attention whore thread: college selection

[© tweed]

it's down to two, and down to economics... after the financial packages came in, those numbers became the estimated cost of attendance...

so...  Stony Brook would be almost free, meaning I could get a new car and a few other nice things.  but Cornell is amazing and is the better school and so on.

opinions?

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Cornell is a better school, so you should go there.

[Speed of Sound]

Cornell dude!



I havent applied yet (a few months yet) but Im almost 100% sure of where Im going (both based on talks with admissions and what Im looking for). Assuming nothing goes wrong, Ill be a MacAlester man by the end of the year.

[jokerman]

Is this annual or for 4 years?  If the latter's the case I say go Cornell.

[© tweed]

it's for four years.

but everyone, obviously Cornell is objectively better, but look at the money!  I want a car to drink in, smoke cigarettes in, f*** people in, etc

[dead0man]

The cheaper one.

[Rin-chan]

it's for four years.

but everyone, obviously Cornell is objectively better, but look at the money!  I want a car to drink in, smoke cigarettes in, f*** people in, etc

But if you go to Cornell, you can get a really high paying job later and afford a really hot car to f*** people in.

And, just by saying you went to Cornell, you could probably get some ladies lol

Rin-chan

[True Democrat]

I had a similar dilemma.

Here are the colleges I got into:

Johns Hopkins, $52,000 a year (no scholarships)
George Washington Honors: $38,000 (with a $15,000 scholarship)
Rochester: $38,000 (with a $10,000 scholarship)
American: $20,000 (with a $27,000 scholarship)
Pitt Honors: about $5,000 (with a full tuition scholarship)

It was tough to turn down Pitt, but I ended up choosing GW.  The honors program (meaning I get a nice dorm) and the proximity to the best internships in the world for IR made it my choice.

I also got rejected from Princeton and waitlisted at Georgetown (the latter one was pretty devastating) if you're interested.

[JohnnyLongtorso]

What is your intended degree? Do you really think it's worth the extra $65,000 in debt for a "prestige" school?

[Bay Ridge, Bklyn! Born and Bred]

It was tough to turn down Pitt, but I ended up choosing GW.  The honors program (meaning I get a nice dorm) and the proximity to the best internships in the world for IR made it my choice.

Good choice.   I was an IA major too, and DC is the only logical choice for IA/IR majors, in my opinion.   

[7,052,770]

pretty obviously the cheaper one, unless you can conclusively prove that your Cornell degree will be worth so much more than your Stony Brook one.
Success in life depends on YOU, not some piece of paper.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

That depends on why you want to go to Uni.

[Frodo]

If you want to impress your future employers (and/or graduate school admissions officers), you would be well-advised to go to Cornell University as opposed to some obscure college that almost no one has even heard about.

[TeePee4Prez]

I can't give an answer either way, but consider this.  How smart are you relative to the population there?  I learned the hard way entering Lehigh and got clocked in the academic sense in spite of being Valedictorian of my HS class that it's important to excel wherever you go (i.e you expect to have a respectable record there).  I've heard from some people that Cornell is notrious as the "suicide school" because they fail some bright students who would have likely excelled at a state school.  Another thing to consider is how would you fit in socially.  Would you feel like you're on "the other side of the tracks" so to speak at Cornell?  Again, I've heard stories.  I also see you're from an area near the city.  I know myself I've missed the city quite a bit when I was at Lehigh.  And finally- a big one- FINANCES.  Is there a particular major Cornell offers you want that Stony Brook doesn't?  If so, I'd lean Cornell if they were really good at something.  Otherwise, you're starting salary at a company would barely be enough to offset the costs of attending Cornell.  Based on how you're talking right now and from prior posts, I'd say pick Stony Brook, but I don't know the full picture.

[TeePee4Prez]

Actually... dude pick Stony Brook.  I read over some more posts of yours.

For some of you other posters, picking the best school might not qualify you for sh**t in terms of jobs anyway and I made the right move transferring back to Temple.  Lehigh would have only caused me grief and debt had I stayed.

[bullmoose88]

Couple of things,

Cornell: Supposedly the Easiest Ivy to get into, the hardest one to stay in.  And as someone who attends another Upstate university, you really sure you want the cloudy, cold and wet weather thats a big part of life up here?  Rumored to have a high suicide rate, and hotel-ies who can't make popcorn setting off firealarms late at night.  But Ithica is Gorges...err Gorgeous and the cornell name is top notch (and their programs, from friends who have told me, are great)

Stony Brook:  Is that a SUNY school?  (I'm not quite familiar with it)

Obviously Cornell would look better for you coming out, not to say a Stony Brook degree is much to scoff at either...

You're saving a lot more money with the latter, however, think about the possible higher income you may earn with a cornell degree rather than a stony brook degree...then factor in the time value of money

Just don't go to Lehigh.  Hopefully you didn't even apply there.  Lehigh sucks.

[Smash255]

If you want to impress your future employers (and/or graduate school admissions officers), you would be well-advised to go to Cornell University as opposed to some obscure college that almost no one has even heard about.

Not just being bias because I graduated from there in 04, but Stony Brook is one of the highest regarded Public Universities in the country

You must be logged in to read this quote.

http://www.stonybrook.edu/sb/fastfacts/

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

Stony Brook.

Coming out of college debt-free will put you at an advantage over your debt-plagued peers who obsess over impressing people.

[bullmoose88]

Stony Brook.

Coming out of college debt-free will put you at an advantage over your debt-plagued peers who obsess over impressing people.

Its a factor...even if the cornell degree will earn you more money over your lifetime..(the margin vs what the cheaper alternative would have gotten you is important)...even if Cornell's value long term is better, time value of money dictates the savings now has more value than an equal long term increase.

That said, Cornell may get your foot in the door for a certain job you just want, or that pays a ton more...intangible stuff you cant get at a non ivy...not to say SB doesn't have its alumni connections...(now I remember stony brook, it is a good school)

What about other intangibles...how were the campuses, quality of life, specific departments you want to get into, etc?

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

pretty obviously the cheaper one, unless you can conclusively prove that your Cornell degree will be worth so much more than your Stony Brook one.
Success in life depends on YOU, not some piece of paper.

Exactly, Thank you fellow sane person.

I know a lot of very successful people who completed their highest level of education at Bartlett High School, so who gives a flying f**k?

[TeePee4Prez]

Couple of things,

Cornell: Supposedly the Easiest Ivy to get into, the hardest one to stay in.  And as someone who attends another Upstate university, you really sure you want the cloudy, cold and wet weather thats a big part of life up here?  Rumored to have a high suicide rate, and hotel-ies who can't make popcorn setting off firealarms late at night.  But Ithica is Gorges...err Gorgeous and the cornell name is top notch (and their programs, from friends who have told me, are great)

Stony Brook:  Is that a SUNY school?  (I'm not quite familiar with it)

Obviously Cornell would look better for you coming out, not to say a Stony Brook degree is much to scoff at either...

You're saving a lot more money with the latter, however, think about the possible higher income you may earn with a cornell degree rather than a stony brook degree...then factor in the time value of money

Just don't go to Lehigh.  Hopefully you didn't even apply there.  Lehigh sucks.

No offense taken, but Lafayette is in the same vein.  Now a Lehigh or Cornell will have more successful people than a state school, but that's in large part because they have a relative or family friend with a great connection to begin with. 

[King]

Stony Brook, but don't waste the excess money like a dope.

[bullmoose88]

Couple of things,

Cornell: Supposedly the Easiest Ivy to get into, the hardest one to stay in.  And as someone who attends another Upstate university, you really sure you want the cloudy, cold and wet weather thats a big part of life up here?  Rumored to have a high suicide rate, and hotel-ies who can't make popcorn setting off firealarms late at night.  But Ithica is Gorges...err Gorgeous and the cornell name is top notch (and their programs, from friends who have told me, are great)

Stony Brook:  Is that a SUNY school?  (I'm not quite familiar with it)

Obviously Cornell would look better for you coming out, not to say a Stony Brook degree is much to scoff at either...

You're saving a lot more money with the latter, however, think about the possible higher income you may earn with a cornell degree rather than a stony brook degree...then factor in the time value of money

Just don't go to Lehigh.  Hopefully you didn't even apply there.  Lehigh sucks.

No offense taken, but Lafayette is in the same vein.  Now a Lehigh or Cornell will have more successful people than a state school, but that's in large part because they have a relative or family friend with a great connection to begin with. 

Lafayette and Lehigh are pretty much the same, except we're better. :-p

Stony Brook is a very good state school...I forget sometimes its a SUNY school (SUNY schools are actually pretty good)...I'd almost think its of the same calibre or slightly less than a Lafayette/Lehigh/American/Colgate/Bucknell grouping as that group is usually in the realm of top 30/35 liberal arts college or top 50 University.

But we're not cornell's league, though we may have as many connections on the east coast.

[Eraserhead]

Unless you are in incredible financial shape, go to Stony Brook.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Interesting, I am quite familiar with both schools.

Stony Brook
Pro: Cheap, good academics for a state school, can be flexible about requirements
Con: High in Student unhappiness, suitcase school, Long Island, Lots of distribution requirements

Cornell:
Pro: Ithaca, High name recognition, Has a very large number of programs, Cheap close off campus housing
Con: Expensive