<p>guguru,</p>
<p>We were told that students are allowed to take any class in any other college or department, provided the course prerequisite is met. I think Cornell is proud of thatfact, since it was mentioned twice in the Cornell Day programs we attended.</p>
<p>anon311,</p>
<p>I'm getting the impression that my daughter's 1360 is not high enough to be able to handle the Cornell workload. We are all anxious that she is 'in over her head' is she accepts Cornell's offer of admission. Then again, people have told us that Lehigh is hard work too (another choice). My son at Vanderbilt works ultra hard and I'm wondering if a lot of the top schools are hard.</p>
<p>What makes Cornell's workload so hard to take? And do you think having a 1360 is going to put my daughter at such a disadvantage she can't even get a B at Cornell?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>And if you are coming from someplace like Texas, what is the best way to get your stuff there? If I fly, I will be limited to two pieces of luggage? Is there an orientation week before the rest of the student body returns?</p>
<p>snajean, SATs really don't tell you what grades you're going to get. Cornell is very selective, and I'd imagine that everyone who is admitted is a admitted because they can handle it. People who are rejected can also handle it, they're stats just aren't as good. I heard from someone that once you get over a 1450 (the two part version), colleges really don't differentiate between that and any higher. Your daughter did well on SATs, but now she got in, so that doesn't matter. Your daughter will do just fine at any school with her 1360 as long as she has work ethic. She'll do better than a 1600 without any work ethic.</p>
<p>Snajean,</p>
<p>I'd have to respectfully disagree with soccer on one point: SATs do predict what grades you get. I don't have the study in front of me, but I know for a fact that there is a correlation between SAT score and college grades.</p>
<p>With that said, the answer to your question is: it depends. If your daughter wants to be an engineer or a doctor or a hard science major, she will by no means have an easy time getting a B at Cornell. Bs in High School sound like "mediocre" grades, but at Cornell that's just not the case. Engineering classes, for example, are almost all curved to a B- or a C+ (the university registrar publishes a median grade report for every class every semester - you can look it up if you'd like). To get a B in such a class, you have to outperform the majority of the students in that class. Take that for what you will.</p>
<p>If your daughter wants to major in the humanities, or really anything besides what I listed above, she will have an easier time getting higher grades.</p>
<p>I don't think that Cornell is inherently any harder than any comparable school; the median grades are just lower. When you're looking at Cornell grades from an outside perspective, that makes it look like it's harder to "do well." The truth is it's not harder to do well, doing well itself is just redefined. </p>
<p>I could never presume to know enough about your daughter, or Cornell for that matter, to judge where she should go to school. The admissions counselors here know what they're doing, and I'm sure that if she got in she is more than capable of handling the work. Handling the work and getting good grades are two different things, but I can assure you that everyone here works hard to get good grades.</p>
<p>In the end, being as good as the "average" Cornell student at say, Biology, means you're really good at biology. Doesn't matter if your transcript says that's a B or a C or a Z, and people who know Cornell understand that.</p>
<p>yeah, they do predict grades. Just because you get a 1360 doesn't mean that you're going to do worse than someone with a 1460. It just doesn't happen like that. Statistically, yes you should do worse, but in reality, it's hard to say.</p>
<p>If your daughter is not a science or engineering major, 1360 should be good enough. Humanities courses are significantly easier than science courses. </p>
<p>On a side note: One of my best friends here had a 1100 on the SAT's but a 3.95 GPA at Cornell (and she's premed). She's a smart girl but her work ethic is what separates her from her less-driven peers, like me (who came in w/ 1550, 800, 800, 780 scores).</p>
<p>wow, 1100 would be hard to get into cornell</p>
<ul>
<li>4.0 unwieghted in all AP classes and outstanding EC's and awards could change that simple score to say, hey maybe she isn't good at taking tests under pressure lol</li>
</ul>
<p>First of all, you are wonderful for answering all these questions. </p>
<p>So do you have any information on these majors: Economics, anthropology and psychology? Like in terms of workload, difficulty, etc, how would you rate/describe them?</p>
<p>Also, do you know anything about Cornell's placement into top law schools? I know that places like Harvard and Stanford Law take average GPAs of like 3.8 and such, but I've heard that it's practically impossible to get a GPA that high at Cornell. I guess I'm just asking if you know anything about Cornell and future law school applications and such. </p>
<p>Well, thanks! You're awesome for doing this.</p>
<p>Impossible? Nah. Especially if you don't major in science. I bet you can find at least 3 current students alone on this board who have GPA's above 3.8 (and there aren't that many current students).</p>
<p>2 out of the 3 people I live with have GPA's of 3.95+ and the other guy takes graduate level physics courses for fun (God knows what his GPA is). Hardly impossible.</p>
<p>depends what courses you take, there are many difficult non-science courses out there, too. </p>
<p>I am very very close to a 3.8 ;) if that counts. </p>
<p>it's hard, but not impossible. Alot of it can depend on how well you do on one test or how many classes you decide to take in one semester. </p>
<p>most importantly is how hard you work. There are some people that just seem able to pull incredible gpa's while doing little or no work. Not sure how they did on like the SAT or anything, but I had a 1410 and I have to work for every grade I get. As long as you put the effort into it, you'll do fine.</p>
<p>Oh thanks guys! I was really worried about that. I definitely plan on studying a lot, like doing all of my reading in advance so I'm already prepared for the lectures and stuff like that. I think it'll be fun though, since I really like studying and reading, as long as I'm interested in the topic. </p>
<p>But I'm so worried about Econ, since I'm afraid that math isn't my overly strong point. Maybe I just shouldn't go for it then? I mean, I'm good at calculus but I'm not all that good at probabilities, so perhaps Econ isn't for me?</p>
<p>I figured this is where I should say something. I don't go to Cornell, but I applied as a transfer, and I'm majoring in Economics. Math isn't my strong point either. However, I'm currently at an Engineering school and opted to taking Engineering Calc (harder than business calc, ect)... and I made a B both semesters (actually I'm hoping for a B+ or A- this semester... depends on my next test). You just have to put your time in, and now, in my 300 level Econ course (which is mostly seniors) I'm pulling a solid A- despite my lack of calc. When I see the calc RELATED to econ its MUCH easier to understand. My advice: don't drop econ because you're not into math. Math comes from a text book, econ comes from a point of view. Read Freakonomics, see how you feel, and decide if you're willing to put the work into the math. I hope Cornell will recognize that I could have had an A in the business calc, but I really wanted to challenge myself in order to pursue econ. Good luck to you, oceanborn...</p>
<p>Ya my dad's been telling me econ was his fav class in all of college and other people say it's fun so...I REALLY hope I like it cuz math isn't very fun for me.</p>
<p>Hmm if the humanities are easier in Cornell than the sciences do med schools take that into account if your premed but are doing a Humanities major? Or does it not matter what you major in as long as you have a high gpa?</p>
<p>Humanities majors actually have a higher acceptance rate to med schools than bio majors. Logically, I guess, it would be better to do premed as a humanities major. I've yet to receive lower than an A in any non bio/chem class at Cornell. That said, I can't imagine myself as a humanities major. Bio is what I like and I personally would rather spend 6 hours studying bio than 4 hours studying anthro (no offense to anthro majors:))</p>
<p>Another note: Bio majors will probably have the advantage once they get into med school. Science majors typically do better than non-science majors in the first two years (the basic science years) of med school. Not surprising.</p>
<p>Thanks so much emilycm! I've really been worried about that, and that just completely helped me out.</p>
<p>Norcalguy, I was speaking with my friend's father last night, neurologist out of Rutgers Medical, and he added that more often than not, humanities majors outperform science majors during the last two years of medical school. I asked him why and he said that they're less likely to be jerks--the phenomenon of having had a life. There's probably some truth to that.</p>
<p>It's difficult to measure bed-side manner. Remember: Science majors can still have a life :)</p>