Hi! I’m on spring break right now and don’t really have anything to do- does anyone have any questions about CALS or Cornell in general?
Thanks for your offer to answer questions. Having some difficulty finding information about the process of assigning housing for fall freshmen admits. It seems that there is a lottery after the first year, but do they randomly assign for first year?
@ciscopro So for the first year, you will be getting a link to a portal that lets you describe your preferences in order to match you with a roommate, like if you need the light on and what time you go to sleep. They will let you know your room assignment around the end June. You get to choose your order of room preferences (single, double, quad). The housing is assigned randomly so you don’t get to choose which hall you live in (unless you put Balch, the women’s hall, first-then it’s almost guaranteed that you will get it). If you find a roommate, you can request each other and then you will most likely get to room with them. Although it’s random and some halls are newer than others, they are all fine so don’t worry!
Thanks for the offer. What major are you in? Is CALS a good choice for pre med interest?
@brown2024 I’m a biology & society major and premed as well! I think Cornell is great for premed students because it really prepares you- we learn lots of applications through our intro bio and chem classes that are interesting and challenging to the right amount. We also have lots of resources for information about internships and research. I was able to get a research opportunity by asking my professor, and there are more formal programs you can apply to as well. There are lots of student run clubs that involve service and health- a club even offers opportunities to go abroad and help local communities! Since med schools emphasize research and service in addition to grades, I think because Cornell has many resources and connections, it becomes easier to find opportunities to prepare you. CALS specifically has a website and weekly emails that inform students about all sorts of programs. CALS is also great because it has very few requirements- you have to complete your major requirements as well as distribution requirements, but those requirements have endless options that you can choose from. You can customize your schedule to a great extent, and it allows you to focus on what you want to.
How large are your classes? Do you have time for other activities?
@rkcals In regard to the randomized freshman housing, do u know how is this affected if you apply to program house(s)?
@SuperGymnast_04 Intro bio and chem classes are pretty large, around 200-300 students for bio and 400+ for chem. However, there are smaller discussion sections for bio with TAs so you do have smaller classroom settings. For chem, your lab section once a week has around 25 people as well, and the professors and TAs have plenty of office hours throughout the week so you can get extra help if you need it. The writing seminars that all freshmen take are 18 students or less, and those are a lot of fun! It may seem hard if you come from a smaller school, but the larger classes are tailored so that you learn the material during lectures and get to work with it in smaller sections, so most questions are asked during the classes with the TAs.
There is lots of time for activities! Once you get involved you’ll quickly learn time management and my time management actually began to improve when I started to do more on campus because I get more work done in between activities instead of leaving it all for midnight.
@geester314 Since housing is guaranteed for all first years, if you don’t get into a program house, you will still get placed into a residence hall. I think that most people who apply to program houses are placed in one, but I’m not completely sure about that process.