Cornell is really different from the other Ivy League schools in that it is a combination of a private AND a state university (even including a school of hotel administration)--- so there is a really good combination of students from all walks of life (i.e., not a preponderance of privileged, white, prep school students). They also have an top-rated College of Architecture, Art, and Planning and a superb College of Engineering. The campus is up on a wide, open hill (think incredible sunsets) and is very connected to the outdoors, which to me felt like a nice contrast to many of the other, cramped, walled, urban universities on the East Coast.
more