I submitted ED but now I’m afraid it wasn’t the right choice, just because Ithaca might not be as exciting as say Duke or Northwestern. I want to be an engineer so Cornell definitely has an advantage there. Will attending Cornell that has a really good engineering ranking really outweigh the fact that the engineering school is pretty large (4000+ students) and that Ithaca is pretty isolated?
You’re asking this question NOW? And FYI, Ithaca has been rated as one of the best college towns in the country. Evanston is great, urban and close to Chicago. Duke is great as well. “Exciting” is not reason enough, IMO. to reject a school. There is tons of stuff to do in Cornell and around Ithaca. College is what you make of it. All three of these schools have lots to offer. Stop with your “buyer’s remorse”. It’s unfounded.
@throwweg Ithaca is better than Durham (town that Duke is in), by far. Ithaca is considered to be a “great college town”. I haven’t visited Ithaca myself but that’s what I’ve heard. Durham, on the other hand, which I have visited, is awful. You’re worried about remote? Even though Durham is near Raleigh, which is a big city in NC, it feels like you’re in the middle of nowhere. When I was visiting Durham and Duke last year, I felt like I had stepped into a ghost town; I went to go get breakfast somewhere one morning and the entire town was practically empty, no kidding. Not to mention there was no good place for breakfast and worse there was no one in sight to ask for directions or advice. It felt like something out of a Twilight Zone episode. I’m not sure if you’re familiar with it, but imagine Asheville NC, minus the big buildings and people. From what I’ve read from a few student bios, Durham is not much fun, and a lot of kids end up travelling to Raleigh on the weekends to spend their time. For this reason, and the fact that Duke doesn’t have an astrophysics program (my intended major) led to me abandoning it as a school of choice altogether.
And as TiggyB62 said, please don’t apply to a school ED when you’re still unsure of it’s the place you’d actually want to go to. By now, you should be in the position of wanting to go to Cornell no matter what, at least that’s my opinion on the ED application process. It’s not remote; if the almighty Carl Sagan spent his life living and teaching in Ithaca, I’m sure it’s fine.
Sorry to those of you who like Duke for my bashing of it. It’s a great school, it’s just that it doesn’t have the program I’m looking for and my first impression of Durham was terrible. Perhaps it’s just me, or maybe I visited on a bad day?
@RunningOutofRoom Yes send it anyways. I didn’t do as hot on the US History exam and still sent it.
@throwweg First correction: Cornell’s engineering college enrolls around 3,000 students, but realistically only about 800 students will be in your year, and depending on major you may have as few as 20 to as many as 200 people within your major. If there’s anything I’ve observed since being here it’s that you’ll only ever interact and know a handful of people within your major/college and some more from other colleges in your dorm. And as with any university, your first year intro classes are all large lecture hall style anyways and your upper level classes are all smaller sized.
To say that Ithaca is not exciting is really not giving the city much credit. Sure there isn’t much outside of Ithaca, but that’s one of the things I really like up here. There’s no large city to be distracted by like Northwestern instead there’s a lot of outdoors things like hiking trails, gorges, and amazing sites you won’t get out of upstate NY. Plus, Durham is also in a more remote place. Up here there’s collegetown and the commons, which are quaint areas with still plenty to do like the farmers market, bars and clubs, good eateries, and local shops. It’s hard to run out of things to do. Even at that, most of your time will be devoted to studying anyways since the engineering program here is notoriously rigorous.
Ideally, you shouldn’t apply to a school ED if your heart isn’t in it for whatever reason, but given the circumstance you have no way of going back and will have to just live with your choice. Also don’t ever judge a program on ranking, they’re all subjective, judge it based on what you like about the program and what it has to offer compared to other schools – that’s how I knew Cornell was right for me.
@IndoorCloud25 How does Cornell post decisions? Do they post it on the ApplicationStatus portal online? Or through email?
Thank you!
@seniorlife555 you’ll get an email notification a few weeks before decision day with the exact time you can see your results on the portal. Save the email since it will have an easy link directly to your decision.
@seniorlife555 just a clarification as to what @IndoorCloud25 said: you don’t go to the application status portal to check your decision. Cornell will send you a link with a unique password that will take you directly to your decision.
I just actually just went back to the email my daughter got from Cornell last December. Notifications came out last year on the 11th. On Dec. 9th she got an email saying that the her decision would be available on Dec. 11 at 5 PM EST. The email also stated that on Dec. 11, she would receive instructions on how to view her decision.
On Dec. 11, notification day, she received an email at 9 AM giving her detailed instructions on how to view her decision starting at 5 PM EST.
@TiggyB62 Thanks! I didn’t know decisions came out that early in the past!
I think it was around December 19th in 2013.
Is it easier to get into CAS or CoEngineering?
@H454482 they’re equally tough to get into if you look at it from a numbers perspective; the small difference in percentage points is practically irrelevant. You’ll have a better chance at one or the other depending on your skill suit and how you tailor yourself to fitting into your desired college. Your fit is determined primarily by the ECs and the essay, which I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to write a good, genuine essay. So really there is no easier one to get into.
Thank you! I probably have a better chance for engineering, as my essays and EC are mostly about engineering.
How many international students do they take in for AEM?
@ibandcollege that’s a very specific statistic that I frankly don’t know. For my class, about 300 or ~10% are international students, and AEM has an enrollment of 92 and 8% are internationals. This is enrollment, not admission just to be clear. You could probably guess admission is low for international considering AEM had a 7% acceptance rate last year.
How did you adjust/get close with the freshman class at Cornell?
And also… How’s dorm life there? Are there specific dorm rooms that you would highly suggest?
@seniorlife555 Adjusting to Cornell was at the same time difficult and smooth. Making friends will be a difficult process, but if you’re really outgoing during orientation, you’ll meet lots of people. However, orientation friends generally don’t develop as deeply as friendships made with people within your college/classes/major. Finding these friends will be tough since most intro classes are large enough for you to meet a new person everyday, but try to find people in your OL group in the same classes and make an effort to get to know them since they’ll likely be in your major/classes.
Some people will make lots of friends and people like me will only have a handful, which I don’t mind at all. Definitely try to got out and do stuff with your new acquaintances early on when you aren’t swamped by work. Another great thing to do is join clubs because many of these people will have the same interests as you. Unfortunately, the clubs I wanted to join were application based and I didn’t get in during fall recruitment, but I’m going to try again at spring recruitment. You can also establish friends by studying with them when you don’t have time to go out elsewhere. You’ll also become close friends with some people on your floor, so it’s always a good idea to keep your door open and hang around in the lounges as much as possible.
As for the living situation, you can’t choose where you live per se, but the housing application allows you to pick your preferences between traditional dorm, all-female living, program houses/living, and townhouses. The best dorms are definitely Mews and CKB if your looking for amenities since they are the only ones with A/C and are newer looking – they’re really the nicest ones. The one I’m in, Donlon, is smaller and has a very active social scene. Many people in my dorm go out on the weekends. Donlon also has coed bathrooms, which aren’t in any other dorms. Balch is all girls, so I don’t know much about it. Clara Dickson is the largest building and has mostly singles. Program houses have themes like Native American, Language, Eco, Music, etc. Townhouses are what you’d expect (kitchen, bathrooms, multiple shared bedrooms). The ones that don’t have a great reputation are the High Rises and Low Rises (NYTimes had an article about it, though greatly exaggerated), which have suites, but the buildings are a little old and worn (like Donlon). Ultimately it comes down to what you prefer and the quality of life is what you make of it.
How to have a social life without getting into drugs/alcohol/crazy partying? Also, do people have parties in dorms? What do you do if (or, in other words, have you had to deal with) your roommate wants/wanting to party in your dorm but you don’t?
@ArthurDent42 You can have a social life without heavily partying, doing drugs or alcohol by finding a group of people who value the same things you do. At any college you go to whether it’s Cornell or not, there will be people who always do that stuff, people who sometimes do that stuff, and people who never do that stuff. It’s really up to your judgment who you want to hang around. Just make it clear to people what you like and don’t like and they’ll respect your wishes.
Generally, people don’t throw real parties in dorms since there are so many frat houses and off campus venues to party at. However, people definitely “pre-game” or gather in a dorm before going out, which can get noisy and disruptive for a little bit. Your RAs will likely tell the room to stop if things get too excessive.
With regard to your roommate, once you enroll you’ll join a class Facebook group (which is already open) where you can post your bio and meet your potential classmates. Through that you can find people who seem interested in you and talk to them over FB. If you find someone you like, just bring up the idea of rooming together, and if they seem into it, just discuss what you expect from each other as roommates and establish ground rules early on to avoid future conflict. If you choose to go the randomized route with the housing application, you’ll fill in all of your details and room preferences as well as habits and you’ll be paired up with someone who answered similarly. I haven’t heard of many people doing this, and the ones who do usual have no issues with their roommate. Once you move in, one of the first things your RA will give you is a roommate agreement where you’ll again fill in your preferences and habits for the room with your roommate and sign it. This serves as a contract between the two of you, and if anyone violates the terms you two set, you can take it up with the RA and discuss the issue. Again, I haven’t heard of anyone having to resort to that measure. As for me, I had the luxury of rooming with one of my best friends from HS, and it’s worked out very well.
@IndoorCloud25 Thanks, glad to hear that!