<p>This may be a dumb question but..</p>
<p>CALS is a like..contract school with New York. I know Cornell owns it..but I've seen it called "New York State College of Agriculture and Life Science"</p>
<p>So for graduates...what does the diploma say? Do people like..look down on CALS? I don't really care, because I've read about the CALS programs and I love the school, and would go regardless, but I'm just curious.</p>
<p>locally (i live within 3 hours), some people do look down on CALS because its generally lower qualifications for admission (lower SATs, GPA etc.)... that said, its the BEST in the country for agriculture. so that just says that people with top stats go into other fields i guess.</p>
<p>Not that this matter at all, but:</p>
<p>New York State appears nowhere on the diploma</p>
<p>And the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences is in really TINY letters below the dean's signature:</p>
<p>I actually enjoy telling people I studied at The New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University.</p>
<p>well...I'll have my diploma in 25 days...so I can tell you for sure what it says then :-)</p>
<p>but...the diploma says Cornell University.....and I think in small text in the bottom corner it says College of Ag and Life Sciences...where the CALS Dean signs.</p>
<p>Chicagoboy, people really look DOWN on it? I mean..it may not have the same qualifications but they take a lot of the same courses and stuff..so I don't understand why they would look down on it..</p>
<p>
[quote]
locally (i live within 3 hours), some people do look down on CALS because its generally lower qualifications for admission (lower SATs, GPA etc.)... that said, its the BEST in the country for agriculture. so that just says that people with top stats go into other fields i guess.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Are any of these people over the age of 18?</p>
<p>And I'm not going into agriculture..I'm going for biology. I liked their biology program better.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Are any of these people over the age of 18?
[/quote]
Yeah seriously. I'm pretty sure the only people who "look down" on CALS are high school kids on forums like this. And why would anyone care what they think?</p>
<p>I have my diploma since I graduated in January! It doesn't say NY anywhere on the diploma, I promise. And the only people who look down on CALS are people who think that Cornell has a "state side" that is the same as a SUNY school when we all know that this is not the case. CALS brings in some of the most talented people in the country in fields such as agriculture and animal science, not to mention the high ranking business program (AEM). I was a biology major in CALS. It is the same exact major as the one in Arts and Sciences, the only difference are college requirements. Biology students in CALS are just as smart as biology students in A&S. I chose CALS for obvious reasons: im from NY so it's a lot cheaper, but I don't consider myself any different than other biology majors at Cornell.</p>
<p>If you are in AEM or Bio, CALS will have no influence on anything. I doubt anyone who recruits would ever look down on CALS. It is renowned for its sciences and business program. Just because it doesn't have as low as an acceptance rate as A&S, doesn't mean you wont be recruited. To be honest, if you are going into business, AEM/hotel students are recruited the most heavily. If you are going into Bio, the program is literally the same (classes are the same with both CALS and A&S students in them) between both colleges.</p>
<p>I'm going for Biology. I simply liked the requirements better - I'm not into humanities or liberal arts, I like staying with science courses aside from a foreign language, and a few exploratory courses in other subjects.</p>
<p>soocer_guy - the answer to your question is because its seen as easier to get into, and taking the "easy route" to getting into cornell.</p>
<p>dont let that influence you though. YOU are the one who will sit through the classes and take the exams, so if you like the CALS program better than another bio program then DO IT. simple as that. a friend was preaching to me about how i should pick cornell over uchicago because cornell is more selective and chicago has a high acceptance rate. but who cares?</p>
<p>I was wondering if your minor also shows up on your diploma? how does that work?</p>
<p>^^
Your major doesn't even show up on your diploma. For example, it will say "Cornell University Bachelor of Science". For all the fuss about diplomas, has any ever actually had to show their's to someone? Mine's just hanging in my childhood room back at my parents' house. Only reason it's hanging there is because my Mom put it there. Would probably be in a box somewhere otherwise.</p>
<p>One need only look at the perception of Cornell in the Ivies to know that people look down on CALS. I studied in two endowed (A&S and AAP) as well as CALS and didn't notice any great difference. I was actually a little intimidated when I first took classes in the Arts and Sciences because of the perception that those students were "smarter", but soon realized how absurd that was. Richer? Perhaps. Not necessarily smarter. I had some incredible philosophical classes in CALS as well.</p>
<p>That said, the farm students were definitely cut from a different cloth. But they make our food, don't philosophize on existentialism, so I'm okay with that. </p>
<p>As someone said on another thread, long after Wall Street collapses we may again admire Cornell for being a top tier school that didn't lose sight of what really matters: energy production, food production, resource management, etc...</p>
<p>So now you're saying people look down on CALS? I don't really get it..</p>
<p>Are you saying other students? If so..that'd be really odd..</p>
<p>Me: "Hey, what's up?"
Person: "....Aren't you from CALS?"
ME: "Yup."
Person: "....Don't speak to me..-runs-"</p>
<p>Okay that person would have serious social problems.</p>
<p>No. There's really no distinction between the contract and endowed these days. You may notice that the contract colleges are a bit more pre-professional, but that's about it.</p>
<p>Apparently forty years ago there was a more sizable difference.</p>
<p>[ul]
[li]The diploma doesn't say SUNY</p>[/li]
<p>[li]Some endowed schools are pre-professional (Hotel, Engineering)</p>[/li]
<p>[li]CALS has different acceptance rates by major (not released to the public). Biology is one of the harder majors to gain acceptance into.[/li][/ul]</p>
<p>Soccer Guy -</p>
<p>Not to that extreme. I'm just saying that CALS does not engender the inherent respect across the Ivy League that other Cornell schools do. Granted, it has some of the top ranked programs in the nation, so hopefully as those trends continue the school will lose its general reputation.</p>
<p>But go on one of those "rank the Ivies" threads. You'll see Cornell often ranked low and, if cited, people refer to something about food or "feels like a state school" or something along those lines. Granted, those people never studied in CALS, but that's their perception.</p>
<p>I graduated from CALS. I had a great experience. But I'm not oblivious to the fact that other people (mostly yuppie types) - even within Cornell - look down on the school a little bit as inferior.</p>
<p>When the U.S. was predominantly rural and industrial, these Cornell contract schools were lauded and respected across the board because they served the forefront of human development. As we have shifted to being 80% urban and information based, people have begun to look down their nose at a school that focuses on more basic needs such as food, energy, industrial relations, and conservation rather than flashy and sexy pursuits such as biotech or investment banking or whatever economic fad-of-the-day is trendy for a few decades.</p>
<p>My experience is that most people don't know Cornell has 7 colleges and don't care. No non-Cornellian has ever asked me what my specific Cornell college was.</p>
<p>applejack, thanks for the long explanation.</p>
<p>I guess I feel like that doesn't really apply to a biology major..correct me if I'm wrong. We only have to take 55 credits from CALS - and for those, it will be classes such as Biology, Microbiology, Botany..ect. Then I will be taking other classes at CAS...so I'm not sure where my education would be inferior. It's not sequestered from the other schools...it's simply the name we identify with...we still take the same classes as everyone else if we want to.</p>
