UPenn SEAS vs Cornell Engineering
Hey so I recently got off Cornell waitlist and am interested in working as a quant trader, finance, or tech. I'm pretty torn between Penn and Cornell. On one hand, Penn would allow me to dual degree with Wharton (either M&T or uncoordinated), but that's pretty much the only thing Penn has going for it for me (along with it's slightly better career outcomes in finance fields). I think overall I would enjoy Cornell more since it's only drawbacks are academic/career-wise, but I'm not sure if that's really the case, which is why I'm here.
At Penn, I'm interested in doing Electrical Engineering (or Systems Science and Engineering) + Stats/Finance at Wharton. At Cornell, I'm interested in ECE or Engineering Physics + ORE (with Dyson business minor?) or transferring to A&S to do some combination of Physics/Math/Stats/Econ (both departments have CS, but I don't want to do CS). Cornell doesn't allow people to double major between its schools, and I'd have to wait until my sophomore year to transfer from COE to A&S if I choose to do that, though I don't see the point in going to Cornell if I'm going to leave the program they're known for.
tl;dr:
Overall: Life at Penn seems sucky compared to Cornell. Philly seemed like a shithole when I visited. I like Cornell more than Penn in most ways, but my only real cons with Penn is the shitty culture, city safety, and abysmal food
Majors:
ECE or Engineering Physics + ORE (with Dyson business minor?) @ Cornell Engineering
EE or SSE + Stats/Finance @ Penn SEAS and Wharton (uncoordinated)
Career goals: quant trader, finance, or tech.
Which academic path is best? If Cornell has worse academics, is it worth going to Penn for the name brand?
Penn
You should be VERY proud of yourself. Penn alumni community is unmatched (ok, maybe Stanford/Harvard). There are a number of restructuring courses and other specialized finance curriculum that can really get you ahead. That being said, probably the sweatiest student body around. I have a couple friends that went to Cornell and they thought Ithaca was meh at best.
Thank you! What about the people themselves at Penn and Cornell? Penn students seem awfully weird, extremely rich and ignorant, egotistical, or some combination of the three. Everyone seems really friendly and humble at Cornell. Is this perception accurate (at least for Cornell)? If I happen to be a bad fit socially for the school I choose (aka if I end up friendless for my 4 years of college), is this going to affect my career prospects a lot?
A significant portion of kids at every Ivy League school think they are a gift from god bc of their status. Frankly, I did not visit Cornell, but I can only imagine that what you experienced was a microcosm of the bigger picture. Also - you need to learn how to get along with these rich pricks, it may be a little frustrating, but these kids are extremely connected and can often be the bridge to incredible experiences. Just my two cents, but then again, you can’t go wrong here!
As a Cornell alum I would probably go with Penn. The student body is relatively similar to Penn among the biz club scene which is important for finance placement and you’re vastly overrating Ithaca. Penn is more likely to get you to your career goals imo as well
i also had your decision last yr (penn EE vs cornell CS). i’m at seas at penn. i absolutely love it here, idk if quaker days were shitty this here but the vast majority of ppl at penn are super down to earth.
penn also probably recruits significantly (like very much) better for finance than cornell if you really are set on that path. i’m working quant at MS for sophomore summer even though i didnt have any finance shit on my resume at all LOL i dont think i wouldve even gotten the first round interview if i went to any other school.
if you have any questions abt life at penn pls dm me and i’ll do my best to help/answer! i could not advocate for this school harder. best decision of my life going here over cornell or any of the other choices.
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