Anonymous wrote:My daughter graduated from Cornell engineering. It was quite a grind. That said, she loved Ithaca, the campus and all the nature / hiking nearby. I can't speak to the program at Penn. I think it comes down to Ithaca versus West Philly. I'm not a fan of West Philly. I think Cornell is more prestigious for engineering but I'm not sure that matters.

Agreed. It's ranked the highest for Engineering compared to any other Ivy League school for a reason.

My daughter graduated from Cornell engineering. It was quite a grind. That said, she loved Ithaca, the campus and all the nature / hiking nearby. I can't speak to the program at Penn. I think it comes down to Ithaca versus West Philly. I'm not a fan of West Philly. I think Cornell is more prestigious for engineering but I'm not sure that matters.

Anonymous wrote:Academically, for jobs after graduating, or for grad school admissions, either is fine provided the desired degree is offered.

Rankings for engineering programs do not mean much, unlike for some other fields, because ABET sets a high floor (minimum).

Look into the rate for students who start in engineering that graduate with an engineering degree. A good graduation rate for engineering would be 90+%. If it is much below 90%, then it probably has weed out classes designed to shrink the number of engineering students before start of junior year.

If both have graduation rates of 90+%, then pick "best fit" for your DC. Different kids will have different "best fit" schools (college town vs urban, weather, %Greek, and whatever else).

This is bunk. Colleges are not trying to make kids drop out.

Engineering itself is tough and will naturally weed out kids who aren’t prepared and/or willing to do the work. This happens less at top schools like Cornell or Penn.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pros and cons for each. If accepted to both which would you go to? Please ignore location. Just the education and opportunities. Thanks.

Both are top notch.

At Cornell engineering, kids cannot declare computer science in the freshman year. There is a qualification process to go through. As far as I know, there are quite some students (~30%? correct me if wrong) couldn't declare CS sophomore year due to failing the qualifications.

SEAS doesn't have this issue.

Makes no difference for the top kids, but something to watch out for every one else.

100% this. Parents and students in all majors at all schools need to consider this.

Anonymous wrote:Pros and cons for each. If accepted to both which would you go to? Please ignore location. Just the education and opportunities. Thanks.

Neither. Kid going for Top 5

Cornell is better engineering school, but more difficult/stressful. Very different social and cultural environments. Philly vs Ithaca, etc. I would focus on the other non-academic factors because employment outcomes will be close enough to be equivalent. Unless the kid wants engineering --> finance, in which case, Penn.

Academically, for jobs after graduating, or for grad school admissions, either is fine provided the desired degree is offered.

Rankings for engineering programs do not mean much, unlike for some other fields, because ABET sets a high floor (minimum).

Look into the rate for students who start in engineering that graduate with an engineering degree. A good graduation rate for engineering would be 90+%. If it is much below 90%, then it probably has weed out classes designed to shrink the number of engineering students before start of junior year.

If both have graduation rates of 90+%, then pick "best fit" for your DC. Different kids will have different "best fit" schools (college town vs urban, weather, %Greek, and whatever else).

For engineering Cornell >> Upenn

cornell has more eng majors so check if Penn has it as well. in general people would pick cornell for eng due to higher program quality but socially it might not be as enjoyable as penn

Anonymous wrote:Pros and cons for each. If accepted to both which would you go to? Please ignore location. Just the education and opportunities. Thanks.

Both are top notch.

At Cornell engineering, kids cannot declare computer science in the freshman year. There is a qualification process to go through. As far as I know, there are quite some students (~30%? correct me if wrong) couldn't declare CS sophomore year due to failing the qualifications.

SEAS doesn't have this issue.

Makes no difference for the top kids, but something to watch out for every one else.

Pros and cons for each. If accepted to both which would you go to? Please ignore location. Just the education and opportunities. Thanks.