<p>what were your stats (gpa, sat, club involvement, hooks) at SU, if u dont mind me asking? and how was the finaid package compared to SU's (more, less, about the same...?) I am worried that finaid for transfers is sub-par - even despite the ivy-league policy of meeting need. </p>
<p>Also, how do you rate cornell academics to SU? And student intelligence and passion? At SU 5 kids in a class of 100 would be engaged in the class discussion - so compared to that, how does Cornell fare?</p>
<p>College GPA: 3.85
I was dual-enrolled at SU and the local CC to rack up more credits. It was easy for me since i'm from the Syracuse area. My first semester I took 32 credit hours (half at SU and half at CC) and my second semester I took around 25-ish. Throw in some summer classes and I ended up with just under 70 available credits for transfer. Cornell took around 60 of them. </p>
<p>SAT: 1410
ACT: 30
High school: not sure of final GPA, top 10% of class though. </p>
<p>EC's: well, due to the large number of classes I took, not many. I worked about 24 hours a week during the year (8 hours a day fri-sun) so my time was pretty much sucked up already. I discussed this in one of my essays, actually. All of my quality EC's came from high school and they included Mock Trial, President of one of the clubs, varsity ice hockey, United Way leader where I worked. </p>
<p>hook? My essays were perfect. I worked on them for a few months leading up to the deadline. I believe this coupled with the classes I took, my GPA, and clear interest in my major is what got me in. </p>
<p>Financial aid - not sure, actually. I had a big academic scholarship at SU that I gave up (gladly) and I didn't both applying for financial aid at Cornell. Luckily, my parents have put money away for me for college since I was born, and it'll cover my Cornell bill. </p>
<p>Academics: I was suprised at how much of an adjustment Cornell was. I always thought of SU as a great school, but when I look back it wasn't very challenging at all (reflected in my GPA vs. the number of credits I took). Cornell is tough. I have a 3.6 GPA but I've had to work my ass off for it. No time for a part time job anymore. The professors at Cornell seem much more involved in their students and they care to hear our ideas. This isn't to say that there aren't some easy classes at Cornell (there certainly are), but in general Cornell is much more challenging. Cornell is the first time I've been pushed to succeed and to express my ideas in papers and such. It's difficult, but it's an incredible way to learn. </p>
<p>Student body: This is one of the reasons i wanted to transfer. I wanted a different student body. SU didn't seem driven enough, just full of pretentous preps with no respect to the university or to others. Cornell is much different. Here, everybody is incredibly smart and driven. Some of the most interesting stuff i've learned at this school has been from random 2 AM conversations with the people on my hall. Class discussion is often deep and interesting. This varies from class to class though: sometimes teachers have too much material to teach so they try to avoid discussion at times (for the sake of having enough time to teach the class!) - but in other classes (like the english class i took last semester), the professors maybe spoke for 5-10 minutes then turned it over for discussion from the students. There are some of the stereotypes at Cornell as well, but they certainly aren't the majority. The average students is smart, witty, driven, and friendly. </p>
<p>I had some great times at SU, don't get me wrong. However, the university just wasn't a fit for me. I transfered to Cornell and I am having an absolutely wonderful time.</p>
<p>Um - wow @ the credits - heh. Call me arrogant or whatever, but I've always considered myself smart enough for an ivy - the thing that separates me from those students is how much work I'm willing to put in. The good thing about college is that you study what you are interested in, and so I don't think that will be an issue - but the sheer workload can be absolutely crazy, and I have never had a study habit whatsoever (instead of studying I'll spend a few hours reading wikipedia articles, news journals, and research papers on topics completely unrelated to the work I SHOULD be doing (I don't know why, but it seems like it has something to do with the notion of 'necessity' and my not wanting to do what 'needs' to be done :p ))</p>
<p>Still, the way you describe it is exactly what I'm looking for. I won't ever do as much work as you did, for ANYTHING in life, because I feel it's just too short to have it be all work and no fun. But at the same time, 'fun' for me includes intelligent conversation. Ah well - I'd put my chances at about 40/60 for getting in, but I guess I don't have anything to lose in trying.</p>
<p>eh, i didn't do much work at SU. Just study a bit before exams. I kind of knew from the start that I would be transfering, hence why I took so many credits. I dont recommend it for a nice college experience, but it worked out for me. You're gonna have to put in some effort at Cornell if you want a decent GPA. It was relatively easy to get a high GPA at SU, but Cornell takes some effort. It varies from class to class, though. I'm having a great time here, it's a work hard play hard type of atmosphere. Wonderful!</p>
<p>If you want to try a shot at Cornell, start getting ideas for your application together. It's a lengthy application as they really try to weed people out who want to transfer for the wrong reasons. Visit the campus and see if it's a place you'll be interested in! 95% of my friends at SU loved it there, but it isn't the right place for everybody. You seem like the type of person who would thrive alot more in an environment like Cornell's, give the application a shot. For reference, the admit rate for transfers is around 23-27%.</p>
<p>Yeah I ran the numbers off their datasheet this afternoon (yay)</p>
<p>I've already downloaded the transfer application and given it the once-over - the "essays" as they were, seem to be quite straight-forward. Its my view that they SHOULD simply want the question answered and no cutesy stuff, but that of course is not reality. But I am totally fed up with SU (as my posts no doubt allude to), so I'd be glad to go ANYWHERE.</p>
<p>Hey, Anarchy, don't leave SU. I might go there (if I get accepted to Journalism), and you seem like a cool guy. </p>
<p>Stay? No? </p>
<p>k.</p>
<p>(My first choice is actually NYU, but who the hell am I kidding? Although my HS background sounds a lot like yours -- not a great GPA but great extracurriculars and activities, and i've almost always had a job since I was 14 or 15 and my grades were As in history, English, etc... things I found interesting.)</p>
<p>Hey don't give up hope on your first choice. I got into both NYU and Newhouse and my gpa wasn't fantastic (3.6 uw) I'm totally weighted to English and history, too. Newhouse is tougher to get into for journalism, but you're right about NYU being tougher in general. Even though I had to apply to A&S at NYU, they seemed to recognize that I was really aiming for the journalism dept. and I think they evaluated me based on that.</p>
<p>Yeah? Then hopefully they'll judge me based on my writing and not math kaka.</p>
<p>I just visited Syracuse recently...I also visited Cornell the same weekend, and yeah, very different vibes at both places!</p>
<p>To be honest, I don't think I'd like either one.</p>
<p>All of the kids on the Syracuse tour were ultra preppy, and didn't ask a single academic question. However, when I got a tour of Newhouse, I noticed that the crowd was a lot more self-selected, and the kids were well-spoken and asked intelligent questions. I'm guessing that within Newhouse you probably have a pretty self-selected group of motivated, academic kids...but it seems like a bubble in a school that's mostly party/party/party. </p>
<p>At Cornell, the first thing the tour guide asked was what we were interested in studying. It was bio, bio, engineering, bio...LOL. When I said communications, film, he seriously gave me the evil eye! Also, you had to cross a scary gorge that lead up to vampire-palace gothic architecture, and I learned most of the dorms were singles.</p>
<p>Uh...</p>
<p>The more colleges I visit the more I think my state school is for me. I just want a place with well-adjusted, smart people! But apparently it's just as hard to find them in college as in highschool...Haha.</p>
<p>Sometimes a smaller school is better. Just pick whatever fits you as a person.</p>
<p>Wow, reading these posts really doesn't want me to go to Syracuse anymore X_X</p>
<p>But these posts are from almost two years ago.</p>
<p>So are you saying posts from Anarchy or MissSuperFantastic do not hold true anymore?</p>
<p>Is there any difference between then and now? I'm deciding between WPI or Syracuse for engineering. WPI may be the right choice but my parent and I have to pay heck a lot more money. Looking at this student's past experience, Syracuse doesn't seem so great or is it? <_<</p>
<p>Sometimes what you find depends on what you are looking for. I'm not sure if the the older posts hold true still, I'll ask my daughter to get back on cc and answer so you have a different perspective. Newhouse does seem to be an entirely different school in many ways. My daughter's roommates are very academic and not a prep in the group. She has no preppy friends, I guess she'd be the preppiest. And she's not preppy. And she isn't a partier. She doesn't drink, doesn't care if others do, but it isn't for her. It's not my call. She's threekids'kid. I'll ask her to answer.</p>
<p>By the way, her roommates are Chemistry majors, not in Newhouse.</p>
<p>Oh I see, that's reassuring.</p>
<p>Ok, so my (current sophomore, about to leave... pursuing culinary school) thoughts on the subject are that interesting, driven people do exist at syracuse, but you have to go out and find them unless you're a fan of greek culture. Don't get me wrong, most people are individually good people and very cool, but the general culture of the school is greek, and being lazy college students, people tend to go for the general culture, understandably. </p>
<p>If you're not lazy, you can find a ton of interesting people out there and participate in cool stuff. Don't be scared, be busy! If you're lazy and not interested in the general greek culture you'll not have a great time. (read.. me) </p>
<p>If you want to go to syracuse, and want to have a great time, you gotta get involved in stuff. Join clubs... whatever you're interested in, they've got it... just gotta find it and get involved. This goes for academics too, if you're having a boring time in your classes, go talk to a prof. in whatever you want to study, and convey to them your interest and ability, chances are they will have some sort of research for you, or could tell you where to go.</p>
<p>"Wow, reading these posts really doesn't want me to go to Syracuse anymore X_X"</p>
<p>I wouldn't turn down Syracuse over 1 or 2 students personal experiences. Thats just 1 or 2 versus the whole 11,000+ student body. Students who give a bad review of colleges might have been the same student who no one liked because he or she was way too pretentious or way too flamboyant or just plain annoying. I'm not saying Anarchy was (or still is) but students who generally give negative comments of schools are the ones who've screwed up themselves and to compensate for their shallow personalities they try and deter others from attending. So I'd think twice before rejecting a school based on one's experiences because yours could be 100X way better.</p>
<p>animeblood...my girlfriend is also considering WPI for engineering. She just visited and it's a great school that will open doors to internships and opportunities. Just make sure you're sure that it is engineering you REALLY want. She said everyone she met there on her overnight was an engineering student of some kind.</p>
<p>So, if its engineering between Syracuse and WPI. WPI is going to get you more for your money.</p>
<p>Very true, Mom. </p>
<p>You get what you put into this school. I choose interesting, challenging classes, work my butt off for good articles, join every club that interests me, and after a longer than expected adjustment period, have carved out a very nice little life for myself here.
I don't fit in with the greek girls, but I've been friendly with a few and they're friendly right back. I like my honor student roommates and while my circle of friends is no longer as sprawling as it was in high school, I've found people to love here. What more could I ask?
If you don't like people, stay away from them. Syracuse is a small city at 11,000 undergrads. You don't have to be friends with everyone in town. </p>
<p>There are a few Anarchy types on campus. I've met him, chatted with him, and he's a cynic. That's ok. If he really hated it, wouldn't he have left? </p>
<p>Judge for yourself. Syracuse might not be right for you, and that's fine. But if your initial thought was that you'd like it here, cmon and give it a shot.</p>
<p>Honestly, I thought I'd hate it, but I worked at making it a good experience, and it has been. That's as much as I can say for it.</p>