Cornell CS MENG
Program Overview
As of 25 Fall, the school has confirmed that extension to 1.5 years is possible and CPT can be approved. Cornell has two CS programs on different campuses -- one in Ithaca and one on Roosevelt Island -- both are one-year programs. Without special circumstances, extension is very difficult. Spring admits can get CPT approved, provided they are US undergrads who have been full-time students in the US for at least two semesters. The S-tier rating is because in one year it satisfies: low cost + high reputation + summer internship availability + being able to intern in China for a long time during senior year to strengthen your soft background, which helps with finding internships in the US + no coursework pressure in the first semester, allowing you to go all-in on job searching.
MEng requires completing a project. You can work with a professor on research, collaborate with a company, or even join a startup project at Cornell Tech -- very practical. Coursework is light; some courses are easy to coast through, but if you want a challenge, you can pick demanding ones like Advanced Algorithms or Distributed Systems, which have hardcore workloads.
The S-tier rating is mainly because: US undergrad students can defer a semester and enroll in spring to get CPT, which solves the common problem of one-year programs not allowing internships. For detailed instructions, please refer to How to Get CPT with Spring Enrollment. Specific CPT approval details should be double-checked with the school.
Admission Threshold & Data Points
Speaking score requirement of 28. Mostly US undergrads + Indian students. Undergrad schools include: UCSD, UCLA, UIUC, Brandeis, NYU, Penn State, University of Toronto, Waterloo
Job Outcomes
Landing rate is roughly 60%. The main pain point is that extension is troublesome. For extension requests, it's recommended to cite health reasons.
- Wisconsin–Madison CE + CS undergraduate, MEng completed in 2018 (campus not specified); Shutterstock SWE full-time in 2018, later Yext, then Amazon SDE II full-time in 2025.