Cornell vs top LAC?
Hey all. I am a current senior who will be going to college in the fall at a top liberal arts school. Back when I was receiving notifications from colleges, I received a guaranteed transfer offer from Cornell which basically states that if I maintain above a 3.3 next year at my school (easy), I will be guaranteed a spot as a sophomore the following fall.
Here's the rub. I strongly believe in a liberal arts education, and have no doubt that the education I will receive at my school will be excellent. However, would it be in my best interest to go to Cornell... especially if I want to go into finance and venture capital?
My entire life, I thought that I wanted an Ivy league education. My father attended an Ivy and I thought that it was what I wanted. However, I now believe that a liberal arts education can be just as valuable.
Should I eschew personal fit and intimate academics for a larger, albeit more prestigious university?
No, go where you'll be happy and do well. Schools like Williams, Amherst, and Swarthmore do amazing with recruiting in there own right.
If you're going to go to Cornell, do it before Freshman year. A lot harder to make friends/meet people as a transfer student.
If you're a top student at the liberal arts college, you'll be fine with getting internships/jobs. A lot of great firms are really starting to respect and some favor the smaller liberal arts education.
Don't regret anything and just enjoy your opportunities. I went a Ivy league school and sometimes regret not going to Amherst or Williams.
Just to clarify, the school isn't Amherst/Williams though it is in the top 10 of liberal arts schools. I suppose that the thing I'm most worried about is prestige... does the Ivy name trump a LAC?
I was about to chip in my 2 cents but darkstar and Powa nailed it. To a tee.
Amherst does well on the street; not quite as sure about the two other schools.
A liberal arts degree from a semi-target private school is great if you come from generational wealth and do not intend to have a career. Otherwise, you need to double-major in engineering, economics, accounting, or actuarial science.
stop asking these question. just go somewhere where you'll enjoy yourself
Looking back I made almost the same decision and am really glad I didn't go to the liberal arts school. I too was sucked into the belief that employers like "well-rounded liberal arts" students and picked econ rather than finance but still picked Cornell since I can take a lot of finance classes anyway. Though there are really only a small handful of schools where you can get away with being a liberal arts major and still get top jobs and those are pretty much limited to the top 15-20 or so undergrad schools plus Williams/Amherst/Swarth. Even like Pomona/Claremont McKenna/Bowdoin are great schools but frankly finance recruiting is not gonna be that great I'd imagine.
If this is Cornell AEM/Econ then its a no brainer if your goal is finance and the school is not Amherst/Williams. If it's ILR/Hum Ec/other CALS major then you're not really on the right track.
CORNELL AEM hands down
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