years at Princeton did a number on their savings. She ended up getting a Biology degree at UGA, then taking a job in the business sector

). For students from middle-class families, most majors, I can't see an undergrad degree being worth $100K+ when decent options are available for much less.

 

[strohmie]

I just recently finished my grad degree, and I can't describe how nice it is to be starting out my career without any student loans to pay off. So maybe it's just me, but I'd go where the money is rather than where you'd be hemorrhaging it.

 

[dhp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by spaceconvoy The really great Ivies are worth the money (Harvard, Yale, Princeton, even Brown. They have a similar saying - "Sorry about your parent's wallet"). But Cornell, much like Penn, is a half-hearted Ivy. They're no more or less prestigious than great-but-not-techically-Ivies like UVA and Georgetown. Especially if you get a good package from UVA, I'd suggest you go there.

dude... Penn is up there with Harvard, Yale, Princeton. I don't know why you rank Brown so high on your mind though.

 

[marvin]

This all really depends on your intended career trajectory, and the rankings really won't help you here. They're based on all sorts of nebulous things that have no effect on your education like % of people admitted (boosts Ivys), peer ranking (boosts NE/Cali/Ivy schools), and diversity (screws schools that don't sacrifice quality on the altar of political correctness). The main marker of education quality that you should pay attention to is the average SAT scores of the incoming class.

Visit the campuses and find out what employers think about the school before making your choice.

If you intend to stay technical, then there is no reason to go to Cornell, as it's not a MIT, Caltech, or Georgia Tech. It's still an excellent engineering school, but it's not worth the debt load over your other choices.

If you are planning on going on to get your MBA after a few years of working and going middle management, then by all means, go to Cornell. You'd be stupid not to with the added name recognition that you get.

If you're planning on going into research, it's a tossup. Cornell has the name recognition advantage to get into grad school, but working your ass off at a lesser school will more than make up for it.

 

[ls20]

UVA without hesitation
Cornell is not worth the 100k+ premium... leave the ranking stuff for the high school kiddies to argue about

 

[Oistrakh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DieInAFire dude... Penn is up there with Harvard, Yale, Princeton. I don't know why you rank Brown so high on your mind though.

because Brown is just as good as harvard, yale, princeton!

 

[DJ e]

I really wouldn't trust those US News and World Report rankings; plenty of schools know how to "work the system." Anything based purely on numbers really won't help much in choosing your school. The best thing to do is make time to visit.