<p>I've heard that schools like Hopkins, Chicago, and Cornell were really hardcore studyholic/grade-deflated colleges. Is this true? I was such a slacker in high school with 15+ B's on my transcript, but I'm determined to try hard and eventually go to a top grad school (hopefully). At the (supposedly) grade-deflated Cornell, is it impossible or brutally hard get like a, say, 3.9? Also, this is basically a non-factor in choosing my college, but how are the girls at Cornell? ;)</p>
<p>hi seuferk! i was wondering wut ur experiences at balch were like? r balch rooms nice? i heard that balch tends to be antisocial so im a little worried. also if i request balch for housing am i pretty much guaranteed a balch dorm?</p>
<p>@ nali: the general requirements vary from school to school, and even major to major (like only architects and hotelies have 1 writing seminar requirement). for my general requirements as an architect, its basically studio, drawing, and history that are required for the first year. if you are wondering about basic requirements, go to the website for the school you were excepted into. also, a lot of people try to get all of the requirements done as soon as possible. 2 semesters of gym are required for everyone (except if you are on a varsity sport), so a lot of people do that freshman year to get it out of the way. if you finish them early, that gives you a lot of leway down the road with picking classes that truly interest you and that are tied in with your major.</p>
<p>@delusioned_hope: i live in balch now. and to be honest, i requested it. its kinda a no-brainer...i knew that i wanted to have a single, and if you are a girl, balch is the way to go. and my single is huge! it is even bigger than doubles in other dorms. your room is the biggest (even doubles and triples/forced triples are huge), you have 2 closets (and every girl needs the storage space! ;) ), and your own sink. i have to be frank about this though: socially, my floor isnt exactly the party area. a lot of people have their door closed...but, dont be discouraged. i know everyone on another floor and i am very close friends with them. you can have anti social people in whatever dorm you are in, even in dickson and donlon. its just the nature of each individual person. i didnt become close to the people on my floor, so i ventured onto another one, and im doing just fine. as an environment to live in, i absolutely love it. if i want to socialize, i can find people to socialize with. if i want to study, i can becuase balch is generally a quieter dorm (but believe me, it can be loud at times!). i would rather party in another dorm than having to come home to the party down the hall and not being able to concentrate or sleep. and lastly, you cant "request" specifically for balch, but if you say that you want a single-sex dorm, you are put into balch. a lot of girls who dont request balch but end up here start off really bitter, but once they see the other dorms, how their other friends have to live in small rooms, they realize how lucky they are to be here. yes, its all girls...but there are plenty of guys that hang out in balch too, so its not like youll be isolated and shunned from the male population. the boys are actually somewhat intrigued by balch...becuase a lot of them have never been in it. once they go in, their reaction is basically daaaaaaaaamn this place is nice! lol</p>
<p>Can anyone give me an idea of what the different freshman dorms are like? I am a "regular" guy, like to party on weekends, play basketball, watch the Daily Show....</p>
<p>I don't really know anything about dorm life here - what the rooms are like and what kind of kids live in each place. Also, do you get to know who your roommate is before school starts?</p>
<p>Balch was a really nice place to be for my first year. I requested it, which I don't always admit to people--because I get the.."wt.f for?" look. In the beginning, I regretted my decision because I missed having my guy friends around, but I got used to it pretty quickly. The really nice thing about Balch is you can go party or whatever-and then come back and the dorm is really quiet. I've been in Donlon, Jameson, and Kay after like 2am, and all of them are still really loud in the middle of the night--even on weeknights. I had my own shower and bathroom, but that was pretty much just luck of the draw. </p>
<p>I don't hang out with my hall, but I have plenty of other friends in other dorms and other halls on balch. Sure, people laugh and say balch is full of antisocial people or feminists, but if the guys get a chance to come in, like laurstar said, they love it...and like the idea of that many women in one place, haha. The rooms are amazing! I have a pretty huge double, but my friend has a single that is almost as big as this one--and definitely bigger than my sister's double at college was. </p>
<p>nycollegebound: Well, you can only really request if you want balch (which you obviously can't..and I think the program houses. I mean, Donlon does tend to be the loud, extremely social partying dorm, but its completely random. I mean-none of the rooms are bad, that's for sure. Doubles in Donlon are a lot bigger than most colleges, as well as Jameson. Dickson has normal sized rooms...nothing cramped, but nothing amazing. You can sometimes luck out and get a larger single or something there, though. </p>
<p>Court - kay- bauer is really nice. Not only are the rooms pretty decent size (the singles, yet again, are not that big, but the doubles are pretty nice), and the layout is great, with the suites. Its new, so it feels really clean and nice.</p>
<p>I have never been in the high rise/low rise/ mews buildings, so I really don't know much about them.</p>
<p>the townhouses are pretty sweet, and your RA is pretty much just your conscience. I don't like them because they're so farrrrr away from everything.</p>
<p>Court-Kay-Bauer? It was just Court back when I was a freshman. I remember my first night in Court as if it was yesterday. This is an interesting thread. Keep it going! Good way for me to kill some time while being on the road. I'm a Class of 2006 COE grad. Feel free to ask me any question.</p>
<p>Thanks seuferk. One other question - how hard is it to get into a class you really want? Do they close out quickly? Do freshman register for courses after everyone else?</p>
<p>Also, have any of you ever had second thoughts about your decision to attend Cornell?</p>
<p>thegirlsloveme: depends on ur college, in Engineer, it'll be a lot harder. In certain CALS, ILR ... could be easier. Its all relative to a person's strength. But the overall GPA marks kind of go: A=4.0, A-=3.7, B+=3.3, B=3.0,B-=2.7,C+=2.3 ... and so on so forth.</p>
<p>Is Cornell a good university for an environmental science major? </p>
<p>Be realistic, can you ever talk with the professors as a regular undergraduate student? How often?</p>
<p>I'm got accepted to CALS, how many hours a week will I need to study to acheive all A's and B's?</p>
<p>Ok, this is a east coast generalization that many west coast people have...please don't be offended. To the students originally from the west coast, have you noticed that the people in the east coast are generally more conservative and uptight? Is this generalization true? </p>
<p>And what are three words you would describe Cornell with? </p>
<p>Thanks to everybody who bothered with answering all these questions!</p>
<p>Yes...you can talk with the profs as an undergraduate. That's why they have office hours...and some profs even have a weekly dinner at a dining hall for their students.</p>
<p>Two of my profs this semester do this...and you can't complain about 2 free meals a week :-)</p>
<p>Cornell Student:</p>
<p>I called admissions to ask what the Jacobs scholarship is and they just read what was on the site... I am trying to figure out if it is like a commitment program where all the jacobs scholars meet together or if it is just a gift.... I hear the Deans scholar is a prestigious award (the Mcmullen) and a student told me that he is treated differently on campus and is invited to dinners and what not.... But he said the Jacobs was new and wasnt sure of the benefits.
help!
thanks.</p>
<p>how hard is it to get hockey tickets?</p>
<p>Not hard. Since the change to the lottery system (as opposed to a line system) there are always same-day tickets available in Section F.</p>
<p>Getting a ticket in Section A or B on the other hand...</p>
<p>I don't think it's hard...mostly a matter of luck.</p>
<p>What they did this year was reserve a certain # of seats for grads and seniors and then the rest were for others wanting tix. I think they held 1500 seats for us (can't remember). On the appointed day you go get a line number.</p>
<p>Then they draw a # randomly...and that's where the line starts...then it goes down 1499 spots. So if you got #1, but the line starts at #38 you wouldn't be able to get season tix. Hence...I say it's mostly luck :-)</p>
<p>But...it's not hard to get tix same day if you want to go to a game and don't have season tix. The only game it's difficult to get tix for is the Harvard game.</p>
<p>Hey, are any of you guys in Arts&sciences, or know fairly well about the College of Arts&Sciences? I've been accepted into CAS, and my question is, is it possible to do a fine arts (studio art, painting, drawing, etc.) as an A&S student? I know I've seen Art History on the course list for Arts and Sciences, but is studio art an option there? I know we're also allowed to take courses outside of our school, but will I be able to do a fine arts minor?</p>
<p>Also, could you explain the major/minor system at Cornell?</p>
<p>Thanks a bunch! I really appreciate you guys answering our questions!</p>
<p>Major/minor is pretty easy to understand....you can double major but can't double major across colleges but you can minor (provided the department has a minor) across colleges.</p>
<p>Does anyone have recommendations for dorms that are the close to the engineering department?</p>
<p>All of the freshman dorms are on the other side of the campus from the Engineering buildings. It will be a nice ten minute walk with breathtaking views. Or a three minute bike or bus ride.</p>
<p>lol Engineering Quad: South Campus. Freshman dorms: North Campus.</p>
<p>Closest dorm is probably Balch.</p>
<p>Does Cornell really have more of a science/engineering vibe? I'm looking at more of a humanities education (econ/poli sci/lit/philosophy) at CAS. Will I be able to easily find people with similar interests? Also, will this be good for job recruitment at wallstreet even though i'm not in AEM or engineering?</p>