<p>I will be visiting Cornell on Sunday and Monday on the following week. To any current Cornellians: is there anything that I must attend while I am in Ithaca besides the normal campus tour and information session. I already applied so any suggestions about where to go, what to see, who to meet, etc. etc.? PLEASE HELP!!!!! Also, can/should I attend a class? Which campus tour should I go to? Yikes-I am so lost and am in need of some advice.</p>
<p>What school are you interested in? CALS has a list of classes that prospective students can sit in on...most are at 9/10 in the morning so keep that in mind. If you haven't been to Cornell before...take the regular campus tour. If you have been here before...then take the freshman experience (North campus tour).</p>
<p>Cornell is probably the most confusing school to apply to--
which school did you apply to?? And are you going to the info session for that specific school.
Personally, I think that is way more important than the "normal campus tour".</p>
<p>The day my kid went to her ILR info session, there were only 3 kids on the ILR tour with an ILR admission rep. It was almost as good as having a private interview, as she had the opportunity to have personal contact with him. The same day, she toured Human Ec and was one of thirty kids on tour- so she didn't have the opportunity to have as much personal contact with the Human Ec. admission rep-
it was a lucky thing that she decided to apply to ILR- I really think that having personal contact with the ILR rep may have helped her gain admittance!!
Good luck-</p>
<p>I'm not a current student but when I went, I went on the Freshman Experience Tour. It was great because you really got an impression of campus life along with how it is going there. You can catch a tour for that out of the admissions office. It's led by current students--and no admissions people.</p>
<p>Hope this helps a little...</p>
<p>My daughter and I arrived on Sunday and ate dinner at one of the dining halls on North Campus. Great way to get a peek into a small part of freshman life.</p>
<p>On Monday my daughter sat in on a class in the school she was interested in. I think it was an 8 or 9 am class...she got the list of available classes from admissions. Just call and ask or send them an email.</p>
<p>After that we went to the school's information session, followed by a tour of her desired school. </p>
<p>We then went on the general campus tour.</p>
<p>It was a busy morning and we ended by around 2:30-3, but we saw as much as we could in one day!</p>
<p>This will work if you already know what school at Cornell you want to apply to. If not, I think there are info sessions that go over all of the different schools, and then you can take it from there. We went on the Freshman Experience tour the second time we visited. Good luck!</p>
<p>If you have any time and/or energy before or after all of that, take a walk around the Commons in Ithaca or stroll through Collegetown.</p>
<p>Wow thanks for the great advice everyone--especially from "JustaMom"--it sounds like you're more than just a mom :)</p>
<p>I applied to CAS as a pre-med/bio major. Just a question for "JustaMom"--how do you get to eat in the dining hall on Sunday evening? I'm confused--how does that work out?</p>
<p>Also, I'm planning on taking the general campus tour on Sunday at 1pm. Then, on Monday, I plan to sit in on an early morning class. I want to attend the CAS info. session but the website seems to dictate that they do not offer info. sessions for that specific college during this time. Is there any way that I could set up a personal tour of the college or the like?</p>
<p>Thanks for your help everyone!</p>
<p>Thanks rsn09! :)</p>
<p>We stayed at the Statler Hotel right on campus, and it was actually one of the people at the front desk who suggested we eat at one of the dining halls on North Campus. We just walked over to North Campus, which you should check out while you are there anyway, and waited on line to get into the dining hall. The first hall seemed pretty crowded, so we walked a little further to the next one (sorry I don't remember any of the names) and waited in line.</p>
<p>When we got to the place where students swipe their card/check in, we paid cash. I want to say it came to something a little over $20.00 for the two of us, but it was all you can eat.</p>
<p>My daughter was nervous, and maybe a bit mortified to be eating in a dining hall with her mother, until a group of business people in suits came in. Then we didn't stick out as much! :) The person from the Statler who told us to go said that visitors eat there all the time. The food was good, and we got to talk to some freshmen as well.</p>
<p>We also ate lunch at the Ivy Room, and that was very nice as well! As far as I know, anyone can eat at most of the dining halls.</p>
<p>I would call or email CAS to see if there is any way to arrange a visit during the time you are there.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>I don't know how accessible the admissions officers will be during the time of your visit, but you could call and ask if anyone might be available to meet with you. Remember however, that the burden would then be on you to ask questions and direct the course of the meeting. I don't think they'll want to just do an individual info session for you. When my son and I were at Cornell, we met with a CAS admissions officer, Ken Gabard. He was great, very enthusiastic, interesting.</p>
<p>Also, they might be able to find a student who could meet you and sort of show you around CAS a bit if that's what you are interested in.</p>
<p>There are two dining halls on North Campus -- one in Appel Commons and one in Robert Purcell Community Center. You can eat dinner in either one simply by paying cash for the meal. It's going to be expensive -- somewhere around 11 or 12 dollars. The system is all-you-care-to-eat, so you can sample lots of things from the menu if you want to. Try to be hungry when you get there. The food is very good (my daughter says it's especially good at Appel, but there are those who swear by RPCC, too).</p>
<p>Don't worry about looking out of place. Lots of people who don't seem to belong there eat in those dining halls. Inexplicably (according to my daughter), on weekends, there are even children there.</p>
<p>There are metered parking spaces in front of RPCC. If they're all taken, one of you can go inside the building and ask at the desk about other possible places to park. There are quite a few places on campus where it's legal to park without a permit during evenings and weekends but not during weekday business hours.</p>
<p>The information session for your particular school is probably more informative than the general information session. If it's a nice day, you may be able to take more than one kind of tour, too. (The day we visited, it was 100 degrees -- it was July -- so we only took one tour and thought we were going to die during it. For months afterward, I used to joke that my daughter would be the only student ever to turn down Cornell because the weather was too HOT, but she ended up going there after all.)</p>
<p>There's no really CAS-specific tour because CAS is sprawled all over three-quarters of the Arts Quad and a variety of other buildings, too (such as Uris Hall -- an ugly, rust-dripping, garish eyesore that you will never see in Cornell publicity). Moreover, if you are biology oriented, a lot of your classes will be in the part of campus devoted to the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Biology is its own division, and people in either CAS or CALS can major in it, but physically, the biology facilities are mostly in the Ag part of the campus.</p>
<p>It's a good idea to take a look at Collegetown. If you go to Cornell, you will probably live there at some point. (Few Cornell students stay on campus for more than two years.) If you want to reassure yourself of the existence of civilization, check out the Commons (downtown) and Pyramid Mall.</p>
<p>Also, don't just go to the dining halls-- talk to lots of students! Wherever you go, you'll get a very biased impression of your colleges if you just talk to the admissions folks. Go introduce yourself to some freshmen at the Purcell or Appel dining halls and pick their brains.</p>
<p>aww, Marian, Old Rusty never grew on you? It's not so drippy anymore - finally 30 years later is about the way it was supposed to be ...</p>
<p>I lived in the now-demolished, much-hated University Halls (the old buildings that the new West Campus Houses have replaced), and even they were more attractive than Old Rusty.</p>
<p>^^haha...I agree. As much as I hated lived in the Transfer Center (Class of '17) it was much more easy to look at than good ol' Uris :-)</p>