I can’t decide which of these two schools I should apply to. My essays right now are all geared toward CALS, but I’m also very interested in the humanities and topics not covered in CALS.
How easy is to sign up to take classes at CAS? Is it possible to major in something at CAS?
I’m not applying to CALS because it’s rumored to be easier. I like the idea of ag school vibes since I’m a city kid and I want to experience that. I’m also very interested in their AEM and biology majors. But I don’t want my education to be limited as a result of this.
Does either school result in a small school vibe or is everything just part of the larger university? Would it be easy to fit in to an ag school?
And how big is the core curriculum at CALS? How much freedom would I end up being able to have?
You can take classes in any of the colleges at Cornell (unless they’re closed to people outside the major, but few are). You wouldn’t be able to major in CAS if you were in CALS, but you could minor.
I’m not really sure that wanting to experience “ag school vibes” is a motive that should outweigh an interest in the humanities. Everyone from the ag school is different, and while maybe the ag sci students have a certain “vibe” (I’m friends with a lot of them, and they do to an extent), I’m not sure if it’s a safe assumption to say the school itself is a complete opposite of city life. Cornell as a whole is the opposite of city life, regardless of what college you’re in. The individual colleges do have “vibes” to an extent, but again there are all kinds of people in each school so stereotypes and vibes obviously won’t apply to anyone. In my personal opinion, if that’s your main reason for choosing CALS over another college, you may want to research the colleges more. Of course, if you’re interested in the AEM program specifically, that’s a good reason to choose CALS (biology is offered in both colleges, though). Take a look at the distribution requirements for both colleges.
The great thing about the different colleges at Cornell is that you can get both a small school and a large university experience. Some schools are better about giving a small school feel. Human Ecology is really small, so it forms a pretty tight-knit community. Since CAS is the largest school, and people span across a really wide variety of majors, it’s less cohesive as a whole I would say, but people often find a community within their individual major. I’m not really sure where CALS fits in, but I would guess it would be somewhere in between the two.
You’ll definitely have more freedom in choosing classes in CAS than in CALS. CALS has a narrower set of requirements (and depending on your major you get automatically enrolled in certain courses). With CAS, the requirements are broad enough that you can take courses in basically any department you want while still fulfilling the non-major requirements.
@Ranza123 Do you know if I would be able to transfer to CAS if I change my mind after taking a few classes in a topic and finding that I’m actually really interested in it?
Yeah, I realize it’s kinda stupid to think that way. I am interested in the programs, though, which is why I chose CALS to begin with. I was just wondering whether I’d enjoy the school and have a broader education than just my major.
Thanks so much for the in-depth feedback. It was really helpful.
