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<p>Tufts has the “best” location if you like a campus located in a quite dangerous city area. Tufts recently was ranked #1 in a ‘Daily Beast’ magazine article describing campuses with the highest volume of crime.</p>
<p>I went to Colgate many years ago, our kids visited Colgate and even applied there. I think Hamilton is colder than Ithaca because it doesn’t have a lake next to it. Colgate is also a very small school (2500-3000 students). It was perfect for me because I wanted t smaller classes initially, but by the time I was a junior I was ready for a bigger school. When I was at Colgate, it was known for having very good study abroad program. Now they have expanded it even more - world is its classrooms. Students do very well after graduation, whether it’s graduate school or employment. It has a very strong alumni network, just like Cornell.</p>
<p>Ithaca has Ithaca/Syracuse airport, whereas Hamilton only has Syracuse airport, and the long Route 15 drive to civilization. Ithaca is a college town with many great restaurants/hotels (even spas). Hamilton has one stop light, Colgate Inn, a diner, 2-3 bars, one sushi place, and a mid price restaurant. But I have to say, as an UG, I didn’t feel bored that often, I just remember being busy all the time (maybe because of course load).</p>
<p>Cornell and Colgate are 2 very different schools. If you like small LAC atmosphere, want to know your professors well, and know almost everyone on campus, then Colgate is a great place. My younger daughter liked it better than Williams. Tufts is kind of in between Cornell and Colgate, but the feel is a lot different than Cornell and Colgate. I think kids at Tufts are a bit quirkier. You wouldn’t find kids playing frisbies on a quad around a major exam period. </p>
<p>I know there maybe some generalizations, but our kids did seriously consider those 3 schools. As an alum of Colgate, I have to say I enjoyed my four years there, and if my kids have decided to go there I would have been very proud, but I am also very happy they have chosen Cornell.</p>
<p>bad things about Cornell - it is a big red machine. You need to advocate for yourself… No one will check up on you if you should decide not to go to class. If you are not doing well in class, it would be up to you to get help. </p>
<p>Cornell does nickel and dime you for every service you want - gym, printing, laundry. But its total COA is around 60k, which is one of the lowest among Ivies (Yale is 70k+).</p>
<p>Having been to Colgate, I definitely know a little bit about Hamilton and how small it is. My sister goes there, and she says similar things about it. She also doesn’t ever feel bored. After my visit to Colgate last year, I thought I would be going to Colgate for sure. I loved it so much, and I didn’t really expect to get into Cornell or Tufts. I’m definitely drawn to the small atmosphere at Colgate with small classes etc. But also, Cornell isn’t nearly as big as state schools with 30,000-50,000 students. But still, 14,000 is definitely a lot more than 2800 at Colgate, which I’m a little worried about. But other than that, I feel like I love everything about Cornell, and Ithaca is more alluring than Hamilton. And after financial aid, I’m expecting the three schools to cost about the same, within about 1,000 dollars.</p>
<p>Whether you go to a large or small school, you will still know your dormmates and classmates, plus people you will meet at various clubs/sports you join. Immediately your circle of friends will be well defined. You will most likely have 10+ friends you hang out with most of the time, and a wider circle of acquaintances. My older daughter liked the fact that she didn’t have to run into same people all the time, especially ex-boyfriends (your sister probably would tell you otherwise at Colgate).:)</p>
<p>Ginger15, that’s what I was trying to get at. I actually really love ithaca itself, but getting out during breaks if you don’t live in the tri-state area/ NE can be an absolute nightmare.</p>
<p>Oldfort - very true. Cornell is not a good school for someone unsure about their academic interests/ what they want out of college / what career path they want to follow.</p>
<p>Really? I got the opposite impression from Cornell. I thought it would be great for a student unsure of his/her academic interests because there are so many different things that he/she could study, as opposed to Colgate and other LAC’s that could potentially be limited in areas of study.</p>
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<p>Cornell can be of the best schools for undecided students. Why? Because Cornell has such a very wide variety of high caliber academic options. Most of Cornell’s many, many programs rank well (top 30 or so), so if a student is unsure, or if he/she changes their mind, they still have many great options.</p>
<p>Edit - TedJones beat me to it, lol.</p>
<p>ILR2013 once again you have no idea what you are talking about. CAS is perfect for anyone who is unsure about their academic interests. For ILR it may be different, but it definitely does not speak for the whole of Cornell at all (you can even easily transfer out of ILR if that’s what you are feeling). Cornell stresses the “Any study” part of its mission very very heavily. It’s top across many fields.</p>
<p>I also don’t get how you could have ever got that argument out of oldfort’s post.</p>
<p>Edit: got beaten by two people. Oh wow.</p>
<p>Haha thanks for clarifying on that guys. I was really confused because Cornell focuses on providing a huge variety of potential majors, which I love, and is why I applied to CAS! So thank you again!</p>
<p>Ok let me clarify. While it’s totally possible to drift along aimlessly here taking random classes because they interest you that won’t serve you well in the long term. Advising in CAS is below average in my experience which is why I transferred out - you need to be the one responsible for checking up on your requirements and deciding on a major pretty early on</p>
<p>How bad is Cornell academically if you’re ILR? I know much reading and writing is involved, but do ILR students have similar workloads to CAS students?</p>
<p>Depends if you are comparing to arts majors or science majors in CAS. It is kind of right between the two, not as ridiculous as science majors, but tougher than arts because of the reading you have to do.</p>
<p>But anyways regarding CAS, the thing is you kind of have to drift aimlessly to get a degree because you need to fulfill the requirements. So there is no “bad drifting” that would result in you taking a substantial amount of credits that don’t go toward your graduation at least in the first year of your college life - it’s by the second year that you really have to kind of buckle down. And after the first year of exploration (which doesn’t take away from your graduation), you can finally settle down upon the major that you are truly interested in.</p>
<p>Ah, ok thanks. I ask mainly because I’m thinking about minoring in information or computer science if I get in. I’m not too worried since I treat school like a full time job (8-10 hours a day total in lecture/studying), but I wonder if that’ll be enough.</p>
<p>That’s interesting because CS is like a cross-major between cas and engineering. You would still need to fulfill the major requirements, but at least you can have the comfort of taking some liberal arts classes which may help you develop as a person.</p>
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<p>Students at the college level need to take some responsibility for curriculum planning (and adjusting). The administration at Cornell largely expects this of its students, who they take to be above the norm. This does not mean that there isn’t a tremendous amount of help available. But it serves students to be pro-active, and to seek the help out (if needed). Finally, I’ve heard other more positive reports about the advising at CAS.</p>
<p>@ILR - I wasn’t intending to just take random classes that sound interesting. What I had in mind was exploring a few subject areas I enjoy and finding the one that feels the best for me, which I feel is productive. I know that I’m interested in chemistry and economics, so it shouldn’t be too hard to declare a major. Also, it could be harder at a small school with less diverse classes to find what I truly enjoy. But I agree that taking random classes is not something I should be doing.</p>
<p>ILR is slightly easier than, say a gov or econ major. Most classes are curved to a B+ and will require a bit less writing - most gov classes will require about 25 pages of writing overall, while one advanced ILR elective I’m taking right now needs 20.</p>
<p>There are a few killer classes (Labor Law, a couple junior/senior electives) but overall the distribution requirements are a breeze. Because of this, loads of kids get minors. IR and inequality studies are the more popular ones.</p>
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You have any experience with the curve with computer or information science classes? I have little background in the area, but I want to learn (after all, that’s why we go to school right, hah). Maybe I should just take all of those classes pass/fail? Heh…</p>
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It boggles me how people can major in ILR and minor in something non-technical. I mean, minor in at least econ or something, haha.</p>
<p>Yeah, it’s actually really easy to finish the econ major requirements as an ILR student as labor econ/econ policy is a big part of the ILR curriculum. I’m two 3000-level classes away from doing that myself.</p>