Hey guys I was just accepted off their spring wait list for the College of Arts and Sciences and I have no idea what to think. I had planned on going to Rice in the fall, can anyone give some advice about the similarities and differences between the two? I’ve also heard that starting in spring will kill my social life, is this true? Are there any other downsides? Thanks!
Congratulations !!! You have been offered an amazing opportunity. There will be another 124 additional Spring admits along with you. Anyone saying this will kill your social life, has not been accepted to the program… Rice is a good school, but it is not Cornell. Go buy yourself a warm winter coat, take some classes in the fall, volunteer or get an internship and embrace this. After your first semester, you will not remember when you started but you will graduate with a Cornell diploma!!!
I was also accepted into the FYSA program and I’ve chosen to attend Cornell starting Spring 2016. I’m SO excited. Since there are 124 others starting with you, including myself, I wouldn’t worry about social life. Cornell is an opportunity that I am not turning down. The only downside is transitioning in the spring but the positives definitely outweigh the benefits- think about the education that you will get.
Let’s not pretend like a degree from Cornell will get you any farther than a degree from Rice. Stick with Rice OP. I fail to see any distinct advantages for you in going to Cornell over Rice unless Cornell is cheaper. There are however disadvantages as you will be a semester behind most of your peers socially and you will not be as familiar with the school. Go to Rice.
@CaliCash - Have you done much research between Rice and Cornell? Do you know much about Cornell?
Fall semester is when there are more fraternity parties, and the rush is beginning of spring term. If you do not rush, your social life maybe more limited in spring. Even if you are not going to participate in Greek life, you may want to go through the rush because it would be a good way to meet a lot of people. Cornell has a large transfer community and they make a lot of effort to integrate new transfers.
@oldfort I’m sure all schools try to make their transfer and spring admissions programs seem appealing. I wouldn’t expect anything less.
@Calicash - no, you have no clue.
Agreed. I have a friend who got in spring semester to Cornell and based on her and her friends experience, calicash does not knkw what she is talking about.
@maelstorm what are your plans for the first semester not at Cornell? I was also accepted to this program and I want to see what others are doing. I think it is important to consolidate your plan before your make your decision. Will you be attending a community college or another 4-year college? Do you think you will be able to find an internship opportunity?
@oldfort I would not participate in Greek life, it’s not really my thing. It’s good to hear that I would not be alone though, thanks.
@CCClassof2019 I would definitely attend a four year university and I hear that they have advisors who would work with me to choose some appropriate courses. More of the concerns I have about choosing Cornell would be graduating late as well as having to transition again to a different college.
Basically what I’m hearing from people is to determine if there is a significant academic difference between Rice and Cornell and whether I like the feel of the campus. Cornell has a slightly better ranking in my major, so I’m visiting Ithaca and will make my decision after.
Thanks for your help guys.
Academically, they are the same. Go to Rice. And anyone who says you can arrive at a school half way through the year and have everything be the same socially is just lying to you. They are. I mean, just logically think about it. Also consider that you are on the Cornell forum. If you would put this on the search and selection forum, you would find less biased responses. You don’t have to go to the school to know there would be a difference and no school would admit there is a difference. They don’t wanna lose those tuition dollars. They aren’t dumb
@oldfort That response was not in anyway a logical response to what I said or what you asked, so I will disregard. @couplemoreweeks Yes. I’m sure the one friend you know is representative of all the students who start late at Cornell.
@CaliCash, totally disagree with you I know plenty of students who came in mid-year at many different schools and ALL feel they’ve benefitted from the experience. Just because you can’t wrap your mind around something doesn’t mean your way is the only way.
Calicash, do you have experience, either as a student or parent, with either Rice or Cornell? If you don’t, then there’s really not much to offer up as advice beyond “they are both excellent schools.”
Yes the one friend I know at Cornell and the tons of people I know who started spring semester at Berkeley are more representative of the entire Cornell population than your unsubstantiated claims.
Cornell has a much larger transfer community than most top 20 schools, so the school has gone out of its way to transition transfers to its community. My kids know a lot of transfers at Cornell, and most of them are happy after few months.
CaliCash is barely out of high school with very limited life or college experience.
As another deferred admit (GT), I’d highly recommend that you consider the offer. Yes, we’re probably a bit biased considering this is a school-specific subforum, but I still think spring admission is a great opportunity. Cornell has historically done a great job of integrating new students into the community and I don’t think you’d find yourself at a social impasse. I mean, if you were the only spring admit in the entire school, then * maybe*, but there’s going to be a good number of people in the exact same boat you are. I was a January admit at Berkeley and many of my friends were as well—the ones who chose to matriculate are really liking it there, and I don’t think starting a few months later made a significant difference.
With that said, I’d come up with a game plan of what you want to do your first semester if you plan on enrolling. It could be anything from taking classes at a certain school to working or even traveling abroad for a couple months, but having a concrete idea of what you want to do will really help you structure your time off as well as on campus.
What are you planning on majoring in within CAS? Cornell’s been really generous with transfer credit in my experience—I was worried I wouldn’t be able to graduate on time either, but thanks to AP and college credit I’ll actually be able to graduate a year early! (I don’t plan on doing so though haha). So I wouldn’t worry too much about that as long as the classes you take have course equivalents elsewhere.
Best of luck with your decision!
OP:
Why don’t you go to Rice first semester? Take classes that you can transfer to Cornell. Then go to Cornell if you still want to go to Cornell after your first semester at Rice. However, you might like your stay at Rice and will decide to stay.
@2018dad that is a great idea as long as finances are not an issue. I have found an additional benefit to the FYSA is that S3 will attend local CC in the fall, as well as a few part time jobs and still be able to graduate on time from Cornell in 3.5 years with a potential savings of $30K.