A New "Any Questions?" Thread

<p>Hi, I'm a rising sophomore at Cornell. Please ask any questions you have about the university, student life, anything. The point of this thread is for you to have questions about things you wouldn't find the answer to (or an honest answer to) elsewhere, for the most part.</p>

<p>I WILL NOT DO "WHAT ARE MY CHANCES" SO DON'T ASK AND EXPECT A REPLY.</p>

<p>Some background:
I am a white, male rising sophomore prospective music/economics double major from public school in NJ. I am in the greek system. I like to ski play baseball and mountain bike. I am very social.</p>

<p>Alright, ready-set-go:</p>

<p>How's the skiiing situation? Ski club? Mountains? Costs?</p>

<p>Major: Electrical and Computer Engineering (To help u answer the Academic qs</p>

<p>Academics and Professors:</p>

<p>1.) How approachable are Professors?
2.) If you have doubts in a subject do you goto your seniors or to your professors?
3.) How helpful are seniors with helping you?
4.) Do Professors ask most questions from their lectures?
5.) Are the question made up by them or picked from books?
6.) To what extent is extra reading needed?
7.) How often do you get Assignments?
8.) How relevant are the assignments to what you get in your paper?
9.) How many students...say in 100...get a >4.0?
10.) What are the chances of getting funds to pursue some idea you have?
11.) How helpful are professors with developing ideas you have and guiding you?</p>

<p>Social Life</p>

<p>1.) To what extent is it possible to make do without leaving campus? As in, Is it possible to make do everything with whats available on campus?
2.) How often do Buses go from North Campus -> Engineering quad.
3.) Is it possible to ride the bicycle in winter?
4.) Is winter clothing cheaper or more expensive there?
5.) Whats the advantage of a Fraternity?
6.) Whats the disadvantage of a Fraternity?
7.) How difficult is it to get intoa Fraternity?
8.) How long and ardious is the admission to Fraternity? Are the application forms available online? (A brief mention of the process u went thru would be highly appreciated) </p>

<p>Thats all I can remember now...I'll ask the rest as soon as I remember.</p>

<ol>
<li>Depends on the professor. Most are very approachable, however.</li>
<li>You can go to either. Usually you'll go to TAs first, however.</li>
<li>Depends on how well/how many seniors you know. And how nice they feel like being.</li>
<li>What do you mean? Like on exams? It really depends...</li>
<li>Usually the professor will write his/her own tests...</li>
<li>Depends on how good of a student you are.</li>
<li>Depends on the class. Many classes you'll have a problem set every week or every other week; some you'll have projects scattered throughout the semester.</li>
<li>I've never had an assignment that was just busywork. They've all helped me learn the material better.</li>
<li><p>I don't know the statistics on that but I'd imagine very few, especially in Engineering.</p></li>
<li><p>If you include Collegetown, you'll have everything you'll ever need to do on/around campus. You may go out shopping for various things but otherwise you never need to leave.</p></li>
<li><p>I don't know what the schedule's gonna be like next year with all the detours and stuff, but should be every 10 minutes.</p></li>
<li><p>I've seen people do it.</p></li>
<li><p>Depends on where YOU are. I don't find it really necessary to buy winter-specific clothes, just to wear a lot of layers when it gets super cold out.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Towerpumkin, thanks a load for the replies.
Actually by Qustion 5.) from Section 1.) I meant: To what extent would stuff not taught come in the test, which would require extra reading.</p>

<p>Just so that u don't overlook them, I added 2 qs to A&P and 4qs to Social life sections after u gave the answer...sorry for the inconvinience.</p>

<p>For that question, it depends on the professor. I know in intro bio reading was essential as there were details that came up on the tests that weren't in lecture (at least thats what my bio friends told me). I stopped going to lecture last semester, but from what I know from first semester and what my classmates have told me, everything on the tests was in lectures. For all the engineering classes I've taken so far, the textbook seems to be supplementary and only for reference if you don't really understand something (that and a source of homework problems for some).</p>

<p>For the last 2 academic questions, I don't have any experience in that so I can't answer. For the social life questions, I don't know anything about frats. Wait for sparticus to come back lol.</p>

<p>Thanks a lot Towerpumkin...:D</p>

<p>"5.) Whats the advantage of a Fraternity?
6.) Whats the disadvantage of a Fraternity?
7.) How difficult is it to get intoa Fraternity?
8.) How long and ardious is the admission to Fraternity? Are the application forms available online? (A brief mention of the process u went thru would be highly appreciated) "</p>

<p>Arjun, are you really considering joining a fraternity? I honestly don't think it's for you. </p>

<ol>
<li>There is no fraternity application.</li>
</ol>

<p>I'm not sure...I mean, I strike out as guy who won't fit in a frat scene, but maybe there's some frat i might really like. Also, I don't want to end up with no dorms available when I'm a junior or senior and then have to move into an apartment (Frats don't take Juniors and Seniors, right?).</p>

<p>what do you mean by "rising" sophmore...</p>

<p>I'm not positive if fraternities will take juniors or seniors, but I know that it's uncommon for upperclassmen to join the Greek system. Most juniors and seniors live off campus anyways, so it won't matter if you're in a fraternity. Also, joining a fraternity solely for housing is a bad idea. Even if you "really like" a house, they have to want you enough to offer you a bid.</p>

<p>Figgy:
-I would say the skiing situation is actually good. There's a club that runs trips to world class resorts like Whistler and Chamonix (also more local like Tremblant, and Vermont areas), and also organizes discount season passes to the local mountain Greek Peak.</p>

<p>-A weekend trip is possible to anywhere in the northeast, but Greek Peak is 30ish minutes from campus. It's nothing special, but it's got a decent number of trails, and a good number of rails in the park.</p>

<p>-Season passes to greek peak are like $120 for students, so cost wise it's great.</p>

<p>ASP:
-Academic
1. very approachable. they have office hours or will arrange meetings with you. they're not like untouchable gods.
2. doubts? as in questions about a class? you'd go to your friends or your professors. Friend's tend to be easier since they're always very accessable, and anything they can't explain a professor can do.
3.) umm, they're only helpful if they know you. if you mean TAs, TA's are USUALLY very knowledgable and able to answer your questions
4.) depends, but it's often the case that they do
5.) i'm not positive, but in my experience, the professor/TA staff make the questions (math 111, physics 112, music 151/153, etc.)
6.) extra beyond what is assigned: rarely. if you mean should one read his textbook, obviously this is very important for doing well. any "extra" reading i've done has been looking up a concept on google or wikipedia.
7.) most quantitative classes have a problem set due every week, all of which are assigned at the beginning of the semester, or they come out a week or 2 early.
8.) what I "get in my paper?" if you mean how relevant are assignments to the course/final, very. i haven't really had busywork, because it's just more busywork for the professor to grade.
9.) Very few, but it depends on major. many more in AEM than in engineering for example
10.) depends on the idea, and where from. if it's a club, there's a simple application process. if it's research, who knows, maybe a professor would sponsor it. i'm really not sure about that--not my area.
11.) very ambiguous...but in general my professors have always been willing to talk to me about whatever, ranging from coursework to hip hop music to student behavior trends in class.
-Social
1.) if you buy your clothes online, and have a cash supply, then you could really live at cornell without leaving campus, even if you wanted to go to movies, concerts, etc. if you include collegetown (on the edge of campus) as part of cornell's campus, then the only times i left were for groceries, shopping, skiing, and downtown restaurants.
2.) every 10 to 13 minutes (i say 13 because i know they're a little longer with the bridge construction
3.) Yes, but you'd want knobby tires (i.e. road bike would be bad idea)
4.) doesn't make a difference. if by winter clothing you mean ski jackets, they're always expensive, and other stuff doesn't really chance
5.) friendship, organized group activities, business connections, place to live, mealplan at some
6.) takes up time, some may not like the lifestyle
7.) not difficult at all, but some are harder to get into than others
8.) depends on the house, some really don't have anything arduous, others have pretty arduous stuff, and on average i'd say pledging (the joining process) is half a semester to a semester in length (2nd semester freshman year in general) There no application form. you walk around during rush week (last week of winter break) and meet people at the various houses. if they like you they invite you back. at the end of the week houses that want you give you a bid (offer to join). my pledge process was basically activities that helped me learn about the house, get to know the older brothers, and bond with my pledge brothers.
-Frats do sometimes take sophomores, but it's less common, and juniors and seniors are really rare/unheard of. young members are the lifeblood of the frat. You will always be able to get campus housing arjun, they've got so many new dorms on west. Also, one does not join a fraternity for the housing; he does so for the comradery</p>

<p>thanks a lot sparticus. :D</p>

<p>whats the deal with the SUNY program at Cornell?
i live on long island and plan on going pre-med, are there any restrictions with the SUNY program?</p>

<p>Dude.......</p>

<p>lol, don't even apply to Cornell.</p>

<p>I'm hoping he is joking with the SUNY ithaca thing...</p>

<p>i just heard there are state run programs at Cornell where the tuition is cheaper and u still graduate w/ a cornell degree</p>

<p>There is no such thing as SUNY Cornell. This topic has been totally exhausted.</p>

<p>sorry.......</p>